Elijah's Cave

Alessia (fluent in Arabic, an Italian) and Derek (fluent in Albanian, from Seattle) took me for a bob in the Dead Sea. (It was her (Alessia's) birthday party last night, we talked football - a dutch woman told me how they like chanting "Give us back our bicycles" at the Germans)

In Jericho we found The Sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed. I thought Zacchaeus was supposed to be a little man, the lowest branches here are pretty high, but then the tree has grown in last 2,000 years. I don't know about trees but I'm not sure this one is that old.

A long steep walk down into a Wadi and then a long climb up and up to St George's Khoziba Monastery where they asked me to pull my hobbit trousers down a bit more (they already covered the knee). At the top here is laid out the body of a monk who is incorrupted. That is to say that apart from being dead these last 400 odd years, he looks quite good for it. Above this chapel is Elijah's Cave where he was fed by Ravens (and why not here, I say!). An american group of Greek Orthodox burst into singing a Psalm with extemporary harmonising. Key spiritual moment of the day.

Its been 41degC down here so we went for a cold swim at Fawar and then to Ramallah. I'd been expecting this place to be mostly full of bulldozers levelling houses but its a fabulous place, vibrant and full of culture and fun. I daresay its got more than its fair share of problems but the people are kind and helpful.

Bethany barred

I went to see where Mike works (Luther compound on Mount of Olives, to the East of the Old City). There's a really tall church tower (223 steps) from where you can take really hazy photos. Then a 20 min walk to the Mosque of the Ascension. Here's where Jesus footprint is still in the stone and here's where He ascended. Hmm. But hey it must have happened somewhere hereish.

Turning west towards Bethpage (where Jesus' donkey came from and the Palm Sunday procession started) I shook the gate until they let me in. What I really really wanted to find was the Tomb of Lazarus in Bethany where he lived with Mary and Martha. So past the demolished home, (see above) up a path marked Ancient on my map but signed "For military vehicles only". My map says just go straight but there's The Big Wall here now and it would take me miles to go round it. Miffed. But then I'm not Lazarus trying to get in to Jerusalem.

Later I walked down the dusty Kidron Valley, listening to the call to worship coming from the Dome on the Rock to see the Tomb of Absalom (no it wasn't) and then up to Akeldama (where Judas hanged himself and maybe this is the spot). Four wild dogs came charging at me barking furiously, stood my ground and growled back, Mike says I should have picked up a stone, if I was really calm I'd've taken a photo. There's a monastery here that closed at 12noon but I wonder which day that was.

St Peter in Gallicantu

Somebody should do a Top Trumps for Holy Sites here, based on their beauty (Dormition Abbey would score very highly), archaeological evidence (David's Tomb would score poorly here). There should be other ratings I suppose (longevity of Tradition).

A man hailed me "You're looking for the Last Supper Room? Here, here, you sign there, light a candle for world peace, here, now you give donation, my synagogue?" Duh how could I fall for this again (see Western Wall 2009). So I said that that was a bit mean of him and if he wanted he could blow out my candle and off I walked. The Last Supper Room is so dull. It would be the worst card to get in the pack, there's no beauty about the room, having been messed about by crusaders and you wouldn't expect to find any archaeological evidence (unwashed crockery?) but the tradition appeared C5. So maybe, but probably not.

St Peter in Gallicantu would score highly for beauty. Maybe it was Caiaphas' house, maybe Peter denied Jesus and heard the cock crow (gallicantu), maybe Jesus was brought here and imprisoned and flogged. They have a prison, underneath a cave that's under the church where there's a spooky oily stain on the wall of man with outstretched arms.

A Palestinian Jew (oxymoron) gave a lecture on the oppressed palestinians. A woman there said "My house is now occupied by someone else and when I tried to speak to her she said You want compensation? Go ask Gadaffi" (the new occupant came from Libya). There's a peculiar level of accepted insanity about this, he called it apartheid. If you want to learn more start with the Kairos Document.

Hubba bubba or water pipe, this one was mint and lemon flavoured. Apparently you're supposed to take little puffs not long draws. This is me trying to look like Gandalf. No its not hallucinagenic its just darn silly.

