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Jerusalem

by Sandy StevenSon

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Easter was approaching and I’d been feeling a bit restless. I

met an Israeli neighbour at the local shops and she was telling

me how much she missed her home. Later that day, I saw an

elderly Jesuit priest whom I’d often spoken to but hadn’t seen

for a while. I asked him if he’d made it to Israel yet as he’d

often mentioned his desire to go there. He said, “Sadly no”. As

I was talking to him I felt some inner excitement. When I got

home I was thinking about the feeling of excitement and how

interesting it would be to spend Easter in Jerusalem. This was a

whole new idea for me as I’d never considered Israel as a place

to visit. I mentioned the idea to a friend and she said there

wouldn’t be any flight seats left, especially as this year Passover

and Easter coincided. My daughter thought it was a great idea

and said she’d love to come. I still hadn’t decided anything but

I rang the airline to check anyway. They said they were booked

out except for two seats on a flight on Good Friday to Eilat in

southern Israel. It got in at midnight! The vacant seats seemed

like a sign to me, so I booked the two seats. I rang my daughter

in London and said “We’re booked for tomorrow night – we need

to pack.” Nothing like trust, eh!

Now the thought became stronger and I knew I needed to be in Jerusalem for Easter Sunday.

Not a clue why, of course!

We flew to Eilat and landed at midnight and started walking

with our backpacks. We had had no idea where anything was.

We stopped a passer-by and asked about accommodation. He

said he thought everywhere was booked out as people fly from

all over the world for this weekend. He suggested we try the 24

hour youth hostel further down the road. I trust the universal

process, so we headed for the hostel. Upon arriving we were

told the dormitories were full but they had did have one room

left with two single beds. How perfect was that! By the way, this

youth hostel was no hardship, it was opposite the beach and had

a swimming pool on the roof. An amazing place.

The next morning I asked at the hostel about getting a bus the

following day to go to Jerusalem for Easter Sunday. I was told

there were none running on Easter Saturday. I checked on rental

cars but there were none left. So while my daughter went to

the beach, I headed for the bus station to find out for myself

about the buses. When I got there, I was told that actually the

bus company had suddenly decided to run an extra bus that

afternoon because a religious tour group had been delayed and

they needed to get to Jerusalem for Sunday. Me, too! I bought

our tickets.

Checking out of the hostel, I passed on the information that

there was a bus to Jerusalem if anyone else enquired. I asked

if they knew of any accommodation available in Jerusalem.

They did and they rang and booked us into an Orthodox Jewish

priest’s teaching college within walking distance of the Old City.

I felt a definite buzz at the idea of the Old City. He said it dated

back to the 4th Millennium BC and it was one of the oldest cities

in the world. I looked at the postcards for sale in the hostel as I

often find this is a great source of inspiration as to where I am

meant to be. I saw a picture of the Holy Sepulcher church in

the Old City and zing! That was it. That was where I was meant

to be.

I still didn’t know why.

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Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

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At the time I didn’t know anything about

the church and I didn’t need to. I try to

operate on a need to know basis and

not to clutter myself with unnecessary

information. But for those who are

interested in its history of it, I later found

out the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is

said to have been built in around 325.

It has been altered many times since

but apparently its appearance today is

the same as in 1885. It’s seen by most

Christians as being the Hill of Calvary

where the New Testament says Jesus was

crucified. The sepulcher is supposed to be

where he was buried.

Church of the Holy Sepulcher has been

an important pilgrimage destination since at

least the 4th century, being the supposed site of the death and

resurrection of Christ.

Today it’s also the headquarters of the

Greek Orthodox Church and is shared with

many religious groups and has done so

for centuries.

After I checked out, I went to the beach

to join my daughter and we swam with

the bottle nosed dolphins in a cordoned

area of the beach. I passed them their

ascension codes which I do whenever

I swim with dolphins. The weather was

very hot, close to 40 degrees but the dry

heat made it surprisingly OK. We enjoyed

the beach, had some delicious Falafels

– great country for vegetarians – and

ambled up to catch the bus. To date, we

found this country efficient, clean and

well run. For example, one person too

many arrived for the bus to Jerusalem.

Guess what, they had another bus there

within minutes, just for the one person.

How many places in the world would that

happen, I wondered. The buses are clean

and modern. The trip up was great, lovely

views and very interesting.

Our accommodation was lovely. The priests

told me the Holy Sepulcher Church’s main

service would be held at 8am the next

morning. That was perfect.

Up early, we headed to the Old City. I knew

we didn’t have much time to find this

church before 8am. I just surrendered. I

moved fast, ducked across one of the

old city bridges, thru gates, stone walls,

doorways, down alleys, moving with

certainty. My daughter said “Mum how

can you do that, you seem to know where

you’re going.” I said “It hasn’t changed a

bit. The only thing that’s different is the

type of goods being sold by the roadside

traders on the entry bridge.” That is true.

