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.
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