Incense smoke rises as pilgrims from all over the world enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; considerably one of the holiest sites in the world.

Enter the cathedral. Turn right. Climb the steep steps to the second floor. The ceiling is adorned with silver plated decorations. Thin orange wax candles scatter light throughout the dim space. The sparse light strewn throughout the room and bouncing off of the silver, bronze and brass, gives you the sense of a layered existence.

It’s as if you are blanketed by a sheet of reality, but holes torn in the fabric show layers of an ancient divinity peaking out from behind.

At the back of the room, just past an emblazoned image of the crowned-sun on the floor, is the site of the death of Jesus Christ. Pilgrims drop to their knees and crawl toward the exact point where his crucifix was planted, and pray.

Downstairs, the granite slab lay in front of the entrance. Some wept as they embraced the granite slab that has been set into the floor. This is the site where the body of Jesus Christ was cleaned and readied for burial.

Further, is the tomb, where he was finally laid to rest. For three days.

Regardless of faith, creed or denomination, there is something spiritual in this place. In these walls. Maybe it’s God. Maybe it’s the history of it all.

Or maybe it’s the phenomenon of the human experience meticulously at work. Bringing all of the world to quiet, respectful genuflection.

The immense power of this space could lead even the most devout atheist to dip their finger in water and make the sign of the cross - from forehead to chest, from shoulder to shoulder.

- Christian Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem. (December 2018.)