Wednesday, August 12th - Holy Land

Jerusalem (a.k.a. the Holy Land) is the most overwhelming places I’ve ever been… But don’t let this scare you! I knew this before I came. I decided to come to a city that is one of the most fought over in history and even in the present day. Why? Because it is the religious center of both Christianity and Judaism, and the arguably the third most sacred spot of Islam (Mecca, Medina). Everyone wants a piece of this place, and now that I’m here… I completely understand why! I have a lot of stuff to say so bear with my over the next few days as I try to explain all the things running through my head!

First from a religious and historical point of vew:
When I wake up in the morning, walk out the front door of the hostel, and take 10 paces to my left, I am taking steps that almost 2000 years ago were the same ones that Jesus was taking. The Via Dolorosa is the main street on which the Stations of the Cross occur, which culminates at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (which could use a blog of its own to explain all of its building history). I spent the majority of the day trudging through continuous market that is the labyrinthic streets of this ancient city, rising above the smells of spice and perfume shops, the wood carvings of crosses, and the calls from each and every day to come into a trinket shop focusing on the task at hand: Follow Jesus from his being striped of clothes, flagellation, and receiving the cross to his not so final resting place. Walking past churches and chapels that represent every last bit of his journey, I can see him fall once, twice… look towards his mother Mary, have his face wiped by Veronica; each spot identifiable by a roman numeral.

At last I arrive at the most holy place in Christianity… The Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The original building was founded around 330 AD (only 300 years after Christ’s death) by the mother of Emperor Constantine (who began what is known as the Byzantine period). The church has been continuously added onto or altered throughout its history and today is divided between the main denominations (so much so that a ladder has existed on the ledge below an upper story window since the church was divided centuries ago). Inside there are a series of spaces that have been added to the building over time, commemorating pieces of the biblical story. Inside the church are the final stations of the cross; where Jesus was nailed to the cross, raised on the cross (at a place known as Golgotha because of the skull below it that you can see in many frescoes and icons) where he dies, and where he was placed after death on the cross (sepulcher). What could be more powerful than this?

I have prayed while touching the place where Jesus, our Savior, was laid to rest…

Nothing has been as moving as these times in all of my travels. I have seen absolutely magnificent things, but nothing can compare to this experience.