Place and Significance

I got back from Israel a couple of days ago.  How do I put my thoughts on that place in writing? One of the themes that surfaced several times for me was the idea of place and significance.  It seems that every significant place in Israel is memorialized by some sort of mosque, synagogue, or church. The Italian dictator Mussolini built this church in honor of the traditional place where Christ preached the sermon on the mount.  On the temple mount the golden dome on the rock honors the place where it's believed that Mohamed ascended into heaven. There are two sites where Jesus' tomb is believed to be.  One has a huge church and the other has a garden.  What started this train of thought was watching orthodox Jews praying by the western wall of the temple mount.  This is one of the most holy places in Judaism.  So many religions, including Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, have holy places.  Jesus challenged this by saying the Kingdom of God is near, not referring to a physical location, but a place inside a person.  1st Peter 2 talks about how believers are being built into God's house.  The Holy Spirit, who indwelled the temple in the Old Testament, now indwells believers as the new temple.  Because of Christ's work on the Cross I now have access to the Holiest of places, God's presence, no matter where I am.  What is the significance of Christ's tomb?  He isn't there.  He is in risen from the dead and His Holy Spirit lives in me.

For the past two weeks I was at the Global Youth Initiative conference in Israel.  GYI is a cooperation of youth ministries from all over the globe with a common vision for a movement of God among the youth of the globe.  We gathered as 250 youth workers from 56 different countries in Jerusalem to study the life of Christ together.  In the two photo albums on the right are a whole bunch of stories and pictures of our time together.

Comments

[Connie]

As always, amazing photos! You have such a gift Greg! Thanks for sharing it time and time again!

Connie

[Lauren]

I was preparing my "comment" in my head as I was waiting for my slow computer to bring up the comment space, and when I opened I saw that Connie had already written nearly EXACTLY what I had composed in my head! :)
So I second what she said!

Lauren

[Kevin Sherman]

Love the pictures Greg! I SO wish I had brought more equipment with me. At least my telephoto... I posted a few on my photo blog (blog.kshermphoto.com)

Keep up the good work!

[Emilie Schmitz]

Greg,
Your images of Israel have been stuck in my head for days! Thanks for sharing your adventures, so that I can be a part of them and feel (in a small way) like I was actually there! Most of these photos are haunting and tell stories without a single word. My favorite is the Jewish man leaning against the wailing wall, praying...

[aubrey peth]

Hey greg, I'm not sure if you remember me (nate invited me to work with jv kids @ last years spring conference)...but I'm returning as a summer intern this summer and i'm super excited...

I love the thought of place and significance, and I think that it's often not what we expect. I also like toying with the thought/word "signifier"....and what exactly does that mean (deep deep down, not just a dictionary definition). It's true, that most people try to find their significance in buildings, and what i just love about Christ is that He found significance in the little things...even to the point of becoming one (a human being)