Biblical Moment No. 22 of Andy’s Spiritual Journey to Israel & Palestine was a simple one, yet painful and meaningful. On the eve of Orthodox Christmas, I sat on a bench in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher reading Mark Chapter 15 in my family Bible about the Way of the Cross; Via Dolorosa; or the Stations of the Cross. Then walking the Stations backwards (the last five are in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher) and then forward returning to Calvary; Golgotha. Subsequently, never ever has life and the Lenten Season been so vivid, precious, and meaningful. Here in pictures is the experience being there and walking where Jesus walked. Where He fell three times on the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem. Where he was crucified, died, and was buried…
Mark Chapter 15:
Jesus Before Pilate. 1 As soon as morning came, the chief priests with the elders and the scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin, held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He said to him in reply, “You say so.” 3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 Again Pilate questioned him, “Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of.” 5 Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.
The Sentence of Death. 6 Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. 8 The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed. 9 Pilate answered, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” 10 For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. 12 Pilate again said to them in reply, “Then what [do you want] me to do with [the man you call] the king of the Jews?” 13 They shouted again, “Crucify him.” 14 Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.
Mockery by the Soldiers. 16 The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. 17 They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. 18 They began to salute him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him.
The Way of the Cross. 21 They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.
The Crucifixion. 22 They brought him to the place of Golgotha (which is translated Place of the Skull). 23 They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. 25 It was nine o’clock in the morning[j] when they crucified him. 26 The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 With him they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left. 29Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself by coming down from the cross.” 31 Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him.
The Death of Jesus. 33 At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “Look, he is calling Elijah.” 36 One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.” 37 Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” 40 There were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome. 41 These women had followed him when he was in Galilee and ministered to him. There were also many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
The Burial of Jesus. 42 When it was already evening, since it was the day of preparation, the day before the sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a distinguished member of the council, who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God, came and courageously went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was amazed that he was already dead. He summoned the centurion and asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 And when he learned of it from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 Having bought a linen cloth, he took him down, wrapped him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watched where he was laid.
The Way of the Cross; Via Dolorosa from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke:
“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around Him. They stripped off His Clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about Him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on His Head, and a reed in His right hand. And kneeling before Him, they mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon Him and took the reed and kept striking Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the cloak, dressed Him in His own clothes, and led Him off to crucify him. As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry His Cross.”—Matthew 27:27-32
“The soldiers led Jesus away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed Him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on Him. They began to salute Him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and kept striking His Head with a reed and spitting upon Him. They knelt before Him in homage. And when they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the purple cloak, dressed Him in His own clothes, and led Him out to crucify Him. They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry His Cross.”—Mark 15:16-21
“As they led Jesus away they took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented Him. Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children, for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.’ At that time people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall upon us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?” Now two others, both criminals, were led away with Him to be executed.”—Luke 23:26-32
Move—Out Day; Moving—On Day after two nights in the luxurious ‘Penthouse on top of a Palace’ in Cana! First though I have to pay my parking ticket! So off I go to find the DMV! LOL, no DMV in Israel! Sort of a Ground Hog Movie sort of day but this time I pass by Mash’had on my way up the hill out of Cana to the South. 
So the adventure continues. People are out walking, I am taking my pictures, minding my own business, driving along a nice parkway and trying to find the Post Office of New Nazareth to pay my parking ticket! Then I get pulled over by Israeli Police. I play tourist surprised that one cannot be taking pictures while driving along. I plead my ignorance, they let me go and give me better directions to the elusive Nazareth Post Office. Imagine that almost got another ticket while trying to pay the first ticket. At least I know better now that parking at the McDonald’s in New Nazareth is not free! Things have changed since the days of Jesus! I probably would have been stoned by now and I do not mean happily being on morphine when I check out of this world!
I recognize the neighborhood where I am and see the dome of the Church of the Annunciation where Mary learned that she was to me the Mother of Jesus. I go around the traffic circle with the fountain in it a couple of times for good luck and to get me headed back in the right direction! I park and pay and go into the Post Office. All business, no opportunity to plead my case that parking directly outside a McDonald’s anywhere in the world should be free! I pay the fine and can no longer recall the amount though it was substantial for a parking ticket.
