The Collective Groan of God's Land.

It's crazy to think I spent the past week walking in the footsteps of Jesus. It's eerie even. The places they say we was born, the mount of Olives where he prayed the night before the crucifixion, to the proposed burial site where he rose again. It's absurd really. It's deep. Very deep.
Old Jerusalem is one of the most interesting places I have ever been (I'm sorry if I say that about everywhere I go). Just walking around the tiny city enclosed by ancient walls I was shocked to see the sudden changes from quarter to quarter. Each section (Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Armenain) has a very distinct edge and flavor to itself. It's something hard to explain, you walk around one corner and you have changed from an entirely Jewish community to an entirely Muslin one. All within a tiny perimeter. At the same time there seems to be a harmony that connects them all, it's really hard to explain.
We arrived 5 or so days ago directly from Tel Aviv airport to Jerusalem, where we went to the hostel we had booked (Citadel Hostel). To our surprise, on arrival we were informed that the room we had booked was in fact not even a room. It was a mattress on top of the roof! A little surprised we weren't sure if we wanted to stay, but regardless went up to see the roof top. All I can say is that it was stunning. It overlooked the the entire old city. Breathtaking scenery. It was shared with about 20 other people, and before you knew it we had been accepted into their family. We all ate together, traveled around together, and slept under the stars and over the city lights together. It was beautiful. An experience of a lifetime.
The city has calls to prayer 4 times a day where the churched would get on their loudspeakers and lead everyone within the walls in prayer. Those moments where the type that sent shivers down my spine. It would start with the Rabbi or whoever would start it, and before long the entire city was moaning in prayer together. From our rooftop, it sounded as if the city stopped to collectively groan to God. Again one of those things that needs to be experienced.
The trip was filled with amazing conversation, under the stars at Citadel, floating in the Dead Sea, wandering the streets in Bethlaham, everyone wanted to talk. Never have I sat down in such a respectful conversation with such a diversity of people, everything from Jewish, christian, athiest, Muslim, and everything else between sitting, eating, and exploring each others world views. We even as a group celebrated shabbat (Jewish Sabbath), with dinner and a visit to the Wailing wall. Moments like these that make a world surrounded in darkness, war and tragedy seem Okay. It's the kind of thing that gives a person like me hope for the nations. All of them. There are hopes and dreams and ideas that we all share, we just haven't been on the same path.
I have so much to say about Israel, but no time. It's hard because I don't feel that I have even scrapped the surface of what I expereinced here. There is too much history. Too many current events. Too many sights to see. And Beauty all around.
Please ask me about it if you care to hear.
These past two days we have spent sitting on the beach in Tel Aviv, Which lies on the most beautiful mediterian sea. I have had a lot of time to sit back and ponder my time in Romania and Jerusalem here. The only major conclusion that I have come to is that I am filled with thanksgiving for the places and people I have met and will miss them all greatly. I have definatly left a part of myself in each of our stops so far, so I can only imagine that there are equally amazing things in store for South Africa in t-minus 2 days. Goodness me.
My prayers are with all of you. And I have a feeling I will be seeing many of you in the near future.
My love from Tel Aviv, Israel.