Holy Week in Israel--Part II

We are back home in Upland and settling into a routine....of sorts.  We are still processing all our experiences in Israel and living at Tantur.  Holy Week truly was a meaningful week in our lives as we participated in a Matins service at Tantur led by our Rector Father Tim Lowe, an Eastern Orthodox priest.  It was a beautiful service of hymns and liturgy sung by him, his wife, his daughter and his son-in-law.  What lovely acapella harmony!  I asked Tim, the son-in-law, what happens if the priest cannot sing?  He said, "It can be difficult," but the choir or a small set of singers certainly can enhance the service.  The words were beautiful and as the Tantur community sat in the chapel our hearts were touched as we listened and worshipped together.

On Good Friday evening we went to Jerusalem University College for their annual Triclenium Dinner put on by the class in Cultural Backgrounds.  This dinner is set on very low tables while the guests sit on the floor.  The tables are arranged in a U-shape and is reminiscent of the Passover Supper the Lord shared with his disciples on that fateful Friday.  The students came dressed in "Roman" attire and feet were washed before the guests entered the serving room.  Some of the students were our servers and we banqueted on dried fruit, nuts, a type of stew that we dipped into with our flat bread, some vegetables and a dessert of sweet cake.  JUC's Director, Dr. Paul Wright, spoke during the dinner and read scripture describing that special night, suggesting where Jesus, Peter, John and Judas may have sat in light of the questioning that occurred and overall set the tone for the evening and took on the role of the host.  It was a very moving and powerful experience for all of us.  Dr. Wright is certainly gifted in his ability to relive what that evening was like.  It was a memorable time.  We shared this experience with Jacob, our grandson, last year at this time so it was particularly special for us to be back in Jerusalem and relive that week Jacob shared with us.

Passover overlapped with Holy Week again this year so Jerusalem was packed.  Some of the traffic was redirected, schools were out and we could see children with their families dressed in their new outfits for Passover.  It's really a joyous time for the Jewish people and restaurants and stores were crowded.

Easter Sunday morning we worshipped at the Garden Tomb with three friends we met at Tantur--one from Ireland and two from Sweden.  It was a beautiful service and our Irish friend described the music as "Very lively."  The pastor for the service there had a roll call of the various continents that were represented.  What a joy to see these believers from all over the world.  It was a beautiful day full of sunshine and the service is held outside facing the empty tomb.  I believe they hold about five services on Easter Sunday.  We met up with our friend, Valerie Long, a student at Jerusalem University College and Taylor University graduate (a former student of Larry's) after the service and shared lunch with her at the Notre Dame Study Center in East Jerusalem.  It was fun for us to hear her discuss the various thesis topics she is considering for her MA thesis.  She is an amazing young woman who lived in Kenya for several years working among street children and then studied at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City and for three months traveled to various churches with a team of young people sharing the video "Nefarious" about the menace of sexual trafficking among young women.  What a difficult video to view but one God is using to open our eyes to the terrible plight these young women face.  We returned to Tantur for a special Easter dinner among the community living there.  The dining room was beautifully decorated and the meal was very special.  Sister Joseph from Australia was  radiant as she shared Easter greetings with everyone who was there.  Our hearts have been blessed and enriched as we have met Christians from all over the world who come to Tantur on Study Groups.

Three days later we caught a very early (5:00 am) flight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul then to New York City to spend four days with our daughter Alicia and family before heading back to Indiana.  It was a pleasant transition and time to deal with our jet lag before we arrived home.  We were particularly thankful for good neighbors when we arrived home and found that our hot water heater had been leaking while we were gone and they had turned it off for us so we did not have water problems.  One of the first items on the agenda was to replace the water heater.

I am very grateful that my dear mother, Doris Smith, is once again stable after being hospitalized once while we were gone and then again on our return.  We will be flying to California to spend Mother's Day with her.

This will be my last posting on this particular blog as I plan to launch a new blog on my own site in the near future.  I still have work to do on it and will notify you when it is up and running.  As I reflect on our recent Taylor University tour in Israel and then time at Tantur, I can honestly say I felt God's leading and direction in all the different people we met on the Tour, on field study trips with our Tantur friends, eating lunch in a Palestinian home, visiting the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, worshipping with Christians from around the world at Christ's Church and the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, and being reminded again how diverse and beautiful God's children are around the world.  Even though there are some doctrinal differences amongst our friends, the bond of faith in Jesus Christ binds us all together and gives me a hint of what it will be like when Jesus returns in all His glory and we are truly One in Him.