On the way to Acre I saw an exit sign for Kefar Masaryk. Masaryk is a name familiar to me from my Czechoslovakian heritage. Sure enough the founders were Jewish immigrants from Czechoslovakia and Lithuania, who settled in Israel in 1932. In 1940 the kibbutz moved to its present site and was renamed Kefar Masaryk after Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first President of Czechoslovakia! Definitely a stop on my next visit to Israel with the home of finding some tasty kolachi!
After I paid my respects to Baháʼu’lláhm inside his shrine and toured the lovely gardens I headed west to Mediterranean Sea and then North to the Lebanon border. The drive north was only about 15 miles. Everything is close by in the Middle East, at least in the western portion of the Middle East!
Interesting enough up ahead in the other direction, towards the sea, it appears t be some sort of scenic lookout so this is the direction I decide to continue on a bit. Signs of welcoming lead me to the Rosh Hanikra Grottoes, a tourist destination! I pay the entrance fee, take a very short gondola-like ride down to sea level and go inside the Big Grotto.
I decided to take a ride east, as North as possible, through the mountains back to Safed. When I was there two days ago I did not have a copy of my books for Rabbi Leiter who runs the Ascent School. Only 30 or so miles but because of the terrain it would take an hour or so. Once there I dropped off the inscribed books and took the main road 85 back west to the Mediterranean Coast.
As it turns out my timing was perfect to have a latte and catch the sunset at the beach in Acre. A spectacular sunset I may add and sort of a celebratory one too! I would be leaving in less than a week and spending three nights in the Old City of Jerusalem. For the most part, I knew the cross-country trip to Safed would be my last open exploration in Israel. I had covered most of the country and gone to some distant parts such as the Golan Heights and Negev Desert. But I also knew my inner exploration was not over by a long shot as I would be living in the Old City with 20,000 other Christians, Jews, and Muslims for three nights!
On the beach in Acre I could see over to the North the ancient and biblical city of Old Acre. Sure to be fascinating, I added it to the list of things to see and experience for my next Spiritual Journey to Israel and Palestine!
I woke up in Haifa heading to my last 3 nights of the Spiritual Journey to Israel & Palestine in the Old City of Jerusalem! A spiritual ending to a Spiritual Journey!
I was very interested in seeing the Stella Maris Monastery right across the street! Also called Our Lady of Mount Carmel, it is a 19th-century Carmelite monastery. It all started right here on the slopes of Mount Carmel in the 12th century with religious hermits (my kind of people) began to inhabit the local caves imitating Elijah the Prophet. Fast forward to 1836 when the current church and monastery was opened. Three years later Pope Gregory XVI bestowed the title of Minor Basilica on the sanctuary, and it is now known “Stella Maris”, meaning Star of the Sea. My Roman Catholic parish back in Ponte Vedra Beach is Our Lady Star of the Sea too! Just a different sea!
One sign read “Mount Carmel—A Temple to Encounter God Face-to-Face so right there and then I decided that while I missed out on The Cave of Elijah I would not miss out on an Encounter with God Face-to-Face and decided to venture up to the top of Mount Carmel on my way to Jerusalem! No easy driving task I would find out but then again nothing should be easy when seeking God!
It was a slow winding road passing cyclists along the way. What I thought was my destination was a Memorial to the victims of the worst natural disaster in Israeli history—the December 2010 Carmel Forest fire which killed 44 people and burned 12,000 acres and turned five million trees into ash. Close by is where fire trapped and burned a bus carrying cadets from the Israel Prison Service sent to evacuate prisoners from the path of the blaze. Quite a moving Memorial Site.
The pavement turns into a dirt road. I find myself in some sort of park with a circular dirt road along the edge of the mountain top. Beautiful scenic views but definitely not Mount Carmel. Time to head to Jerusalem and on my way back through town I learn a little but more about the Druze and their Hospitality Houses!
Before taking that left turn to Jerusalem I stop on the highway for gas and have lunch at another one of my favorite restaurants—the Green Cafe. Not the best ambiance at a highway stop but the food is good, fresh, & healthy! 
