Israel Flashback #7

Yes, I know my trip to Israel was over a year ago, but 1.) I have not posted all my journal entries yet and 2.) the trip was that amazing. Now commencing my journal entry from 22 May 2010:

Today was a free day but I have to write about the last 2 days. If I have energy I will write about personal thoughts and experiences.

Thursday was not really a biblical experience day. At least it felt that way. We spent the morning snorkeling and swimming in the Red Sea. I'm pretty sure Moses and the gang didn't do that when they left Egypt. It was a LOT of fun though. It was my first time snorkeling, and I would love to do it again. The water was so clear, blue and beautiful!

Afterwards, we went to see a life-size model of the tabernacle. The holy of holies was not as big as I expected. It was a good experience, though, to see how large the tabernacle area was. Just think, each time God wanted to move, the Levites would have to take down the tabernacle in a specific way, put up everything in a specific way, and carry it throughout the desert and wilderness--all the coverigs, poles, walls, items, and clothing. Not to forget carrying the ark as well! this took time and patience. A mistake could mean death and cursing not just of an individual but perhaps also a family. The Levites had to be devoted and committed.

After the tabernacle model we went to the Hai Bar nature preserve--a zoo of biblical animals. While walking along, I saw an injured bird close to the edge of the path. At first I moved it under a bench so it would be out of the way, but then I moved it under a bush/tree into the shade. It looked like it was trying to eat a berry so I thought I would get it some water. I went looking for a bottle cap in which to p[our some water but by the time I got back a minute or two later, the bird was dead. Life is fragile out here in the hot wilderness and sun. Without God's gracious mercy we would all perish.

Friday morning we went up to Herod's palace fortress at Masada. This place was huge! Maybe a football field and a half at least. After Herod, the Zealots used it in the revolt against the Romans. The cliffs around the top are steep with a narrow, winding path up. (I took the cable car.) The slave power it took to maintain the place must have been immense. It shows that money and power can get you what you want, but it cannot get you peace.

After Masada, we went for a float in the Dead Sea. Because of the high salinity, all you can do is float. It is also dangerous to splash the water in case it gets into your eyes.

Our final visit for the day was Qumran. The community there was very serious and dedicated to their religion and what they believed. They had more mikvahs (ritual baths) than what they had people--I think. They spent a lot of time copying down Scriptures and their commentaries. Thanks to them, much of our Old Testament Scriptures have been preserved and defended.

After Qumran, we came up to Jerusalem to spend the night. That means in one day we went from the lowest point on earth to one of the highest areas in Israel. From 1300 feet below sea level to 2500 feet above sea level. From harsh wilderness to green hills. A little after the sun set I was able to look down on the valley and see the coastal plain and the Mediterranean Sea. This land has so much to offer, and each day it grows more and more beautiful. I really think I could live here some day. Or maybe some place like it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Memorial of Genocide

Background: In 1975 Pol Pot and the communist party Khmer Rouge came to power. The face they put on for the world was one of an ideal communist society, but the truth behind the mask was one of terror, mistrust, and murder. For four years, Cambodia endured and struggled for survival. Help came in the form of an invasion by the Vietnamese army, and the world was made aware of the millions of deaths that had been ignored, denied, or unheard. It is estimated that approximately 2 million people died directly from the genocide and another million died from the forced famine. The world had seen genocide before but not one committed against a group's own people group. This is thirty years later.... On Tuesday, my second day here, we visited Tuol Sleng or S-21. This was a high school that the Khmer Rouge used as a torture center where people accused of committing crimes against the party would be taken before they were executed. Only 7 out of 17,000-20,000 people survived. The compound is ...
Read more

Week One

We have been in the country a little over a week, returned to normal sleep patterns after jet lag, and already experienced some different ministries. It was a very hard first week. I experienced some culture stress as Cambodia is nothing like I imagined or expected. I will record more of my cultural observations and struggles on this blog in the next few days as I journal about them. I also had a hard week physically. Not with stomach problems as many might suppose, although my stomach is adjusting as well, but with a really bad heat rash that was all over my back, arms, and thighs. It has taken a few days but is now starting to clear up. Two main things I learned from this week are 1.) God is the only Sustainer and 2.) this trip is not going to be anything like my trip to Japan. Week 2 has begun and everything looks brighter. Monday we started teaching summer school at Logos International School. I thought I was going to be teaching art for two weeks, but after a visit to the school l...
Read more

Language of Remembering

Image
In my post "Ebensee" I mentioned that I have been reading for my PhD while travelling to different places in Austria. As I was on the train to Ebensee, I was reading Dirk Lange's Trauma Recalled: Liturgy, Disruption, and Theology . The focus of this book is how. How do you put a traumatic event into words? How do you describe it? How do you recall it? How do you remember it and bring it about in repetition? He writes, "What does it mean to witness or remember an event when the truth of the event cannot be represented?" (69). This reading set me up for what I was about to experience in at the former concentration camp location in Ebensee. Not much remains of the camp. There is the main entrance, the now cemetery which was and is the location of mass graves, and the tunnels in the mountains about a 5 minute walk away. The town has built up and on the camp. As I was walking around I thought back on Lange. How does one remember, continue to remember, when living amo...
Read more