Continuation from episode 3
On our way to the next destination, we went to a souvenir shop managed by Arab Christian.
This is a carved wooden “last supper” . I couldn’t buy it. Because it’s too big and expensive for me.But it was somehow interesting. Because it is made exquisitely.
There were many wood carvings and other Catholic-style souvenirs here.
I bought some key holders for my friends. The shop had many good key holders.
When we walk down the streets there were many paintings as might be expected of holy place.
By the way, there was a temple across the street from the Church of the Nativity.
I asked a man that what is that building, then he said to me “Take a look at the mark of the moon, I think it’s a Muslim temple”.
Indeed, the holy place Israel is mixed in various cultures and religions.
Then we went to the Chapel of the Shepherd’s Field.
This chapel was built to commemorate the Angel who had announced to the shepherds the Savior’s birth.
The mural paintings inside of the church are beautiful.
This picture clearly shows that Jesus was born in the cave.
The chapel was very impressive.
It’s like this.
We sang a hymn around here.
It was not decided at first. But suddenly the pastor said “Let’s sing a hymn here” .
And we sang “Because He Lives” It ‘s a beautiful and powerful hymn song. I was so moved.
And I recall that we saw a real shepherd and a flock of sheep around here.
The guide’s wife found that and she called together us saying ” Come on! Come here, it’s really rare”.
I was good to have a camera.
I quickly zoomed and took a photo.
After that we headed to the Via Dolorosa.
A lot of cars run in main road in Israel now. And sometimes It causes traffic congestion.
I saw many Japanese cars like Suzuki, Toyota, Honda, etc from the window of the bus.
Because of the traffic congestion we were late for arriving at the Via Dolorosa. It was about the beginning of the sunset.
The Via Dolorosa where Jesus went up holding a heavy cross with all his might is now a shopping street.
We didn’t have much time. So we went down the street instead of going up.
And we went to the Church of the Holy sepulcher.
This is the place where there was once the grave of Jesus.
Now there is a building called the Aedicula. We didn’t enter because we don’t have much time. But a lot of people were in line to worship.
There were murals painting described about Jesus’s burial.
Then we went to the Wailing wall.
We have to wear a white cap called Kippah to enter the square.
I am a Christian, but I prayed with my hand on the wall. And I rolled up the small paper on which I wrote a wish. There was a lot of paper clogged in the gap between the stones.
Originally,this is the Temple in Jerusalem.
Stones are piled up.
The big stones were piled in ancient. The smaller stones were added to the modern era.
By the way, there was a checkpoint before entering into the Wailing Wall.
We had to take off the mobilephone, belts ,shoes , things made of metal etc.
That was our first day of Israel.
I was exhausted because I was short of sleep, but I was fulfilling as if everything was in my dreams.
When I walked down the street around the Tower of David , the pastor called to me from behind.
And he said with a light laugh “Are you allright?”.
I said “Yeah I’m okay. But a little bit sleepy”.
And he said “But it’s a great trip isn’t it?”.
“Yeah off course!” I said.
He said “This is not by chance.You are called here.Everything is meaningful.”
I said. “Yeah I really think so.Thank you so much”.
I thought like this.
“I am in the holy place now. I’m in the place where Jesus was walking “(though it took more than 2000 years time).
*Words and Pronunciation
continuation / kəntìnjuéɪʃən / something that continues (noun)
destination / dèstənéɪʃən / the place where someone is going
souvenir / súːvənìɚ / something you buy or keep to help you remember special event.
something you buy or keep to remind you somewhere you have been.
remind / to help somebody to remember something
carve / kάɚv / to make something by cutting into especially wood or stone
exquisitely / ɛ̀kskwɪ́zɪtli / adverb of “exquisite”
exquisite / ɪkˈskwɪz.ɪt / very beautiful and delicate
as might be expected of / just like I thought, just as expected,
<A> across (the street)from <B> / <A> is on one side of the street and <b> is on the other side
across / on the other side
Muslim / mɑː.zlem
commemorate / kəˈmem.ə.reɪt / to remember officially and give respect to a great person or event, especially by a public ceremony or by making a statue or special building
mural / mjʊə.rəl / large picture that has been painted on the wall
recall / riː.kɑːl / to remember something
be good to do / be lucky to do
congestion / kəndʒéstʃən / noun of “congested”
congested / kənˈdʒes.tɪd / <adjective> so full of something that nothing can do
sepulcher / sep.əl.kɚ / a stone structure where someone is buried
bury / ber.i / to put a dead body into the ground
burial / ber.i.əl / the act of putting a dead body into the ground
clog / klɑːɡ / to block or become blocked
block / <verb> to make it difficult or impossible for sb/sth to pass
ancient / eɪn.ʃənt
fulfil / fʊlˈfɪl / to satisfy someone or make them happy
fulfilling / fʊlˈfɪl.ɪŋ / <adjective> making you feel happy and satisfied
Hope is a good thing 