Holy Land Via TV

As I drifted into conciseness early this morning I could faintly hear names such as Petra, Jerusalem and Holy Sepulchre from the TV. I had stumbled onto a show about the Holy Land and its treasures. I have only been to Israel once and Jordan twice but was amazed by the sites that have been named by Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious texts for centuries. Though I am not a particularly religious being, visiting sites such as Bethany and Bethlehem have struck a chord buried somewhere deep. There is definitely a special feeling when traveling that area that the show captured. I remembered visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Jesus’ tomb and the emotion showed by devout Christians with me on the line to get in. It was amazing to me to see the inter action between various Christian creeds from Roman Catholic, Armenian, Greek Orthodox, Copts, Ethiopian and Syrian. Each has shared and single privileges regarding the church.

It hasn’t been an easy relationship over the centuries and it was under Ottoman rule that in 1852 a decree was issued laying out the various rights and rules that govern the Sepulchre today. It was known as the Status Quo a term needed badly today in the world. Fittingly the Church is unlocked everyday by a Muslim key holder to acting as a “neutral” intermediary. This ceremonial task has been preformed by a member of the same family for generations.