Sept 12, 2022
Hello From The Holy Land:
Our first full day based in Jerusalem started with a trip to Herodian - the city that Herod the Great built. He was the King of Israel when Jesus was born. When the wise men visited saying asking where might they find the one born King of the Jews, Herod most likely said you’re looking at him. When the wise men explained that the new king was just recently born, Herod grew paranoid about a rival. Eventually, hoping to end Jesus’, he ordered the death of all male children in Bethlehem, two years old and younger. We rarely hear of this biblical story in church, because it’s part of the Christmas story, and we usually want to keep the season bright, but maybe I ‘m doing us a disfavour by not preaching on the suffering that occurred on Jesus’ birth, and only focusing on the suffering that occurs at his death.
Anyway, Herod the Great was a paranoid, cruel king, but he was also a master builder. The temple he built on top of the mountain at Herodian was magnificent. The ruins were the best we have encountered so far. There are several archeological digs on the site, revealing incredible detail of the temple they have excavated. Also, since we were on top of a mountain, which was a hike to climb up, the view of the Palestinian quarter was incredible. The temple could have easily qualified as one of the seven wonders of the world, but that paranoid king had the temple torn down and the whole mountain covered over as his personal tomb when he died. Fortunately, excavation crews have brought the walls, columns and art works back to life for the honour of all lucky enough to come and see.
Next we went to Bethlehem. Our first stop was the Shepherds fields - the site where the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night, when lo, the Angel of the Lord appeared. While on the site, Kim volunteered to read the passage from Luke about the shepherds. while she was reading it, there was a mass being performed in a church nearby, and the choir was singing O Holy Night - beautiful background music as Kim read part of the story of the birth of Jesus. Many would call the choir singing and Kim reading at the same time coincidence. I see it as a sign of the presence of the Holy in our midst, and it warmed my heart so.
We then went to lunch, which had a pleasant surprise. After we had eaten, 10 of us were invited to come up on the dance floor to learn and perform a circle dance that is very popular among the locals. Kim and I, of course joined in. We were given costumes of Bedouins, thought the steps we needed to dance in a circle, and then our instructor started the music. It was great fun, and for a bunch of Canadians who didn’t know what we were doing, we were not have bad. It is privilege to be invited to participate in the cultural ways of another nation. I believe there would be greater peace in this world if we all did.
After lunch, off to the church of the Nativity. It’s a beautiful cathedral built and preserved by many orthodox Catholics throughout the centuries. The Greek orthodox, the Russian orthodox, the Armenian Orthadox, and the Coptic Orthadox have all added to the magnificence of this structure. Each have an area in the current Cathedral, and each have scheduled times when they come to a prayer service each day. They have all learned to share the building.
Take care and God Bless.
Ed