Monday - by Alex

"Okay everyone, remember, I'm going to be on the bus at 5:50 tomorrow morning so we can leave, please don't be late!" - JR, last night after Compline.

"Alex, it's 5:50, umm...we are supposed to be leaving now, yes?" - Christina, my roommate, this morning when she woke me up.

This morning, after getting off to a bit of a late start due to some over-sleepers, (oops...) we set off to walk the Via Dolorosa, or the Stations of the Cross. We walked forever, stumbling blindly over cobblestones as we tried to shake ourselves awake, sporadically enjoying the view of the sun rising over the Old City whenever we thought to look up for a moment.

Walking the path that Jesus took, on his way to die was an intense wake up call this morning. At each of the fourteen stations we stopped, our guide would explain what the station was about, and then someone would read a prayer that had to do with the station we were at.

The long, winding path around the Old City gave us time to meditate on what Jesus must have been feeling, how he must have suffered, while carrying the instrument that would ultimately be the cause of his death. For me, the most powerful stations were the ones where Jesus fell, because the prayers that went along with those stations were so guilt-ridden that it made me feel very culpable.

We also saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which holds many sites such as Christ's tomb, the Stone of Unction, and the room where the story of St. Helena finding Jesus' crucifixion cross is honored.

There were too many people in the tomb for us to enter, but we got to see it from the outside. The Stone of Unction, were the anointing and wrapping of Christ's body after his death has been commemorated since medieval times, was really cool to see, but seemed more of a metaphorical representation, at least after JR walked past me and muttered, 'One.'
Meaning, that on the scale which Robyn devised for judging the authenticity of a site, there is nearly no proof supporting that the Stone of Unction actually held Christ's body.

Overall, it was an awesome church to see, though kind of sad as well, because it is not in very good shape. There are six different groups in control of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: Coptics, Greek Orthodox, Syrians, Ethiopians, Roman Catholics, and Armenians. Because of this, the church is kind of dilapidated, since they are all arguing non-stop about what kind of repairs to make, so nothing ever actually gets done. This was apparent in the dinginess of the church, which one would NOT expect, as it is on the top three holiest places in the world for Christians. It kind of proved that the strifes people have over religious beliefs can cause harm, and it's really not necessary. As cliche as it sounds, if the groups could just join forces and work together to enhance and improve the Holy Sepulchre, it would live up to the label it has been given as one of one of the most holy places in the world.

As Sasha said while we were walking past groups of Muslims, Jews, and Christians all glaring at one another in distrust, "I just want to graffiti it on the walls! Hate breeds hate!" And this is very true. As long as the people in this world keep channeling their energy into the hatred of other humans, the vicious cycle of destruction will continue.

Peace :)

(please!) - Alex