Day 0 & 1, From Father Jim, Arrival and First Day in Jerusalem

Today's Slideshow

Day 0: Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

It was a travel day: Washington to Paris, Paris to Tel Aviv. Turbulence on the first leg, right at dinner time, forced the attendants to wait past the two hour deadline to serve food. Health regulations do not allow for the service of food if it has been warmed for two hours. But it was past dinner time and the hoards were hungry. So the passengers just went into the galley and helped themselves. Soon passengers were strolling up and down the aisles with trays, balanced precariously, in their hands. I have never seen anything like it! It all turned out OK. I ate, having stood in line myself, and ten hours later I'm still feeling fine.

We arrived Saturday, which being the Jewish Sabbath, the bus ride into Jerusalem to the place we are staying, St George's Guesthouse, College, and Cathedral (home of the Anglican Diocese in Jerusalem), was easy. We met with our fellow pilgrims, from Warwick, New York and Woodside, California and had dinner. We had a meeting with our guide, Iyad, and fell into bed.

Day One: Jerusalem

Father Jim with The Most Reverend Suheil 

Dawani, Archbishop of the Diocese of Jerusalem.

After breakfast, we started with an introductory session led by our assistant guide, Father Mark, who is a priest from San Francisco. He has been working with Iyad for several years. Using maps we laid out the old city in an attempt to get our bearings and then we watched a 60-minute video that explained the plight of Palestinian Christians who were once 20 percent of the population in this country and are now under two. It's all very complicated, but the thrust of the video and our discussion after was how the conflict between Israeli Jews and the Arab Muslim is catching the Christians in the middle and why many are still leaving the country. We went to the eleven o'clock Eucharist at the Cathedral, had lunch and an audience with the Archbishop of the Diocese, which was fun because he was at the Seminary the same time I was. We then walked down to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which we Anglicans call the Church of the Redeemer, stopping for lunch at a local shwarma shop. Really good!

Church of the Resurrection is a great hodge-podge of various chapels and other spaces over which it is presumed that Jesus was killed and buried. In the fourth century the Emperor Constantine sent his mother to find the place where Jesus died and was resurrected. We ran through it briefly, roughly getting the lay of the land, it is a very confusing place. We expect to go back during free time later in the week. It really is a fascinating place that six different denominations share, or maybe more accurately where each guard their "turf" jealously.

Afterwards we went back to Saint George's for a lecture from a Palestinian Muslim, political scientist. He was very interesting to listen to, as you can well imagine, with not much good to say about the difficulties Palestinians face in this time they call occupation. More on this for another time, because before I go I want to tell you something about our guide, Iyad Qumri. He introduces himself by saying: "I am an Arab, a Palestinian, and a Christian." Describing himself this way is telling. What he is one of a vanishing people. Since the first days, when Jews began to call themselves followers of Jesus, Pentecost, there have been Christians in this land. But that is rapidly changing. Being such a small minority, they have no great numbers that might create even a small safety net. Being Palestinian means that they are subject to all the restrictions and indignities that are inflicted daily. Living on the West Bank, it is impossible to work in Israel proper, where all the jobs are. Driving through an Israeli Army checkpoint can take 20 minutes or three hours. You can never predict.

And still the Diocese sponsors 20 schools (6,400 students), two full service hospitals and several clinics and facilities for the other abled. They support four guest houses for pilgrimages, and 27 parishes. With only the resources provided by people like us. (For more information checkout the website The American Friends of the Diocese of Jerusalem.) It's inspiring to see the work they do here. I am glad St Anne's sent us to come and to stand in solidarity with them.