Immediately below this is a video of a presentation which our minister made to a recent meeting of presbytery about congregational pilgrimage and, particularly, about our congregational pilgrimage to the Holy Land last year. Below this presentation are the daily reports sent back from the Holy Land while we were there.

This page contains a record of our pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Twenty-seven of us left for Israel on Monday 27th. January, returning to Scotland on Thursday 6th. February having had the experience of a lifetime. Everything has been thrown down after long days on pilgrimage and we had no facility to edit pictures in any way. Still I hope that it has the benefit of immediacy and one day, perhaps, I will write a fuller account with more carefully selected pictures!

Pilgrimage Update: Monday 27th. January

This is a very brief update for everyone back home. We set off from Gavinton Village Hall at 8 a.m. on the dot and arrived in Edinburgh before ten. Soon after mid-day we took off for Istanbul, security and so on behind us. It was late afternoon before we arrived at Istanbul and we had quite a time exploring their new and very fantouche airport. Then it was through Israeli security and off to Tel-Aviv arriving after 11 p.m. local time. We were met by our guide Nael and Hassan, our driver. We arrived at the Golden Walls Hotel about midnight-thirty to find a meal awaiting us. It is now 2.30 a.m. and breakfast is at 7 a.m. There will be a fuller report tomorrow!

Everyone is in very good spirits!

Pilgrimage Update: Tuesday 28th. January

Our pilgrimage is going wonderfully — but internet is almost unusable and as a result we have had to shelve plans to issue a daily i-newsletter. We can’t access our Facebook, Twitter or even email pages, but, Hallelujah, we can manage to get onto our web-site. So until things improve we are communicating with the world through www.fogokirk.org If you know of anyone who was hoping to receive daily updates through one of the other communication channels, please direct them to our website.

We awoke early after no more than four hours sleep, breakfasted on a feast prepared by the staff of the Golden Walls Hotel. There was so much food, and such a variety. I contented myself with an omelette, some scrambled egg, mushrooms and fried potatoes, followed by fresh dates and washed down with black coffee — but I’ll do better tomorrow.

We were all in the bus by 8.15, well 8.20 actually and we set off for the Dung Gate by coach. We disembarked and walked the rest of the way to the Western Wall, the most holy of places for Jews, not just in Jerusalem but in the whole world. Making sure we were wearing an appropriate head-covering we walked right up to the wall, admired the colossal size of many of the stones and noticed the hundreds of written prayers slipped into the wall between the bricks by worshippers. We were reminded of the huge work of building the new Temple Mount by our guide, Nael, who described the reign and achievements (as well as the many failings) of Herod the Great who was responsible for the building which was completed around 63 AD but then was totally destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

We held the first of our short worship sessions consisting of a number of readings about the Temple from both Old and New Testaments; the service conducted by John and Dorothy. Then it was off through security for the second time today to walk up the covered ramp to the Temple Mount.

How fortunate were we? Not only a lovely day but also being allowed to explore the Temple Mount and to have it almost to ourselves as we learned about the Dome of the Rock and the El Aksa Mosque. Of course, we weren’t permitted to have a service here, or even to sing, but what an experience it was to wander around and explore, under the guidance of an expert, such an important holy site.

Next stop was just a short walk away — the Pool of Bethesda and, beside it, the Church of Saint Anne. The pool, or rather its remains, is important because of the healing miracle recorded in John’s Gospel; the church is a fine, perhaps the finest, example of a Crusader Church built on the site where Anne, Mary’s mother, lived and therefore where the mother of Jesus was born. The Church is also notable for exceptionally fine acoustics and we both listened and joined in the singing with other pilgrims in the building. Here too, overlooking the Pool, Gill and Pete led us in a short act of worship, retelling the miracle from John’s Gospel and leading us in prayer for all who are sick today.

Our waiting coach now drove us to Bethlehem (a big detour because the gate through the wall dividing land controlled by the Israeli State from that under Palestinian control was locked) where the first stop was at a Christian Charitable Olivewood Shop — that doesn’t do it justice, it was enormous and there were certainly bargains to be had (as I know because I checked prices on line before setting off). Most people left with gifts, either for themselves or for friends and family back home. Then it was time to visit the Shepherd’s Valley Tent Restaurant. Inside it was just like a tent and the food was again out-of-this-world. We sat down to plates of salad of the most interesting varieties. Some, like me, thought that this was our meal, but after much eating and enjoyment more laden plates arrived on the table with chicken and meat balls and vegetables all washed down by almond cake and really strong coffee. As always, the service was superb and we had a really good time.

Our first visit in the afternoon was to the Shepherds’ Fields where we shared in a service of Holy Communion in a beautiful chapel built out of one of the rock caves on the field. The service was led by Alexander, Julia, Tom, Rachel, Robert, Louise, Liz, Laura and John and was very much appreciated by us all.

It was such a lovely afternoon that we wandered around the shepherds’ field for a while and explored the ruins of a Byzantine church before setting off for the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square. Manger Square always takes my breath away and today was no different. Nael guided us through the Church itself with its wonderful pillars all recently cleaned and restored, the magnificent wooden roof and the mosaic pavement below the present floor. We went down into the grotto of the nativity, saw where Jesus had been born and where the manger had been, and then we visited the Roman Catholic part of the Church (the main building is Greek Orthodox) before going below ground level once more to see where Jerome translated the Bible into Latin to create the Vulgate — all guided by Nael and his expert commentary.

In the courtyard overlooking a statue of Saint Jerome we had a brief Bethlehem act of worship led by Dorothy, Mhairi and Heather — we sang verses of Away in a Manger interspersed with reading and prayer. It was very appropriate and a fitting end to our day.

Outside, we wandered briefly around Manger Square before walking back to our bus and driving back to our hotel. What a day it has been!

