My paternal grandfather was a bookbinder. As a young kid, I remember leafing through two volumes of World War I photos. Besides parades sending young men to war, the training camps, the volumes had the victims of war such as the young amputees or the men blinded by poison gas. Since I have now visited … Continue reading 97. Memorials of Ypres

  I visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre whenever I’m in the neighborhood. I know that sounds strange, but I like seeing the building and the visitors at various times of the day.  It isn’t as though I’m enamored with the building. The building is a “let-down” if you expect London’s St. Pauls or … Continue reading 96. Hanging Around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

As a traveler to Jerusalem, I spend an inordinate amount of time in churches. However, since I’ve been here for two different Holy Weeks this year because western and eastern liturgical calendars disagree, I have to display some of the “Christians on the Streets” photos I’ve collected. The arrival of the Syriac Orthodox patriarch included … Continue reading 95. Christians in the Streets

  I find fascinating Jerusalems different “sacred geographies.” Jewish, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Muslim, and Christian Protestant have overlapping “sacred geographies.” At times there are similarities. Jews pray at the “Tomb of David” as Christians peer at the large stone sarcophagus. A Christian kisses the rock where tradition has it that Jesus ascended into heaven … Continue reading 94. Protestant Jerusalems