If these stones could talk

As I stand on the mount of olives overlooking the Holy city of Jerusalem, I think of the passage in the gospels of Jesus, looking out from the same place, and weeping . If he could see what this city, what this country has turned in to, I'm sure the tears would be equally strong. There were certainly times for me today when all I wanted to do was weep !

Overlooking the valley toward Jerusalem there is much to see and take in. Below us is the Jewish cemetery which these days is for the very wealthy only. A spot here is 50K us$. It is seen as an important place for Jews because it overlooks the Golden Gate, the place that the Messiah will enter when he comes and those in the graves that face such will be the first to be received . HOWEVER, on the otherside of the valley against the wall is the Muslim graveyard where observant Jews would not dare to walk over the places of the deceased and the golden gate has been sealed to prevent the coming of the messiah. Between the two graveyards is the Christian graveyard and the garden of gethsemane. Hundreds of people are swarming all around us oblivious to much of this history and here simply to "kiss the holy stones" ( a theme I will come back to again shortly)

We journey down the mount to the bottom where the garden of gethsemane is. The olive trees in this garden are protected for many reasons, but many of them are 2500 years old and so would have indeed have been around if this was the place Jesus came to pray on the night he was betrayed. These have more significance for me than the stupid rock with the plaque on it ( as the rock Jesus prayed on) or the church and alters built around the site. In fact I find myself getting increasingly irritated by the crowds of biblical literalists swarming these places.

From here we go the the Via Delarosa, the path that's has been marked out as the final journey from Pilates palace to the place of crucifixion and resurrection. Thankfully our guide has picked up on the theological underpinnings of the group and he denotes that the starting place and the ending place are the only sites that has historical evidence to align themselves with the story in the bible. The first place is Pilates Court house. There is a rock here that has roman inscriptions of a game board that soldiers would have played while awaiting orders. So it is possible that this is the place where Jesus journey to death begins. ALL the other stops along the way that are pointed out have no evidence for such, and in fact, many have contrary evidence opposed to the possibility. I am working hard to not be judgmental of the many in the crowds around me who continue to think that all this is historical sites of a literal truth. I can see that many are moved emotionally by their walk and the many trinkets for sale tell me that redemption theology is dominant in those that take this walk through the 12 stations.

At the end of the journey through the old city we arrive at the church of the resurrection . Here people are lined up for the opportunity to put their hand in a hole in a rock which might have been the spot Jesus' cross was erected, literally kiss a stone slab that was near where is body was laid, and the wait for 60 + minutes for a chance to see inside a rock tomb that Helena declared was the tomb he was buried in and resurrected from. A huge basilica from the byzantine era surrounds all three of these "spots" . Again, like Bethlehem there is a huge fight about what denomination owns what rights to what parts of the church etc. In fact at various times in history there have been shootings, and other violent clashes between those wanting to claim ownership to this church and the sites. All I can think is ...."and Jesus wept " . While this final location in the walk was the site of crucifixions in Jesus day, and there were a number of caves tombs near this site, ( including another similar one hidden in a back alcove that our guide takes us to and that could have just as easily been Jesus tomb), the meaning of the resurrections stories seem to be lost in the attempts to memorialize them. We've created dead letter sites that reduce Easter to the celebration of a resuscitated corpse instead of a living faith that seeks to celebrate the power of the story of resurrection and the transformative power it had on the disciples and potentially on us.

What troubles me most is that so many seem to come to this land simply to kiss the holy stones and be confirmed in their faith and beliefs rather than be transformed and challenged by an encounter with this land and it's peoples. Christianity should NEVER be about simply making us feel good about our comfortable little lives and returning home with a new religious trinket and satisfaction in thinking we are part of an elite group chosen and blessed by God. Christianity MUST be about being challenged by what we see, think, feel and encounter to broaden our understanding of the world, it's people, it's encounters with the divine and the ways it has forsaken the core values that are a true test of the truth of a religion. - compassion, love of neighbor and enemy, forgiveness, hope and grace.

We end our day by visiting a Christian Palestinian organization Sabeel, whose aims to support palestinians and challenge the Israeli occupation through non violent resistance. We meet with Cedar, a 78 yr old woman who is one of the founders of the organization who tells us her own story of her families displacement through the 1948 displacement by Britain known to Palestinians as the Nakba (catastrophe in Arabic ) . Her story is heart wrenching and she is passionate in her hope for peace which she is quite clear will not come in her lifetime but that she hopes her grandchildren will see. She tells us of the many Christian Palestinians who have simply give up hope and have moved away to other countries. She tells of her own feelings of being abandoned by Christians churches in other parts of the world. She speaks of a dark night of the soul experience in her own faith journey as a result. She also observes the ongoing effects for children and youth of living perpetually in states of trauma and stress and the hopelessness and anger this breeds. Our debriefing this evening is intense and the complexity and yet blindness at the same time of the core values of respect, dignity and the honouring of another's humanity is often missing in the ideologies of this "holy land" . The stones of this ancient land have a story to tell and wisdom to share if we could listen to the lessons of history contained within. God help us to open our ears and listen.