Adventurous Life

The following is my final journal entry regarding my trip in Israel. While the journal concludes, the trip has marked me and changed me forever. Dated 27 May 2010 I have 3 days of reflection papers to write. Oh brother. -- We did a lot on Tuesday. Part of the reason was that we had a flat tire, or two, on Monday and it took time to repair them. Therefore, we had to cram Arbel into Tuesday's schedule. I enjoyed visiting Kursi and Bethsaida. Basalt rock is common in this area of the Galilee region, and it is a different change to see buildings made out of black basalt as opposed to lighter limestones. You use what you have. I enjoyed Capernaum as well. The synagogue there was beautiful. Even though basalt was used in many places, they imported marble or limestone (I forget which) to build the synagogue. When I read Jesus' accounts in the Gospels, I think of space and time differently than what it must have been. I have realized how much of my culture I have read into the Bib...

Journal entry from 25 May 2010 Yesterday. All my thoughts seem so far away. But I believe in yesterday. Enough with the song lyrics. I need to write my reflection entry for yesterday. To be honest, yesterday did not start off very well. I didn't sleep well and I knew Monday would be busy. We went to Megiddo and somewhat quickly blazed through the tell. Maybe it was the funk I was in or the fact that we have already seen many, tells, regardless, I was not that impressed. The F-16 jets flying overhead caught my attention more. I think it was the funk. A lot of archaeology has been done at the site so we were able to see at least 3 layers of settlements, Solomon's three-gate system, a Canaanite altar, and Solomon's stables. We also walked through the water system. After lunch at Ein Harod where the the Lord chose Gideon's 300 men, we went to Nazareth Village in Nazareth. Here a group of Christians recreated life in first century Nazareth. They use the same methods and mate...

My journal entry for 23 May 2010. Today, we have traveled north. Either it is much cooler up here, I have acclimated to the southern climates, or both. Regardless, I am pretty cold. Right now I am wearing my jeans and a long-sleeve tshirt. I can see the Med from the balcony above our room, and there is a pretty good wind coming from the sea. The land up here is very different. For one, it is very green with a lot of trees and fields. There are some flat places, but wherever you go you can see hills in the distance. Overall, I would not classify Israel as a flat land. Even if it looks flat, you can be sure there is a wadi or nahal of some sort that will provide a variation in elevation. Plains and valleys are small. Hills roll throughout the land. This area doesn't strike me as beautiful. Maybe because I have seen areas that are similar. Perhaps I am reaccustomed to green once again. The wilderness area was new and different. New experiences appeal to me and refresh me. The same old...

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 ...

Journal entry dated 19 May 2010. Today I feel like a bird in a cage yearning to be free. I trap myself within rules, should dos, and ought to dos. I try to meet expectations, and all that happens is I die a little bit each time. Money is an issue. I am spending my own money on this trip with no guarantees I will ever get anything back. These are my savings for school, but I also have been saving for this trip. I want to be free, to enjoy the opportunities, to eat what I want and how ever much I want at meals without worrying about spending too much. My past financial spending failures and the voice of my father haunts me. As Marnie says, this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip--enjoy it. Chris says, it's only money. And I am trapped like a bird in a cage longing to be free. I want to live in freedom and grace. I want to stop beating myself up for the littlest thing. I want to live as God has intended. I want to live. Maybe that's why I enjoyed today so much. Desert and wilderness wit...

Journal entry dated 18 May. Today we went to many different tells and cities mentioned in the Old Testament.I guess what influenced me the most today was how brilliant people were back then. I recognize that this says more about my pride and the pride of my time. We think that we are so much smarter and know more than what people did back then. In some ways this is true, but the fault lies in that we think we are better than people back then. For instance, at Lachish they had a channel that served as a sewer taking the sewage out of the city. At Mareshah, they built their city under the top of the hill--actually inside the hill--because it would be cooler than out in the sun. Their engineers were brilliant! Their works have lasted thousands and thousands of years. It makes me wonder how long parts of our generation will last. My favorite part of today was looking for and finding potsherds at Lachish. There are centuries and millenia of history there, and it is starting (or has been) ri...

Journal entry dated 16 May 2010. Going to the Herodion helped me understand. It is at a strategic point, and I understand why Herod built a fortress there. From that vantage point one can watch the southern approaches to Jerusalem and even some of the movement in the east at Jericho, even though we couldn't see it today. The Herodion is high enough to see for miles away. I wonder what else we could have seen if the haze had not come. One thing the Mount of Olives impressed upon me was how small the country of Israel is. From there you could see Nebi Samwell and I imagine even the Herodion if we were on the other side or in a tower. All of Jerusalem, or most of it, could have been surveyed from up there. I realized that I read the Bible with an American perspective on space--everything is spread out with miles and miles between. Nothing of much importance is close together. The same cannot be said of Israel. I am sure that perspective will change as we move out of the Jerusalem area...

This entry is dated 15 May after touring the Central Benjamin Plateau. I think today was my favorite day so far. I was actually able to see and experience how geography has influenced history. The land determines where you live, how you live, and how life unfolds. Because of how wadis have cut and shaped the wilderness and because of the climate and lack of vegetation, the Judean Wilderness is not prime real estate. The placement of the wadis also determine travel. In Israel, because of the deep valleys and and ridges, sometimes the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line. Today I started falling in love with the land. I enjoyed standing on top of Nebi Samwell and seeing Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock, the Mount of Olives, the Transjordan Plateau, and Tel Aviv in the distance. I enjoyed the drops and climbs in elevation, the green of the plants and trees and the brown of the rocks, the rocky terrain, and the broad, flat land. So much variation! Maybe this speaks mo...

This entry is dated 15 May. What a trip! So much has been seen and experienced. If I had to sum up Jerusalem, and even Israel for that matter, in one word it would be BARRIERS. There are so many barriers here. Walls between old city and new, between ethnic groups and language, men and women, clean and unclean. There are certain places for you to live depending upon your ethnicity or religion. Where you can pray at the Western Wall depends upon your gender. One group controls the Temple Mount, while another controls the land around it. Even at the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulcher there are barriers between the different Christian groups. Barriers over doctrine, practices, and territory--but no love or unity. All of these barriers has made my heart ache. It hurts when I hear group members denigrate Arabs or other Christian sects. There is so much pride, and I know I am guilty too. If we don't have love or unity for our own brothers and sisters, then what good is our faith? The ...

One of our assignments on the trip was to reflect upon what we were seeing. I do not particularly like journaling (although I see its benefits), and I do not like being told to journal. Since it was an assignment, I did it, and I can humbly say that I am grateful for this assignment. How else could I have recorded or responded to a trip that probably has changed my life? Below is my first journal entry followed by reflections I had today. I am almost done putting together my photos so those will be coming soon. Yesterday (11 May) Kevin and I went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Christ was crucified and buried. Briefly = 10 minutes max, and I had my sunnis on. I say this because I didn't feel anything special about the place. Was it because I couldn't really see? Because we didn't have ea lot of time to explore and feel? Kevin says it was tiredness from jetlag. Probably it's a combination. It worries me a little. What if this trip doesn't change me? What if...