Israel: Day Five

Greetings from sleeping late in Israel,

Today is our free day and while the bulk of our group has risen early to catch the tour bus to Masada, Qumran and the Dead Sea, I'm sleeping in late and headed to my favorite spots around the old city. I have to give a devotional tomorrow on the exact steps in the shadow of the Temple Mount in front of my bishop and I'm nervous so part of my plan is to practice.

After sleeping until 10:30, getting ready, enjoying coffee and devotional time in my room. I take off my tourist name badge, throw on my backpack and hit the streets. First stop, after an orange from a local vendor, is Gethsemane with no itinerary, no rush and no one but me. I find a shady spot by the olive trees and sit down in the courtyard and pull out mu Bible. I'm alone except for the feel of the warmth of the sun and the sounds of the city. I start in John and then work backwards through the Gethsemane accounts in all if the gospels. As I read Jesus' pray, I cannot help but to pray it for myself, "Never the less Lord, niy my will but yours be done." I move into the church and again I am all alone except for the solemnness and beauty. I am blessed because what feels like 30 minutes I am alone with God. I sit, I pray, I listen. I hear the tourists coming in and I head out for the next stop.

I actually back track a little so I can walk beneath the Eastern Wall. That path starts at the Lions Gate, called the Sheep Gate in the Old Testament, but Stephen's Gate by Christians because tradition holds that this is the gate they brought him out to stone him. Below the Gate is the Monastery to Saint Stephen. The grounds of the monastery cover the entire area below the gates where he would have been stoned and had his vision. I stop in the chapel to pray. This is a new site for me made possible by my day apart. I leave the church and head down the path towards the south.

As I walk, I get to soak in the view of the Church of the Nations, Gethsemane, the Chapel where Jesus wept, the Mount of Olives and all of the grave yards on both sides of the Kidron Valley. I take my time and soak it all in. I turn the corner at the south end and head north to the Dung Gate.

This is the gate that leads to the Western Wall more commonly called the Wailing Wall. This is the wall on the western side of temple mount which they believe is the foundational wall to the temple. The bottom few exposed visible layers and the thirty feet below the surface are 2nd temple Herodian stones. The Jews come here to pray and place their written pray requests into the wall. It is the place I gave come to pray. I've brought all of your prayer requests, and I pray over each and everyone before I put them in the wall. Then I begin to pray for my family, and all of you by name. An hour and a half later it is time to move on.

Moving on isn't very far, simply back thru security into the archaeological park. This is where I will be preaching tomorrow. I come to bask in the shadow of the temple mount, pray, listen to the nd  for any other words for our group. I'm one of just a handful on the park. I stand on the first step and read Psalm 120, one short step and one long step up and I read the 121st. I continue the pattern until the top, finishing with the final Psalm of ascent, the 134th. My heart is quieted, my nerves are calmed, and my ears and mind are filled with devotions for tomorrow. I sit on the steps and begin to write. The words come together and it is time to preach, at least practice preaching. I run through it once, it flows; a second time with a stopwatch, it still flows but it is 9 minutes and 38 seconds. It is supposed to be 5 to 7. I know none of you are shocked that I went long, but I panicked because I'm preaching this in front of the bishop. I run it again, 9:23 but it is getting late and I still want to go to Caiaphas' house. I head out but not before exploring parts of the park I've never seen, walking the route at the top of the city walls and enjoying a power bar.

Back out the dung gate headed to Caiaphas' house. This is another place that holds real significance for me. First this is where they brought Jesus from Gethsemane. The pit they would have held him in is here in the dungeon below the house. Next to the church are the original stairs that Jesus and the disciples would have defended heading to Gethsemane after the Last Supper, the very same steps they brought him back up. But for me this place plucks my soul strings because I resonate so much with Peter and this is where he denied Christ. The top dome on the church has a rooster on it. Lots of prayers and then a stop at the gift shop for stohls and an Americano coffee.

Back on the move I continue walking the circumference of the Old City wall. I pass the Zion Gate and get to enjoy the Garden of the Wall Builders. A walking park beneath the western city wall that has multiple points of explanation of the various walls built over the centuries. A few more miles and I'm at the hotel for dinner and then headed out on the Jerusalem at night tour.

We begin from the Mount of Olives looking down on the Old City illuminated at night. It is beautiful in a completely different way than the day time. Night time captures not only its majesty but it's mystery as well. We move on to the Western Wall. Again a different essence is captured at night. It is beautiful and there is a sense of celebration from the younger Jews dancing and singing in the courtyard above the wall. Again, I pray for our church. Our final part of the tour carries us through modern western Jerusalem to encounter some of the modern culture. Our guide gave us some free time to wander and shop. He and I became fast friends as we went to a little shop that afforded us the opportunity to sit and relax with a cup of espresso and a little "Cuban." A perfect end to a perfect day!

Your brother in Christ,
Faron