Professor Tull borrowed my camera to take the following pictures at the Dead Sea:
Enjoy
A blog of Louisville Seminary students and friends traveling to Israel and Palestine in January, 2011.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Dead Sea Photos
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Garden Tomb and Traditional Sites
It's been a while since I was able to post on the blog... but the experiences here have been overwhelming. Today is the last day of our trip to Israel, and it marks a final high-point of hope on our way out of the country. We'll be stopping as a group at Neve Shalom (Oasis of Peace), a community built around mutual understanding. School is taught in both Hebrew and Arabic, and the people all live and work together. I'm really looking forward to touring this final stop before the airport!
This morning, we all shared a communion service, led by Thea. Following the communion service, a group of us went to the "Garden Tomb" - a sort of "alternate Golgotha/Calvary" run by the Anglican church (one of a very few number of Protestant-run sites!)
At the Garden Tomb, our guide, J.J. from Wimbledon, talked to us about the various sections of the tomb. First was the "Skull Hill" (a translation of Golgotha), which really did look like a skull... 150 years ago. (they had photos!) Today, it stands over a bus-station, which doesn't really lend itself to being a Holy Site.
Nearby the Skull Hill was the Garden Tomb - a "new tomb", carved into the rock itself. One side of the tomb was finished, with place for feet and a small incline for the head, but the other side was still roughed in; it may therefore have only been used for one person!
Outside the tomb, a shallow indentation in the stone marked where a heavy stone might have been, but no stone has yet been found. They did show an example stone, but it was too small to have adequately sealed the tomb.
What is particularly interesting to me about this site is that, unlike many of the other holy sites we visited on this trip, it was not covered over with a Church - and the guides and signs specifically mentioned that this was only a possibility of the location of the cross and tomb, not a surety. Which got me thinking: nearly everywhere we visited was labeled as "the traditional location of such-and-such", and pilgrims made a big deal about the ornate facets of rocks protruding from church floors. But this outside area, with constant reminders of the difficulty of proving authenticity, felt more holy to me than the traditional sites. Here, despite the carefully maintained gardens and outdoor chapels, I felt closer to understanding what the site would have looked like to Jesus - and thus, closer to Jesus in the process.
One thing that's come up over and over again on this trip has been "Holiness comes from inside". That is, the strength of your feelings at holy sites is directly propotional to how you experience holiness. It seems like a "duh!" statement, but realize that not everyone experiences holiness in the same way. To me, this fits neatly with the multiple-intelligences theory - because we learn differently, we feel different emotions when given the same stimuli. I don't begrudge those who feel holiness from massive, ornate churches - but my sense of the holy, my sense of God's closeness, comes to me more clearly in outdoor or ancient places.
I find the following to be sacred:
Un-altered places (or restored places)
Un-adorned places
Dark places
Old places
Stone places
The juxtaposition of Water, Stone, and Fire
Symbolic places (symbolic in themselves, not covered with symbols)
Gatherings of people worshiping together
Places of learning
Places of language
Places dedicated to mutual understanding
Where are your holy places? How does your choice of denomination reflect your feelings - or vice-versa?
This morning, we all shared a communion service, led by Thea. Following the communion service, a group of us went to the "Garden Tomb" - a sort of "alternate Golgotha/Calvary" run by the Anglican church (one of a very few number of Protestant-run sites!)
At the Garden Tomb, our guide, J.J. from Wimbledon, talked to us about the various sections of the tomb. First was the "Skull Hill" (a translation of Golgotha), which really did look like a skull... 150 years ago. (they had photos!) Today, it stands over a bus-station, which doesn't really lend itself to being a Holy Site.
Nearby the Skull Hill was the Garden Tomb - a "new tomb", carved into the rock itself. One side of the tomb was finished, with place for feet and a small incline for the head, but the other side was still roughed in; it may therefore have only been used for one person!
Outside the tomb, a shallow indentation in the stone marked where a heavy stone might have been, but no stone has yet been found. They did show an example stone, but it was too small to have adequately sealed the tomb.
What is particularly interesting to me about this site is that, unlike many of the other holy sites we visited on this trip, it was not covered over with a Church - and the guides and signs specifically mentioned that this was only a possibility of the location of the cross and tomb, not a surety. Which got me thinking: nearly everywhere we visited was labeled as "the traditional location of such-and-such", and pilgrims made a big deal about the ornate facets of rocks protruding from church floors. But this outside area, with constant reminders of the difficulty of proving authenticity, felt more holy to me than the traditional sites. Here, despite the carefully maintained gardens and outdoor chapels, I felt closer to understanding what the site would have looked like to Jesus - and thus, closer to Jesus in the process.
One thing that's come up over and over again on this trip has been "Holiness comes from inside". That is, the strength of your feelings at holy sites is directly propotional to how you experience holiness. It seems like a "duh!" statement, but realize that not everyone experiences holiness in the same way. To me, this fits neatly with the multiple-intelligences theory - because we learn differently, we feel different emotions when given the same stimuli. I don't begrudge those who feel holiness from massive, ornate churches - but my sense of the holy, my sense of God's closeness, comes to me more clearly in outdoor or ancient places.
I find the following to be sacred:
Un-altered places (or restored places)
Un-adorned places
Dark places
Old places
Stone places
The juxtaposition of Water, Stone, and Fire
Symbolic places (symbolic in themselves, not covered with symbols)
Gatherings of people worshiping together
Places of learning
Places of language
Places dedicated to mutual understanding
Where are your holy places? How does your choice of denomination reflect your feelings - or vice-versa?
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Quads of Steel!
Here are Jill and I on the wall around the Old City of Jerusalem which we walked today. We now have quads of steel after walking up and down gigantic stone steps on the various sections of the wall!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
On Mount Zion They Shall Play
Some things really are universal--like kids playing soccer. Photo taken at the gate to Mt. Zion.
Friday and Saturday
Friday: Holocaust Museum in the a.m. Very well done and very moving. Hard to watch some of the video eye witness accounts. Israel Museum in the p.m.--Dead Sea Scrolls and a wonderful modern art section--lots of impressionism which is right up my alley.
Saturday: In-depth tour with a guide who is a specialist in Jewish-Christain relationships. Very interesting! Spent quite a bit of time in the Holy Sepulchre (site of Jesus's tomb). Afterwards, went to Mount Zion --site of the Upper Room and David's Tomb. Returned to Western (Wailing) Wall--didn't see much difference today (Sabboth for the Jewish community) than we saw on Thursday.
Saturday: In-depth tour with a guide who is a specialist in Jewish-Christain relationships. Very interesting! Spent quite a bit of time in the Holy Sepulchre (site of Jesus's tomb). Afterwards, went to Mount Zion --site of the Upper Room and David's Tomb. Returned to Western (Wailing) Wall--didn't see much difference today (Sabboth for the Jewish community) than we saw on Thursday.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Sunny Skies
The last few days we have been hearing news from home about snow, ice and school closings...boy are we glad to be here! I just returned from a walk around the Old City and the weather here is amazing! Sunny skies and temps around 50-60. We are hoping with you that the snow and ice go away because sadly we fly home in just a few days and are hoping for good weather!
We had another wonderful day and will finish it with a visit to a local synagogue for worship. I am looking forward to worshipping with the people of Jerusalem.
Enjoy another snow day JCPS and LPTS!
We had another wonderful day and will finish it with a visit to a local synagogue for worship. I am looking forward to worshipping with the people of Jerusalem.
Enjoy another snow day JCPS and LPTS!
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