A journal with reflections covering an Episcopal priest's 28 day sabbatical in the Holy Land
The journal was written during a 28 day period in January of 2008. I spent three weeks in Jerusalem and one week in the Galilee visiting the major sites of Jesus' life and ministry. I traveled alone, mostly on foot. Thus, the title of the Journal, "Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus." At each site I would sit and read the relevant texts pertaining to it from the Gospels. I was especially focused upon John's Gospel. At the end of each day I wrote a journal entry recounting what I had seen and my reflections. I visited the main museums in Jerusalem - the Shrine of the Book, the Bible Lands Museum, the Rockerfeller Museum, and Yad Vashem. For two days I toured with a group of scholars in town for a Symposium sponsored by Princeton Seminary, meeting such notables as Ehud Netzer at Herodian and Geza Vermes at Qumran. I also had dinner with an Orthodox Jewish family in a settlement in the Galilee, and a Palestinian Christian family in East Jerusalem. I also reflect in the Journal on the current political and religious realities in Israel.