Day 17: The City of David and Homeward

Don Hamer is on professional development leave until May 15. He is writing occasional posts to this blog to share some of his experiences. From April 4 to April 20, he is writing daily updates while he and his wife Debbie make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

I am writing this as I am on spiritual retreat in Cambridge with the brothers of the Society of St. John the Evangelist. Having tried for several days, unsuccessfully, to find a wandering wireless network in the area, I am filing this from the Kinko’s in Harvard Square (for $.25 per minute – I guess I could have sprung for that on day 1 . . .)
On our last day in Jerusalem, we attended the 11:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist at St. George’s Cathedral which, now beyond the Holy Week schedule, was officiated entirely in English (the 9:30 a.m. service was in Arabic). Having eaten a late breakfast, we did some preliminary packing, and then headed for our final destination – the City of David. On the outskirts of the Old City, running along the Kidron Valley, this is the oldest part of Jerusalem, having been settled by the Jebusites as early as the 20th Century BCE and won by King David and set up as his capital city in the 10th Century BCE (2 Samuel 5:6 et seq.) On the site are many vestiges of previous incarnations of the area: the 13th and 18th century BCE walls of the Jebusites, the 6th century BCE evidence of attack by the Babylonians, and remains of the ancient water system. Once one arrives at a place called Warren’s Shaft (named for the person who discovered it) one has two choices: the so-called “dry” route and the so-called “wet” route, known as Hezekiah’s Tunnel. Because the water in the “wet” route can reach as high as three feet, which would be up to Debbie’s hips, she wisely chose to take the dry route. I, however, not having nearly as much sense, was drawn to the “wet” route, which is actually through a tunnel constructed during the reign of King Hezekiah to bring the water supply inside the city so as to make it inaccessible to a possible invading army from Assyria. Armed with my flashlight (purchased for $10 in the souk on our way there) and wearing shorts and flip flops, in I went. The tunnel is now slightly shorter than its original 1,700+ feet, but when you are walking, alone, through knee-deep water in a pitch-dark tunnel that is, in most places, less than 2 feet wide and in many places less than 6 feet high, it felt like it was 2 miles. My left flip flop broke about 20 feet into the tunnel, so I went the rest of the way with one, carrying the other in the hand that wasn’t holding the flashlight. I was determined to take some pictures (among other reasons to prove, perhaps to myself, that I actually was there), so I was also balancing our new digital camera as well. At some point it occurred to me I was totally alone in there, so I started singing “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” trusting that at least he was somewhere down there with me, and hoping that if anyone else heard me, at least they would be on the lookout for me if perchance I fell unconscious in the tunnel. Finally, I could see the light of day at the end of the tunnel (I have a not-so-good picture of that), and truly felt the sense of Jesus’ healing touch when I emerged at the end to the Pool of Siloam, site of at least one noted miraculous healing by our Lord, where Debbie was already waiting for me. Our adventure was not yet quite over, as we had neglected to consider that while still in the City of David, we now had to walk uphill a distance similar to that which we had already traversed. Having arrived back at the entrance to the City of David, we had one of our few strokes of genius on this trip and decided to take a cab back to St. George’s Guesthouse.

Our final night was spent having dinner with David and Ann Bourns at what had become our favorite restaurant at the top of the Legacy Hotel, up the street from the guesthouse. It was fun to review our trip with a couple who, in a very short time, had become friends.

We had such a good time at dinner that we didn’t return to the Guesthouse until nearly 9:30 p.m., at which point we decided it was not worth trying to get any sleep before leaving for the airport at 12:45 p.m. So we packed, finished a bottle of wine and watched European television one last time. At 12:45 the “shared taxi” arrived to pick us up (the shared taxis are something of a cross between “dial-a-ride” and a public bus route), and our ordeal of getting through Israeli security and homeward bound was underway.
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I am sure that years from now I will still be looking back at this trip and reflecting on how it has affected my understanding of Scripture, in general, and of Jesus’ life and ministry, in particular. Beyond that, our time in the Holy Land has provided us some new insights into the history of the area and, therefore, into some of the tensions that exist today. Our time spent with people of all three Abrahamic religious backgrounds has given us, if only a taste, a bit of the flavor of the profound importance of the land and sites attached to it, and the historical memories they carry. Debbie and I will look forward to sharing our experiences upon our return.
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On a sad note, I want to add my own expression of sorrow over the untimely death of Kitty Duncan, long-time Trinity parishioner and mother of Kitty Peterson. Kitty had a distinguished career with the Small Business Administration and in service and fellowship with the Order of the Eastern Star, having been honored by the organization several years ago. In addition to these, her roles as wife, mother and grandmother and faithful Trinity member were just some of her impressive portfolio as a child of God and sister in the company of our Lord, Jesus Christ. She was a dear friend to us all, and her warm, witty and gracious presence among us will be sorely missed. May her soul, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

Have a blessed beginning to your week! Your brother in Christ, Don+