April 16, 2001

The sign on the door of the “tomb” at the Garden Tomb.

One final relaxed day before heading back to work. We took our time this morning leaving the comfort of bed, and then slowly made our way to the Protestant-owned Garden Tomb. Even though its authenticity (as the site of Christ's crucifixion, burial, and resurrection) is largely denied by scholars, somehow it seemed very fitting to us to bask there in the sunshine following Resurrection Sunday. There's a mysterious calm that is imbued in this place. Leaving Damascus Gate, you get caught up in all the noise and excitement. Particularly now that there's extra traffic due to the road construction, the agitation in the air is palpable. It was extremely soothing and joyful to go from that chaos to the calm of the Garden, bursting right now with flowers, aflutter with birds and butterflies. We chatted with many of the British volunteers who work there in three month stints, as well as with a Finnish tour group who had spent the entirety of their stay - including Easter Day - in Tiberias. Tiberias! We know that "He is not here, for he is risen," but last we checked, he sure wasn't in Tiberias.

We capped off our quiet day of reflection with Boggle and more Thai food (Elizabeth spelled "pad ped," but Marthame wouldn't count it).