The Shrine of the Book

Yesterday was just too darn adventurous so I went for an hour's walk. I spent ages staring at a map trying to work out why this street was called King David st according to the road sign but David Hamelech on the map. Of course you know that Melech means king. It came to me, eventually. I took another wrong turn but quickly realised there were too many consonants in the name and so got myself back on track.

The security guard here used to live in Rhodesia and for a time was in the army. I think he was bonding with me as a (ex)fellow member of the commonwealth. A tour of a model of 1st Century Jerusalem (really good but too dull to type about, you'll have to wait for the talk).

The museum here is the Thinking Man's Qumran (a great place to buy beauty products and get very hot and sandy and see the caves where the shepherd boy threw his stone). But here are the Scrolls themselves and its right to call it a shrine. This is as close as it gets to what Isaiah really did write. The Essenes might have been wacky taking all the fun out of fundamentalism but you have to hand it to them they were good at copying and burying. Its awe inspiring to stand this close to the Real Text. Some of you might get this kind of goose pimple with some nice Church architecture or others seeing a real bit of archaeological veracity, well its like that.

Weirdest bit of religious tat (yesterday it was a blue David star tambourine, I've got a photo). Today it was sale at this place of a Canaanite goddess, possibly an ashtorah, frankly its just ancient pawn.

This is the view from Mike & Bettina's roof. Gorgeous.

Finding the 9th Station

I got lost today - the first time was wandering from Mike's into the Old City when I deliberately chose a different path from the advised one. It led me out to Ghenna (NT metaphor for Hell) nowadays referred to slightly more politely as Ben Hinnom.

I finally arrived at the Dung Gate which leads straight into the Western Wall (don't call it Wailing). Here I said a prayer, wasn't scammed by someone offering to pray for me (as per 2009 pilgrimage), so Praise the Lord! I was quite pleased with this photo - it shows the Western Wall but also the flag of Israel and the wooden pathway up to the El Aqsa mosque and if you have eyes to see it, there's a dove flying.

After that I got lost again in the Soukh and walked past a sign for the Arab Catholic Scouts. So I took a photo of it. A woman I saw shouted to me yessomessa So I said Nyet Spacibo (quickly faking a russian accent and saying No presuming she was trying to sell me something). Only later I realise that she's a beggar and she is saying Jesus Messiah - she's twigged I'm a Christian. Perhaps its the lack of religious ware that gives it away this time.

One local lad insisted on taking me but then ran off in the wrong direction (I knew that much). Spent the rest of the afternoon trying to find Station 9 on the Via Dolorosa which is the last bit before you go into the Holy Sepulchre but it takes you in a sort of back door. And here it is!

James in Jerusalem

So I'm here drinking an amazing tea from some tree that lives in the garden, Bettina grabbed some leaves and popped them in the pot.

Add two hours for time zone. Don't have the Lamb cutlets if you fly BA. No heavy interviewing, no one took away my shoes, I wasn't taken to a small room and asked about my contacts in Israel. Nothing. Almost disappointing. I did (accidentally) try to get a water bottle through customs and that led to the american behind me being accused. She asked me if I was a vicar or a priest. I said Both - it seemed to confuse her enough, I didn't want to challenge her with Rector.

I sat next to a nice man who teaches Hebrew privately. He wouldn't teach me anything. He told me how he was given the full search treatment. He trumped me by producing not merely a hebrew bible but also a hebrew commentary and a hebrew prayer book. And there was I with just my bible. The Kosher option looks good.

Mike has taken me to a corner shop where you can buy a circle of Camembert for £7 (see Gordon's £3) and petrol is about £1.20 per litre.

Follow the Fish

We got lost on the way to Church but praise the Lord for an Icthus on the back of a car.

Here they have two men in yellow jackets to point your car in the right direction and then a row of tables where you can sign your child in to his/her group. Its like New Wine but every week. It takes 60 plus to put it all together and okay they're double our size but that's a lot.

They have a bouncy castle, in the building, for pre-school I suppose. They deflated it before the worship began which was a shame seeing as the dancing carried on by young and old alike.

The welcome is just fabulous. And they have the most awesome welcome pack with a JJohn book about Jesus and a Matt Redman CD too - that tops our Purpose Driven book we gave out for a while.

Some children's worship, a coffee break - you and I would call it The Peace. Our coffee is better but the Minister has a Britney Spears Mic (v. jealous). The band is big, the sound is big, the singing group are awesome. We're glad we've been.