3/3 - Some More of Jerusalem

3/3
This was another blustery and cold day, but no snow. We drove across the Kidron Valley to the Mt. of Olives. A tear-soaked King David climbed this mountain as he fled Jerusalem and his son Absalom’s coup. At the top of the mountain, David would have had a wonderful view of his capitol city in one direction, and the Judean wilderness in the other. David had spent a great deal of time fleeing from Saul in the wilderness, and now he was returning there again. Jesus also took in this view on what we celebrate as Palm Sunday, but he was not fleeing the city for the wilderness, quite the opposite. He was entering the city for his final week of life. The clouds didn’t do much for the view from the Mt. of Olives, but we occasionally got enough of a reprieve for some photos. Then, those of us who were brave enough to dare the steep and wet hills, began the same walk down into the Valley that Jesus would have taken on Palm Sunday. Our route took us into the Garden of Gethsemane where we walked among 2,000 year old olive trees and spent a few minutes at the Church of All Nations, which claims to house the very rock on which Jesus prayed.
From Gethsemane we travelled to the Israeli Museum, which houses the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. While not necessarily spiritually edifying, the Scrolls are worth seeing. We also visited the Tower of David Museum housed inside Herod the Great’s former palace. This museum covers Israeli history from the time of the Canaanite’s to the founding of modern Israel. The museum closed early, so we had the rest of the day to relax at the hotel, or explore the Old City. After weaving our way through a maze of ancient streets, my father led me to the shop of the world renowned Khader Baidun, dealer in antiquities. If Indiana Jones were looking to purchase an artifact, he would call Baidun. We sat in his cramped workshop sipping tea, talking about family, looking at his picture in National Geographic, listening to him brag about the great men who had visited him, and negotiating the price of owning pieces of history. Baidun is nothing if not generous, and for the price of $160 allowed me to purchase some modest artifacts and sign my name in the famous guestbook along with the likes of Chuck Swindoll and Joe Kennedy.

One of the things amazing things about this country is how peaceful it is considering the diversity it contains. Jerusalem truly is an international city. One is just as likely to run into an American, or German, or Nigerian, as an Israeli. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Mosque of Omar stand next door to one another. As I was waiting to get into the church for another visit this afternoon I heard a chanting sound that I couldn’t initially place. Then I realized that it was coming from a doorway just outside of the church and it was a group of Muslims praying. This wasn’t an unusual event, in fact it probably happens multiple times a day. For all we Americans hear about tensions in the Middle East, and there are very real tensions here, Jews, Muslims, Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and all of us tourists get along quite peacefully despite living on top of each other every day. If there is any evidence for the activity of the Holy Spirit is inspiring peace, unity and understanding while restraining anger and violence, it is the Old City of Jerusalem. Yes, violence has happened here, and probably will again, but understanding the proximity of this diversity in such a small area, and admitting that the violence is only a parenthesis to daily life, makes one appreciate the work of the Spirit in the world.