Our second day in Jerusalem, we took Sandeman’s free tour of the old city. The tour took us through the four quarters of the city, where we saw the wondrous buildings of King Herod. We walked the true stations of the cross, where Jesus carried the cross of our burdens on his shoulders. We heard the tale of the Muslim King Omar, who overtook the city and yet refused to come into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, choosing instead to kneel outside.
Women wept at the slab where Jesus was prepared for burial, rubbing items on the slab for a blessing. Wooden crosses leaned on alley walls, where people had rented them to experience the trials of Jesus, yet laid their burden back down, unable to carry the crosses throughout the city.
Jews wept at the Wailing Wall. Men and women were separated by a partition, murmuring prayers, touching the wall, backing up without looking away. They washed their hands with a ceremonial cup, went through the detectors, and back into the city.
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