In His Steps- Day 9

One of our goals on this trip was to try to experience the Sabbath in Jerusalem.  It turns out that taking a day off of work is not that easy. Since Exodus 16 states that the Sabbath day’s walk is limited to only 3/4 of a mile, I realized I’d have to improvise. 

Jose and I decided to take personal days, resting and worshiping in our own way. I started mine by sleeping in ‘til 10 and then heading off to the Arabic sector because they were open and had good coffee! 

I then went north of the city to the Garden Tomb, which is a first century tomb in a beautiful garden area.  I took some time to unwind after a busy schedule and listened to one of my favorite Christian albums. 

While going through the old market on the way out, I bought a T-shirt with the word “Peace” written in English, Arabic and Hebrew. The shopkeeper was a Muslim who showed me great respect as a Christian minister because he’d grown up in the Old City and had been treated very well by the priests, ministers, sisters and nuns. This gave me hope that maybe peace between our different groups was possible

I wanted to find a place to pray so I figured the Wailing Wall would be a good spot, especially on the Sabbath, since it’s in the Jewish Quarter. I know I can be a bit of a crier, but every time I’ve gone to the Wailing Wall I’ve felt overwhelmed with emotions and actually wept. I’m so grateful for so many people, places and things. It was also good to get out a lot of insecurities and anxieties that I’ve had in my heart.

To get some reading time I figured I’d try to find a coffee place in the modern city outside the walls. I was amazed that the busiest intersections and walkways were empty. Instead of the usual traffic jams, beeping horns, and crowds, the streets were eerily quiet. 

Everything being shuttered made me nostalgic for times as a kid when everything was closed on Sundays. Those were memorable because everybody had it off, and we all could do nothing but just be together. I think that’s part of what God‘s plan was for the Sabbath.

I finally found a cool coffee shop area that was open and to my surprise it was run by Jewish workers. I got up the courage to ask them why they were open and they said they’re not kosher. Makes sense to me. I spent another hour or two there reading, listening to Apple Music’s Piano Chill playlist, and doing nothing except watching the sunset, which marks the end of the Jewish sabbath. 

Meeting back up with Jose we were both refreshed and decided to go out to get something to eat. The only thing we could find open was a pizza place in the modern part of the city. The person who served us had jeans, a sweatshirt and a machine gun. I carefully asked him what you have to do to be able to carry a machine gun, and he said you have to be in the military reserve. A good day, but this reminded me of the challenging times we’re in.

‭‭Mark‬ ‭2‬:‭27‬ ”Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.“

Reflection: Do you think you would benefit from having a day where you didn’t do any work or chores, but simply had spiritual rest and reflection?

Photo list:
1-4. The Garden Tomb and Belle the garden cat.
5. My new “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” shirt.
6. The Western Wailing Wall. 
7-8.  The usually crowded, empty streets and roadways.
9. Kids in the Jewish Quarter playing soccer on the ancient market road to Damascus.
10-12 Coffee, sunset and pizza.