November 7, 2004

It's Sunday! It was a quiet day for prayer and reflection. We met together as a class, with our two spiritual helpers, Brother Mark and Brother Timothy. We meditated on a Psalm and planned our day of quietness and relfection. Of course, we went to church not long after that! I was able to be quiet for a while. Sometimes I wish I was more the contemplative type. We had lunch after church, and we did not talk to each other. One of the Brothers read to us. After a few quiet moments in my room, I grabbed my camera and went to the Old City. I had two goals. One was to see the Armenian Quarter and the other was to walk on the ramparts of the wall of the city. I did plan to be quiet and reflective, just not alone in my room. The Armenian Quarter is much quieter than the other sections of the city, but it's just as easy to get lost there. I made my way back to the Jaffa Gate, which is where people can buy a ticket to climb up and walk the ramparts of the old wall.

I was struck once again with the barriers in this city and in this land. The present wall dates from the 15th century or so, so it is fairly recent! There has been a wall around the city for most of its' existence. You can see parts of the older walls in places. The wall was for protection against invading enemies. I guess the various walls worked, at least for a time, then they were torn down, or a way was made through them. It is not difficult to move in my thinking from walls made of stone, brick, concrete or iron, to the walls and barriers that we surround ourselves with. The rationale is the same. We build walls to protect ourselves. We have been hurt before and we don't want to be hurt again. We find ways to prevent others from getting too close.

This land would be better off and we would be better off if we found ways to make peace. Instead of walls, we could listen. Instead of walls, we could see and say nice things about each other. Instead of avoiding any possible risk, we could find ways to take a few risks. Taking risks are the blocks that hope is built on, both for us and those we take the risks with.

My pictures today are of the wall surrounding the city. A couple of the pictures are taken through spaces in the wall, or even over the wall. On this peaceful, quiet and reflective Sunday, I pray for you to have courage: courage to listen to each other: courage to tell the real truth in ways that can be heard and courage to trust God. I know, its' a risk.

Peace,

Ralph+

November 8, 2004

Today was our last day of class. I"m halfway through! The Palestine of Jesus class is over and Wednesday will begin classes for Exodus, Journey to Freedom. We get the updated schedule tomorrow, but I believe that we leave for Cairo on Thursday. We began our day in class, looking at Luke 24:13-27. It is where two disciples encounter Jesus on the road to Emmaus. we Spent some time pondering the theories about where Emmaus might have been, but more than that, we looked and prayed about what the story means for us today. Do we recognize Jesus when we are friendly to a stranger? When we invite the stranger to a meal with us?

After class, we went to one of the places that might have been Emmaus. On the site is a church that dates back to the Crusader days. The building was not torn down when they were conquered! The first picuture is a shot of the inside of the church. Lots of stone and the remains of frescos that were painted on the walls and columns. When the Muslims conquered the Crusaders, they didn't tear down the church, but they plastered over the frescos. In recent days, the frescos have been uncovered and I will show you some of those pictures when I get back. On the outside of the church, you can see our course lecturer, Henry Carse pointing out a stone that was used in the church that has inscriptions on it that date back to the Romans. We had communion in that church today.

After viewing the church, and having communion, we talked to one of the monks who live there. He had just finished talking to young Israelis who are becoming soldiers. This is one of their few tastes of what Christianity and Christians are like. Brother Oliver is a monk from France, who not only speaks English, but speaks Hebrew and knows the lingo and jokes of the Israeli military. He gets rappor and helps grow understanding in a land where every little bit helps.

Then we went to lunch! I know some of you were waiting for this. It was a typical Middle Eastern lunch. Some of the salads are in the last photo. Hummus is my favorite. It is ground chick peas, with garlic and other spices. You can't see the falafel, which is another of my favorites. Tomorrow is an off day, but I plan to go to the temple mount and see the Dome of the Rock. Later, a few classmates and I will walk to a museum. Pray for me. I've heard bad things about the bathrooms in some of the places I'll be going;)

Ralph+