Shalom Jerusalem

Well, it's very close to that time when we will say, "Shalom, Jerusalem." It's with mixed feelings that Larry and I are leaving this very special city for our home in Indiana. We have had a very positive experience here, made new friends, learned more about the complexities of life in Israel and how difficult it is to be unbiased as it relates to the Palestinian/Israeli peace talks. I am so grateful for the contacts we have made, the opportunities to travel throughout Israel and Jordan, and to see God's faithfulness throughout our stay. Now it's time to say farewell and adjust back to life in Upland, Indiana. We are excited about seeing our family and friends again and look forward to sharing with them our pictures and stories. I hear it is cold in Upland with light snow, so as I sit here with my sandals on I realize I will miss the sunshine we have had every day since we have been here. I have already written about the extreme heat we felt through September, October and part of November. Temperatures have moderated but we are still in the 70's.

It's been unbelievable weather wise. The Jerusalem Post described the Israeli Cabinet meeting that met to discuss the drought conditions and what to do in light of the lack of rain. Some are predicting the rains will not start until January. I certainly hope and pray it will yet be this month.

Our last week in Jerusalem has been one of our most fascinating. On Sunday afternoon we toured the Yad Vashem Memorial to the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Even though I have seen some of these photos before, I was shaken. To visually see and read about the systematic extermination of a people is heartbreaking. The museum has been totally remodeled since our student days years ago and it is amazing. The photos of the children in the Warsaw Ghetto with their bodies reflecting all the signs of starvation and standing alone by themselves crying without anyone caring for them have been imprinted on my mind. O Lord, may this never happen again! With anti-semitism on the rise and the demonization of the Jews, I feel the need to remind Christians that our Savior came to earth as a Jew and to do all we can in our everyday lives to halt this insidious hatred and to speak out against derogatory remarks that are made against any people group--not just the Jewish people.

On Monday afternoon we joined the Christian Communities in the Middle East class taught by Dr. Petra Heldt for a tour of the area surrounding the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which encloses Golgotha and the tomb where Jesus rose from the dead. It is huge. Dr. Heldt is a German Luthern who came to Israel over 30 years ago to study at Hebrew University. She has been here ever since and was even burned as a result of a suicide bomber in the Mahane Yehuda Souk in the "new city" area during one of the Intifadas. She is a healing force in this land for peace. She took us to the roof of the church and the views of the Mt. of Olives and the Temple Mount area were fantastic. We went into each section that surrounds the church--the Greek Orthodox, the Coptic, the Ethiopic, and the Catholic. We were even allowed to enter the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate's private chapel with icons from the 7th and 8th century that were absolutely beautiful. Over 2,000 families and monks live in the Greek Orthodox section with schools, chapels, and apartments. It's like a tiny city within another city. While visiting the Coptic Church chapel we met a priest who prayed a blessing over us and then as we went to leave we discovered we were locked in the courtyard area. No one was around to open the gate. We started walking around to find someone and finally a man came out of his apartment and we tried to explain we needed to get out or we would have to sleep there. When he heard that he just burst out laughing, "Sleep here!" He managed to get someone to open the gate but it was an interesting experience as it was getting dark and stray cats were running everywhere. The Old City is full of cats and rarely do I see any dogs there. Both Larry and I found this entire experience at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre fantastic and we felt so privileged to be seeing this wonderful area. It covers almost an entire block within the Old City.

On Tuesday Larry and I decided to walk on the walls of Jerusalem. It's called the Rampart's Walk and we chose the northern Rampart's Walk. Even though Nehemiah walked around the entire walls of the city of Jerusalem, we can no longer do that. There are restrictions that no longer allow people to walk the wall near the Temple Mount area. We walked from the Jaffa Gate area to Lion's Gate (also known as St. Stephen's Gate). It was quite a workout for us as the stairs are steep, deep, and in some places very narrow but the view was certainly worth all of that. We were the only ones there in the afternoon so we could go at our own pace. These walls were built by Suleiman the Great around the 16th century. The present wall does not follow exactly the walls that surrounded the city in the days of Jesus. Again, I chalked that up as another memorable experience.

Students are staying up all hours of the night studying, finishing papers. . .and also having a lot of fun! One of our male students ran a Marathon this morning between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. He had wanted to run in the Jordan Marathon but it did not work for his schedule so he ran his own marathon with other students working his own personal water station. He had to run a total of three round-trips between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. I was surprised when he told me later that he still had a final to study for and a paper to finish by 5:00 pm tomorrow! Each to his own. He planned to sleep a little and then get up and probably study most of the night. Ahhh...the life of a college student.

I've certainly enjoyed some extra reading this week and also studying the words "grace" and "mercy" in light of my book project. After reading more intently I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles, I hope to teach a series on the Kings of Judah and Israel at some point in the future for my Ladies Bible Study. There are so many lessons we can learn from these men and those around them. Yes, Scripture has opened up to me in new ways during these months.

Recently, I enjoyed reading Anne Bronte's The Tennant of Wildfell Hall and now I'm reading P. D. Wodehouse's My Man Jeeves. It's some light entertaining reading. National Geographic has a wonderful article on King David and the debate among archaeologists about whether David and Solomon really ruled a large Kingdom. It's been fun for me to pick and choose a variety of books and articles to read while I have been in Israel.

The verse God gave me for this journey is just as precious to me today as when I first claimed this promise back in August for our time in Israel. The verse is Isaiah 33:6. . .He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure. God's presence, love, mercy and grace have been my anchor during these days and, dear reader, He can be all of that and more for you too.

Since we depart for home on Sunday, I won't be writing in my blog for several weeks since Christmas is just around the corner. I'm hoping to wrap up my blog with some overall impressions and reflections after I have acclimated myself to life back in the good 'ole USA.
Thanks to those of you who have made comments and contacted me by email about your observations. A blessed Christmas to all of you!