Sabbatical Soundings

At midnight on Thursday, I unlocked the front door in Perton, receiving a very warm welcome from Missy! Paul was out to work early Friday, so was fast asleep. The final window shots, of Tel Aviv and the UK… It’s now Sunday, and it’s the first chance I’ve had to come up for air and write some final words. Thank you so so much for following my blog. It’s hard to convey in words, but I genuinely have felt that people have been travelling with me, journeying to Melbourne; on a road trip around Tasmania; spending time with Em and Jeff north of Sydney; and on to those incredible, rich, challenging days in Israel/Palestine. Thank you for accompanying me, and for all your messages.  As I return home, after five and a half weeks, I have so many experiences and encounters to ponder ~ not to mention, rather a lot of photographs to sort out! My sabbatical continues for a few more weeks, based largely at home, and I hope to do some of that pondering. I titled this post, ‘Well that’s a Wrap’, as...

Our final full day… and yet another full, special and long one! We left the college on foot just after 7am to walk the Via Delarosa. The Dean of the College, Richard Sewell, led us down into the old city and around the 14 stations of the cross. He led, followed by one of the group carrying a cross, as we walked in silence.   At that time of day, the old city was quiet, people going about their business, shops beginning to open. We paused at each station, had a Bible reading, prayed, and as we walked on, sang the Taizé chant, ‘Jesus Remember Me’. As it’s not possible to have prayers and readings inside the church of the Holy Sepulchre, we did this on the roof, where the Coptic church has its monastery. To finish, we descended to the Plaza in front of the church, and read the resurrection gospel. It was a very special thing to do, and in all my previous visits to Jerusalem, something I’ve not done in this way. We then had a little time in the church before making our own way back to ...

Except when it does!   Like today! Our first visit today was to Bethany. Those familiar with the Bible will probably remember that Bethany was the home of Jesus’ friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus; and also know of the miracle when Jesus raised Lazarus back to life.  Bethany is just a couple of miles from Jerusalem, up over the top of the Mount of Olives, and just a little way down the other side. The Bible talks about Jesus walking from Bethany into Jerusalem. Today, that’s not possible, as the Separation Wall marches right across the peak of the hill. For us to visit this morning, we had to drive out of the city, swing round and come back to Bethany. We spent time at the site containing a commemorative church and the tomb. Whilst visiting the church, Paula gave another fantastic reflection on the women of Bethany ~ Mary and Martha ~ and also on the stories of women anointing Jesus. Yet again, such a rich, nourishing words. We then took the bus back around to within a few hund...