Cresting 90!

According to our boys, Paul is now "cresting 90" because, at age 46, he's more than half-way there!  So when the birthday happened, it called for a special celebration! You don't hit that particular milestone every year!

Best pizza in Jerusalem!

Where could we have a birthday meal? Somewhere not too stiff, nor too greasy. (There's "the best pizza in Jerusalem" but the first two times I walked past it I swore under my breath I'd never go in! Greasy starts on the sign outside the door! But now ... I have to say ... if you ever come here, don't miss it! The pizza, though well-oiled, is amazing!! And if you sit outside, the spectacle of life passing is wonderful!) However, that wouldn't do for this event!  I kept looking.

Hunting through guide-books, I found it! The American Colony Hotel! Gracious, inviting, cozy, with trees lining a sunlit lobby and low tables set among the arches. What's more - and what made it perfect - was that the hotel also had "the best English bookstore in Jerusalem!" 

Then it started to rain. Bus-riders that we are, we can't escape the elements, and the days, though not monsoon-like, were fairly wet! I thought it would be a shame to go to a nice place all bedraggled. But Sunday, Paul's birthday, lived up to its name! Morning light danced on almond trees, lacy with white blossoms.  Sunshine gleamed through dark olive groves, their branches just pruned for spring. It sparkled on golden lemons, over-ripe and glistening as we passed the orchards of Tantur on our way to church. What a beautiful morning! A great day to celebrate this oldster! On the bus we went, and off to church for the 11 o'clock service.

From St. George's to the American Colony Hotel was only a few minutes' walk, and we whisked along, arriving dry and happy  in the sun-dappled gardens just in time for lunch. When we approached the front door, however, mini-tsunamis greeted us, as water, six inches high, flooded across wide stone floors and out into the covered porch. Turned out the lobby was getting its weekly wash! This is how they do it here - and why not?! We decided to wander the grounds, and found the antiques and collectibles shop where Oliver was nearly kidnapped by brigands but resisted them by brandishing a large sword he found there! The bookstore, sadly, was closed. This is, after all, low season. - And it gives us an excuse to return!

No-one stopped or helped us when we re-entered the hotel, crossing residual puddles. Here you must learn to fend for yourself, and fend we did, looking for the restaurant. Winding passages were lined with rich wall rugs and mosaic tiles, curling arches, clay pots and the occasional treasure chest. We were glad to explore!

At last we found it, and were soon seated at a cozy corner table in a room lit by sunshine and firelight. Within minutes hot rolls and almond-flower butter were placed before us. (Unlimited rolls, mind you! Did we have all day? ... Um, yes!) But course followed course - falafel shrimp, tabbouleh salad, shish kebabs, delicious vegetables, giant burgers for those not cresting 90, strawberries and chantilly cream - and of course, sadly, we became full!

Between food and dessert, the boys went exploring. When Elliot returned he quietly said, "I just made a shocking discovery. This restaurant is named after ... a bra-ssiere!" What??? We burst out laughing! "No, really!" he protested. "It's called 'Val's brassiere'!" How we laughed! Waiters hovered, wondering what was going on! The wonders of being 14 and not 40! How delighted "Val" would have been to know that her lingerie had been so charming as to have this eating place named in its honour! Not "Brassiere; Brasserie!" we told Elliot! (whatever that means!)

We had to have a cup of coffee to toast Val, and really to linger a little longer, and then Paul said, "Come, I have something to show you!" With warm thanks to our many, friendly servers, we went past luscious orange and palm trees growing in the central courtyard, to a corner of the front verandah. "Read that," said Paul.  I did. It was a hand-written hymn, framed on the wall. A hymn that has meant a lot to me, and to many people around the world.

"When peace, like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
'It is well, it is well with my soul'."

All four verses were there, with a word scratched out and replaced, and the last line different to our familiar version. It was the original, handwritten script, penned in now-faded black ink, by Horatio Spafford as he crossed the Atlantic in 1871. The story behind the hymn and its place in this hotel was framed there too. Parts of it I knew, but there was more to be told.

Horatio Spafford was a successful 1860's lawyer and businessman as well as a great supporter and friend of D.L. Moody, the famous evangelist. He and his wife Anna held a prominent place in Chicago's social scene. Knowing this we might not wonder that he could say "It is well with my soul"!

Then we learn of the tragedies that the next decade held.  In 1870 the Spaffords' only son, age 4, died of scarlet fever. Then the great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed their extensive real estate investments along the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1873 Horatio decided to take his family for a break in the tranquillity of England, planning at the same time to help Moody, who was preaching there. He arranged for a family ocean crossing with his wife and four daughters but at the last minute he was delayed by business transactions. Not wanting them to miss out, he sent his family ahead on a French ship, as arranged. Nine days later he received a telegram from Anna with just two words on it: "Saved alone."

Newspaper clippings

Reading the story

The French ship had collided with an English vessel and sank in 12 minutes, taking 226 lives, including the Spaffords' four daughters. His wife had survived because a floating log held up her unconscious body.   On receiving the terrible news, Horatio boarded the next ship to join Anna in this time of heartbreak. When his ship reached a certain point in the ocean crossing, the captain called Horatio to the bridge and told him that this was where the French ship had gone down. The water was three miles deep.

Loss upon loss crashed over him. Horatio Spafford returned to his cabin. In the depths of his pain he remembered the Bible story of the Shunamite woman whose "soul was vexed" but still said, "It is well with me; it is well with the boy" when her son died (2 Kings 4:26). That day, in Horatio's cabin, deep faith plumbed the depths of incredible loss, and, on that very piece of paper that we saw in the hotel, he wrote his hymn. No wonder it speaks so profoundly to others in times of greatest sorrow.

The history of the American Colony Hotel is linked with this story.  In 1881, calling themselves "The Overcomers", Horatio and Anna Spafford, with 16 fellow church members, left America for Jerusalem. Their intention was to prepare for Christ's return by living a simple life with everything in common. They became known for benevolence and help to the community, with an open door  to their Arab, Jewish and Bedouin neighbours. Locals simply called them, "the Americans". Before long, large groups of  Swedish Christians joined them, and their numbers grew, but the name stuck. Growth meant, though, that "The Americans" needed a larger home.

They found the perfect place: a palace formerly owned by a pasha and his four wives! The colony of believers moved in and continued their generous lifestyle. Then in 1902, Baron Ustinov (grandfather of Sir Peter Ustinov) needed better-than-local lodging for his guests, and asked if they could stay in the beautiful community house. This was the beginning of the "American Colony Hotel." Before long it became a haven for numerous visitors and pilgrims, remaining unusually neutral through wars and ongoing upheaval. Today it is a five-star hotel with rooms starting at well over $400 / night! (Lunch was a lot cheaper than that!!)

Horatio Spafford

Anna Spafford

But the hotel has never forgotten its roots. Framed photographs of Horatio and Anna are in the front verandah, along with the handwritten hymn, and though it's now under Swiss hotel management, its board of governors is made up of descendents from the original American Colony.  (I was glad also to learn that their first, smaller home, was used to provide care to needy children. Today it houses the Spafford Children's Center, which runs medical, infant welfare and social work departments for local kids.) 

On that sunny Sunday we had the perfect birthday celebration, mingling food and laughter with poignant memories and rich history. No greasy joint nor stiff dining, but an appropriate place for a wonderful man of faith and courage who is now "cresting 90!"