today's other readings are Acts 15: 1-6 and John 15: 1-8
I have been blessed with the opportunity to take some trips over the years. Some of them were filled with great anticipation as I imagined in my mind what it would be like when I actually arrived in the desired destination. But nothing has ever been close to the thrill I had the first time I saw Jerusalem.
It was 1996, and I was part of a familiarization trip with a group of clergy, most of whom were Roman Catholic. After landing in ben Gurion airport just outside of Tel Aviv, we then undertook the short journey to Jerusalem, as we approached the city from the west. After a small rise there was the Old City. Immediately the words of today's psalm, which has been a favourite of mine, came to mind, "let us go rejoicing to the House of the Lord ... our feet are standing with your gates, O Jerusalem".
My mind flooded with the thoughts that I was privileged to share in the thrill of arriving in the city that is so holy to Christians, Jews, and Muslims. That holy city. A city of faith. A city of prayer. A city of worship. Jerusalem, our destiny.