Various Jerusalem Sites

We saw so much on Thursday that there is no way I am going to remember everything...

We started out at the Dome of the Rock and saw the whole complex that is the Islamic centre in Jerusalem.  You have to go through security to get in, and then the ramp that leads into the complex runs sort of beside/above the Wailing Wall so we got a good view of that from above.  It was a Thursday, which is when Bar Mitzvah's are celebrated, so there was a huge party going on (more on that a little later).

The Dome of the Rock itself is built on the place where Muslim's believe that Muhammed ascended to Heaven to speak with Allah.  It also happens to be the same area that the Jewish Temple was previously built.  This means that the area is heavily contested and is maintained by the Jordanian's, as there is no way anyone in the area could maintain it without bias.  It is gorgeous and I'm sure that pictures won't do it justice - it is completely covered in tiles in mosaic form and is mostly blue, with the gold top.

There is also a mosque in the same area, that is massive.  As Christians, we were not allowed inside (I guess there was some sort of violent attack(s) about 10 years ago by Christians, so it is now forbidden in these places).

On our way out we walked past the Golden Gate, which is one of the gates that leads into the Old City of Jerusalem.  It is sealed, waiting for the return of Jesus.  We also got a good view of the Mount of Olives, this time from the other side of the Kidron Valley, so that was kind of cool.

We then went through the Lion's Gate to this church called St. Anne's which had crrrazzzy acoustics.  Jim and Anthony sang for us (they are amazing) and it sounded incredible in there.  This church is said to be the birthplace of the Virgin Mary (there are basically Catholic Churches everywhere that anything remotely important happened or is said to have happened).  It is also right next to the Pools of Bethesda, which was really cool to see.  There was no water there, but you could see the deep quarries and the steps leading down.  You might remember in John chapter 5, the crippled man who was waiting to go down into the pool for healing, but Jesus came and healed him instead.  These are those pools.

We then walked up the Via Dolorosa (meaning "the way of grief" - the way that Jesus would have walked carrying the cross) to the place where Pontius Pilate would have been.  (I got kind of confused this day on all the dates and people and places, because pretty much all the ruins that are there are from the Herodian/Byzantine periods, but at least I know which places things happened.)

We then went to the Western Wall (aka the Wailing Wall) and saw that.  It's kind of interesting because the men and women are separated, so Kate, Nikki and I had to go to our own "section" of the wall.  Like I mentioned earlier, there were Bar Mitzvah's being celebrated (the Jewish boy's coming of age basically where he reads the Torah in public for the first time.  For the mom's to see, they have to stand on chairs and look over the dividing wall between the men and women's sections).  It was a huge party earlier in the day, but was pretty much dying out by the time we got there.  People put little prayers on paper and stick it in the holes in the wall.

On our way out, Kate and I had rolled up our sleeves because of the heat and the "fashion police" immediately told us to cover our arms again.  Then Mariano, Kate and I stopped to take a picture and our group kept walking so we got kind of lost.

We found each other shortly thereafter, and proceeded to the Zion Gate (walking past our tour guides house where we met his children and his mother in law).  At the Zion Gate is a church marking the burial spot of King David, the "Upper Room", and another church which has a meaning that I forget (I was pretty worn out from all the places, names and dates this day...)  I think the last church was just a cool church that has this underground "crypt" kind of place with a lifesize figure of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Kind of interesting.

We were pretty exhausted from all the things we saw and all the walking that day, especially in the heat, so we pretty much just took it easy on Thursday night.  I spent a solid chunk of time journalling, which was really good and basically just hung out.  (I think Nikki and I might have watched The Notebook on TV this night (it might have been another night, I forget), which was nice to just veg and hang out.)

Anyways, I'm trying to use this blog to document what happens and just journal about what I'm feeling and learning and what God is speaking to me, because there is simply too much to write it all down.

We get a lot of sleep every night, which is A-Mazing, and I so need it, with all the heat and walking and just plain mental, emotional and spiritual exhaustion from all the things we are seeing and hearing and learning.  But I'm not sick and God is good, so it's awesome!