DAY SEVEN LEAVING GALILEE AND HEADING FOR THE LOWEST POINT ON EARTH, THE DEAD SEA
Today our group left the "comfort" of the Golden Tulip in Tiberias to begin our travels to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth. Patti challenged us on the bus to consider, "What it is to know that you may never be back to this place of such significance ever again? What is it that we take with us? What is difficult to leave behind?" Our group shared about the joys of blasting worship music while out on the water in the "Jesus boat," and of watching the sunrise over the Golan Heights as its pure light danced and dazzled towards us across the Sea of Galilee as it rose for its day's work. Others shared that perhaps this body of water or region in general was smaller than they had pictured it (this realization is similar to going to Disneyland as an adult and noticing everything seems much smaller when you're not 10 years old anymore). Our group reflections shared both highlights and disappointments, and Patti reminded us that this parallels the reality of Jesus living here as both fully human, but also fully God. He lived out his humanity as he was attempting to live out God's story amidst the pressures of every day life. Indeed, none of us are meant to live on a lifetime retreat, or mountain top experiences, but these times of renewal, refreshment and enhanced perspective offer hope, understanding and patience in the lower valleys of life where we often are expectantly waiting on God for life to unfold, for relationships to prosper, for sickness to be healed, for joy to be experienced, for us to become all that we were created to be. It's suggested that gifts that God gives us from this quality time spent in the region of Galilee may not hit us until we arrive home. All of this will undoubtedly influence where our minds go, what activities we engage with and what we continue to pursuing learning when this pilgrimage sinks in. In the meantime, Patti has encouraged us to hold these two overarching questions before ourselves each day, "What am I unexpectedly learning about myself? What am I unexpectedly learning about God?"
With such questions in mind, we move today from the fertile area of the Galilee to the desert life that formed the character of leaders such as Saul and David. We move from arid countryside to seemingly barren moonscape with the land looking very much like something we'd find in outer space—largely devoid of biological life and diversity—with the main emphasis on conservation, perseverance and downright survival.
Our first stop was at Beth-Shean where we viewed the Roman theater and impressive bath houses as well as heard about the demise of Israel's first king, Saul here at this site. From there, on our drive south to the Dead Sea we could see Jordan, 95% of which is desert. 75% of Jordanians are Palestinians and we had to pass through numerous checkpoints to enter into the ancient city of Jericho, which is now 85% Muslim. Herod the Great built his winter palace in Jericho, considered to be perhaps the oldest city in the world, and we stopped off the roadside to see the monastery built into the rock high above where it is said to be on the Mount of Temptation where Jesus was tempted by the devil while he was tested in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. After a "fast food" lunch of delicious gyros of falafel or turkey, our group did some quick shopping before continuing onto our home for the next two nights, Le Meridien Hotel on the shores of the Dead Sea.
The afternoon was spent afloat in the very salty waters of the Dead Sea. I feel dehydration setting in just by typing the very fact that sea water averages 3% salinity, whereas for comparison, the Dead Sea boasts 28% salinity. It's in a league of its own so to speak, and interested therapeutic vacationers come from all around the world to be scrubbed with the mud and salt from the Dead Sea (again, just like Galilee, it is actually a large lake). However, in ancient times the Dead Sea was much larger and it continues to shrink and increase in salinity as it is fed by the Jordan River but has no outlets to pour into that have not been plugged with salinated soil. Similar to a badly clogged sink, the result is an ecosystem that is stagnant, evaporating and literally dying—hence its name, the Dead Sea.
Conversations around our buffet dinner tonight included stories from stepping on the salty crystals at the shoreline, to whipping down the pool's waterslide, to exchanging recommendations on which spa treatments seemed to usher in the promise of eternal youth. All in all the heat of today's desert sun (both inside and outside the bus since our air conditioner was broken all day) was long forgotten as each pilgrim's soul experienced an infusion of refreshment and adventurousness as we explored the hotel grounds, the shores of the Dead Sea and even the nearby McDonald's, should the temptation for a taste of home come knocking. And speaking of "home," even in this quite remote desert location, we discovered just up the road, another Golden Tulip! Say it isn't so!
0 comments:
Post a Comment