The Via Dolorosa

I just wanted to write a bit about some little activities that I have been doing. This past Friday, I had the opportunity to go to the Old City of Jerusalem and do the walking tour of the Via Dolorosa , the way that Christendom believes Christ went when he was taken from Pilate's fortress to Golgotha. "Via Dolorosa" means the way of grief or tears. This tour is led by Monks of the Franciscan Catholic order. It begins on Friday in the afternoon, corresponding with the day and time at which Jesus would have walked the same path. They take you to all of the 14 or something "stations" where events happened as Christ walked to Golgotha. For example, the "place" where Christ stumbled and fell or the place where he greets the weeping women of Jerusalem. Of course, these stations aren't the actual path, but it was interesting to follow the whole path with about 100 or so other Christians, mostly Catholics. The presentation of the different stations was made in Latin, Spanish, and English. The streets are already crowded so when this huge group would try to crowd around one of these stations next to the road, we had to spread out on both sides for a long distance to allow others to pass through. The tour ended in front of the tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The whole group stood in front of it with candles burning and sang the "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" part of the Mass. It was cool.
As part of our field trip this week, we went to the Israeli Bible Lands park, a plot of land dedicated to the recreation of Biblical events and landscapes. They have planted trees there that are mentioned in the Bible like Cedars of Lebanon and the Hyssop tree and even had sheep to herd. I learned a lot from herding sheep that I had never thought of before. There is a ton of symbolism between a Shepherd and the Savior. To herd sheep, the Shepherd must lead from behind, not in front, so the sheep can't see him. He guides them by calling softly to them. If the sheep leave the path and don't heed warnings, the Shepherd gives them a firm hit with a stick on one side of the sheep to get them to go the opposite direction (much like trials for us!). The sheep are dumb and don't know where their destination is, but the Shepherd does and can guide them. The sheep get distracted by shade by the trail or grass growing by the wayside, and the Shepherd is forced to push them onward to reach their destination. There was much more, but I found the experience very educational and spiritually enlightening, especially when we took the time to read the 24 Psalm and talk about how the Lord is our Shepherd.