scruffy1
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Holy Year from Pamplona 2010, SJPP 2011, Lisbon 2012, Le Puy 2013, Vezelay (partial watch this space!) 2014; 2015 Toulouse-Puenta la Reina (Arles)
Shalom and Holiday Greetings from Jerusalem!
Today is the Jewish Festival of the Weeks - Shevuot in Hebrew - Pentecost for the rest of the Christian world. We have different beliefs, a different calendar, and a different motivation for celebrating-ours begins this evening, yours on Sunday. Saint James is of course an important figure in your celebrations which mark the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tavor located here in the Jezeerel (Israel) Valley. There is a modern church on the peak of Mount Tavor sanctifying the Transfiguration, a church reached by a small narrow road which adventurous drivers can climb but not so tourist buses. Transportation up is provided in taxis by the residents from the village of Shibli–Umm al-Ghanam, an Arab settlement of Bedouins and migrant Muslims. In the apse of the church appears the figure of the Transfigured Jesus, and below Peter, John, and James but alas no keys, no eagles, no shells. I was able to find a man who could identify them, not a priest or a nun in resident, not a tour guide, but the grandfather of the man running the souvenir stand up there - a devout Muslim! Visiting the church is then a multi-cultural experience.
Where would be a good place to celebrate the Christian Pentecost on the Camino? I have never celebrated the holiday in the Christian manner and perhaps next year will be in Spain at this time.
PS Only for the curious: Hassan Saida of Shibli–Umm Al-Ghanam owns a collection of small cast lead books featuring what is popularly believed to be the first-ever portrait of Jesus. The books are thought to have been created by followers of Jesus in the first decades after his crucifixion. The books, containing cryptic messages in Hebrew and ancient Greek, have been in Saida's family since they were found by his great-grandfather.
Holiday Greetings from a not so Scruffy Scruffy, bright and shiny for the big day!
Today is the Jewish Festival of the Weeks - Shevuot in Hebrew - Pentecost for the rest of the Christian world. We have different beliefs, a different calendar, and a different motivation for celebrating-ours begins this evening, yours on Sunday. Saint James is of course an important figure in your celebrations which mark the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tavor located here in the Jezeerel (Israel) Valley. There is a modern church on the peak of Mount Tavor sanctifying the Transfiguration, a church reached by a small narrow road which adventurous drivers can climb but not so tourist buses. Transportation up is provided in taxis by the residents from the village of Shibli–Umm al-Ghanam, an Arab settlement of Bedouins and migrant Muslims. In the apse of the church appears the figure of the Transfigured Jesus, and below Peter, John, and James but alas no keys, no eagles, no shells. I was able to find a man who could identify them, not a priest or a nun in resident, not a tour guide, but the grandfather of the man running the souvenir stand up there - a devout Muslim! Visiting the church is then a multi-cultural experience.
Where would be a good place to celebrate the Christian Pentecost on the Camino? I have never celebrated the holiday in the Christian manner and perhaps next year will be in Spain at this time.
PS Only for the curious: Hassan Saida of Shibli–Umm Al-Ghanam owns a collection of small cast lead books featuring what is popularly believed to be the first-ever portrait of Jesus. The books are thought to have been created by followers of Jesus in the first decades after his crucifixion. The books, containing cryptic messages in Hebrew and ancient Greek, have been in Saida's family since they were found by his great-grandfather.
Holiday Greetings from a not so Scruffy Scruffy, bright and shiny for the big day!