The rain had slowed down a bit as patches of blue sky floated by behind clouds that dappled the crisp Jerusalem morning air. It was Daniel’s last day in the Old City and he had wanted to find just the right gifts to bring back to his wife and four children. The slick pavers caused the rubber soles on his hiking boots to lose traction forcing him to slow down and use caution with every step. Daniel marveled at how each rectangular hand-hewn stone paver had been woven together like threads in a Hebrew tapestry.
Daniel had left early to avoid the crowds. Walking in the early morning light he noticed that only a handful of shopkeepers who were busy opening their doors in preparation for another day of trading. The city, although practically empty now, in just a few hours would be filled, packed with pilgrims from all nations. Everyone would be headed for a certain holy spot located somewhere within Jerusalem’s four ethnic sections.
As Daniel passed the Western Wall he noticed many Jewish Rabbis dressed in their black hats, coats and white shirts. Their long curled frontlets dangled on each side of their forehead like the tassels attached to their prayer shawls. These tassels swayed as the men bobbed back and forth in prayer while facing the large limestone blocks of the wall. This section of wall located below the Temple Mount happens to be Judaism’s most sacred place of worship in all of Israel and the world.
Meanwhile, above this wall on the Temple Mount, devout Muslims came to worship in the Al- Aksa Mosque. All women were modestly covered from their heads to their ankles. They were forbidden to expose an excess of their skin. Like clockwork, at five appointed times through-out the day, all Muslims knelt down towards Mecca to pray to Allah. Muslim men, as well as the Jewish men assembled at the Western Wall below them, all covered their heads in remembrance that God is always above them.
As Daniel turned left at the intersection of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher he remembered seeing a beautifully decorated shop in the Christian Quarter. The shop was filled with hammered copper platters, silver crosses and hand carved olive wood statues depicting Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, angels and nativity scenes of all shapes and sizes. Outside a group of pilgrims took turns carrying a wooden cross on their shoulders as others kissed the Stone of Anointment.
As Daniel walked atop the Old City’s ramparts, that wound around the perimeter, he counted many towers and of palaces along the way. He felt a special connection to God in this place that he had never experienced before. His heart filled with praise and thanksgiving for a God who cared so deeply for all the people of the earth.
As he walked past the Temple Mount he remembered the many animal sacrifices that had once taken place in the Jewish Temple. Daniel pondered the brutal conquest and plundering by the Babylonians. The Turks also left their marks on the backs of Israel’s children. So many wars, so much bloodshed as men fought to defended their faith, prophets and particular form of worship.
Daniel remembered the many men, women and children who died at the hands of the crusaders. In the name of God they came, murdering and destroying, changing Jerusalem’s landscape forever and covering her streets in blood. Daniel tried to forget these horrible images as he turned down the Via Dolorosa toward the Damascus Gate.
Once through the narrow gate, Daniel crossed the street and walked down Nablus to the Garden Tomb. Sitting there, starring at the empty tomb, he reflected on the fact that God had offered up His own Son on the altar for all of us, Jesus of Nazareth, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