We were back home soon after five and most folk had a rest until our magnificent evening meal at seven. Everything was on offer. I contented myself with Turkey and vegetables and five or six different kinds of salad and chocolate sponge pudding with chocolate sauce and chocolate ice-cream, but there is so much more I could have had, and probably will have tomorrow.

Tomorrow we set off for Gethsemane at 7.30 a.m. (Breakfast is at 6.30 a.m. so I’m off to bed.)

Pilgrimage Update: Wednesday 29th. January

Today has been quite a day — for lots of the right reasons, but some of the wrongs ones as well! It was a really early start. I booked an alarm call for all of our group at 6 pm and breakfast call was for 6.30. Actually, I was up, showered and out just after six. I visited the bus station behind the hotel so that I could see for myself the Golgotha skull in the rock-face behind the bus station. When I was here in 1994 it was quite impressive but it has really been corroded by the weather since then and I find it impossible to believe that the skull formation could have been there for two-thousand years before that. Then I wandered down to the market at the Damascus Gate before returning for breakfast at 6.30. I didn’t do it justice, probably as it was so early, contenting myself with an omelette, some scrambled egg, sausage, potatoes, mushrooms and beans with some fresh pineapple and dates to follow, washed down with coffee.

We were on the go by 7.30 and at the Garden of Gethsemane for a communion service at 8. There was a beautiful little amphitheatre provided around a communion table, but as everything was rather wet (it had been raining over night but we were lucky and it remained dry all day) we all stood around the communion table in a circle. The service was conducted by several of our women and we used a wooden communion cup we had bought yesterday at Bethlehem and which, when we use it back home, will for ever remind us of the Garden of Gethsemane. During the service Dorothy and Rachel each read a significant meditation during which the communion elements of bread and wine were passed from hand to hand. I found it to be a very moving service.

We made our way to the Church of All Nations, the church built over the spot were tradition tells us that Jesus was praying when he was arrested and taken for trial. It is a wonderful building and visiting it was an appropriate conclusion to our time at the Garden of Gethsemane.

Originally our plan for the day had been to start at Bethphage and walk down the Mount of Olives to Gethsemane but plans change and in this case we made the alteration to enable us to have the opportunity of having the service in the Garden of Gethsemane and to limit the morning walking as there was a significant amount of legwork in the afternoon. So after our service we were driven to Bethphage where we went to the church which celebrated the start of the Palm Sunday walk and there we had our second service of the day as we remembered Jesus and his disciples setting off on that momentous walk to Jerusalem. This was led for us by Robert and Louise.

Again we got back into the bus, this time to be taken to the Mosque of the Ascension on the traditional spot from which Jesus ascended into heaven after forty post-resurrection days with his disciples. Again we were able to have our service (led by Anne and William) inside the place of worship and I will never again hear the Bible words about the ascension without visualising our worship on the Mount of Olives.

Our coach took us to the Church of the Paternoster which is set on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem. It reflects the time that Jesus responded to his disciples’ request to teach them to pray by giving them the words which we call the Lord’s Prayer. Nael reminded us that this church had been built by Constantine’s mother, Helena, and originally marked not just the spot where Jesus taught his prayer but also where Jesus gave his disciples advice about all that was going to happen. Now it is a Lord’s prayer church with tiles with the words of the most famous prayer in all the world in almost every conceivable language under the sun. Nael read it to us in Arabic and in Hebrew, we responded in English and in Doric and noted the tile with it in Gaelic. Laura read the Bible passage telling the story of Jesus teaching the prayer before we got back into the bus and set off for a panoramic viewing spot of the Temple Mount where Nael explained almost everything we could see, including pointing out the last remaining bit of the city walls from New Testament times. Again we shared in a reading and a prayer (led by Mhairi and Gillian) before walking down the hill to Dominus Flevit, the beautiful small church in the shape of a tear drop, marking the spot where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. We couldn’t get into this church because there was a mass in progress but we had our own little service conducted by Martha and Stephen in the garden area outside the church.

It was time to get back into the coach once more, this time to drive to Herod’s Gate from where we walked to the Ecce Homo Convent where, after visiting the pavement where Jesus was taunted and humiliated by his Roman guard, we had lunch. It was a delightful lunch — a salad to start, chicken and vegetables to follow, and cake to end with. The staff were from around the world and I spoke to one lady from Australia who came across to help with the work of providing for visitors at the convent.

The afternoon’s programme was draining. Quite simply we walked the Way of Sorrows, the Via Dolorosa, stopping at each of the fourteen stations to listen to a short reading and sing a song in response to it before moving on, initially through the narrow streets of Jerusalem, lined with open-stalled shops and busy market-traders, and latterly within the most important church in the world — the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — which we approached over the roof and entered through the church of the Ethiopians who were there because they were given no room in the church itself and who for centuries have lived on the roof in a make-shift monastery of their own.

Within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre we visited the site of the crucifixion, the chapel of Adam, the lower areas associated with Helena, the mother of Constantine, before ending up, of course, at the empty tomb, where Alexander read the story of the first Easter Sunday morning to us all, to which we responded by singing ‘Jesus is Lord’. It had been quite a draining experience and, as always, might have been different had there been fewer other pilgrims present! But such is the nature of pilgrimage to sites which are so holy.

Now it was time to walk to the Garden Tomb by way of the Damascus Gate. We set off in good spirits but some of our number were starting to get a bit footsore and weary. Everything would have been fine had it not happened that just as we arrived at the Damascus Gate it was closed and we were not permitted to leave. There was nothing for it but to retrace our steps and make for Herod’s Gate but just as we were within fifty yards of that gate it too was closed by armed soldiers. It seems that there was trouble between the Israeli military and Palestinian youths as a result of Donald Trump’s suggestions about the future of Israel/Palestine. I don’t know the ins and outs of it all but it was certainly quite concerning to see so many people so angry and to see so many young soldiers armed with ferocious-looking weapons.

