Israel day 2

Thousands of pilgrims descend upon Jerusalem's Old City on Good Friday. We woke up early to go to the Via Dolorosa, where various Christian groups were participating in the stations of the cross. It's remarkable to see the diversity of people within the global Christian community; one of the largest processions consisted of pilgrims from Ethiopia. (Catholic and Orthodox Easter fall on the same day this year, so the crowds are even larger than normal.) We were only able to see a small portion of the long stretch that is the Via Dolorosa, because of the throngs of people. It seemed like crowd control was in peaceful order and things were well organized in the streets.

In the Holy Sepulchre, however, things got a bit intense. There was quite a bit of shoving in the line to enter the tomb of Christ. It was actually quite sad to see people arguing on what should be a reflective, holy day.

We also took some time on Friday to tour outside the Old City. We visited the last supper room in Mount Zion, which is, as its name suggests, the place where the Christ broke bread with his disciples for the final team. There was a group of Costa Ricans sings hymns, which added to the holiness of the room. It may seem obvious, but visiting the places that we have only read about in the Bible is a transformative experience. We returned to Gethsemane as well, in order to visit the garden where Jesus prayed.  The sites related to the life of Christ outside the city walls are far more peaceful and offer an opportunity for quiet contemplation and prayer.