This is the twenty-fifth and last post in a series of reflections on my trip to Israel last summer (to read them all, click here). June 28 AM After emerging from Hezekiah's Tunnel and taking vans back up toward the Temple Mount, our group made our way to the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount's retaining … Continue reading The Southern Steps and the Wailing Wall →

This is the twenty-third post in a series of reflections on my trip to Israel in the summer of 2016. I’m almost done, I promise (to read them all, click here). June 28 AM Leaving the calm environs of Saint Anne’s, our group walked outside the east wall of the Old City through the Lions’ Gate. The day … Continue reading Hezekiah’s Tunnel and the Pool of Siloam →

This is the twenty-second post in a series of reflections on my trip to Israel in the summer of 2016. I’m almost done, I promise (to read them all, click here). June 28 AM First thing in the morning on the last full day of our pilgrimage to Israel, we gathered outside our hotel and made … Continue reading Pool of Bethesda and Saint Anne’s →

This is the twenty-first post in a series of reflections on my trip to Israel in the summer of 2016. I’m almost done, I promise (to read them all, click here). June 27 PM Once we got to Jerusalem, the hiking part of the trip was largely over. On this day, we had gone to the … Continue reading Shrine of the Book and Church of the Holy Sepulchre →

This is the twentieth post in a series of reflections on my trip to Israel in the summer of 2016. I'm almost done, I promise (to read them all, click here). June 27 AM After being turned away at the Temple Mount and then visiting the Mount of Olives on the morning of our first full … Continue reading Herodium and Self-Preservation →

This is the nineteenth post in a series of reflections on my trip to Israel last summer (to read them all, click here). June 27 AM On our group's first morning in Jerusalem—the first day of the trip that did not dawn already blazing hot—our first stop was going to be the Temple Mount. We trooped … Continue reading The Mount of Olives, Gethsemane, and Nearing the End →

This is the eighteenth post in a series of reflections on my trip to Israel last summer (to read them all, click here). June 26 PM In the afternoon of June 26 our tour bus left Caesarea, and Galilee, and took us to where we would spend our final three days. By that point in the … Continue reading Night in Jerusalem →

It's hard to believe it's now been almost a year since the pilgrimage to Israel I made with a group from my church last summer. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to try to write reflections on every stop we made, but I'm actually pretty close to finishing now. This is the seventeenth post (to read them … Continue reading Caesarea and Kingdom Building →

This is the sixteenth post in a series of reflections on my trip to Israel last summer (to read them all, click here). June 26, AM Our next stop after the area outside Nazareth was Megiddo, a site on the north side of the Carmel ridge, on the southern edge of the Jezreel Valley. In ancient times … Continue reading Megiddo and to’ebah →