Jerusalem
I spent the morning at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Coptic Christians all believe Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected. IT ROCKED! There were people there from all over the world, including large contingents of American Protestants (who believe this church marks the scene of Christ's burial and resurrection, but not his crucifixion, if I'm not mistaken), Sub-Saharan African Catholics and Protestants, Korean Presbyterians (who were doing a wonderful job of rolling around on the ground and speaking in tongues -- they really were my favorites), Russian Orthodox, and Ukranian Uniates. It was a sight to behold! I felt like a kid in a candy shop!
It was interesting to notice was that nobody really knew what to do. One is not normally confronted with Christ's tomb at an average Sunday service in Tuscaloosa. And then there's the fact that there seem to be three competing tombs of Christ within the church, so which one is supposed to make you all hot and bothered? Everyone desperately wanted to make a p.d.r. (public display of religiosity), but they just didn't know how (except for the Korean Presbyterians who stole the show!). So the Protestants were crossing themselves like Catholics, and everyone was kissing everything they could get their lips on (hasn't anybody heard of face-herpes?), and there was a general sense of sacred confusion. Everyone was asking their neighbor, "What's this?" "I think it's Christ's tomb!" "Oh? I thought that was Christ's tomb over there." "Yes, it is!" And off they ran to swap second-hand spit with the masses. It was all very Monty Pythonesque. And I was just as happy as could be!
I'm going to a bookstore this afternoon to see if I can find a guidebook just for Jerusalem, and hopefully I can find a book about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as well. I would love to know the stories behind all of the shrines and chapels. I eavesdropped on a few tour guides, but they had very clear sectarian biases and very little historical information. One American woman yelled at me that this was the true tomb of Christ and proof that he was risen (because his body wasn't there, I suppose), and she insisted that I take a photograph. I loved her.
The Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock are going to have to really work to impress me now -- but I'm sure they will!
(Photo by Eric: Venerating the slab upon which the body of Christ was prepared for burial, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem)
I spent the morning at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Coptic Christians all believe Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected. IT ROCKED! There were people there from all over the world, including large contingents of American Protestants (who believe this church marks the scene of Christ's burial and resurrection, but not his crucifixion, if I'm not mistaken), Sub-Saharan African Catholics and Protestants, Korean Presbyterians (who were doing a wonderful job of rolling around on the ground and speaking in tongues -- they really were my favorites), Russian Orthodox, and Ukranian Uniates. It was a sight to behold! I felt like a kid in a candy shop!
It was interesting to notice was that nobody really knew what to do. One is not normally confronted with Christ's tomb at an average Sunday service in Tuscaloosa. And then there's the fact that there seem to be three competing tombs of Christ within the church, so which one is supposed to make you all hot and bothered? Everyone desperately wanted to make a p.d.r. (public display of religiosity), but they just didn't know how (except for the Korean Presbyterians who stole the show!). So the Protestants were crossing themselves like Catholics, and everyone was kissing everything they could get their lips on (hasn't anybody heard of face-herpes?), and there was a general sense of sacred confusion. Everyone was asking their neighbor, "What's this?" "I think it's Christ's tomb!" "Oh? I thought that was Christ's tomb over there." "Yes, it is!" And off they ran to swap second-hand spit with the masses. It was all very Monty Pythonesque. And I was just as happy as could be!
I'm going to a bookstore this afternoon to see if I can find a guidebook just for Jerusalem, and hopefully I can find a book about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as well. I would love to know the stories behind all of the shrines and chapels. I eavesdropped on a few tour guides, but they had very clear sectarian biases and very little historical information. One American woman yelled at me that this was the true tomb of Christ and proof that he was risen (because his body wasn't there, I suppose), and she insisted that I take a photograph. I loved her.
The Wailing Wall and the Dome of the Rock are going to have to really work to impress me now -- but I'm sure they will!
(Photo by Eric: Venerating the slab upon which the body of Christ was prepared for burial, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem)
posted by Eric at 12:00 PM
<< Home