Cats

In an earlier post I mentioned that I seemed to be seeing a lot of cats in Jerusalem; but added the caveat that this might me just a subjective impression.

Well, now I'm quite convinced that it wasn't just subjective.

The Hero's Quest

Today's Gospel reading was the episode where Jesus, travelling up from Jericho, comes in sight of Jerusalem and weeps over it: "If you in your turn had only understood on this day the message of peace! But, alas, it is hidden from your eyes!" So, as you do, I decided to toddle over to the Mount of Olives to the place where this happened.

The church of Dominus Flevit ('the Lord wept') is probably not in the precise spot that Jesus shed his tears; but it's a good a guess as any, given that it sits more or less on the route that Jesus would have taken coming up from Jericho and has a good view of Jerusalem. The church is so oriented that it points directly towards the site of His crucifixion and resurrection, thus indicating the purpose of Jesus' journey.

The life of Jesus went as swift and straight as a thunderbolt. It was above all things dramatic; it did above all things consist in doing something that had to be done. It emphatically would not have been done, if Jesus had walked about the world forever doing nothing except tell the truth... The primary thing that he was going to do was to die... the story of Christ is the story of a journey, almost in the manner of a military march; certainly in the manner of the quest of a hero moving to his achievement or his doom.

(G. K. Chesterton, 'The Everlasting Man', Part 2, Chapter 3)

The cross behind the altar in the Dominus Flevit church lines up with the Holy Sepulchre (beyond
and slightly to the right of the golden Dome of the Rock) like the cross-hairs of a rifle's sights.

Having visited that church, I then went a little further up the Mount of Olives to the place where Jesus ascended into heaven. His quest was achieved.

Jerusalem: First Impressions (Part 2)

Here continues my alphabetical jumble of initial observations and thoughts from my first six days in Jerusalem.

Languages

Because of the gathering of nations, all kinds of languages can be heard. But the main languages are Hebrew, Arabic, and English. And in fact all the street signs are in those three languages. Which is helpful for trying to pick up again my reading of Hebrew script, for a start. So far I have only a handful of words in Hebrew or Arabic that I can speak.

Mary

What I said in the previous post about feeling closer to Jesus can mostly apply also to Mary. And her imprint on Jerusalem is more marked than I expected, with shrines marking the (reputed) places where she was born, died, and was buried. She’s no bit-player. Even the imam who gave me a copy of the Qur’an encouraged me to start with the chapter headed ‘Mary’.

Muslims
Islam is also no bit-player in Jerusalem. After all, the city was under Muslim control for most of the last 14 centuries. There is still a large Muslim population in the Old City, and pilgrims come to the Dome of the Rock from all over the world. Other sites, like the place of Christ’s ascension, remain in Muslim hands.

Olive

There are olive trees all over the place, although there isn’t much room for them in the more crowded parts of the Old City, as well as olive oil, olives themselves, and items made of olive wood. I’m here at the end of the olive season, and I was sad to see that the olive trees in the parks are just left to shed their fruit on the ground.

Peace
‘Jerusalem’ means ‘tower of peace’; but for much of its history it has not lived up to its name. The shadow of war still looms over the city. I didn’t at first see many soldiers around, but that changed over the last couple of days (I’m not sure why), and there is always a strong police presence. From little monuments around the place, and overheard commentary from tour guides, I also gather that the recent military history of Jerusalem is very significant for the Jews. They (or many of them, anyway) see the current situation as the result of a war of independence and liberation. But, like everyone else, they realise that war isn’t quite over yet. The day-to-day reality in Jerusalem itself is people living side-by-side in peace, and that holds out a hope of what might be possible. But it’s a wary peace.

Sabbath
I thought that Sabbath would be a very quiet day. But while most businesses would be closed, there were plenty of people out and about. It seems the Sabbath is a day for families to go out walking together. And in the Old City most of the shops were still open, run as they were by Muslims or Christians. With each religion having a different day off, the city never really stops.

Sparrows

Plenty of sparrows around, which keeps bringing to my mind the words, “Even the sparrow herself finds a home…” So it was especially delightful to see some of them chirruping and flying in and out of the bushes that grow on the Western Wall, all that remains of the Temple.

Sunday

Because of Muslim Friday prayers and the Sabbath on Saturday, Sunday is like Monday – the beginning of the working week.

Warmth

Daily temperatures have been consistently around 20C, and it doesn’t get particularly cold at night. Apparently some sort of winter will get here eventually, but right now it isn’t much different from summer for me.

Water

Although we have water on tap, and there is a lot of greenery around, there are reminders that water is a scarce resource. Like the general dryness of non-irrigated land (even the cacti are looking rather sorry for themselves) and signs warning us that the parks are irrigated with effluents. Along with the knowledge that the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are shrinking due to irrigation, and that Palestinians don’t get their fair share of this resource, I feel quite conscious of all the water I use.

Western Wall

I enjoyed my visit to the Western Wall, although I was slightly disappointed that it didn’t live up to its popular name, ‘the Wailing Wall’. It was intriguing to see some structure that I could be certain Jesus had also seen and maybe even touched. But I wasn’t inclined to go up and touch it myself, still less to leave a prayer in the crevices of the wall, as is the custom. I just felt that that is for the Jews. Our Temple is something other. And again a verse of Scripture came to my mind: “You see all these buildings? I tell you that not one stone will be left standing on another.”

UPDATE: After two months in Jerusalem I have done a post correcting some of the above first impressions. You can read it here.

