Resurrection Day in Jerusalem

Around noon, we headed over to Ein Kerem and decided to take a tour of the churches. This sleepy community was alive with tourists from all over the world doing the very same thing. We were surrounded by conversations in various languages: Hebrew, English, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Dutch. There were Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Jews, Evangelicals...

The church bells pealed nearly continuously while we were there in celebration of this glorious day. The sun was brilliant and occasionally slipped behind puffy clouds. We decided to ascend the hill to the very top of Ein Kerem and view the grounds of the Church of the Ascension. For me it was quite a hike; but, because I've been walking on a regular basis, I managed without being too breathless. What surprised me as we made the steep ascent was the fact that we were surrounded also by Israeli's. We all - with our varied backgrounds - wandered the historical sites together, Israeli's reading to their children the posted plaques in Hebrew, Italians reading the history of the site in their own tongue, Ron and I discovering the antiquities.

Below is a clip we filmed of our day visiting the various historical churches on Resurrection Day. Just another day in Jerusalem, a city that enjoys the freedom of worship for all peoples without prejudice. I am blessed to live here.