Today was a day of powerful significance, and a little fun. First after a quick breakfast we headed to the desert. To get there we had to go through much of the old city of Jersualem. Now Jerusalem is humongous in land size. Seriously, it's everywhere on these steep hill tops. The Old City refers to where the holy sites/archeological sites are located. So we drove by it (we visit it later) and we quickly saw the contrast. We've been in the West Bank of Bethlehem for a couple of days now and seriously it's lovely. Some friends and I walked the streets of it last night and felt safe and relaxed. It's great. Now going into Jerusalem, it sharpens; looks cleaner, fancier, and wealthier. Looks aren't deceiving; the West Bank is impoverished (35% unemployment), and it's a different story in Jerusalem. Something to ponder.
Well for starters we are going into the desert, the wilderness. It's desolate and downhill as we near the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on the planet. My ears popped severely. 
Our 1st stop is the St George Monastery. It's built into the cliffside of a deep canyon from the main source of water (which is Jersualem, this the importance of the city is recognized). We didn't go to it exactly, we came to a lookout point across from it. Meanwhile we were followed by vendors. The truth is when your only source of income comes from religious tourists, I get it, but it was unwelcome too. So we moved on.
Our next stop was to the Jordan River. Getting there was interesting as we drove down a road with massive minefields on both sides stretching forever. It's a leftover of Israel's war with Jordan for this land (which Israel won in 6 days), and this section of land to the river was only opened 10 years ago. The tiny red sign here warns of the mines;
Then we arrived at the river. There was a small gift shop and restrooms, but was otherwise quite serene. There we came to a place of flowing waters in the desert, reeds, life, changing the desert around it. Scripture described such a place where John baptized thousands of people filled with hope, and later Jesus. We took the time to remember our baptisms with a service and prayer. Powerful stuff. A couple of notes; the water is COLD, and the flies love it too. Not many, but they're the 1st bugs I've seen so far. 
After Jesus was baptized, he went to the wilderness; the harsh desert he had visited 1st. I said to a colleague, "Can you imagine living here for 40 days having to constantly outdebate the devil?" He replied, "People do it every day." Point taken.
After that we went to neighboring Jericho, the oldest city on earth. Yeah, that's it, dating back to 10,000 years ago!!! Same place as the walls came tumbling down to Joshua's armies, of Zacchaeus the tax collector, all that. Now the walls of Joshua's time haven't been found, but a lot has. Check out this stone tower deep underground this excavation (bottom right, kind of circular). It's 10,000 years old! 
The city has been rebuilt upon the ruins of others over and over, 25 times! Why is Jericho a hot spot? It's fertile land, still growing bananas, strawberries, oranges, dates, and it has great Dead Sea access. It also has used the same water spring for thousands of years. 
It's a beautful place and we ate lunch here too. We saw old sycamore trees too (sorry I have no picture), but they looked climbable! And here's a snapshot of the city (and that's Palestinian policeman on the right);
After that we went to Qumeron. This is another rocky desert mountain area overlooking the Dead Sea. The people who lived here around the time before and after Christ were the Essenes. These Jews believed the world was very evil (including the priesthood) and they were children of the light, followed Yahweh and purified themselves daily with ritual bathing. There's a good argument to make that John the Baptist was part of this group. Well they went to extra lengths to protect the ancient holy scrolls in their possession and hid them in caves. You guessed it, or deduced it, this where the Dead Sea Scrolls come from, the oldest scripture known today. Here is one of those caves. Try accessing it (for the nerds out there this is Cave #4). Even here people lived.
Now it was time to float in the Dead Sea. First off, it has a sulfur smell (not strong like Yellowstone, but it's there). Also, you can't swim in it AT ALL. It's incredibly buoyant. If you try to stand, it will push your legs so you are floating either face up or down. And that's another thing, it will burn your eyes hard if you get some in your eye. So we get in, I'm one of the 1st, and it's cool, but oh so weird. 
Your stomach muscles work to keep your head up but that's it. There is no effort to float and you'll float forever! And the mud is supposed to soften and purify your skin. Seriously, even with just the water we felt our skin was softened and oily. Check out my Facebook page if you want to see me get in, it's funny.
After that we rode back through Jerusalem....in a rushhour traffic jam. It doesn't matter if you're in a traffic jam in the holy land, it still sucks. And that concluded the day. Tomorrow we see some of the Old City and recently discovered ruins. Till then, peace out and God Bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment