Faces above places

Today is our last tour day. We left Amman, Jordan this morning and made our way back to Jerusalem, for a free afternoon. Along the way, however, we continued to stop and visit sites of importance.

We made a small detour to Jericho to visit the Mount of Temptation, which is the mountain on which Jesus was tempted by the devil during his 40-day fast.

As we waited for our bus, our group shared the best egg-shaped peanuts I have ever tasted, I am totally nuts about them now. Ba dum chhh! It is cool how sometimes random moments create such vivid memories on our taste buds.

The St George’s Monastery in Wadi Qelt was spectacular. It truly seems to grow out from the mountain. From the parking lot, it is a gruelling 10-minute hike to the view of the monastery-we were hassled by Bedouin vendors the entire way. Another unbelievable landscape was to be had. The location has religious significance as Wadi Qelt is thought to be the Biblical Valley of the Shadow (Psalm 23) and it lies parallel to the old Roman road to Jericho where the parable of the Good Samaritan was set (Luke 10:29-37).

We explored the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, perhaps the most significant church in Christianity. This church covers what we believe is the site of the most important event in human history: the place where Jesus Christ rose from the dead. As you enter the church, there is a stone slab which is said to be the one on which the body of Jesus was laid after he died. Many are moved with deep emotion to touch it. In the centre is a stone monument, which encloses the tomb (sepulchre) where it is believed Jesus Christ lay buried for three days — and where he rose from the dead. It had a wait time of approximately an hour and a half, so we were not able to see inside . On the outside of the church, there is an old ladder resting on a ledge. Commonly known as the “immovable ladder,” it has been left in almost the same position for hundreds of years as rival church denominations ( at least 6) can’t agree on what to do with it. Our guide called this church the Master of Disaster. Given the glory on the outside and disunity on the inside,my heart was saddened by this experience.

We stood in awe of the 2600 year old wall that surrounded Jerusalem’s western hill, during the reign of King Hezekiah.

Throughout the day we enjoyed people watching, snacking in the Muslim quarter and last minute souvenir shopping. Saturday is Shabbat, which gave us more insight into what it means not to work for the Jewish people. The elevator stops on every floor, so you don’t have to push the buttons. Special toilet paper that is pre-ripped into small squares lays now on the bathroom floors. Jewish families dressed in their best and very distinctive clothes, spending quality time together. It was a joyful day to roam around Jerusalem! (There was great joy in Jerusalem. II Chronicles 30:26)

It is 5am and time to make our way to the airport. I really love the way to say good-bye in Hebrew. Shalom u’lehitraot which translates goodbye until we meet again! What a truly welcoming, safe and hospitable culture Israel offered us. As we board the plane for home, I realize that my focus of travel is changing. My heart’s intention of exploring the world has always been to see places, to see the variety of it’s beauty ( waters, beaches, rocks, animals and architecture). However, God has shown me that faces are His story. It is faces that soften our hearts and grow our character. People, wherever in the world we are, are more alike than we are different. Yes, we look and sound diffetently but we all have families, jobs, love and heart ache in our daily lives. Being we were a Christian tour it often opened up the door for conversation with people of other faiths. And what I discovered is that when you hear someone’s God story, even if it is different than your view, you really truly feel like you know them. Every person is born in the image of God and if this becomes the focus of our travel it becomes much easier to answer the question: Who is my neighbour? Everyone! Everywhere! Help me Jesus to love like that.

[Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31]Læs mere