Eventually the military restored some measure of calm and we were able to get out through Herod’s Gate and make our way to the Garden Tomb, although some of our pilgrims decided to stop off at our hotel as we passed it by, worn out by the walking.

I like the Garden Tomb. I’m sure that it is not where Jesus was buried but it gives a real picture of what his burial place might have looked like and there is a wonderful air of peace and worship in the garden. We enjoyed our visit before walking back to the hotel — my it was good to get home (we had encountered soldiers on horseback as we walked home) and to get our feet up for an hour before dinner at seven. It was another tremendous meal, so much choice and sweets to die for. I won’t give away any secrets but several of our pilgrims returned more than once to the serving areas!

And so to our rooms. Tonight the internet is working for the first time since we got here and I was able to deal with emails. I had an adventure with my telephone but that is another story for another day. Tomorrow we have a lie in. Breakfast is at 7 and we have to be on the bus for 8.15. It will be another quite exceptional day.

Pilgrimage Update: Thursday 30th. January

We awoke to find everything calm again in Jerusalem and, not only that, it was an exceptionally beautiful sunny day and we had enjoyed a long lie, not being required to have breakfast until 7 am nor to be on the coach until 8.15.

Everyone was very good and the coach moved off exactly on schedule, our party now reduced to twenty-four as Gill and Pete and Gillian had decided to rest weary limbs today in preparation for the assault on Masada tomorrow. The rest of us disembarked outside the Church of All Nations and set off down the Valley of the Kidron where we visited the tombs of Absalom, Jehoshaphat and Saint Zachariah. Nael, our expert guide, explained to us that these were indeed the names by which they were known today (and had been for many centuries) but they couldn’t in fact be the tombs for whom we assumed them to be because they were not that old. He did tell us that the tomb of Absalom was certainly there when Jesus walked the Kidron Valley and that what we saw today was what he would have seen two thousand years ago. So why, for example, did one of the tombs attract the name of Absalom? Simply, I learned, because it was known that Absalom had built a monument to himself because he had no children and in later times it was here that parents brought bad children to discipline them, in front of the tomb of David’s child who was also not a very good son. Whatever the truth of it, it was strange, fascinating and rather special to look on something which Jesus will have looked on himself and it reminded us that making connections is something that pilgrimage is all about.

We walked on and up onto Mount Zion where we made a number of visits, the first of which was to the site of the Last Supper, the upper room. This is the site, or rather a building on the site of where it was believed that the Last Supper took place. It is a much later building, of course, and at different times has been part of a Franciscan monastery and a place of Moslem worship. Our readings were presented by Tom and his daughter Laura and started with the Last Supper and ended with Pentecost.

Very close to the upper room is the small synagogue which contains the Tomb of David. We were allowed to visit, men with their heads covered, and men in one section and women in the other. Men walked through the section where a number of traditional Jews were reading and debating scripture together.

From the synagogue we walked to Dormition Abbey, a beautiful church built on the spot where Mary, Jesus’ mother, died or ‘fell asleep’. I think we were all taken with this beautiful church and with the very special crypt with chapels around the sides and a life-size effigy of Mary in the centre. Tanzie read Mary’s Song of Praise to us before we left.

Finally, as far as our morning was concerned, we made our way to Peter in Gallicantu, another beautiful church, this time on the site of the High Priest’s House where Jesus was taken after his arrest in Gethsemane and in the courtyard of which Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus. There was a lovely centre here and we had a break for a soft drink and, for those who wished, some shopping.

Inside the church Alexander and Julia read the story of Peter’s denial, ending with a beautiful prayer for all of us when we are tempted to do the same. Then we went downstairs to the remains of the High Priest’s House and wondered what it would have been like to have been brought here from the Garden of Gethsemane to face trial.

Outside the church we saw the old, old steps up which Jesus and Peter must both have walked on their way to the High Priest’s House. When I was last here we were allowed to walk up these steps ourselves but now we have to content ourselves with having a good look at them.

And so to lunch. We had planned to lunch at the Church of Scotland Hospice but this was closed for restoration and so McCabe’s had arranged for us to visit Ein Karem instead. This involved a thirty minute coach ride through the Judean Highlands which took us to the Sisters of Zion Convent where once again we dined right royally on a glorious salad based on avocado pears but with so very much more. This was followed by chicken and vegetables and a cake to follow that. We are eating very well and we are being so well looked after. I’m sure the welcome will always be there but at this time of the year there are fewer pilgrims around and it seems as if all the hospitality is being showered on us!

The real benefit of going to Ein Karem is that we got to visit two other churches each of which remembers something special in the Bible story. The first took us to the place which is associated with a spring which Mary visited when she came to see her cousin Elizabeth when both were pregnant, Elizabeth with John the Baptist and Mary with Jesus. First we saw the spring and then the little church which celebrates their meeting. The church was up a steep hill but the climb was worth it and we enjoyed being reminded of this story which we retell each Christmas.

The second church was, understandably, dedicated to John the Baptist himself. It was under restoration but next to it, as part of the same building, was a smaller, simpler building which was being used for worship just now. For most of us it would have sufficed as our main church and one of the priests was preparing for a service as we visited.

Back in the bus we headed to Abu Ghosh where we visited a Crusader Church served by a Benedictine Monastery which is on the site of Emmaus — at least that is what the Crusaders believed, and our guide explained why he believed that their identification was correct. Since Crusader times the church was used by followers of Saladin as a salt store and many of the frescoes on the walls have been damaged, most notably by the scraping out of the faces of those depicted. We were reminded that Moslems will not have pictures of people on the walls of their places of worship. The church was bought by the Roman Catholic Church in the nineteenth century and is an excellent example of a Crusader church. Here William and Anne read the story of the walk to Emmaus. It was a moving rendition of what is my absolutely favourite Bible story. And then there was a monastery shop to visit and it took us a while to get everyone back on board for the journey home, followed by a relaxing time before dinner which was, as usual, absolutely superb.

It was then time for bed — tomorrow breakfast is at 6.30 am and we have promised to be on the road by 7.30. Good night!

Pilgrimage Update: Friday 31st. January ,

This has been a fantastic day. We were awake early with breakfast served at 6.30 am and our coach, under Hassan’s skillful control, on the road by 7.15. In our morning prayer we thanked God for John’s safe return home after his operation and thought of both John and Kirsten. We also remembered that today is our country’s last day in the European Union and prayed for our European friends and neighbours, remembering those back home who would be celebrating and those who would be very sad.

Our journey took us through the Judean desert to the Wadi Qelt where our bus stopped to give us the opportunity of climbing a small hill and look down on the Monastery of St. George which seemed almost to hang from the side of the cliff above the wadi. I had seen pictures before we came but these were as nothing compared to seeing it with my own eyes. It was amazing.

Nael, our guide whose encylopaedic knowledge continues to amaze us all, took the opportunity of describing the history of monasticism, starting from the hermit monks to the communal monks in isolated places and leading to the monks of St. Benedict whose monks also existed for the benefit of the communities in which they were set. Evidently there are between eight and twelve monks who are living the contemplative life at St. George’s Monastery, following the rites of the Greek Orthodox Church.

I should also have mentioned that no sooner did we stop in the middle of nowhere to climb to see the Monastery than an old man and a young boy arrived selling scarves and bracelets. If we only had the ingenuity and perseverance of these folk there is no doubt we could change the world!

The road we were on to reach St. George’s was the old road between Jerusalem and Jericho and so pictures were immediately kindled in our minds of the Good Samaritan and, of course, of the journeys which Jesus and his disciples made on foot through this hard desert area. “Can you imagine spending forty days in this place?” asked Nael, “and not on a day like today but when it is really hot?” To be honest, several of us were finding the day really pleasantly warm already but Nael’s point was well made. In the summer it must be quite unpleasant.

As we journeyed on towards Qumran, Nael discussed Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, its reasons and the formation of the Byzantine Church. Time flew, the scenery was awe-inspiring and before we knew it we had arrived at Qumran where we were welcomed, shown a short film about the Dead Sea community before being taken on a tour of the archaelogical site. Naturally conversation turned to baptism, to community washing, to the life and work of the Essene Community, to the four different groups within the religious of Jesus time (Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes and Sicarii). We were shown the water systems for the community, the places where they wrote their scriptures and, of course, the caves in which their scriptures were placed for safety before the ‘final battle’ with the powers of darkness seen originally as the forces of the High Priests but after 66 AD the forces of Rome which wiped out the community during their conquest of Palestine.

Our short readings came from the Essene authors and were read by Jim and John.

Now it was time to travel further south to Masada. By the time we arrived Nael had prepared us with the basics of the Masada story — the work of Herod in creating the fortified palace, the use to which it was put in the days leading up to the final destruction by the forces of Rome, the reasons why Titus was so determined to complete the job of destroying the Jewish uprising by capturing Masada even although there were so few soldiers in the garrison and the work of capturing it was so expensive in terms of time and cost and personnel. And, of course, the twist in the tale as the Romans finally broke into the fortress only to discover that (almost) everyone had taken their own lives rather than be captured.

We arrived at Masada, another beautiful reception area, where we were first shown an inspiring short film. “If we can’t have freedom we prefer death” was the message, something which the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath was to echo in Scotland, which is why, perhaps, words like this resound in our national psyche.

Now we climbed into a cable car and set off for the summit. (John decided to walk to the top — he missed out on the short film but still amazed us by being at the top before us!) On the summit Nael took us on an extended tour indicating where everything had been done. One of the interesting things to me was that there has been a great deal of restoration done and a black line has been painted to indicate that the area below was original and the area above was restoration. I thought it was a great idea and was well done. We saw the store houses (lots of them) and the water cisterns (lots of them), the baths and the palace (just one of them, but on three levels and at the north to get the benefit of being out of the sun as much as possible — what a novel idea to those of us from Scotland). Of course, we were shown where the Roman ramp had been constructed to enable the final break-through to be made and we saw the room where the pieces of pottery with the names of the Jewish leaders on them and which had been used to draw lots to see who was to slay the others before killing himself had been found. It is a gruesome story which has been turned into something of a triumph by the way it unfolded and the Romans were denied their opportunity of exacting retribution on their enemies once they had won their way into the citadel.

We came down the same way we went up, climbed into the coach and were soon at the Lot Dead Sea Spa where lunch was waiting. It was another triumph. I suppose our surroundings were a little posher today and the meal was glorious. I’ve been asked which of our four lunches I have most enjoyed and the answer is certainly that they have all been different but all absolutely excellent and I really couldn’t rate any one of them as being better than the rest. For food and choice and service and welcome all score right at the very highest level.

The bonus of this fabulous spa is that it is right on the Dead Sea and so after our meal we were issued with towels, changed into our costumes and marched into the Dead Sea where we were soon almost all lying on our backs and floating. It was an incredible sensation. The only problem that I had was getting upright again after floating for some considerable time. However, Rachel and Laura hove to and righted me; Laura seemed to be running a rescue service as I saw her perform the same manoeuvre on her father a few moments later. Out of the Dead Sea and into the swimming pool which was heated to twenty-one degrees and was wonderful! But soon it was time to dress and depart for an interesting drive home through the Judean desert to our hotel. What an exciting day it has been.

As usual we dined at 7 pm — a candle-lit dining room, an excellent menu, so many vegetables and glorious salad options, and sweets and deserts to die for. What a pity we only have one more dinner at the Golden Walls Hotel to which to look forward (but at least we do have that one)!

Pilgrimage Update: Saturday 1st. February

(We have had another stupendous day and have just returned to the hotel. Unfortunately, at least as far as completing this web-page, we are just about to go out again to see the end of the Sabbath celebrations at the Western Wall, returning just in time for an Arabic Feast with entertainment so it looks unlikely that there will be any opportunity of writing further tonight. I will try to put this right as soon as I can but, as we are travelling all day tomorrow to Tiberias, I don’t quite know when that will be!)

First thing in the morning, just after 6 am I set off on my own to explore the Damascus Gate area, not far from our hotel. I had hoped to get onto the city walls but unfortunately all access was locked at this time in the morning. I enjoyed watching everyone setting up their stalls for the day and made my way back in good time for breakfast and for our 8 am start.

We set off in our coach to travel through the dividing wall to Bethany, moving from an Israeli controlled zone to a Palestine controlled area. As tourists in our McCabe bus we had no trouble at all and weren’t even stopped as we drove through a checkpoint. We made our way to the Church of St. Lazarus at Bethany — a beautiful church surrounded by a courtyard and it was in this courtyard that we had our readings and prayers led for us, this morning by Pete and Gill. We explored the church which had a number of mosaics telling the story of Jesus’ involvement at Bethany. Naturally these centred on the raising of Lazarus but also included Jesus’ earlier visits when Jesus was challenged by Martha about Mary not helping her with the lunch!

After our little service we explored the courtyard and the Church. Just off the courtyard there was a small exhibition of how grain and olives were harvested in times gone by — and I don’t suppose that it is very different today. We saw the big wheel which was pulled around in a circle by a donkey and the other pressing equipment which was used.

Next we made our way out of the gate and to the entrance to the tomb in which tradition tells us that Lazarus was buried. We made our way down a steep staircase and eventually into the burial chamber where it is believed that Lazarus was laid.

Then it was back into the bus for the short drive to the Jeel al Amal School where we were welcomed warmly by a gentleman who had started as a pupil in the school and who now worked with the children — some three hundred day pupils and some one hundred boys who live in the attached orphanage. The boys come from Jerusalem and from towns and villages in the Palestinian territories — the proud boast of the staff is that no-one is ever turned away. I enjoyed this visit and was enormously impressed by the witness of the staff who showed God’s love to their children by the way that they cared — the present head teacher being the daughter of the couple who had set up the school back in 1972. We were shown around the school, met the children, enjoyed a coffee and had the opportunity of buying from their visitors’ stall. I hope that we shall do something to help the school once we are back in Scotland.

On our way to Jericho we stopped at the Jordan at the spot where it is believed that Jesus was baptised. Just across the Jordan was the Kingdom of Jordan and we could see quite clearly the mosques there quite close to the river. We had a short service led for us by Mhairi and Rachel and several folk filled up bottles of Jordan water to be brought home with them. The river was exceptionally full and this restricted some folk’s access to the river itself.

We set off now for Jericho, Nael pointing out to us the Sycamore tree on the site of the one where Zacchaeus climbed to get a view of Jesus as he journeyed through the town. Jericho is totally Arab and there are signs warning Jews against entering the city. We made our way to our restaurant for the next in our series of magnificent lunches. The restaurant was called the Green Valley Restaurant, Rachel and I had dined here before, many years ago. It was excellent.

Now we were driven to Tell Jericho, the ancient site of the ancient city, some 10,000 years old. After the archaeology was explained to us we set off by cable car for the Mount of Temptation — an incredible journey to a Greek Orthodox monastery hanging from the side of the mountain. We explored and climbed but were unable to get through the final gate as it had closed early as it was Saturday — but we saw almost everything that there was to see and we had our service on the side of the mountain, led by Liz and Heather.

Back down on terra firma, Martha and Stephen read the story of Jericho to us before we climbed into our bus and set off for home, stopping off on the way at a large shop which sold Dead Sea products which some of our ladies were anxious to purchase and bring home for friends and family.

We didn’t have long to stay in the hotel as several of us wanted to go to the Western wall to see the end of the Sabbath prayers. It was an enjoyable walk through the old city to the wall — we had to go through security and the guard was keen to know where I came from. ‘Scotland’, I said. He asked me, ‘Do you know Santa Claus?’ and waved us through! We watched the traditional Jews at prayer, the women in one section and the men in another and then we walked home to our hotel in time for dinner. Although we had been allowed to take pictures at the Western Wall when we visited earlier in the week, we were asked not to take pictures on this visit as the end of the Sabbath is a religious service. I was happy to comply!

Dinner was an Arab feast. Gill was chosen to be the queen of the feast and she chose me to be the Sultan which involved dressing up in an Arab costume and being first in the line for food! Meanwhile there was a stupendous programme of Arab dancing which we all enjoyed — as did we enjoy the Arab food which was delicious salads and sweets, all of which we will miss when we return home.

Pilgrimage Update: Sunday 2nd. February

This was another, yet another, spectacular day — the more so as it was a moving day and I had expected that it might be a bit of a wasted day. But absolutely not a bit of it. We all had to have our luggage at our doors for seven and it was loaded onto our bus for our departure time of 8 am. In the meantime we had our final breakfast at the Golden Walls Hotel. Quite sad. I really can’t remember what it was like not to be in Jerusalem. Last Sunday seems a year away, yesterday morning seems an absolute age away. We said our good-byes and set off with Nael drawing attention to the places we passed as we made our way to Caesarea (with a brief stop at a service station on the way) on the Mediterranean coast. There Nael had arranged a major tour for us starting with the Caesarea of Herod which took in his palace and, of course, the theatre with the tablet acknowledging the contribution of Pontius Pilate to some of the later work.

We walked along to see the hippodrome which later became an arena where gladiators fought and naturally we saw where Paul was interviewed by Festus before making his appeal to be tried by the Roman Emperor. It was here that we had our short service of reading and prayer led by Pete, Rachel, Heather and Gillian. Then we saw some of the Crusader remains of Caesarea because this was an important place to them during their conquest of the Holy Land.

But we hadn’t finished with Caesarea. We drove a little way out of the town to where we could get a really good view of the aquaduct built by Herod to bring water to his town — parts of it still standing until today.

Then it was back into the bus and off to Acre where the first thing we did was to have lunch. I have been unable to say which lunch has been better than others but Pete certainly told me today that he thought that this was the best yet. We ate in the open air with the hustle and bustle of Acre going on all around us and we certainly ate well with lots of chicken and salad of every conceivable kind.

And then began the tour of Acre — many of the ancient Crusader ruins have only been discovered in recent times so Nael took us into a new world which was underneath much of the present day Acre until it was discovered. Nael explained that Acre was the Crusader capital. It was where they landed and it became their base. Not unnaturally they had fortified their capital and they had also provided themselves with some luxury in terms of the dining areas and beautiful halls within the complex.

Having explored this area, and shared in a reading and prayer led by Tom and Anne, we went off to explore a tunnel complex which had only been discovered when someone’s toilet had developed a problem. This led to the discovery that below the house was a tunnel from the sea through which Crusaders had brought goods into the city and smuggled them up to their strong rooms without paying any tax to the King of Acre. I loved walking through the streets of Acre and I loved the view out to the Mediterranean Sea.

Back into our coach we should have been coming to our hotel in Tiberias but Nael decided we would take in Cana today rather than tomorrow so that we would have more time for Nazareth. Cana is, of course, a wedding church, the site of Jesus’ first miracle according to John, with the message that wherever Jesus is, wonderful things happen. We had a reading and prayer led by Robert and Louise in a room opened up for us by the sister in charge and we were also taken to see one of the great stone jars in which water was stored for the purposes of purification. Then we went briefly into church where there was a service in progress. It was quite well filled and the church was beautiful.

Then it was on to our hotel which overlooks the Sea of Galilee. Everyone is delighted with their rooms. Each has a view of the Sea and each has a small balcony and the food is. of course, superb. I’ll get a picture in the dining room tomorrow but, just so as you know, tonight I had turkey with all the trimmings and Rachel had St. Peter’s fish.

Pilgrimage Update: Monday 3rd. February

For the first time we awoke in Galilee — and it was very special. Our hotel, right on the waterfront, is superb and when I made my way down to breakfast at 6.30 am I discovered that its breakfasts are as good as the superlative ones I enjoyed in Jerusalem. For me it was scrambled egg and potatoes and not a lot more today (other than a plate of peaches, some dates and a great deal of coffee) as I think I have probably been overeating a bit — it is so easy to do that when the food is so superb.

We were on the road for 7.30 and set off for Mount Tabor. The list of all the places we passed was like a concordance of the Old Testament and Nael reminded us of the adventures of the Judges and Prophets. As we passed the Horns of Hattin we were also reminded of the great battle in which Saladin defeated the Crusaders. Mount Tabor derives its name from the Judge Deborah. We arrived at the foot of the mountain and were first in the queue for the journey to the summit in one of a fleet of minibuses which exists solely for this purpose. I was reminded both of the importance of an early start (as others started arriving soon after us) and of the wisdom of coming to the Holy Land at this time of the year when there are less pilgrims than at other times. The only reason, I suppose, is fear of the weather but in this regard we have been so very, very fortunate. The sun has shone, we have been in shirts and light sweaters on what has been warm Spring weather and a lot better than many of our summer days in Scotland.

We had come to Mount Tabor because it is celebrated as the place to which Jesus took his disciples (or at least James, John and Peter) for the experience known as the Transfiguration during which the disciples saw Jesus with Moses (the giver of the Law) and Elijah (the great prophet who it was believed would return to announce the Messiah). On top of the mountain is a Franciscan church with two small side chapels. It is an exceptionally beautiful church. Last time I was here we were allowed to celebrate communion in the chapel dedicated to Elijah, this time we were fortunate enough to be allowed to celebrate communion in the chapel dedicated to Moses. I really appreciated how important is the ministry of hospitality today. The two priests could not have been more welcoming. Do you have everything you need? Can we give you wine? Would you like more seats put in the chapel? Finally, can I give you appropriate clothing to wear? (I was dressed as I usually am in a very casual manner.) And so I allowed myself to be dressed by the priest (he came from Syria but had trained in Rome and so we conversed in Italian). His kindness was enormous and it was felt by us all. We had a lovely small service conducted for us by Laura, Gill, Julia, John, Heather, Dorothy, Tom and Tom.

After the service, and after being shown around the church, Nael took us to a vantage point from which we could look down on the Plain of Jezreel as he recounted to us all of the Old Testament history which we could see from that spot. There were tales of Gideon and Saul and many others besides.

Then it was back down the mountain in minibuses and into our own coach once more as we set of for Nazareth which is also the home of Nael our guide and Hassan our driver. The coach dropped us very close to the Church of the Annunciation but we didn’t immediately go there, instead Nael led us up into the souk, a narrow street lined on both sides with shops open to the street and with people thronging everywhere.

We stopped in front of a narrow entrance and made our way into the Church of the Synagogue which is under the control of the Greek Orthodox Church (or strictly the Greek Catholic Church). What is it? Well it is a church which was built by the Crusaders on the site of the synagogue in Nazareth which Jesus used to attend. We were reminded that it was here that Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save his people.” And we were reminded of the consequences of this reading! I was very pleased to see this little church and will picture the place when we read this passage in church.

