As last Sunday I had to wait on the bus for about 25 minutes and got to worship just as the bells were ringing, I got an earlier start today. I got to the bus stop at the Bethlehem gate a bit before 8:00 and we left at 8:00. This got me to the Jaffa Gate at the old city at about 8:25. As worship did not start until 9:00, I had some time to explore.
I had heard about a little shopping area just outside the Jaffa Gate area which had a number of contemporary sculptures depicting biblical themes or characters. I was able to find it and could go through about half the sculptures before needing to leave for worship. I went back to see the other half after worship.
I took a number of pictures of the pieces. Here are two of them.
The snake and the temptation were depicted several times.
I think this catches a great deal of Sarah's laughter in being told that she would finally have a child.
It was good to be with the people at Redeemer Lutheran Church for worship. I was at the English language congregation's service. There is also an Arabic speaking congregation and a German speaking congregation.
The following is a link to a video I took at the beginning of worship. It features the prelude and the bells from the church. This is certainly an effective way to have everyone get quiet and prepare for worship. (Should we try it at United?)
I am including a couple of photos of people from the congregation.
These are Mark Brown, regional director for the Middle East for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and his assistant, Britt. Mark and his wife host a Wednesday evening potluck and volleyball fellowship time from about Easter to Thanksgiving at their home on the LWF campus which is located near the top of the Mount of Olives. I was glad to go there last week.
These are Pastor Fred and Gloria Strickert. He is the pastor of the English speaking congregation at Redeemer Lutheran. They were most gracious and hospitable.
After worship and the second half of the sculptures, I met with others from our group and went to the Tower of David. It is also known as the Citadel. The name is a misnomer because David did not have anything to do with it. It is a museum housed in the ruins of an Arabic fortress on the west side of the old city.
This picture shows the courtyard of the fortress.
Though it appears to be misnamed, the museum was terrific. It gave a wonderful presentation of the history of Jerusalem through the ages and through its many rulers. Also, it affords a great view of the old city from its tower. (The tower we could go on is the one with the flags.)
The link that follows is a video of the view from that tower. In addition, I put on a piece about the Hinnom Valley. This is just to the west of the old city. It was used both as a burial ground and the city dump. The dump would catch fire and smolder. Because of this, it was used as the model for the eternal flames of hell or Gehenna.
After that, I headed back to Tantur. As I arrived there, I thought that a video of the campus might be of some interest. Because of that, I put one together. The following link is to it. (At the end of the video, I wonder what people are doing on the tennis court. As it turns out, they were marking the lines for a labyrinth which we would walk later during evening prayer.
God bless!
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