Holy Land Tour Day Six

Last updated on: April 2, 2015 at 1:30 pm by Christy Thomas

Holy Land Tour Day Six 2015-04-02T13:30:57-05:00 Christy Thomas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Remember your baptism in the Jordan River, photo by Eugene Woznicki

Please note: I do not have a computer with me so these articles are dictated to my phone. As a result there are typos and misspellings. Please ignore them and read for the meaning!

You know it is a rigorous week when a 6 am wake up call and a 8 am “Be on board the bus” announcement sounds leisurely.

I am very behind in posting to this blog because of both connection problems and time issues. Our days are packed and our evenings spent building friendships and then tumbling into bed, hoping the jet lag middle of the night wakefulness will finally end.

Yesterday, our Wednesday here, we sailed on the sea of Galilee for an hour where I had the opportunity to deliver a short homily on the nature of fear and how it makes it impossible for us to love. Before that, I had sat on the beach where Jesus had spoken to Peter and told him three times to feed his sheep. It was the redemption of the three times denial Peter had done to Jesus the night before the crucifixion.

My tears flowed freely, nearly unstoppable.

I stepped in the chapel built to honor St. Peter, and saw another tour group in there. They were singing in a language unfamiliar to me but with a tune very much familiar, “I surrender all.” Many of my group joined in the chorus as they sang. Two languages, one heart and deep gratefulness to God.

We made our way to the town of Magdala, home of Mary the Magdelene. For the first time in my life, I sat in a church that was dedicated to honoring the women of the faith. I hated to leave. Women have been so denigrated, so ignored during much of Christian history. And here we are honored.

Our last stop yesterday took us to the Jordan River. For $10, we received a thin towel and white robe. We were directed to dressing facilities where we put on bathing suits and then the robes and proceeded to one of the several baptismal spots lining the river.

For those who did not want to be immersed, we did a sprinkling “remember your baptism” ceremony. Then Don Smith, tour leader and close friend of mine, and I waded into the very cool waters of the Jordan. We walked along the slippery, moss covered bottom until we came to water that was about chest high for both of us. One by one they came to us, white robed fellow pilgrims ready to be immersed, ready to undergo something to remember those moments of grace, ready to live out of the reaffirmation of their baptismal vows.

When we finished and Don and I emerged from the water, one of our fellow pilgrims came up to us and said, “there’s a man here who wishes to be baptized. Can you help him?”

We spoke with this man and discovered that he is from Africa, and has been appointed as a missionary to the Golan Heights area, a very troubled part of Israel.

He said that he was terrified to go in the water, and asked to be sprinkled. Don and I agreed to do so, and so I did give him a remember his baptism ceremony. We were all in tears at the end of it.

We returned to the dressing areas to change back into street clothes. No private spaces were available at that point for us to change, so several of us went into the common room, threw modesty to the winds and stripped off our robes and bathing suits. We decided to describe it as “female bonding at its best” and laughed off the inconvenience.

Shortly before we changed, one of the women who has an internal defibrillator had it go off. It probably was set off by going into the cold water. I had noticed when she came out of the water that she was she appeared to be in a bit of a state of shock. Two of us stayed with her while she experienced the kick that comes with this. Several times we have need to stop to help her through some particularly difficult climbs up the many steep stairs. She’s an amazing woman, full of life and joy and hope. It is a pleasure to wait on her, to help her breathe through her difficult moments and to be her companion.

Speaking of difficult climbs, two days ago we had been in Jericho. There we visited one of the many historical sites which is being excavated slowly and painstakingly. We were invited to take 120 step down into a tunnel that it been built to secure the water supply to the city under a time of siege. Stairs don’t bother me, so I happily agreed. What I didn’t expect is that the stairs would be the kind made of open metal work that showed undefinable depths below.

I suffer from vertigo, and when I saw them I almost became paralyzed. Every muscle in my body tensed and it took all the courage I had to make my way down. Since then I have been suffering spasms in my thigh muscles. Each step down I take has been quite painful. Today has been a light walking day, only about 5000 steps. But Jerusalem is built on hills and we are going into buildings that are built on top of crumbled buildings. So about 2000 of those 5000 steps have been excruciatingly painful today. But worth it.

One descent was especially powerful. We visited the palace of Caiaphas, the place were Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin took place and where Peter denied him three times in the courtyard.

We descended to the deep dungeon. Our tour guide told us that prisoners would be dropped in there, held by a rope. It would have been dark, smelly and probably full of the bones of others who had died there. When someone was to be called before the high court, the jailers would simply haul him up by the rope. We listened as Psalm 88 was read to us there. Check it out. It is one of the saddest psalms in the Bible and speaks of being in the pit. We stood in the pit.

Before this, we visited the place that commemorated the spot where the Last Supper took place. We went to the roof and there I had the privilege of celebrating the service of holy Communion with the other pilgrims. I doubt that any of us will forget that anytime soon.

It is now Thursday evening here in Jerusalem. After arriving our hotel and getting settled, several of us found an outside patio off the stairwell and joined there to share a glass of wine or a beer. The combination of the solemnity of the day, the general sense of deep tiredness, and the type of bonding that is taking place among us lead to a couple of hours of laughter and delight.

A kosher meal followed. Pumpkin soup, a modest salad buffet, fish and chicken and potatoes and vegetables. Filling but hardly extravagant.

Tomorrow, Good Friday here, we leave early to walk the Via Dolorousa and will observe 14 stations of the cross. It will be a solemn time.

Previous Post

March 29, 2015

Pilgrimage to the holy land, day two

Next Post

April 8, 2015 Baby as Battering Ram: Good Friday in Jerusalem

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category " obedience abortion accommodation accountability administration adolescence Advent advice an ordinary death anxiety apology apportionments Ash Wednesday ask thoughtfulpastor baptism betrayal Bible bondage calling certainty change character charity children Christianity Christmas church church as garden clergy clergy credentials closure comfort compassion competition compromise Confirmation conservation conservative conspiracy theories consumer conversion coronavirua corruption courage covenant cultural context death Deconstruction discipleship discord divorce doctrine doing good drugs dysfunctional Easter Easter; Resurrection education election entertainment envy escape evaluation evil exclusive church exercise faith faithfulness family fasting fear feast featured film review finances first world problem food forgiveness fundamentalist garden gay marriage General Conference generosity giving thanks GLBT glory good government grace guilt habit happy harmony hateful acts healing health health care heaven hell hello/goodbye heresy hidden agenda holiness homelessness homosexuality humility hymn hypocrisy Imago Dei In training inclusive church indulgence injustice innocents insurance intolerance itinerancy joy Justice kindness Kingdom of Heave kingdom of heaven language laughter laundry lawsuit leadership Lent LGBTQ liberal life Little Things Matter longform meandering thoughts memories mercy metaphor metrics miracle misfortunes morality Mormon Muslim mystery worship natural disasters New Category Name nutrients older adults oppression pain Paleo paperwork partnered pastor peace pension pharmaceutical placebo politics poverty prayer privilege public schools questions quiet racism rain reason reconciliation religion repentance requirements rescue respect rest resurrection retirement Sabbath sacrament sacred salvation same-sex marriage sanctuary schism schooling science SCOTUS secrecy separation of church and state sexism sexuality short cuts silence sin sleep soil spiritual journey stillness suffering surgery sustainable church teacher technology thank you theology therapy thinking tolerance TOS trust truth Uncategorized welcome Why Easter? wisdom women worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 March 2025 February 2025 December 2024 November 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 July 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 October 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 March 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz