Ancient Roads and Tunnels

After Jesus' resurrection He appeared to many different people in many different places.  In Luke's gospel (Chapter 24) he refers to a road seven miles outside of Jerusalem where two men were walking towards the village of Emmaus. The ancient stones are still there in large part and after a bit of bushwhacking we found ourselves walking the road to Emmaus.  I can imagine the scene - a friend and I are walking on the road away from Jerusalem after the most wild event in our current history has just taken place, the biggest prophet of our time was just handed over to crucifixion by the high priests, his body can't be found in the tomb and people say they saw angels!
Maybe I'm on my way to my mother's who lives in Emmaus to tell her about what happened.

On the road another traveler catches up to us (we like to take frequent breaks and enjoy some shade and olives from the trees!).  He is also coming from the direction of Jerusalem and he asks us, "What are you guys talking about?" "Seriously buddy? You didn't hear about Jesus rising from the dead?  Everyone's talking about it.  What, do you live under a rock?  I mean, I know there's a lot of rocks here in the Promised Land, but come one!" But the man continues to ask questions and so I tell him the story of the prophet's crucifixion and the business of his missing body and sightings of angels.  Then he says to me, "What you're saying sounds like the fulfillment of the scripture and the prophecies of the messiah." He then goes on the explain the scriptures in a whole new way that leaves me feeling like I've had a revelation.  When we come to my home I insist that he stay with us, though he looks like he's got places to be.  At dinner he breaks the bread and in that moment I see that this is Christ, the one who has risen, and then He is gone.
I'm going to get theological on you for a second here so bear with me.
These two are on a journey, as we all are.  We meet people on the journey and we are immediately suspicious or skeptical of them because that is the world we live in.  "If you're from there, why don't you know about this?" But we continue to walk with them and talk with them and something that has been an essential part of our identity (in this case of two Jews walking on the road, the scripture would have been something that is a core part of cultural identity) begins to transform as we see it through the eyes of others.  Just like a friendship that is formed, we don't say, "Well, we need to have coffee, then lunch, then play some basketball, and then go out to the bar with my group of friends and then we'll be friends." There is instead a moment when you just realize, I have built a relationship with this person and I care about what they are going through so much that I will let it affect my actions.  Joy that comes from this relationship, I believe, comes from the sense of being more then yourself because you forget your self and give up those selfish desires in order to truly be present with this other person, for it is in these moments of selflessness that we see the world in a new way, from their perspective - moments of revelation.  Glimpses like that show us how short sighted we can be, limited to just our self.  A personal example is how I love being around children just for this reason, they see the world with new eyes.  And what does Christ say about children, but that whoever takes the view of a child shall take the greatest place in heaven (Matthew 18).  So too, in this same chapter Jesus says that wherever two or more are gathered in His name (i.e. with intentions to love their neighbor) I am present.

But you're saying, "But as soon as they knew it was Jesus, He vanished! What's up with that?" Once they knew that all their revelations had come through the power of the risen Christ, they did not need Him there because He was in their burning hearts - and like I said earlier, He's got places to be!
After this revelatory walk we ascended to the church of Notre Dame Arc D'Alliance.  We had our last Eucharist in this place where the Arc of the Covenant once rested for sixty years.  It was made even more special by our new tribal property (Behold the Man group property to be left here at St George's for future groups) a new censer.  The old thurifer in me (and the everpresent pyrotechnic) really wanted to add some smoke and sweet smells to our liturgy and in the old city those apparatus abound.  We broke in the new thurible during this last breaking of bread and it was pretty epic if I do say so myself!

Speaking of epic, after lunch Fr Andrew led us on quite an adventure to the City of David and Hezekiah's tunnel.
In 710 BC (note the BC part, so 2700 years ago) King Hezekiah ordered a tunnel to be built from the spring that was outside the city walls to channel water into a retaining pool inside the city.  It's just over a kilometer long and today it's a popular site for local children to take field trips.  The tunnel is long, low, narrow and has water up to about your calves.  The only light is the light you bring and it's best not to get injured or have a heart attack down there because I am not carrying your butt outta there, probably why the demographic was pretty young!  Another aspect of sharing a very small tunnel with a bunch of school children is that it was quite an earful to have all those tiny voices bouncing all over the place, though if I was twelve I would have been shouting and splashing my way through the tunnel too!

The best word for it is unreal.  Imagine 2700 years ago trying to build a tunnel that has a specific slope to carry water underneath the walls of a city chiseled out of solid rock.  They began on both ends and met in the middle!  You can see the place they met because all of a sudden the ceiling jumps up about 20 feet and you realize they went up to high and then had to dig down to make the two tunnel floors even.  The audacity of this project today would be crazy, let alone before there was GPS and modern surveying equipment - though I guess it's just another example of how they were just a lot smarter back then!  The tunnel ultimately leads to the pool of Shiloam where Jesus heals the man born blind.  It's believed that the pool was a place to purify yourself before going up the steps to enter the temple.  The tunnel is not an experience to miss in Jerusalem!
After our Holy Moley  experience (too punny?)we went home and got cleaned up for our final reception and graduation.  Fr Andrew and Fr Crouse presented us with our certificates and Trina and Honey treated us to champagne toasts and delicious Glennfiddich (my alcohol fast was over!).  Joseph presented us with the best meal yet which was roast lamb, rice and multiple salads, one of which was pretty much guacamole - my fave!
As the wine flowed it began to sink in that our time was drawing to a close.  There were no tears, but there was definitely some mist by about the fourth glass of cab!  What an amazing time in such an amazing place.  This country is bountiful, beautiful, peaceful, with it's moments of conflict and violence all at the same time - and I doubt any of that is going to change.  I am so thankful to have had time to really reflect and to connect with this Holy Land.
Tomorrow is our last day (even though it's tomorrow already) but I don't think I'll be able to post so thanks for reading!  I'll keep writing but the posts will have a serious shift in topic - still waiting for the inspiration.
Much love to all!