Middle East: Jordan, Bethelem, and Jerusalem

Yes, we went there; we did! Borders reopened in June this year, but tourists only began making the journey in September.   Tourism, which is a key economic source for these countries, has been nil since the war began.  There were only sparse crowds at any of the points we visited.   Our first guide said we were his first group in three months.

We returned, and we are safe.  And by the way, we saw no military or armed guards anywhere, except at checkpoints on the West Bank side.

Although Jordan borders Israel, life in the two countries is vastly different.  Not only is there the border crossing to contend with, which is complicated, expensive, and time-consuming, but on the West Bank, between Palestine and Israel, there are only two checkpoints that wreak havoc on everyday life.  People needing to make a short trip must drive long distances out of their way to go through a required checkpoint to get to where they want to go.  Life is not easy in this area. 

On the Jordan side, Amman is a very nice city.  We walked much of it.  The people here pride themselves on their generosity and hospitality.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Jordan . . . the 2,000-year-old city of Petra carved in stone walls, Wadi Rum, where we slept in the desert and witnessed the lunar eclipse and a sky full of stars.  We took a boat ride and doused our feet in the beautiful Red Sea and floated in the Dead Sea, slathered in a Dead Sea mud body mask. 

Our trip to Bethlehem and Jerusalem was a last-minute decision.  Stan and I thought it over . . . “We are here, we will never get the chance to see the Holy Land again,” and we are glad we did.  Except for Cody, we did not tell the family we were making that trip for fear that everyone would be concerned and fearful.

It was no holiday.  The trip there and return was hard, expensive, and complicated.  What was supposed to be a 12-hour round trip turned out to include an overnight stay because the government closed the borders at 3 pm that day.  This happens sometimes without a lot of notice.  We agreed to the extra night before leaving Jordan and proceeded with our abbreviated tour. We had two private guides in Bethlehem and Jerusalem because one cannot work on both sides of the border. We saw all that we could in one day and relaxed in a nice hotel that evening.

Returning to Jordan the next morning took three hours at the border.  That seemed horrendous, but people told us that was not an unusual experience at all.

We missed many important sites that would have ordinarily been included in Holy Land tours several years ago, but we are thankful for seeing all that we could.   

We only viewed the Mount of Olives from a distance and completely missed seeing the Sea of Galilee and Mount Zion because crossing the border and visiting those spots simply cannot be done in one day.  What we did see was moving and deeply spiritual. 

We entered the Old City through the Damascus Gate.  From a nearby building’s rooftop, we overlooked the city and could see the Mount of Olives and the golden Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem’s most iconic landmark.  This church is important because the foundation stone is believed to be the rock where an angel of the Lord intervened and stopped Abraham from following God’s instructions to sacrifice Isaac, his beloved son. 

At the Church of the Nativity, we encountered more tourists than we’ve seen in a long while.  All came to touch the place where Jesus was born.  A crowd of pilgrims there sang songs and queued to kneel and kiss the silver star marking the spot. 

The Via Dolorosa is the route that, beaten, humiliated, and bleeding, Jesus Christ walked bearing his cross to Calvary, after his condemnation.  Following that stone route and passing the 14 stations was nothing short of heart-wrenching.   The Bible story came alive.  I could not stop sobbing. 

Although restored many times, the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built in the 4^th century by Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman Emperor.  Saint Helena, Constantine’s mother, identified the sacred location, and still today, it is believed that the church is on the site where Jesus was crucified and is the place of the empty tomb.   Inside the church lies the Stone Table or the Stone of Unction, the place where women attended to Jesus’s body with oil and spices – frankincense and myrrh.   

Being a believer, touching that stone was spiritual and once again, heart-wrenching. 

Our venture across the border was risky, we know, but thanks to God, the trip was safe, and we met no one but kind, caring people in both Palestine and Israel, who, like us all, pray for peace on earth. 

In Jesus’ name, let us love one another.