It’s never a day like any other when one travels even though a person does some of the ordinary every day sorts of things. For example, we met a friend of our son’s for lunch. Pretty normal, right? Turns out he’s the Executive Director for the World Evangelical Alliance in the Middle East. Not so normal. 
We spent the morning exploring two gardens. Normal. The first consists largely of olive trees dating back 2000 years and is thought to be the place where Jesus agonized over his call to the cross. Not so normal.
The second garden, overlooked by a rock face that resembles a large skull, houses a hand-hewn cave that once served as a tomb. I admit we don’t often see that sort of thing at home but here in Jerusalem it’s not unusual to bury someone in a cave. So, I am still going to call that this side of normal. The tomb is empty because its occupant rose from the dead. That’s pretty not-normal in anyone’s books.
After lunch we hopped on the train and rode it from one end of town to the other. Normal. A young Hebrew student from France studying at the Hebrew university struck up a conversation with us as we overheard the mother and daughter across from us discussing, in Russian, shoe styles (I knew by their gestures). My guess is that were at least six languages spoken within easy earshot and even more types of dress. Not so normal where I come from.
The Mamila Mall is an open-air shopping centre near the Jaffa Gate and when we moved to Cafe Cafe for lunch, we accidently left our backpack on the amphitheatre steps. Who hasn’t lost something? Pretty normal, right? Apparently, no one touches, let alone steals an abandoned bag. Rather, a bomb squad is sent in, the area is sealed off and the pack is surrounded by robots with small guns that simultaneously shoot into the pack and shred it to bits. Not your normal response in Ladysmith. Thankfully, it was still there when we went back.
It is the start of Shabbot, and Jerusalem is winding down. Rest and good food and contemplative nourishment (rich fare around here) are aspects of normal we would like to cultivate and so we may just join our neighbours in creating vacation space for Shabbot. A new and most welcome normal.
Shabbot Shalom
