Jerusalem and Bethlehem

We spent the day in the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  The husband of a friend of Oren’s mother has been a tour guide for 45 years.  He only gives private tours now and we were blessed to have him take us into the Old City of Jerusalem.  We were able to pray at what we call the Jewish Wailing Wall which is actually a retaining wall built for the second temple.  We also visited the shrines in the Old city, walked along the Via Delarosa, visited the church of the Holy Sepulchre, and walked through the Arab market.  It was good to visit and get a sense of the topography.  It’s probably true as Bishop Arends has noted that although the sites may or may not be “the” ones, the fact that millions of people have come to these spots to confess their faith is amazing.

The trip to Bethlehem was a little more complicated.  Bethlehem is on the Palestinian side of the wall that Israel has constructed.   As a Jew our guide couldn’t go there, but he arranged for Christians on the other side to take us to the Church of the Nativity.  There Armenian Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and Greek Orthodox all have churches in the one building at the supposed site of the birth of Jesus. 

The political situation here, of course, is quite complicated.  Everyone wishes for peace, but finding it is difficult.  We can pray for that for them.