Next we made our way to the Church of the Annunciation which Nael described to us in great detail. Of course, it stands on the place where tradition tells us that Mary lived and it is a gloriously modern building with wonderful mosaics, striking stained glass and outside in the courtyard a mosaic from Scotland which mentions our own Duns Scotus — we felt at home and our guide was most impressed (even if we had to tell him who Duns Scotus was)! Outside in the sunshine — the church was really very busy and there was a mass going on — we had our own small service of reading and prayer led by Rachel, Mhairi, Sue, Laura, Tanzie, Anne, Martha, Heather, Liz, Julia, Ann, Gillian, Louise and Gill.

From the Church of the Annunciation we made our way to the Church of St. Joseph, built on the site of his workshop. And then we were off to our coach once again, this time to make our way to the Nazareth Village. This new venture is a living museum so that visitors can experience what it was like to live in the Palestine of Jesus’ day. It is built on land belonging to the Scots Hospital in Nazareth and is a charitable trust. We were met by Sandro, our guide for the visit, who took us through a short interactive presentation about life in Jesus’ times before we made our way to the village restaurant where we were fed a Jesus meal of lentil (pea?) soup, followed by salad and hummus and unleavened bread, with chicken followed by apple slices in a sticky-chocolate sauce. Then we were off on our travels meeting the shepherd and his Palestinian sheep, Peter and his vine-grove, Joseph and his carpenter’s shop and Hannah and her weaving business. We saw a pottery in process of construction and ended up in the village synagogue where the synagogue leader and Sandro acted out for us Jesus’ famous encounter with the folk of his village described earlier in this entry. It was a great visit and afterwards we were each given a small pottery lamp and challenged to make our light shine for all to see in the communities in which we are based.

Back into our coach we set off for Mary’s Well and for the Greek Orthodox Church to which it is attached. It was good to see this church and to have the icons and the design of the church explained to us by Nael and it was good, after this, to see the Baptist Church to which Nael belonged — the first Baptist Church in Israel, tracing its roots back to the 1920s. (Incidentally, Today also saw the opening of the first branch of KFC — Kentucky Fried Chicken — in Israel, and where else than here in Nazareth. We saw crowds at its doors and they were obviously doing a roaring trade.

Back home several of the hardier members of our group went swimming in the Sea of Galilee before dinner. Dinner was immense — magnificent salad of every conceivable kind, followed by meats and vegetables of all different varieties, and deserts to die for (I had a strudel with ice-cream and water ice) and then we all went together for coffee to the lounge. What a time we are having!

Pilgrimage Update: Tuesday 4th. February

We were promised that today would be a more gentle day and so it has turned out which is as well as after so many days of consecutive travelling all day around wonderful sites some of us (but not all) were just beginning to flag ever so slightly! So today we weren’t required to have breakfast until 7 am nor to be on our coach until 8. It felt almost decadent. We set off and we drove north past the sign post for some of the wonderful places we shall visit tomorrow. But our first destination was at Nof Ginosar where we went to see a first-century wooden fishing boat which had been discovered nearby at the edge of the Sea of Galilee during a drought in the 1980s. The story of the discovery is well illustrated at the centre which has been built around the boat — and it is an exciting story of the work of two brothers who, having discovered the remains of a boat buried in the ground, brought together all of the resources to raise and preserve the boat for posterity. It is not, of course, claimed that this was a boat that Jesus sailed in but it is clear that it is a boat of the same period and the same design which plied the Sea of Galilee in the same area for the same purposes of catching fish. So it is very, very special.

We learned that the boat is made of cedar wood, was possibly imported from Lebanon but was so valuable that over the years it was repaired on many occasions. It was possibly abandoned when Roman troops conquered the area in 66 AD. We watched a video presentation, saw the boat (beautifully presented) and also a model of how it would have originally have been.

Now we travelled right up to the north of the country along the Golan Heights. We saw the borders with Syria and Lebanon, the United Nations guard post, Mount Hermon covered with snow and several Old Testament sites which I will write up later. We also travelled through a Druze Village where we saw many men and women in their traditional costumes, possibly because they were walking home from a funeral.

Particularly, as we approached Banyas we were reminded of the plight of the tribe of Dan which had originally been allocated an area to the south-west of the country including three Philistine cities which they found impossible to subdue and so made their way up to this part of the country to settle.

Banyas takes its name from the God Pan who gave his name to the area here which contained a Temple dedicated to Zeus in pre-New Testament times. Philip, the son of Herod the Great, built a city here as his capital and dedicated it to Caesar. To distinguish it from other Caesareas it became known as Caesarea Philippi.

Its importance to us is that it was to the villages around here that Jesus brought his disciples to meet with him and to discuss, after having been sent out two by two to preach to the people of Galilee, who people thought that he was. ‘And what of you,’ Jesus asked, ‘who do you say that I am?’ To which Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ,’ and on the foundation of this confession Jesus founded his Church. An important place, an important moment in the world’s history, and a real challenge to each of us to respond to Jesus’ question as well.

Jim and Liz read to us and led us in prayer at this special place.

We were given some time to walk around and explore, to look at the ruins of the once fine buildings, to wonder at the enormity of the crimes of throwing babies in to a water-filled chasm to appease the gods, and to reflect on the meeting of Jesus with his disciples and their response to him.

And then the journey south began, stopping around mid-day for an excellent lunch at the Tanureen Restaurant where we were, as usual, extremely well treated. On the way home we were again reminded that we were surrounded by the adventures of the Judges and we arrived back at the hotel for the first time since arriving in Israel in time to go out and about in daylight and do a bit of exploring. Rachel and I, along with both Toms, explored Tiberias (also named after Caesar) and found the Scots Hotel (where the manager on duty was wearing a Church of Scotland tartan tie) and the Church of Scotland Church (which unfortunately was locked).

