Saturday, June 9 2007

by Sammie Markham

Jerusalem, The Holy City
Shabbat Shalom. Sammie, here. I shall do my best to describe the day without being too non-spiritual. We went to the BYU Jerusalem Center this morning for a tour and for church. The Center itself is very beautiful. It sits right across from the old city and the chapel where we had sacrament meeting faces the Dome of the Rock. I should also say that the front of the chapel is just huge windows so the whole time you are staring out at the city. Out of the million times I have taken the sacrament, today was a truly unique experience because we could look right at Jerusalem as the bread and water were passed to the congregation. The first speaker got up and was really boring (sorry, Mr. first speaker, if you are reading this) and I hit a brick wall and fell asleep. All I really got from the first talk was that the seats in the Jerusalem Center aren’t very conducive to sleeping. The second speaker talked about – surprise, surprise – mawage. (imagine me saying that like the priest in the Princess Bride.) She said she was asked to give a talk about her favorite subject – and she chose her husband. I’ll spare you the details… Her husband then gave a talk (they had been here with the State Department and this was their last Sunday) and I remember it being good, but I don’t really remember what he spoke about. Melba made me take a nap on a couch during Sunday School. I was awake for Priesthood – the lesson was on work. At least we centered on work and having a good work ethic. Rich made a good comment about how many of the people he meets who enter the medical profession have very different priorities than when he entered the profession. Med students seem to be more interested in the lifestyle – how much money they can make, how much vacation they get, etc – as opposed to wanting to help people. I started to think about how while all of my siblings have very different personalities, we all have one thing in common – a good work ethic. I attribute that to my Dad. (Thanks, Homer.)
OK, enough about Church. Then we went outside to take some pictures and then we went to lunch. This was the first day that I didn’t eat a schnitzel for lunch (A schnitzel is a pita with chicken and other vegetables inside. Very good!). We had a real lunch – it was kinda expensive and not very good. Melba, Adam and Martha and I sat next to the Pace’s daughter, Michelle, and her husband Gordon and we had a really good time getting to know them. The Pace’s approached their kids last Memorial Day about taking them all to Jerusalem. Initially, they wanted to go just as a family and then they realized that it would be a lot more economically doable if they went as/with a tour group. Our group is the largest that LDS Travel Studies has ever sent – 54 total – but they also said we are the first group that hasn’t had any whiners (it’s too hot, or this food is weird, or whatever). We decided that one of the main items that is making the trip so great is that we are all families going together.
After lunch we went to Bethlehem. There is a big wall there (I couldn’t get a definitive answer as to who built it) because Bethlehem is owned by the Arabs and the Israelis need to keep them out. We went through the checkpoint with all of the armed guards (M-16’s strapped on shoulders is now becoming a common sight) and as soon as we crossed into the city we could see the difference. Lots of poverty, broken down buildings, beat up cars, etc. Plenty of graffiti on the wall – the most interesting (and this was written in English) was the words “Mr. President, tear down this wall.” We were told to be very careful as there were plenty of pick-pocketers around. As soon as we got off the bus we were swarmed by street vendors. There were plenty. They were pretty persistent, but I don’t think they crossed the line into harassment. We walked to the church(es) built above the spot where Christ was born. This place used to be packed with people every single day but now that the crime, aggression and conflict have increased, the crowds have died down and we were able to go right in. Mangers, I learned today, are not the wood stables that we see in all of the nativity sets, they are actually caves. There are 3 churches built above the spot where Christ was born – Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic. The churches were FILLED with crusade era ‘Christian’ décor – lots of statues/idols, gold ornaments, etc. Most people in the group were bothered by the fact that this sacred spot was adorned with such ‘worldly’ items. I was in agreement but I tried to look past it. (I may have had an easier time looking past all of this because I was used to churches looking like this after my time as a missionary in Italy.) The tour guides said that Christ was definitely born in this manger – we don’t know exactly where (the Churches there have marked the exact spot…) – but we do know it was there. I started singing (to myself) The Little Drummer Boy because it’s my favorite Christmas song and I thought that would help me look past the physical aspects of the manger and dwell on the birth of the Savior. The song means quite a bit more now that I can picture what it would have been like to travel to see the Savior and then be down in the cave where he was to welcome Him here. It was a really powerful experience – I can’t put it into words – all I can say is that is was really powerful. He was truly born into a humble circumstance.
We got out of the Greek Orthodox church, walked quickly through the Armenian Orthodox part and into the Roman Catholic Church. Without trying to compare the three – the Catholic Church was a much nicer place to be. They were doing choir rehearsal and the music was beautiful. We went down into another cave (I know there’s a better word than cave, but I can’t think of it) where St. Jerome lived for 30 years while he translated the Bible around 300AD. The room was about 300 square feet. It was amazing to think something so amazing was done in a room that small. There were also some sepulchers down there some were for priests, but others were smaller and dated to right after the birth of the Savior. It is believed, but not confirmed, that they were children who were murdered by King Herod in his attempts to kill the Savior. Again, it was one of those things that I have known my whole life, but when you actually see it, the reality hits you in a way that just can’t be described. I don’t think there is any other way to experience it like this – so I won’t waste time writing it here.
On our way out of Bethlehem we all had to get off of the bus with our passports and go through Security. We went through a metal detector, but nobody was there to monitor it. Melba set it off (as did many others) but just kept on walking… Anyways, we got back on the bus and stopped outside of Bethlehem in a grove of olive trees that overlooked the city. We talked about the Shepherds who watched their flocks. Then we discussed the Wise Men and the Star that appeared. There couldn’t have been a better spot to do this. While we talked, a herd of goats came through. One of the babies was lost and was calling for the rest. He wandered in the wrong direction looking for the herd and the longer he went by himself, the louder he called. The shepherd (dressed in jeans and a T-Shirt) went and got the goat and brought him back. Lots of parallels to the Gospel from watching that happen – especially in a grove of olive trees with Bethlehem in the background.
Then we came back to the hotel and had dinner. It was fun to sit with everyone and laugh. We got together and discussed what we had learned/noted from the trip. Rich has a really deep understanding of the scriptures and can teach it in a way that everyone listens and learns. Last night he, Melba and I stayed up talking for a while. It was nice to have the same experience again, but this time with all of the other Boyers on the trip.