Shalom from Israel

First the bad news. The hotel lobby computer I'm renting access on won't allow me to uplink pictures to the blog. :( I promise I won't write a thousand words to try to make up for the lack of pictures. Also, this computer has no spell checker (so reader beware!).

Now for the good news: my visit to Israel is going great! Evertt Huffard, who is the dean of Harding Graduate School and a former teacher, met me at the Tel Aviv airport Monday morning (following a flight from 2:20 to 4:30 a.m. -- ugh!) and we drove to Jerusalem, where I'll be through Thursday. Evertt grew up in Israel, spent time in Israel as a missionary, is fluent in Arabic, and has led about 25 tour groups over here. Needless to say, I'm in good hands!!

Our Jerusalem hotel is an easy walk from the old walled portion of the city of Jerusalem (nearest the Damascus gate, for those of you who know). I am loving, absolutely loving walking through the various sections of the old city, through the narrow streets lined with merchants selling everything from music to clothing to souveneirs. Just the sights, sounds and smells are worth the price of admission: the spice shops and the cooking of meats; the Arabic music and the periodic calls to prayer going out from the mosques; the pealing of the church bells; the jostle of people of countless nationalities working bargains or following the Via Dolorosa; priests, nuns, monks, rabbis and imams walking around in all their garb and headgear; the Arab women with their headresses; the Hassidic men with their beards, curly locks, black clothing, and wide-brimmed hats.

I can't begin to describe the feeling you get as you ponder how much history is packed into this ancient city, of civilizations that have come and gone, of world religions clammoring over the same holy soil, of buildings and ruins representing bygone eras, of churches and temples and walls commemorating various moments in the life of Jesus and other religious events. One thought keeps haunting me as I take this all in: NOTHING IS FOREVER! At least, nothing that we humans build -- no building, no civilization, no empire.

Here are a few highlights so far (each of which deserves it's own section with commentary): walking through Hezekiah's tunnel, the Western Wall excavations tour (or Rabbi's tunnel), hiking around the Mount of Olives and through the Garden of Gethsemane, visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (traditional burial/resurrection site of Jesus), taking in the panoramic view of the city of Jerusalem from across the Kirdon Valley (and remembering Jesus' lament for the city "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem..."), seeing the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are displayed (unfortunately, the Israel Museum is under rennovation), seeing the magnificent outdoor scale model of first century Jerusalem, visiting the pool of Bethesda, and visiting Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity (traditional birthplace of Jesus). I have been touched by beautiful art and architecture in a number of these sites. And I have been saddened by the constant reminders of the conflicts that are present in this region of the world.

OK, I promised to keep it under 1000 words but I must be pushing that limit. Shalom for now.