Shabat, April 22 - Ma Nishma! Which is Hebrew for a general “Hi, how are you doing?” sort of greeting. And a blessed Eastertide to all of you who are reading my blog. Christ is truly risen indeed, and I’m still feeling the meaning and power of this reality after the incredible Holy Week that I experienced here in Jerusalem.

This week has been exceptional in another way as well: I hardly had much work to do! Because it was the end of Passover, and we at Bridges observe the Jewish holidays to accommodate the people we serve, we only worked a half day on Tuesday (the holiday eve) and had Wednesday completely off (conclusion of Passover). On Thursday, I HAD to go to Netanya for the day to do spring cleaning at the apartment that Bridges has available there for retreats, staff getaways, volunteer breaks, family vacations, etc. Netyana is a recreation community north of Tel Aviv, on the Mediterranean, and the Bridges apartment sits right on the beach there! Thursday was warm and sunny too, so we completely opened up the huge patio windows as we worked and let the sea air blow through the rooms. With six of us washing windows, dusting, scrubbing shelves, cleaning the oven, sweeping floors, and doing general maintenance, it didn’t take too long to accomplish our task. We took a mid-morning coffeebreak, sitting on the patio and soaking up the warmth and beauty of the Mediterranean, right there at our feet, took an extended lunch outdoors, and just before we left for home, James (my supervisor) insisted that I go for a walk on the beach and wade in the clear warm water, since I wasn’t staying for the weekend with the rest of the group. On the drive home, he took me on a gorgeous backroads route that he discovered during his five years of serving with Bridges, through rolling farmland, green forests, vineyards, steep mountainous terrain--always ascending, going up and up to Jerusalem. James is a pretty aweome boss! Finally, as ever, Friday is the eve of shabat and so we only worked a half day again. We had a similar schedule the week of Passover too, so it’s going to be rough returning to a regular, full week next week. Fortunately, James has promised us that we have a variety of jobs to do so that will make the week interesting.

The pictures will show you what I did over the past week. Enjoy!






Photos: Monday’s work project: putting up handrails at an apartment complex for a blind and ailing Jewish woman so she can get out more easily. Her daughter generously provided us with coffee, tea, and cookies (no yeast--it was Passover!)

Photos: 1: completion of handrail project 2: me, with Bethlehem in the distance, with part of Israel’s security wall on the left 3: protection wall put up during the intifada to protect Jerusalem residents from Palestians shooting into their neighborhood froom Bethlehem 4: prayer for Soula, one of our food bank , before she leaves for three months in the USA 5: James (my supervisor) and his wife, Michelle, at his birthday party

Photos: James’ party on Monday night--he wanted to share it with us, his home repair team this year! 1: sitting at the table together 2: one of the salads (we had three!) 3: Bill and Aiko Stevens (they lived in Sonora for 14 years!) 4: birthday hug for the birthday boy from his wife 5: chocolate mousse torte for dessert

Photos: Netanya - view from the apartment; our work crew eating; the hotels and beach by the apartment

Photos: 1 & 2: me caulking and painting a new basement office at BFP headquarters 3,4,5: Western Wall on the eve of shabat; fathers and sons come to pray together!

Photos: the "Palm Sunday Procession" down the Mount of Olives from Bethany

Happy Easter, everybody - Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

As I conclude this Holy Week 2006, I am at a loss for words--and quite stunned, actually--over the feelings and insights and experiences that have occurred in my life these past eight days. I knew this would be a special Holy Week for me, living as I am in Jerusalem, but the power of being in these actual places added to the reality of what happened to Jesus 2000 years ago and I was impacted more deeply and emotionally than I ever anticipated I would be.  It’s terribly hard to put into words, but here are some images and reflections that I’ve put together to try and convey to you something of the magnitude that this week has been for me:

Last Sunday, Palm Sunday, I joined in the Palm Sunday Processional walk down the Mount of Olives, with literally thousands and thousands of other believers, waving palms and singing praises--in more languages than I could count--dancing and moving along with complete joy, beginning in Bethany, on the back side of the Mount.  It was one of the most exciting experiences I’ve ever had with an assembly of Christians.  My friend, Cynthia, and I walked beside a French monastic group of men and women, who had guitars, an accordion, flute, and drums and tambourines, and they sang the entire way--over an hour and a half!  Songs we know (Hosanna, Shout to the Lord, We Want to See Jesus Lifted Hight, etc.), so we sang in English as they sang in French.  When we got to the bottleneck at the place where the road starts to go down the Mount of Olives, toward Gethsemane, I looked up the road behind me, and it was jammed with people all the way to the bend who were still coming from Bethany--and below me, way down at the bottom of the Mount, people were already streaming out and up toward the Old City itself to the street leading to the Lion's Gate, to St. Anne's Church where the procession ends!  Probably 2 miles altogether. “Baruch haba b’shem Adonai!” (Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!)

