lukebuehler.com About the life of a pilgrim

Beyond Jerusalem

It's time to say goodbye to the city that we love so dearly and move on.

Before I made it to the city, I tried really hard to not get my hops up too high in case Jerusalem might be a letdown just like some other towns that we approached with great anticipation. One has to become a Jerusalemite to understand the following saying, "God gave ten measures of beauty to the world, Jerusalem got nine the rest got the remaining one." There's layer over layer of stuff to be discovered, and not only archeologically, but also spiritually, in its cultures, history and its diverse and divided inhabitants. I met many people that leave the place after being here a year or so, saying "it's just too intense, I can't take it!" It is intense here indeed: starting with the political situation, then that so many religions consider it their home, and also the different cultures that have immigrated here. To the beauty this stands in stark contrast and we have seen its fringes as well, but non the less I'm convinced that the city is rich in its own terms.

We spent our days here relatively relaxed, exploring here and there, but we could have done much more. Those who know about my experience on mount Athos are familiar with my attraction to Orthodox Christianity. Here, I was captured by its gravity again and subsequently spent most of my time exploring the Orthodox Church deeper. Often I visited churches and monasteries to talk to people that I have been referred to by the previous place. It became a treasure hunt that climaxed last weekend when I participated in many of the Easter services in Jerusalem. I saw a deep and beautiful tradition which illuminated me to see church life from a different perspective.

Tomorrow the real adventure starts!

We'll leave our apartment and start traveling home: no airplane but everything else. Hope to see you soon.