Stations of the Resurrection Pilgrimage
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April 26, 2007
Thursday
Day Two

This was a full day, with much to digest.

We began the morning at the Garden of Gethsemane, at the bottom of the Mount of Olives. It was there that Jesus prayed that the cup of suffering might be passed, but nevertheless, God's will be done. It was there that the invited disciples could not keep vigil with Jesus as their eyes were heavy with sleep. It was there in some manuscripts of Luke 22 that Jesus sweated drops of blood.

At the site commemorating this troubled scene in Jesus' Passion, we saw a garden grove of olive trees whose root systems could be two thousand years' old. We saw a rock commemorating Jesus blood, sweat, and tears. And we saw the impressive Church of Agony, or Church of All Nations, with its muted lighting, its purple windows symbolizing suffering, and its altar area as the place where Jesus went apart away to pray. Twelve nations donated funds to construct the building, marked by twelve domes on the roof that also represent cups of suffering that could not be avoided. We prayed Morning Prayer just outside the church, hearing two stories of waiting, one filled with anxiety at the garden before betrayal from Luke 22, and another from the Emmaus account in Luke 24 filled with unexpected joy as Cleopas and his companion asked Jesus to wait, to stay, and as he broke bread they recognized him. Clearly our time in the places where Jesus lived, died, and rose again is a mix of agony and joy.

Following Morning Prayer we spent the better part of the day at the top of the Mount of Olives, on the compound of the Lutheran Church of the Ascension and the Lutheran World Federation's (LWF) August Victoria Hospital (AVH), at 2,900 feet above sea level.

We were greeted by ELCA pastor, Mark Brown, is the LWF representative in Jerusalem, who reviewed AVH's history as a modern piece of architecture for its time, completed in 1907, complete with its own power source. It was the vision of Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany who named it after his wife, Victoria. 2007 is AVH's one-hundredth anniversary! Not long after it was erected, in 1917 it became the headquarters (the "White House") for the British Commander of the Arab Territories.

Fast forward to 1947, when, after WWII, the British gave the land to Transjordan. That same year the Lutheran World Federation was formed and quickly secured ownership of the AVH site (the state of Israel was declared one year later, in 1948). 2007 is LWF's sixtieth anniversary! As the site is situated in a predominantly Palestinian region, it became a hospital to care for Palestinian refugees whose villages were razed or who were driven from their homes.


Fast forward to 2007, where AVH has been transformed into a facility that has numerous specialties for cancer treatment (the "Sloan Kettering" of Palestine), Medical Physics, and pediatric kidney dialysis, among others. The CEO of AVH, Dr. Tawfiq Nasser, made a compelling case just how important and challenged AVH is. With a wall erected, and checkpoints making it very difficult for Palestinians from nearby villages to come to AVH, they have created a bus service to bring patients themselves to the hospital and are working diligently to provide clinics in villages.

We toured the building, where Dr. Nasser was proud of AVH's state of the art equipment and top-notch staff. Over and over again he said that the treatment offered in many cases is the only place in all of Palestine! Many in our group were moved to hear the great work on behalf of LWF and to see the quilts our congregations send on many of the beds.

After a nourishing lunch provided by AVH, we went to the back of the compound to see the land cleared for the AVH Mount of Olives' Housing Project, dedicating 60 acres to erect low-income (effectively subsidized) to enable Palestinians to stay in Jerusalem where they can find and have access to work. The New England Synod is promoting this project by asking congregations to raise money toward this project and send it in by June's Synod Assembly to present to ELCJHL Bishop Younan, who is the synod's keynote speaker. It is hoped that this work can begin in 2009. See www.lwfjerusalem.org.

During the afternoon, we had the opportunity to tour the Israeli Museum, that largest museum in Israel, and in the top 20 of all museums in the world in terms of its holdings. Completed in 1966, it features the Shrine of the Book which showcases fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at Qumram in 1947. We were given a guided tour by the Shrine of the Book's curator, who also introduced us to a 2^nd century BC miniature of Jerusalem recently moved from the Holy Land Hotel to the museum grounds. There we learned about the combined setting of the miniature of Jerusalem next to the Shrine of the Book, and within view of the Israeli seat of government, the Knesset. These three buildings capture religious and national identity and imagination.

We were then led on a tour of an exhibit of how Orientalism, the ideal of the Middle East was depicted in photography and art in the Europe of the 19^th century.

By nightfall, we made our way to the home of James and Tina (Davis) Snyder in West Jerusalem, where we were all invited to dinner. James is the director of the Israeli Museum, and James and Tina are dear friends of the Thomases. Offered a catered Moroccan dinner, our 24 shared a feast and heard stories of the bonds of friendship that developed through difficult times in the early 2000's. Joining us were James and Tina's Rabbi Michael and his wife Sarah and Mark Brown and his wife Susanne. Throughout the evening in small circles meaningful conversation was shared, and at the end we heard a remarkable tribute to shared friendship, all in a wonderful setting.

Tim Keyl
Christ the King Lutheran Church
Nashua, New Hampshire


Click here to see Pastor Tim's photos of the Pilgrimage on Flickr.
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