My first find after exiting is the Orthodox Jewish Enclave of Kiryat Telshe Stone or Kiryat Ye-arim which is mentioned in the Bible as the site where the Ark of the Covenant had been kept for 20 years before being taken to Jerusalem by King David. It is Saturday now, the Sabbath and being an ultra-Orthodox Jewish town neither my car nor I am allowed entry. I park down the street and walk back to observe and take in this place of immense Biblical proportions. The Ark of the Covenant was basically the traveling Temple for the nomadic Jews coming out of Egypt on the way to the Promised Land.
Per Wikipedia; this modern community was established in 1973 by a group of students and teachers from Yeshivat Telz in America. Despite the official name of “Kiryat Yearim”, it is widely known as Telz-Stone, after the yeshiva and American Greetings founder-chairman Irving I. Stone, who helped to finance the community’s early development. Our world is a very diverse and integrated, highly connective place!
I follow the signs to a dead end on top of the hill. Two beautiful ladies, one young and one old, full of life, somehow communicate to me that this is the back entrance and I need to go back down the hill to find the visitor’s entrance. Which I do and then ring the bell and the gate opens wide. Life is good, life is easy when you are lost and ask for help!
Holy Ground indeed plus a large, oversized Statue of the Blessed & Holy Mother holding Baby Jesus! The Virgin Mary rendition of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro! Wow, an intact 5th Century mosaic floor! No, I did not walk on it. I obeyed the sign! Thank you Sister for the beautiful tour of the Church of Notre Dame.
Onward to Jerusalem to find my bed for the next three nights inside the walls of the Old City at the Christ Church Guesthouse. This being my fourth journey to Jerusalem, the last two weeks ago, also arriving on a Saturday Sabbath. 
There is a lot more of history, religion, and spirituality to take in over the next three days. Arriving after dark I took a stroll to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Then I passed by a Shishkebab restaurant which reminded me of my Dad because he used that word all the time. I chose Al Sultan Restaurant and Cafe and had a wonderful dinner of sheep cheese fried, a falafel, and baklawa and Arabic Coffee for dessert. Maybe you can read my fortune in the bottom of my coffee cup?
September 3rd, 2018 marks 18 years of TROML Journaling all my life’s thoughts, feelings, & experiences and, most importantly, learning from them through the unique & powerful TROML Process! A ‘Splendid Spiritual Self’ and a lifestyle of peace, joy, & freedom has emerged for me over the years. There are no shortcuts in life, though if you CUT into yourself (in a healthy manner) and learn to accept, love, and be compassionate to your True Self, it is a SHORT road home to peace, joy, & freedom (and a home to enjoy for all eternity). Far from perrfect, YES, you are RIGHT… perfectionism, control, all-or-nothing thinking, and judgmentalism have no home in me anymore. Everyone, certainly everyone I have met around the world, has their own TROML Program & their own unique ‘Splendid Spiritual Self’ has emerged too… we are all ‘human-beings-in-progress! THANK YOU all for sharing yourself with me on a spiritual level. ‘Spiritual Love,’ that’s the foundation for our successes and the answer to all our problems, individually and collectively! TROML Baby Forever!
My moment of truth came in the emergency room of a hospital in my hometown of Binghamton, NY. There to visit my mother who was deathly ill in the hospital (who survived a 17-night hospital stay and lived another year, thank God) I broke out in a body rash. The emergency room doctor, without really examining me (did look at my body but did not relate or connect with ME) quickly wrote out a prescription and handed it to me. I am not a drug-taking person and just knew there had to be a better way to live so I started my TROML Journal that very night…
Yeah, right now, this moment is the youngest I will ever be so why not do something meaningful for ourselves, family, friends, and future generations? TROML Forever Baby!
TROML (an Acronym for The Rest of My Life) is a dynamic, self- realization process that results in finding one’s True Self/Trusting Ego; one’s Eternal Child Within; and becoming aware of the presence of God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit deep within—finding one’s Splendid Spiritual Self!
mediately you think, right? WRONG!!!
