A Day in 'The Holy City'

It's been two years since I visited Jerusalem, but after living here for a semester in 2016 the city is familiar and feels like home in many ways. I'm staying at a hostel inside the Old City, the same place I stayed 5 years ago when I first visited Jerusalem. You always meet interesting people at hostels. My bed is on the roof, the nights are balmy and there is a beautiful view of the city.

View from the Hostel Rooftop; Domes of the Holy Sepulcher 

The Hostel's Common Room

Before the Shops Open

Streets of Jerusalem

Day 1:
I woke up at 3:30, partly because thats when the cool breezes hit and partly because of the call to prayer sounding across the city. At 5am I heard bells ringing at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, signaling that its doors were opened. This was first on my agenda, since I've never actually been inside the sepulcher itself. Unfortunately, the chapel was being used in services, and was not open to the pubic until 8. But at 6am the church was not crowded, and I found a peaceful spot to sit and read the crucifixion accounts while waiting to enter the sepulcher. It is a lovely thing to listen to the services taking place throughout the early morning, and reflect on Christ Jesus' love and sacrifice. A group of some of friars and nuns (I don't know what they would be properly called, or what church they were with, but they wore dark green robes) came and sang beautiful chants in a chapel near me. I thought it was beautiful that they sang so well, and in such harmony, and they were there close to 6:30am just to sing in worship of Christ, not performing to people. The word that came to my mind as I spent about an hour there was reverence. There is a deep and glorious gravity that hangs over the place.
I did get to see the inside of the sepulcher (one of the locations believed to be where Christ was buried and raised). It was a quick look, since they had to move the line along, and the tomb was converted entirely into a small chapel, save for a stone slab where Christ's body is thought to have lain.

Out and About
I picked up some fresh-baked bread for breakfast, but it was still too early for most the shops to open. So, I got a capuchino at Aroma Cafe and spent some time journaling while I waited for the city to wake up. Shopping can be fun - but it can also be frustrating. It's hard sometimes to find what you want, and hard to know what a fair price is. My biggest success of the day was haggling an olive wood figurine down from 200 shekels to 70 shekels (these vendors are good, though, somehow I always end up buying something I didn't have on my list at the beginning of the day)! After grabbing a delicious falafel pita at the Damascus Gate, I headed to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of all Nations to pray.

Spices!!

Damascus Gate

At the Garden of Gethsemane

There is a kitten living at the Garden :)

Church for all Nations

Reflections

The Holy Sepulcher

As I was meandering from place to place today, soaking in the ambiance, recalling good memories and spending some time reflecting, this concept stood out to me: "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galations 6:14) Several instances made me realize that I care about my own image and how people perceive me far more than I care to admit - even to myself. But what is man? A fleeting breath. All that we have of substance to lay claim to is Christ Jesus, who called me friend and made me his co-heir as a child of God. There is such an observance of religion here in Jerusalem, it's a stark contrast to day-to-day life in Chicago. Spending time in the church of the Holy Sepulcher, a pilgrimage site for so many, I was reminded that Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection is the most important truth and must dictate how I live. I am a bondservant of Christ and each aspect of who I am must be drawn from that, not from my own futile ego.