Category: Returning 2019

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

Like Jews and Christians, there are various Muslim Jerusalems. While Jerusalem’s 900,000 residents are primarily Jewish, the Old City is over 75% Muslim with some 28,000 Muslims. Their shops may be on land owned by the Greek Orthodox Church or the Roman Catholic Church, but dozens of small souvenir shops or restaurants are Muslim.  Besides … Continue reading 93. Muslims’ Jerusalems

Being an Atlantan mainstream Protestant , I’m not use to the variety of Chalcedonian (Greek and Russian) and non-Chalcedonian Christians, or sometimes referred to as the Oriental Christians( Armenian, Syriac, Coptic, and Ethiopian) in Jerusalem. Their use of icons, their liturgical dress, and their languages remind me that Christianity comes in all shapes and sizes … Continue reading 92. Eastern Orthodoxy’s Jerusalems

Francis is more than simply a Jerusalem street name. The Franciscans with their brown robes blend into the white, yellow, or tawny colored Jerusalem stone. As the Franciscans of the Holy Land come from 45 different nations, they themselves exhibit the varied skin color of places all around the globe. The Franciscans are markers of … Continue reading 91. Franciscans as Custodians of the Holy Land

  Jews of modern Jerusalem are varied.  These varied Jews have created a "sacred geography" of Jerusalem. As a traveler, I only see and understand a fraction of their life. Here are some of my impressions of this Jewish geography with its memories and hopes. I have to begin with the Western Wall. One Israeli … Continue reading 90. Modern Jewish Old City Jerusalems

I awake early as usual. Rather than walking before breakfast, I wait and walk after breakfast. Since I am leaving Delhi’s Aerocity Holiday Inn for my flight to Tel Aviv later this afternoon, I decide that I might as well replace my empty roll-on deodorant. In this compact, highly developed area a mile or two … Continue reading 89. Excuse Me Sir, Do You Know Where I May Find Deodorant?

I gaze at the Wheel of Life mandala, the Bhavacakra, over and over again in Ladakh. Here it is at Hemis; here it is at Thiksey; here it is at Lamayura; here it is at Alchi. Like a Greek Orthodox Church with required placement of specific Biblical figures on the iconostasis, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery … Continue reading 88. Everywhere a Wheel of Life Mandala