There I am! On a camel!! That's my friend Jan behind me. What fun! We are on the top of the Mount of Olives. From here we can look across the Valley of Judgement to see the house of the Last Supper, Caiphus' house, and the rest of Jerusalem. It was a big WOW!
Right next door is the Garden of Gethsemane (Gethsemane means olive press). In the church located there called the Church of All Nations or Church of Agony is the rock that Jesus prayed on. The tree you see here is at least 2000 years old. All the trees in the garden are ancient except the one planted in the 1990's by the pope.
This is the Wailing Wall or the West Wall. After all the destruction from various wars, this is the only one still standing. It is unbelievable. The bottom blocks are 300 tons! It is built with one block on top of another - no mortar. The small blocks are 2.5 tons!
It is a sacred wall because directly on the other side of the wall is where the Holy of Holies was. Praying at the wall is as close as you can get to being with God.
I cannot tell you how this day has affected me. To put my hand on the rock Jesus prayed and sweated and bled on as he waited for Judas and the soldiers to come and arrest him, then to put my hand on the West Wall and hold all of you in prayer, my family, my friends, my church and myself. I was drained and at the same time encouraged.
Let us pray - God, creator and almighty, merciful, compassionate Lord, I give you thanks for sending your Son, for walking with me, for always being there. Amen
