Jerusalem

By Belinda

We dismounted our camels. Our guide Danny said the story goes that when God had created all of the animals, he had a pile of spare parts left over so he put them all together and made the camel. That would explain a lot! They sure did look and feel like an ungainly hodge-podgy creature, with the exception of their oddly long, glamorous eye lashes.

The Judean desert was left behind us as we drove towards the place we would be staying for the remainder of our time in Israel; the centre of strife throughout history; the scene of the most significant events in the Jewish and Christian faiths, and the place of our imaginations and dreams--Jerusalem.

As we drove towards it my anticipation grew. It felt like the ultimate in "Are we there yet?" moments. The bus grew quieter, I think we all felt the same deep emotions, but for each of us there were no words...

Pastor Dave stood up and announced that we were about to enter the tunnel that would lead us into the city. Music began to play; the song, The Holy City, famously sung by Harry Secomb.

My heart felt as though it would burst with the emotions that welled up. As Jesus did two thousand years ago as he looked down on the city, I wept as we entered Jersualem.







 The Mount of Olives facing towards the Eastern Wall of Jerusalem

 Graves facing the Eastern Wall through which Messiah is prophesied to enter. The stones are left on the graves each time they are visited by a loved one.




Comments

Angcat said…
I can feel that tear filled anticipation as you enter the holy city.
What an honor to be there.
Thank you for chronicling this journey.
8:17 AM
Belinda said…
Ang, thank you for being interested in reading and sharing the experience. We'll soon be back but we are all different people coming home!
8:39 AM
Dave Hingsburger said…
Did you ever think you'd begin a blog post with 'we got off our camels' ... I join Angcat in her sentiment. I'm loving this series of blogs ... you've been number one on topblogs in the religion section for the whole day, so I'm not alone.
5:43 PM
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