The Upper Room and We Are Not What you See on CNN

Well, my assumptions usually get me in trouble...
The Upper Room here is not the holy place I imagined.
It was crowded, noisy!
It was complete chaos.
While the tour guide spoke, or yelled, others were praying and singing in other languages. And, someone was banging on a door the next level under us - very loudly. (Is God knocking?)

God has a sense of humor, so I'm learning.
God's definition of Holy differs from mine, so I need some adjusting.
Perhaps chaos is the entry toward peaceful living?

The Upper Room is located in the former Upper City of Jesus' day.
It is an interesting room, a place one would want to contemplate.. perhaps...
if only it were the original. The church was built in the 16th century by the Franciscans - built on top of the 5th century Byzantine church. The Franciscans were driven out and the church made into a mosque. Still today you can see the Muslim mark on the wall that indicates which direction Mecca stands. Today, the Municipality of Jerusalem owns the site and maintains the building.

Now about Bethany. It is a beautiful village, surrounded by "The Wall." The Wall keeps Palestinians in. A sign nearby reads: "We shall never kneel or surrender. The Wall Shall Fall."
Bethany is walled in. The people have no access to Jerusalem located just on the other side. There are 35,000 people living in Bethany.

Our Bus Captain asked me to lead a prayer while we were in the Tomb of Lazarus. This is what I wrote and then prayed:
On this day, O God, we give thanks for the opportunity to be in this time and place. We give thanks for the people who nurtured us to this point.
For the Palestinian people in their suffering we pray.
We pray for the Israeli and world community to help Palestinians out of the tomb of despair.
We pray for our situations and those of our families, may we too believe so as to be resurrected from our life situations.
Remove the stench of pain, death, degradation and suffering. Amen.


This sign is the only resistance to the occupation take over by Israel that we saw! Every person we spoke with in Palestinian sections wanted non-violence to end the occupation and non-violence to regain their land, property and lives. This sign was the first and last sign we would see of resistance, until our departure day, when The Wall was craned apart in Gaza!

However, resistance has milder forms. For example, the group which hosted us in homes is a non-violent group of Christians, Muslims and Arabs, working for peace and an end to The Occupation. Their message to us: We are not what you see on CNN.

When back in the Old City of Jerusalem for a few hours of strolling and talking to the locals we saw a great deal.

British and American Jews, who accepted the offer to receive free housing to live in Israel, abound.

The Strike was today. The strike was in response to the turning of power off again in Gaza, as well as turning medicines and supplies away from Gaza. The strike was in the Old City. All was closed. Our friend Ibraham, just happened to be closing late when we happened by. He spoke briefly to us and then, we continued along, seeing nothing but Israeli soldiers and the Israeli helicopters. The helicopters only fly over when the Palestinians strike by closing shop or when Gaza is in unrest.

When we got to the Christian Quarter of the City, our friend Nasim invited us for tea. Inside his shop the men were smoking from the hooka, a large bong filled with water and tobacco. The tea arrived from a nearby shop by a little boy, who sang as he delivered the 7 cups, filled with Lipton and mint leaves.

(Everywhere we go, people treat us hospitably with cups of tea!)

After tea, we continued our walk, running into an elderly man named Abraham. He used to be a guide for American Holy Land visitors. A member of our group, Rich, asked what his hopes and dreams for Jerusalem were. Abraham said, "My hopes and dreams are not the same. I dream for free human rights. To live like a human being and like any other nation. What is good for me is good for you."
"My hope, it will never exist because humans are selfish. No give, only take." He was referring to having his home back, having been taken by Israeli Jews.

"What do you think of Bush," he asked. (Everyone asked us this question.)
"This is colonization." Abraham insinuated how Bush helps it along. "Red carpet was given for Bush. No red carpet for people here."

Onward we continued to peer at the Prayer wall.
The Kepah is the identity hat Jewish men wear as a sign of the submission to God. The Talete is the prayer shsawl the men wear and it dates back to Jesus' day. Remember the woman who touched Jesus' robe? More likely, it was this prayer shawl.

The shawl has 613 tassels because of the 613 commandments given. Also, the men wear a philactory (not sure of spelling) tied from their head to their arm to their hand.

More about the Wall in next blog.

Prayer:
May the God banging at the doorways of our hearts
gain access to loving, justice seeking people.
Today, may God of the striking Palestinians,
the God who hears the suffering
and cries with the suffering
wrap up the people in comfort. Amen.