Nine Parts of Beauty

The ancients are known to say that God created the world with ten parts of beauty and nine of them went to Jerusalem.  Jerusalem is a beautiful city and an intense city.  It is filled with complex history and it is filled with a diversity of people religions and cultures, all of which make it beautiful.

We walked down the Mount of Olives today, the route that Jesus would have followed on Palm Sunday.  The view above looks to the Dome of the Rock, which stands on the spot of the ancient temple. At the bottom of the Mount of Olives is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed as his disciples slept. It was there he was arrested.  The olive trees are ancient and while not the same as the ones in the garden so long ago, they are shoots that have sprung up from those trees and have the same DNA.  The garden is beautiful as seen below on left.  Learning can and does take place anywhere and everywhere. In the picture on the right we stopped on a stair landing to learn about the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which remembers Jesus' crucifixion.

I love this sign which warns of a low door entry into the church. Good advice anywhere!

 Blessings, Mary