“For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:32-34 NIV
At the end of day 7, the bus climbed up to Jerusalem, and you could see the temperature drop. We were leaving a place below sea level and went up at least 2,000 feet above sea level. The shift in terrain mostly stayed the same. Still rocky and had mountains, but the temperature dropped 20 degrees into the low 60s. We settled into our hotel, where we could see the Damascus gate. The walls of the old city were right out front! We would be able to go inside those walls in the morning. I could not wait!
The following day we woke up super early. We wanted to jump-start the day and beat the crowds to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It was a beautiful morning and a quiet walk through the old city streets. As we walked up the Via Dolorosa, I was struck by the stillness and the brilliantly colored doors. Funny, I did not know that obsession with the doors would stick with me the whole trip.
As we entered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, you could smell a sweet perfume coming from the rock where they laid Jesus. We had the opportunity to also venerate and pray at that rock. After I was done touching it, I smelled the perfume on my hand. Even after washing them later that day! My husband and I got to wander throughout the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, visit Golgotha, and even stand and witness a Roman Catholic mass outside the tomb. It was magnificent.
Day 9 the group got to have free time in the Old City. My husband and I got to try an Armenian Tavern for lunch. It was delicious! Jerusalem is split into 4 different sections: Christian, Armenian, Muslim, and Jewish. In a matter of seconds, you can be in the next section. We could walk almost every part of the old city in the first half day of free time! Then we wandered to all the other churches in the Christian quarter. As we exited one of the churches, we were greeted by some of our group. We asked where they were headed and decided to join. The streets began to get more and more crowded, and I was very grumpy, hot, and tired and began to get more and more frustrated. I just needed some downtime! As we started to get more separated from our group in the busy, crowded alleyways, I stopped to take a picture of a tiny wooden door. It looked so different from all the big and brightly colored doors I had been taking pictures of, so I shouted to my husband to come to take a look.
He then replied, “That is it! You found it!” I did not remember what he was talking about for a moment, but then I realized this was the hidden church he visited 10 years ago on his first trip to the Holy Land. Due to its location, he did not think he would ever find it again. It was the Church of St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church. Tucked away between two shops off a busy and noisy road. As we studied the Greek above the door before going in, one of the neighboring shop vendors said, “Go, you go in,” and so we did.
Ducking down to enter a beautiful courtyard off the busy road, felt like we were entering Narnia. It was hidden behind all the hustle and bustle of the city streets. We had been gifted a quiet time to reflect in the busy city.
We were in a thin place. Time stood still. As we entered the church, we were greeted by a sister/nun. She asked if we were Christian, and we said yes. She invited us in, and we slowly took in the glorious iconography on every inch of the walls, up to the ceiling and back. It was the prettiest church on our whole trip. It was not grand. It was small. However, it was glorious. How can something so beautiful not be so front and center? It made me realize that many beautiful things are right in front of you, we just have to slow down and look, and when we are called to go in, we have to take that chance and seek it out.