Israel Day One

I was given an amazing opportunity to travel to the Holy Land back in February. What began as a passing statement between Spencer and myself became reality and we were lucky enough to bless the life of a Romanian that, probably, would never be able to take this trip on his own. Danny Luca is a Romanian gentleman that has had a huge impact on Spencer's life in Romania and has had an indirect impact on my life. During the planning of the trip Spencer felt called to ask a Romanian to join us and Danny came to mind immediately. It truly was providence that Danny was on Spencer's mind, because Danny had been feeling a push to travel to the Holy Land on his own. Things worked out and I can safely say we each came back touched by the things we saw and feel differently after walking in the steps of Christ.

I have no idea if I will be able to go through every single day and recount what happened, but our (Spencer, Danny and myself) first day was exceptionally memorable for me. We covered so much ground it's difficult to believe how much we were able to see.  We started out with a breakfast of coffee and omelets provided by our hotel (Jerusalem Panorama) and we disembarked. Our hotel was situated just northwest of the outer wall of the old city. We started out with no idea where we were going, we just started walking. Less than half a mile from where we started we were pointed to the Garden of Gethsemane by a couple cab drivers. This is also the area where Mary is believed (instead of typing "is believed" over and over again, let's just assume that whenever I say that it "is" where something happened) to have been buried.

We came up from the Garden of Gethsemane to find the same cabbies there offering tours of the Mount of Olives. We went into a lovely area where there was a church and a grove of olive trees. We then went to a Russian Orthodox cathedral on the hill named in honor of Mary Magdalene (the gold dome of the cathedral is situated directly opposite of the Golden Gates, which have been sealed, but Christ will walk through once he returns). Our tour guide then told us of several opportunities we should take advantage of, the first being a trip to Bethlehem.

He called a taxi friend of his that picked us up. On the way we stopped at the area where Jesus ascended. To keep different Christian groups from fighting over the place, the keys are controlled by a group of Muslims. Inside the gate a concrete structure was erected to protect the spot from the elements. It is an unremarkable building for what took place there. We departed and took our short ride to Bethlehem. The trip to Bethlehem actually takes you into Palestine (where Bethlehem is located). Along the way our cabbie was telling us about the history of the wall separating Palestine from Israel.

Upon arriving, we were shown the entrance of the church that was constructed around where Jesus was born. The front opening is small, this has two purposes. First, is that it detracted people from bring animals into what is considered a holy place. It would be absolutely impossible for a horse to squeeze through the door, which is what they were afraid of. Secondly, there is no conceivable way to enter standing upright. The door forces people to show reverence for the place by bowing as you enter. Inside, behind the alter, is the area marking where Jesus was born and the manger in which he was placed. It is very ornately done, but dark and somewhat difficult to see.

After leaving the church we were taken to a shop that specializes in olive wood carving. There are some absolutely beautiful pieces in the shop. The nice lady that ran the store offered us tea and treated us to lunch of falafel and humus. We purchased some souvenirs and left to rejoin our original tour guide back in the old part of Jerusalem.

We walked the Via Della Rosa from where Jesus was imprisoned, through the stations of the cross (including the areas he fell under the weight of the cross) all the way to the Holy Sepulchre (The Holy Sepulchre is an enormous building built on top of Golgotha). Outside the Holy Sepulchre is the place where Jesus was disrobed and flogged before being crucified. The crusaders built it and it has been built on since that point. We had the timing exactly right, because we entered when there was hardly anyone there. The three of us were able to touch the top of the rock (very moving experience to think that I was able to touch an area where Jesus bled and died, words cannot possibly do the experience justice) and then made our way to the place where Christ was entombed. The part of the trip was probably the most somber, not much was said.

We exited the Holy Sepulchre and parted ways with our tour guide. On that first day we were able to see the place where Jesus was born, where he was before being arrested, where he died and was buried and where he ascended from this realm. All in all, a pretty good day.