Where 3 Religions Intersect – a Recap of my Israel/Egypt Travels

I recently returned from our family trip to Israel and Egypt. As I have been recuperating from my travels, I have constantly tried to formulate some sort of blog post that would accurately describe my experience in the Middle East. A summary of the sites I saw and the locations I visited would just be too tedious so let me tell you about the ways my eyes were opened and what I will forever carry with me from my experiences.

Disclaimer: I am by NO means an expert on Israel, Palestine, Islam, religion, history or much else for that matter so take what I relate to you here with a grain of salt. This is only based on my limited understanding and experience.

In both Israel and Egypt, light and darkness is almost tangible. When I think about my Christian religion, my relationship with God, it is something personal, but in Israel, where 3 major world religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, intersect, religion is played out on a grand stage. The religious tension is intense. The three religions battle over holy sites. The Dome of the Rock is built over the Temple Mount. According to our local tour guide, many mosques are built directly beside churches denoting holy sites simply to make a statement. For example, the Church of the Annunciation (built over Mary’s home where the angel Gabriel appeared to her announcing the birth of Christ) is in Nazareth. Right next to the church is an open air mosque with a large billboard that reads: “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers – Holy Quran.” Even if I had no religious association, I would feel that this was a bit overboard. Sadly, even the “Christian” churches are divided among different sects. For example, the Church of the Holy Seplechure and the CHurch in Bethlehem are both divided into 3 parts between the Armenian, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. Apparently these churches had fought over the sites for so long that they eventually signed a treaty stating what times they could each control the area. For me it was just a reminder of how the volatile humanity of religion can easily cloud the truth and power of the belief that created religion. Loosing sight of Christ amidst the trappings of religion is not a recent problem. Our guide, Emmanuel, was born into a practicing Jewish family but now rejects all religion. Honestly, after being in Israel, I could understand how he arrived at this conclusion. He is surrounded by religion. Everywhere he turns, everything is DEFINED by religion. And they are all fighting each other. Where is the peace and love in all of this?

Nazareth - the sign with the church directly behind it

Anyways…let me get down off my soapbox. Seeing the sights really brought the New Testament to life. I have walked where Jesus walked. I have never doubted the authenticity of the stories in the Bible, but I must say seeing the places these stories actually occurred adds a whole to element of understanding to my personal Bible reading. I will never forget standing on the Mount of the Beatitudes and reading the sermon on the mount in Matthew. I was actually shaking as I thought, “This is where Jesus actually spoke these powerful words thousands of years ago.” Yesterday in church, my pastor was talking about the Israelites fleeing Egypt and I instantly thought, “Hey, I’ve been there.”

Floating in the Red Sea

Now for a few highlights of my trip (in one jumbled paragraph that is primarily stream-of-conciousness) …I sailed and learned to cast a net on the Sea of Galilee. I floated in the Dead Sea and covered myself in Dead Sea mud. My skin has never been so smooth! The Garden of Gesthemene is possibly the most peaceful place on earth. I ate tons of Falafel, Humus, Schwarma, and salad for breakfast. I visited Bethlehem, which is completely under Palestinian control. It is surrounded by HIGH walls in the middle of Israel and you must go through border control to get inside. I visited the Garden tomb. I cannot even explain the overwhelming joy my heart felt there. I was baptized in the Jordan River. I visited Capernum where Jesus performed a majority of his miracles. I went to the room of the last super and took communion there. I wrote the prayers of my heart on a tiny piece of paper and put it in a crack in the wailing wall.

Now a bit about Egypt. I have been fascinated by Egypt ever since we studied the Pyramids in Middle School at Cedar Hall. As we all know, Egypt has been in a state of unrest ever since all of the protesting occurred there. Probably not the safest time to visit but fearlessness is one of my many downfalls. Sometimes I wish I was a man so that I would have the strength to defend myself in order to match the lack of fear I have in most dangerous situations. We felt pretty safe while we were there but this may be due to the constant presence of our own personal, armed secret service man with us at all times…

Petra, Jordan

On the way to Egypt I visited Petra in Jordan, on of the modern wonders of the world. The whole civilization was carved into rock. simply STUNNING. I fulfilled my dream of riding a camel in front of the pyramids! I climbed on the pyramids and even went inside the smaller one. I learned how to make papyrus. I saw all the splendor of King Tuts tomb. I went to a Egyptian perfume shop where they manufacture essence from flowers and send it to all the big perfume labels like Polo, Burberry, etc. It takes 1000 flowers to make 1 ounce of essence! (I bought some of course). I learned how to weave Egyptian carpet. I pretended to kiss the Sphynx. I ate dinner on the Nile. I saw the presidential building, burned down during the protests. The dirty, crowded city of Cairo truly intrigued me. 

I’ve included a few photos but unfortunately I LOST all my Israel photos due to leaving my memory card behind in the hotel room in Eilot Israel.

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