We visited Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (which is in occupied territory-our first visit). The first church was built in 300 A.D. over what is believed to be the cave in which Jesus was born. Like many buildings here, the first church was destroyed by some group and rebuilt by another group and improved on by another group.
It is an ornate and active church, but having waited for almost an hour in a line with the masses of humanity,
it was a little anti-climatic when we finally arrived at the silver star marking the birth place and the small piece of cave where the holy family stayed.
However, we had started the morning in the Garden of the Tomb- where some believe Jesus was laid after the crucifixion.
It was a beautiful garden, and while there were lines of people to view the small tomb, the garden was magical and quiet even though there were groups of people singing and sitting among the trees. Our group sat and sung songs and took communion. There was a sweetness and serenity to it.
Talking about trees! The other garden that i loved, strangely enough, was the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed before being captured and crucified. In this garden and the garden outside the Church of All Nations (or Basilica of Agony) there are wonderful olive trees. Some of the trees were 1500 years old! Can you imagine?
The trunks get wider as the trees get older, crack and holes develop and the canopy of leaves grow smaller. The trees are so powerful and insightful that they appear like real characters that have witnessed a lot of history.
We all gathered in the Garden of Gethsemame on Sunday morning- a minister from our group reflected on the moment that Jesus faced in the garden- realizing his destiny, laying down his fear and choosing to sacrifice his life to make life possible for others. He encouraged us to lay our fears and burdens down and to take up our purpose.
We prayed, sang songs and then walked across the way to the Church of All Nations where i sat in front of the piece of bedrock on which Jesus was said to pray before his arrest.
I was filled with gratitude and awe- like how hard it must be to give your life for others and would I ever have that much courage.
The church is on the Mt. of Olives which is in East Jerusalem outside the Old City. Way up high on the Mt.,you can see the city wall and the various Muslim domes. It is amazing to look down upon the Old City from there.
There is also a large beautiful grave yard on the Mount of Olives and the Kidron Valley is below. All the buildings in Jerusalem are required to be built using what they call Jerusalem stone- the white stone- so that everything looks uniform.
This part of the city is absolutely beautiful!
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