Some of us went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at dawn this morning.
All of us went later on in the morning as we finished walking the Via
Dolorosa (the stations of the cross). The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
was built in the fourth century, and is literally built over the place
where Jesus was crucified - and where he was laid in a tomb. It has
been destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries.
It is a chaotic place. The architecture is a mishmash; the flood of
pilgrims who come in and out from all over the world makes for a very
noisy environment - but the biggest contributor to the chaos is the fact
that the sacred space is managed by six different denominations - Roman
Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Coptic (which is the Orthodox Church in
Egypt), Syrian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox.
Protestant Churches did not yet exist when the church was divided up.
There is a "status quo" for the management of the church. But the
relationships between denominations is chaotic at best, and hostile at
worst. Turf battles break out all the time.
After I was able to work through my "why can't they get along" musing, I
began to realize that this singular holy space is simply a microcosm of
the world. Every time I have gone into the church - and I go in as
often as I can, I come away with the deeper appreciation that The loving
Christ is bigger than all the confusion - and that his loving reach
extends beyond any protocol or status quo or ecclesiastical resistance
we can put up against him.
Mark
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