Photos: 1. view of Temple Mount, descending from the Mt. of Olives on the Palm Sunday walk 2. inside the tomb of Christ; the stone one which his body was supposedly laid 3. tomb from the outside 4. people praying in the chapel of Calvary, on top of "the skull" 5. people kneeling before the stone where Jesus was supposedly prepared for burial

On Wednesday, I went for just a short time of prayer and to watch other pilgrims at the Holy Sepulcher Church for about an hour.  It was surprisingly empty there, and I was able to visit the tomb of Christ with just 12 people in front of me.  The basilica was also quiet and amazingly reverent (sometimes it can be a zoo in there!) and it was powerful watching people pray and express their devotion to Christ on the top of Calvary, at the stone where Jesus' body was supposedly washed, by the tomb, etc.  I know many of these pilgrims are not "evangelical" in our understanding of what it means to be a believer, but their sincere adoration was clearly evident--and only God knows their true hearts!  I find it extremely powerful to be in the midst of believers of every background, ethnic group, denomination, etc. and it sure is easy to surround myself in this way here in Jerusalem. Later that night I went to a Passover seder meal and celebration with a group of my co-workers from Bridges.  

Photos: 1. footwashing service 2. communion 3. ceiling of church in Garden of Gethsemane 4. people quietly viewing the olive trees in the Garden 5. moon rising over the Mount of Olives (Church of All Nations, built over the rock where Jesus prayed, is on the right)

For Maundy Thursday, I attended a footwashing/Last Supper service at St. George's Anglican Church near the Garden Tomb, which concluded with a procession to Gethsemane.  The priests washed all of the congregation's feet, before washing each others', and I think I felt something like the disciples did as Jesus washed their feet:  what an act of humility and service and LOVE!  Communion was given to small groups of us in front of the altar, then before we left the church, the altars were stripped of everything, the priests removed all of their robes and vestments, leaving the church stark and unadorned for Good Friday and Holy Saturday.  Then we gathered in the courtyard for the procession to Gethsemane.  It was dark as we walked through the streets of East Jerusalem, but a full moon was rising over the Mount of Olives as we arrived at the Garden.  We went to a quiet, more remote spot above where we could look over the Old City and pray for it, and for the rest of the world, and it was deeply moving.  As I walked back, past the actual Garden, I saw the side gate open and went in for just a minute--and I was stunned to find hundreds of pilgrims inside, quietly praying, reading Scripture (in dozens of languages) in small groups, singing softly, milling around, gazing at the olive trees, sitting on the steps of the church--but everyone quiet, reverent, aware of what the night was about, and sort of "watching with Jesus" as the night progressed.  I've never experienced anything like this either--and in such a beautiful, significant place! 

Photos: Via Dolorosa ("Way of Suffering) - the Stations of the Cross, ending at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer

Good Friday morning I got up at 5:30 to get to the Anglican church again to walk to the Old City, and to the first station of the cross on the Via Dolorosa.  It took us about two hours to visit all 14 “Stations of the Cross,” and we weren't the only group there either!  However, as we went from station to station, read Scripture, sang hymns, prayed, and meditated on what happened to Christ as he walked this road to his death, the stations came alive in real meaningful ways to me.  It moved beyond "ritual" to "worship."  Perhaps part of it has to do with the fact that I've walked this route so many times since I got here, but only to get from place to place, not in a devotional way.  Putting together my familiarity with the locations with the meaning of this Good Friday day helped give the stations this "extra something," and I sensed the agony and again, LOVE, that Jesus felt through these hours of his life.  When we completed this service, I trotted over to the Garden Tomb for their Good Friday service too.  A very small group was in attendance, and I sat in the very first row of seats, with the tomb itself right before me--and it was almost more than I could bear!  The whole service was just the reading of and meditations on the Passion story, ending with Jesus' burial in the tomb.  When we sang "Crown Him with Many Crowns" and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," my heart just swelled till I thought it would explode!  How could it be that I was the one person in the whole world to be sitting in that seat, directly before the tomb as we remembered Jesus' actual burial there?!

Photos: Good Friday service at the Garden Tomb