My thoughts are as jumbled as a load of laundry tumbling dry.
Moses – Sea of Galilee – OMG – Jericho – the Holy Land – burning bush – exodus – OMG – Nazareth – Jerusalem – the Holy Land – OMG – Mt. Sinai – Jerusalem – Mt. Olive – the Jordan River – the Holy Land – OMG – the Wailing Wall – the city of Zion – the HOLY LAND – OMG – OMG – OMG – OMG – Oh Merciful God!
The past week touring Egypt, Jordan and Israel the days have been long and arduous, filled with thousands of years of history and more information than my pea brain can absorb, much less process.
In the span of seven days Jimmy and I have visited magnificent archeological sites,
Moses – Sea of Galilee – OMG – Jericho – the Holy Land – burning bush – exodus – OMG – Nazareth – Jerusalem – the Holy Land – OMG – Mt. Sinai – Jerusalem – Mt. Olive – the Jordan River – the Holy Land – OMG – the Wailing Wall – the city of Zion – the HOLY LAND – OMG – OMG – OMG – OMG – Oh Merciful God!
The past week touring Egypt, Jordan and Israel the days have been long and arduous, filled with thousands of years of history and more information than my pea brain can absorb, much less process.
In the span of seven days Jimmy and I have visited magnificent archeological sites,
The 2,000-year-old city of Petra, Jordan is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
ancient churches,
Every day in the Middle East was sunny side up.
massive tombs,
The Great Sphinx poses for pictures alongside the Pyramids of Chephren.
and early monasteries.
Holy St. Catherine Monastery! That's one tall wall designed to keep out unwanted guests.
Like the Bedouin of Egypt and Jordan, our American Israel Travel group has covered over 600 miles going from place to place, each member of the group carrying the bare minimum (mostly one suitcase per person), our focus the past and the life-altering experience involving our visit to the Holy Land.
The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, . . .
It seems ironic that in this, the holiest of lands, life is punctuated with so much tension; that borders between Egypt and Syria and Jordon and Palestine and Lebanon and Israel are highlighted with barbed wire and mine fields; that suicide bombers and missile strikes are as much a thread of the fabric of life as the casualties and the refugees seeking asylum; that after all these years, peace is still such a nebulous concept.
There are over 550 miles of walls surrounding Palestine, built to keep out the Israelis.
Then again, the image above could just as easily represent a portion of the border between Mexico and the United States. We North Americans simply had the luxury of two oceanic borders and very reasonable Canadian neighbors to the north when we ran the American Indians off their land, the land we coveted in our quest for sovereignty.
Throughout history, it has always been about the land. Armies have fought for the land on which empires were built; fought for religious freedom, for freedom from persecution.
The League of Nations (the United Nations now) hoped to put an end to the fighting after World War II when they decided to partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state; British troops withdrew from the region. The neighboring Arab nations, including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and then-Transjordan lent support to the Palestinians, resulting in hostilities between the Arab and Jewish factions. Jewish forces hold their ground and declared Israeli statehood on May 14, 1948. The fighting has continued ever since.
The reality of life in the Promised Land can be as harsh as the desert the Jews call home. And yet life goes on in the desert, much like the acaia tree that manages to survive in the midst of the desert. It seems in the middle of all this strife is an oasis of faith that sustains life.
Throughout history, it has always been about the land. Armies have fought for the land on which empires were built; fought for religious freedom, for freedom from persecution.
The League of Nations (the United Nations now) hoped to put an end to the fighting after World War II when they decided to partition Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state; British troops withdrew from the region. The neighboring Arab nations, including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and then-Transjordan lent support to the Palestinians, resulting in hostilities between the Arab and Jewish factions. Jewish forces hold their ground and declared Israeli statehood on May 14, 1948. The fighting has continued ever since.
The reality of life in the Promised Land can be as harsh as the desert the Jews call home. And yet life goes on in the desert, much like the acaia tree that manages to survive in the midst of the desert. It seems in the middle of all this strife is an oasis of faith that sustains life.
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