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The next scene seemed more fitting in a movie where soft music plays and motion slows. We walked paces behind our child guide as we passed children playing, others peddling necklaces, post cards, and holy water as sunlight illuminated stonewalls and cobblestone streets. Captivated by these exceptional surroundings, we made our way to the site of Jesus crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

We followed the child through the halls of Old Jerusalem along a portion of the Via Dolorosa (Path of Sorrow). The Via Dolorosa marks Jesus path the day of his crucifixion. A chapel at each station commemorates one event from his condemnation to his burial; together the chapels make up the Fourteen Stations of the Cross.

The child led us through a maze of streets ending in a narrow corridor. Periodic chills I felt as I walked intensified once the corridor opened to the patio of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I looked around in amazement as I thought about what had taken place where we were standing, two thousand years before.

Near the entrance, Adam accepted a guided tour of the Church. We learned the Church of the Holy Sepulchre houses the last five Stations of the Cross. Our guide, Ali showed us where Jesus fell while he carried the cross, where he was stripped of his clothes, and nailed to the cross. Ali explained Jesus was anointed before he was buried on the slab near where we stood. Ali led us up the church stairs to the Calvary or Goletha, the site of the crucifixion. I touched the stone that held the crucifixion cross through an opening in the glass display.

Overwhelmed with the tour at that point, we gave ourselves a Jesus break. Ali took us to a priest who blessed and sprinkled holy water on our souvenirs. He showed us a crusader sword display and pointed out cross carvings throughout the church walls where crusaders marked their arrival.

We walked through the church to see the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Ethiopian, and Franciscan sections. A candle lighting procession led us to the ground floor of the church.

The Holy Sepulchre stood at the center of the church. An entrance surrounded by huge candles led into a tiny chapel monitored by a priest. Jesus tomb, the fourteenth and final station, lies beyond an opening at the end of that chapel. A raised marble slab covers the rock where Jesus body was laid. Ali removed a panel from the wall so we could see and touch the rock formation.

Spiritual overload set in by the time we left the Church. Still, there were other churches to see. Ali took us to an Ethiopian Church and then he and Adam waited while I went into a Lutheran Church. I appreciated the visit; I remain a member of the Emmanual Lutheran Church in Cheney I grew up attending even though my Mom and siblings defected to a Presbyterian ministry in downtown Spokane.