I discovered that the Temple Mount is open at present (although only for
selected periods of the day) whereas whenever I have visited Jerusalem before, it
has always been closed. I joined the queue and made my way up on to an
amazing vista. Such space as that can’t be encountered anywhere else in the
city. If you look at a map of the city from above, you can see how much ground the
Temple Mount covers, but to be up there – in person, as it were, was quite
something.
My encounters with some of the Muslims on the Mount varied, from the man who shouted
at me, “Not you!” as I vaguely approached the entrance of the Al-Aqsa Mosque (having
been able to freely visit Mosques in Istanbul, I knew here would be sensitive,
but I wasn’t anticipating being yelled at!) to the women who were more than
happy for me to photograph them in their wonderfully colourful clothing as they
chatted and passed the time of day and onto the Managers of the Temple Mount
who were happy for me to enquire about the provenance of the headscarf the
older man was wearing.
At the time I visited, the Mount was open for just an hour, and so
there was a sense that time was limited. With my trusty Guidebook, I walked around
the Mount – away from the crowds to see what was going on elsewhere. There were
boys playing football, people sitting chatting, children crying, young boy is chanting,
“Allahu Akbar” – only to be outdone by a group of men who started to call out
louder. In addition to one woman I saw praying near the Dome of the Prophet, there
were men near the Golden Gate area who seemed to be studying and talking about
the Qu’ran. This area is closed off to anyone –including Jesus! According to
Jewish tradition, this is the gate through which the Messiah will make his entry
into Jerusalem when he comes and so it was blocked up completely by the Muslims
in the 16th Century. (We won’t mention that Christians believe he’s already
come once and won’t actually need a gateway when he comes again, shall we…)
Smoking is prohibited on the Temple Mount, as is kissing in addition to
showing signs of affection. Visitors are to dress modestly and behave
appropriately. I wonder then what would have been made by the encounter I had
with a Liberal Jew and the conversation that ensued…
This chap, whose name I never did ask (very rude of me), had drifted
into my sightline a few times: I’d noticed him because he was wearing a T-shirt
with a small-ish Star of David motif on it. As I was taking a photograph of the
Dome of the Ascension, he came over to me and asked if I knew what any of the
things were that we were looking at. I explained what the particular feature in
front of us was – and that I didn’t know who had ascended from there, but went
on to say that Christians believed that Jesus had ascended from the top of the Mount
of Olives – and that there is a footprint on the
ground (I kid you not!) At this point, the chap asked if I was Christian, to
which I said yes, I asked if he was Jewish – which he was. We walked away
from the Dome of the Ascension as there was a woman was obviously getting quite
cross at our (non-believer) eyes inspecting this place and who began gesticulated
quite clearly that we should get lost!
The conversation that followed ranged through various topics to do with
faith, belief, practices, Inter-faith dialogue, clothing, expectation and
disappointment of faith communities, how many places in which St Mary is meant
to have died (or not, if you believe she was assumed into heaven). The chap was
from Toronto, where his father is a Rabbi – also quite Liberal. Apparently the
local Cardinal (I think it was a Cardinal!) is a friend and so was recently
invited over for a Friday night Shabbat meal. How cool is that?!
At one point I remarked how amazing it was that a Jew and Christian
should be standing on the Muslim site of the Temple Mount and having such a conversation.
This chap (to whom I really ought to give a name – let’s call his David), so…
David said that at his Synagogue, in May, there is to be an evening at which three Doctors
of Theology – one Muslim, one Christian and one Jewish (and all women) – are to speak on ‘The
things that bring us together and the things that divide’. I commented that I
wished I could be there… Toronto in May – that could be possible, maybe?!
What a wonderful encounter… it really made my day! Oh, and the Dome of
the Rock is a wonderful place too…
All this has led me further in thinking about whether there
needs to be a physical place where God resides, and why it is that I love to
visit this land. If Jesus promised to be with us always, and also gave us the
Holy Spirit as our Comforter, then is there any need for a ‘place’ at all?
When I attended my Selection Conference for Ordained Ministry, I was
asked how I knew there was a God. The chap who asked me seemed to an ‘okay’
person who was genuinely interested in me and my ‘story’ (rather than there
being any sense of him being someone who was seeking to trick me) so it felt alright to look him in the eye and say, “I can’t tell you how I know there is a God, but what I can tell
you is that I feel it, here in my
heart.” It seemed to be enough… but, it is so hard to put into words, isn’t it?!
There is a place within me where I know that God resides because I feel it. There is a place
within each one of us where God resides. It’s not a place that is in any sense
limited or limiting – to us or to God – but it is a place where God lives and
God ‘is’.
So, no, I don’t think God does need a ‘place’ in which to reside,
although we may need a place to be to
become aware of God more fully and deeply and God may choose to reveal God’s
self to us in particular ways, times and places. You may have a place already,
you may wish to discover one. Look for it, seek it out – what you find may surprise
you. Know this too though, the grace of God is within you – a grace that allows
for continued exploration and expression, continued questioning and doubt, continued
hope and faith, continued growth and transformation.
May your coming day, like mine was today, be filled with surprising
encounters – encounters that make you think, that make you wonder, that make
you hope, and also that make you glad to be alive.
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