And so we explored the sea front, both Toms buying souvenirs, and all of us eating ice-cream cones as we walked back to the hotel. Rachel then had her swim in the Sea of Galilee (we learned that Jim had been in earlier in the afternoon, and later on several others went swimming as well). Soon it was time for yet another superb evening meal — there is only one more of these left to enjoy: that will be tomorrow after we have spent the day walking in the footsteps of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee around his lake.

Pilgrimage Update: Wednesday 5th. February

There was something gentle about this morning. We weren’t required to breakfast until 7.30 am. nor to board our coach until 8.30. It really felt as if we were on holiday! The sun was shining down and I’m told that it reached 22 degrees today. It was certainly very warm. Our first visit was to the Primacy of Peter, the spot on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where we remember Jesus sharing a resurrection breakfast with his disciples who had been out fishing (unsuccessfully) all night. It was also the spot where, after that breakfast, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him, only after his third response did Jesus make it clear that Peter was to lead his Church, having helped Peter to understand that he was forgiven for his act of betrayal at the time of Jesus’ arrest. The events of the day were read to us, and we were led in prayer, by Alexander and, and William and Anne. We enjoyed looking around the church on the site which is built around the rock on which Jesus breakfasted with his friends, I enjoyed even more looking at the seashore outside the church which was totally deserted and was very atmospheric. I could so easily imagine the scene in those post resurrection days almost two thousand years ago.

Back into the coach we made our way to Capernaum, not where Peter was born (that was Beth Saida) but where he lived with his wife and mother-in-law and where, we were told by Nael, our guide, that Jesus lived as well. Nael pointed out the house and explained why it was believed that this was the exact house in which Peter lived. He also indicated the nearby house to which it is believed that the friends carried their paralytic friend before lowering him through the roof, so great were the crowds around the door.

It was but a short walk from here to the synagogue, not the synagogue of Jesus’ day but built on the site of that older one. In the synagogue Robert, Louise, Martha and Stephen read the events of this place and led us in prayer. Again we learned how the synagogue worked and admired its architecture before wandering around the site, looking out over the Sea of Galilee and imagining how must all have been in Jesus’ day.

Now it was back into the bus to drive back the way we had come to Tabgha which celebrates the place where Jesus fed the crowd of five thousand men with five small loaves and two fish. Here Sue, Tanzie, Mhairi and Gillian read the events of the miraculous feeding and led us in prayer. We had been given permission in advance to hold a service of Holy Communion here and after a brief discussion with the sister in charge — who offered us every kind of help imaginable — we made our way to a beautiful worship area by the side of the sea. This was a longer service of Holy Communion in which everyone participated and during which we sang the Lord’s my Shepherd and Bind us together, Lord. I certainly felt this to be a very special moment and an appropriate climax to our pilgrimage together. But there was more to come. We explored the Church and admired the very famous mosaic of the loaves and fishes, as well as the other mosaics mainly depicting birds on the floor of the sanctuary.

Our next call was to the Convent of the Beatitudes where we were fed an excellent lunch in a superbly appointed and decorated dining hall. We started with salad before being offered a choice of St. Peter’s fish or chicken cutlets, followed by fruit. Well-satisfied we moved back into the sunshine to explore the grounds of the Church of the Beatitudes until the church itself opened at 2 pm. It is a beautiful building, but most of all I loved being on the spot where such an important sermon was preached. It was so easy to visualise, it was so lovely to be there — and we spent quite a while just being there before Hassan drove us to Ein Gev on the far side of the Sea of Galilee, driving into the territory of the Decapolis, the ten towns, and seeing where Jesus had cured the man with so many demons that he called them Legion before they were transferred to the Gaderene swine and perished as they ran over a cliff.

The kibbutz at Ein Gev is larger than when I last visited but the welcome was just the same — on the boat which sailed us across the Sea to our hotel at Tiberias, a Scottish flag was raised to the yard arm with great ceremony while ‘Flower of Scotland’ was played on the boat’s amplification system. In the middle of the Sea the boat turned off its engines and we sat in the water while our final readings and prayers were shared by Heather, Rachel, Tom, Liz and John. John’s final prayer seemed to sum up many of our feelings: Lord, as I look around, I see the hills and the sky, I see the sea and the shore. I see the places where you walked and taught and healed and shared. This week we have walked in your footsteps and listened to your word. We have learned and we have been challenged; we have prayed and we have been given understanding. We have been in holy places and we have felt the weight of history, learning how much you have meant to so many people of so many generations. We have seen people in need and we carry with us needs of our own; and we leave committed to better serve other people and prepared to rest our own needs in your infinite care. What can we do but offer you our thanks and our praise? To thank you for our fellow pilgrims, to praise you for your all-embracing love; and to ask you to be with us as we return home, the same people who left Scotland last week, but newly touched by these days in which we have been especially close to you. Amen.

Back home, we learned that our coach leaves at 3 am for the airport — that didn’t dampen any enthusiasms, however, and many (led by Stephen and Tanzie) were soon swimming in the Sea of Galilee, a fitting end to a splendid day!

Pilgrimage Update: Thursday 6th. February

And so to home — not entirely uneventfully! We all got up at 2 am and our coach did set off at 3 getting us to Tel-Aviv airport about 4.30. We said our fair-wells to Nael and to Hassan, both have been superb. And then it was through security, up to the departure lounge and, eventually, on to a plane for Istanbul. The airport there is huge and we walked and walked and walked. I was mightily relieved to find everyone had safely made it to the departure lounge at the other side of the airport.

And so to Edinburgh, to a waiting coach and to Gavinton where the cars had all been parked. Tom drove Rachel and me home. We were in time for a late tea after having been smothered by our four dogs who were extremely delighted to have us back home! It has been the trip of a lifetime and we are so very fortunate to have made it in such fine company.