Pre-Departure Thoughts...

As many of you perhaps know I am about to embark on a semester abroad in Jerusalem, Israel. It is less than 48 hours until my departure and I am, understandably, very excited. This trip/semester abroad will henceforth be called "Jason's Holy Land Adventures" which is where the title of this blog comes from. The reason that I am calling it such is because I am an adventurer and this semester will hopefully be a (good) adventure. In case you were wondering, yes, that picture which looks suspiciously like Harrison Ford is actually me chillin' and thinking about the adventures I will most likely have in the Holy Lands. I have never "blogged" prior to now so I cannot gurantee it will actually be worth your while to read this blog and I can't promise that I will even update it on a regular basis because I might forget I even have a blog. What I can promise is that I will do my best to write in it as often as I remember and keep updating you all with what sort of crazy things I am doing in Israel. The college where I will be studying is called Jerusalem University College (otherwise known as the American Institute of Holy Land Studies). On the right are a few pictures of JUC which is near the Jaffa Gate right outside the Old City of Jerusalem. I will be living on Mt. Zion very close to the City of David and also the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,

which is where Christ was both crucified, buried, and of course rose from the dead! Interesting story about the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: There are a whole bunch Christian denominations that hold worship there...everyday day...all day. Which denomination do you think holds the key to the church door? None! A muslim family has held the key to the door for something like hundreds of years. Each morning they unlock the door and let the Christians worship and every night they lock it back up. Ironic huh? Anyways, all I really have to say about my Holy Adventures is that I am very excited and I have no idea what to expect other than this... With all that said, I will leave you with some words to ponder which were written by Thomas a Kempis in his classic The Imitation of Christ: "Keep yourself a stranger and pilgrim upon this earth, to whom the affairs of this world are of no concern. Keep your heart free and lifted up to God, for here you have no abiding city." This ought to be all everyone's goal in life but I chose it because I feel as if I am going to be a pilgrim of sorts while in Israel...a pilgrim of places where Christ walked and ministered, a pilgrim of history, a pilgrim of spirituality in the Holy Land, a pilgrim of academic pursuits of Israel, and whatever else I may come across. My only hope is that I glorify God while spending time in the land where he took on flesh, suffered, was crucified, and rose, all for for the good and salvation of mankind.