The old city has the same old stone walls

as they were in the olden days. I think

those who lived there way back would

find their way around OK now. We got

to the church with minutes to spare.

Many different religious groups hold

their services there and because of the

openness of the space inside you can hear

quite a few at the same time. We stopped

at the first holy service that felt right and

stayed to the end.

Then something lovely happened and I

felt this was the key to my being there.

At the end of the service, candles were

handed around. Holding our lighted

candles, the priest and all the people

from that congregation who wished

to join in, began walking to the next

religious group’s service. We joined with

that church group and their priest and

all holding our candles, we moved on to

the next group. This went on all around

the church as people from each religious

group and their priests joined us.

I can’t explain the grace, power and

love and incredibly special feeling there was in that group as we grew in number, accepting people of different beliefs with unconditional love.

I didn’t know exactly what was happening.

I assume codes were passed and it was

something to do with bringing in ‘as

above so below’. I am happy to just be

in the moment and do what feels right

without complying with ego and the

needs of the mind. I have found that if

we, as spirit, need to know the whys, then

we will know.

After that lovely service we were drawn

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Church of the Holy Sepulcher Dome of the Rock Wailing Wall

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www.wayoftheheart.net

Sandy StevensonSandy Stevenson is a well known international presenter and author of the best seller The Awakener and I Am Here.

She organised the worldwide OM from Wembley in London in 1994 involving a million people in 58 countries.

Sandy, has worked with the Highest Ascended Masters of Light for over 16 years. She offers easily understood truth,

encouraging others toward greater self mastery, integrity, understanding highest truth, discernment, faith, trust and

love. Sandy is personally committed to the completion of the Divine Plan for Earth and the homeward journey

of the Lightworkers, those who came here to help.

Email: lightascension@virginbroadband.com.au • Website: www.lightascension.com/welcome.html

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to see other things. The Wailing Wall was interesting. We went to

the Dome of the Rock – one of the holiest places to Islam where

it’s said Muhammad went up to the heavens and to the El-Aqsa

Mosque, the earliest dated mosque in Israel.

We got a taxi up to the Mount of Olives to see the footprint in

stone where it is said Jesus ascended. We were surprised it wasn’t

being promoted to tourists as you would expect in a western

country. In fact, as I recall, there wasn’t even a plaque to say what

it was.

We walked around the very lively city at night. At an open air disco,

we were fascinated to see all the women (and men) with rifles

across their backs while they danced. Both sexes are conscripted

into the army for 2 years at the age of 18 and must have their

guns with them at all times. An incredibly disciplined group, we

never once saw anyone use any firearms or threaten anyone. It

didn’t take long before you just forgot about it. They were friendly

and helpful and this applied to the people as a whole.

We did other things like go to the Sea of Galilee where the biblical

baptisms took place. We floated in the Dead sea, which was

brilliant. It would be great for non swimmers as the water is so

saturated with salt that you easily float in it, even with your arms

and legs up in the air. It was very hot. We observed a large group

of ladies who could only paddle as their religion didn’t allow them

to wear a swimming costume. We bought packets of Dead Sea

mud, said to be rejuvenating. Well, why not?

Isn’t it wonderful going to places you have heard about all your life?

I remember feeling like that in New York, finally seeing places I’d

seen in movies like 42nd street, 5th Ave., Tiffany’s and Macy’s.

As a last venture before we flew out of Eilat, we got a bus to the

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. For those into history, The

Church of the Nativity is one of the oldest continuously operating

churches in the world. The structure is built over the cave that

is said to have been the birthplace of Christ and is considered

sacred by followers of Islam and Christianity. The first church over

the cave was begun by Saint Helena and completed in 333. That

structure burnt down in 529 and was rebuilt in its present form

in 565 by Emperor Justinian. I loved the lack of tourism. There

was one small stand outside selling wooden angels made from

Olive trees.

My daughter and I entered and walked down the old stone steps

below the ground floor level to the birthplace of Jesus. As we

walked down, we were chatting. Suddenly both of us went silent.

It was the energy of the place that silenced us. It was incredible.

Whether or not this is the true birthplace of Christ doesn’t really

matter. It’s been agreed that it is so for a long period of time and

it holds that blessed energy. We stayed there, in silence for some

time. Then we spent time around the ancient Olive tree in the

grounds.

So, another adventure drew to a close. We headed back to the

United Kingdom knowing we’d achieved what we set out to do...

Whatever exactly that was! b

Suddenly both of us went silent. It was the energy of the place that silenced

us. It was incredible. Whether or not this is the true birthplace of Christ doesn’t really matter. It’s been agreed that it is so for a long period of time and it holds that

blessed energy. We stayed there, in silence for some time.

 Said to be the birth place of Jesus