Jerusalem: First Impressions (Part 1)

Well, I’ve been here for six days now. For many a pilgrim to the Holy Land, that’s all the time they’d get to acquaint themselves with Jerusalem. But I’ll be here until August next year, God willing. So at the moment I am just garnering some initial impressions, which at the moment are half-formed and rather subjective. They will also be limited by the fact that so far I’ve not even seen all of Jerusalem’s holy sites, never mind gone across the border to Bethlehem or places like that. I’m letting myself take it slowly, and these reflections are offered as a beginning, not as a complete article.

Yesterday morning, while I was sitting in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, quietly watching the pilgrims queuing to see inside Jesus’ tomb, I was approached by one visitor who asked, “Excuse me, what is in there?” I smiled and replied, “Very importantly: nothing.” And that might be an overall sense of Jerusalem so far – a place where what’s not there can be as important, if not more important than, what is there.

So, here are some hastily-noted impressions, gathered under alphabetical headings in a vain attempt to disguise their otherwise disorganised nature.

Beggars

Very few of these. So far I have seen only two. This surprises me.

Brightness

The prevalent sunshine is unfamiliar for a man from the grey and damp island of Britain, especially in November. Combined with the tendency to build in the local light-coloured stone, the overall effect is quite bright. It makes the narrow streets of the Old City, which could be oppressive, actually feel light.

Cats

This could be a totally subjective impression; but I seem to be seeing more cats and less dogs than back home in Britain. The friary alone has three cats. But they don’t come into the house (or the church).

Chance meetings

In my visits to Rome I found that it was nearly impossible to go from one side to another of St Peter’s Square without meeting someone I know (or at least someone who knows me and whom I vaguely recognise). I kind of expected it would be the same in Jerusalem. But so far I haven’t run into anyone I know. I guess that shows that the people here are gathered from a much wider circle. On the other hand, half the people who’ve approached me to ask directions or other information have turned out to be British. I guess that shows that I look sufficiently British to make them think, “There’s someone who might understand me.”

City walls

The sturdy and complete walls of the Old City help the association with the city of Bible times, when the walls and gates were an important factor, both practically and symbolically. The likeness is slightly deceptive, however, in that the current walls enclose places that were once outside them (e.g. the place of the Crucifixion) and don’t include places that were once inside the city (e.g. David’s tomb). Jerusalem’s centre-of-gravity has shifted.

Cleanliness

Everything seems quite clean. The streets of the Old City are washed every morning and litter-pickers pass through during the day. I don’t know how they keep the buildings clean. Back in London the light stones mentioned above would soon become grimy.

Franciscans

It’s not that Franciscan friars are everywhere; but they are a very common sight, especially in and around the Old City. And of course there are plenty of other friars, monks, nuns, and sisters of various religious orders, and beards there are a-plenty too. So I’m in the unfamiliar position of being mostly unremarkable. Even for the new tourists and pilgrims I am only one strange religious creature among many.

Gentiles

“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and all the nations shall flow to it.” And it really is a gathering of the nations here. In a short space of time you can spot (or hear – often it’s the accent that gives them away) people from every continent. Except possibly Antarctica.

Holy Sepulchre

This basilica is the most important site for Christians, containing as it does the place of Jesus’ crucifixion and the place of His burial and resurrection. To be able to touch the (traditionally-reputed) rock upon which the Cross was erected was a sorrowful but also strangely sweet experience. Despite the vastly different setting (a busy and highly decorated church rather than a barren hilltop), I was briefly transported back two thousand years. Likewise for the place of the Resurrection, where everything changed for the world, to touch my forehead against it in gratitude also involved a flicker of awe.

Even before that, however, when I was outside the Edicule that contains the empty tomb, postponing a visit inside, the words of the angel, “He is not here, He has risen,” kept echoing in my mind. All those pilgrims were coming, not because Jesus is there, but because He is no longer there. Hence the further words of the angel: “Come and see the place where they laid Him.” In a similar way, when watching the international crowd shuffling forward to venerate the place of the crucifixion, the words that came to me were: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all people to Myself.”

Hustle and bustle

The streets of Jerusalem and many of the holy places are far from reverentially quiet. There is constant conversation, the explanations of guides and questions of the pilgrims and tourists, the tears and the hymns of the faithful, and out on the streets the calling of the vendors, to say nothing of the constant jockeying for position and the taking of pictures. The Way of the Cross on Friday was particularly restless: no sooner had one station been visited and prayers said but we were off at speed among the crowds to the next station. Many people would be stopping to pray with us; but others would be pushing past, or simply carrying on chatting in the front of their shops. As one of the brothers pointed out, it would have been the same at the original Way of the Cross – no time to stop and think, and most people carrying on with their lives regardless.

Jesus

Unsurprisingly, going to these significant places in Jesus’ story and even simply walking in areas that He walked help me to feel closer to Him. I can understand Him a little better and feel that I’ve got more in common with Him. Paradoxically, however, visiting the holy places also increases my appreciation and awareness of His presence in other places. One of the effects of my first visit to the Holy Sepulchre was a desire to spend more time with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. “He is here, because He has risen.”

Jews

I’ve never seen so many Jews – after all, about 45% of the world’s Jewish population is concentrated in Israel – and they seem to come in all types, shapes, sizes, and skin colours. There is a typical ethnic appearance that a lot of the Jews share, but there’s plenty of variety on the outer parts of the bell curve. And of course, they also vary in religious convictions – from ultra-orthodox to non-believing.

Seeing so many Jews all together helped me to realise what a relief it must be for them, when they’ve spent the last two thousand years being a minority wherever they are, to actually be in a country that’s majority-Jewish. A bit like how Catholics from Britain feel when they visit Ireland, for example. I can see a bit more of how important the modern state of Israel is for the Jews, even without taking into account the significance of its particular geographical location.