Remember that your mind and Silly Ego/Pride/Self don’t really like change; they like to be in control, keep things the same (especially bad habits) whether or not it is in your best interest today, tomorrow, or in the future.
Yes, someone has to turn off that alarm clock and someone has to get out of bed and begin the day of thoughts, emotions, words, and behavior. But it should not automatically be your mind!
TROML Realization: Release That Which Does Not Serve GOD…
Late last night I got a call and was informed of what would be a tragic event if it would happen as described. It took me immediately to the bottom of my evilest instincts. How could this thoughtless and hurtful action even be comprehended without consideration of its impact?
God has instilled patience in me and I am so very grateful. I do not have to respond or react immediately to anyone or anything.
In this moment, for this moment, God has made me perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If I give ‘patience’ her due, her time, and her respect she will be miraculous things in me and in my life and the lives of my friends and family. Indeed, in the life of all if they so believe and walk in the Bible as anyone may.
Hope and grace go together like two peas in a pod. Find one, find the other. Feel one, feel the other. Let them nourish us in our time of need.
“Love and charity is patient, is kind; love and charity does not envy, is not pretentious, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, is not self-seeking, is not provoked; thinks no evil, does not rejoice over wickedness, but rejoices with the truth; bears with all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love and charity never fails, whereas prophecies will disappear, and tongues will cease, and knowledge will be destroyed.””
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.”
My thoughts go to a recent movie I saw called “Molly’s Game.” The main realization for me in this inspiring story is the importance of one’s name. What it means to self and others, past, present, and future. In reality Molly’s love, spirit, and patience enable her story to be told in a proper manner and ultimately leads to her human and spiritual freedom.
Upon awakening, what does my Splendid Spiritual Self really need to do?
I know I have things to do to function in the world this day. I have to get up, put on some sort of worldly appearance, and get through my day to live for another day. What would Brahman, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, Jesus, or the Lord our God do with the time, energy, and opportunity that this day gives each one of us? 
Completely now as my Splendid Spiritual Self, I touch base with other always present and always promoted worldly and human entities—my emotions, my ability to speak, and my body.
What emotions may I identify, accept, and feel at this moment? Spiritually I feel gratitude for the simple fact of being alive and having the opportunity to live another day. But is there a hangover from yesterday or the imprint from a dream so real that I know I lived it and did not imagine it? In the truth of the moment can I identify any and all emotions? Or have I self-medicated myself into denial, justification, and rationalization of their actual existence? If needed, I take a moment now to accept and feel my emotion with no responsive need, action or even thought, no lingering attachment. I just accept and feel and let them go to someplace other than my mind and my being.
There is no need to speak unless I have awoken with my lover at my side. If that is the case then in addition to being grateful for being alive for another day I am also grateful for the presence of my lover and the love bestowed upon me. Words are powerful. I choose words carefully and seek to understand myself and the motives behind my words before uttering a syllable. 
My heart speaks to all those who have loved me throughout my life beginning with my mother who delivered me into this world through the highest of human acts of love. I am the product of the love of my mother and father, their highest expression of their human and spiritual love. I am grateful to be loved and to have the ability to love. In a sea of love I now return to the silence of my Splendid Spiritual Self.
I pledge to take care of my body the best way that I can, minimally better than yesterday. I will not take it for granted. I will provide proper nutrition, exercise and rest for my body. My body is my living temple and I am the appointed caretaker. I will sense pain and pleasure through my body knowing that they are the same from a spiritual sense. My Splendid Spiritual Self is inspired by either and both.
I see the proper separation and independence between my mind, emotions, speech, and body and their proper perspective to my Splendid Spiritual Self. There are intervening one-way personal, prayerful, and protective inner boundaries. I start with my Splendid Spiritual Self and let it lead my mind, emotions, speech, and body. TROML Baby!
Don’t we all, within our own religion and spiritual beliefs, walk as Jesus did? Do we not all experience death and resurrection through our own idiosyncrasies as we journey through life as we know it? Aren’t we all just spiritual beings trying to live a human life versus human beings trying to live a spiritual life? Can we come out of self, come out of denial, justification, and rationalization? Where and when did, does or will that crossover from human to spirit occur inside us? 
