HOT! HOT! HOT!

We drove 70 miles south to Fayoum. I know it doesn't sound important, but this is where Joseph was probably keeping the grain. As a matter of fact, in the middle of the desert - well, not quite in the middle - there is an irrigation canal off the NIle that is named Joseph's Canal. The belief is that he had it dug so that this area, which was the capital during his time, could grow soooo much, and it still does. Organically. The animals graze on the stubs of the harvested crops and leave their waste that is then fertilizer.

Then we went to the first stone structure in the world, a step pyramid that was built with mud bricks covered with stone. Incredibly, next to it was a tomb of Princess Idot that the paint was still on the wall. Both were from 2600 BC, 4600 years ago! And the temperature, there in the Sahara by the way, was 120 degrees.


We discussed the different scholar's opinions of what the exodus actually looked like, where they crossed the Reed Sea and why.... More later. It's HOT here. We seem to be having a heat wave. Floating down the Nile tomorrow.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for leaders like Abraham and Joseph and Moses who helped us come to you. Amen

WOW

We started off the day in Giza. That meant a trip to the pyramids. What a strange feeling to look over the buildings of town and see the pyramids right there. How must that have been for Abraham to come to Egypt - they were 600 years old at that time. How amazing that he was able to keep his faith in the unseen God when so obviously the god of Egypt must be massive because the pyramid was built to be the home of the god who had died in his human form, but was very alive in his god form. And yet Abraham stayed faithful. Not only that, he told of his faith and changed some of the thought in Egypt. King Akenaton in 1351 actually changed Egypt by saying that he was a man, not a god and there was only one god and shut down the various temples except the sun god. He was killed for all that and his son became king, King Tut.

Here we are on camels again! Let me tell you, we are in the Sahara here and in the middle of a heat wave! 112 today. We really felt like the next pic at the end. Things here are soooo ancient. Indeed Joseph came during the middle kingdom - will go see Joseph's place another day - and all theories point to the exodus as during Ramses' reign about 1250. His son even wrote about wanting to follow the Isrealites and wipe them out. Ramses died with an emense amount of salt in his limbs and with his arms looking like they still had the reins of a horse in them. Believed drown!

Exodus revisited

We entered Egypt finally, but the first hotel had no Internet so....
We are now in Cairo and the computer here is soooooo slow I can't down load a picture. sorry.
Our trip through the Sinai was unbelievable. I always pictured the Sinai, and there for the exodus led by Moses to be over a flat desert. That's not at all what it is like. It has extremely high mountains in the interior. The coast of the Gulf of Aquba and the Suez Gulf are flat sand to the sea on one side of the road, but the other is high mountains right up to the edge of the road. That exodus was undoubtedly winding through the mountains from water hole to water hole. It would take forever to walk the peninsula or maybe just 40 years.

St. Catherine's monastery was awesome. We were not able to visit inside the chapels, but walked through the monastery where visitors could go and saw the burning bush. Is it real? Only God knows, but the bush dates back centuries and people have tried to grow parts of it elsewhere and it has not been successful.

Our hotel was right there. Last night we (Jan, Mary and I) went outside the hotel to visit a Bedouin tent. We had chai (hot spiced tea) sitting on carpets on the ground. Jan and I were dressed up as dancers by the Bedouins - much to everyone's amusement!

I looked out my window in the morning to see the sun come up over Mt. Sinai. Right there where Moses met his wife, where Moses talked with God at the burning bush, where Moses went up the ;mountain to bring back the 10 commandments, where he came down to find the golden calf. WOW!

On to Cairo today. We arrived in time for dinner and will go to the pyramids tomorrow.

Pray with me: Lord give us the strength to see the other as your child. Amen

Last Day in Israel

We started the day at the Garden Tomb. Though this is not where Jesus was buried, it gives a good representation of the tomb. We celebrated communion with the Presbyterian group from South Carolina that we have been traveling with. Rev. Sloan and I shared in the consecration of the elements and then served the group. Wonderful sharing.

We then traveled to the believed site of the birth of St. John the Baptist. Beautiful church built by the Spanish Franciscans. The interior is covered with blue and white tiles. Is this the site of his birth? If not here then somewhere close. This church was built in the 1200's on top of the church built in the 500's.

Later this evening Jan, Mary Lou, and I went into old town Jerusalem by ourselves and found our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by ourselves  and then found that the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer was right across the street! What a find. It was really exciting meandering through the narrow streets to Golgotha on our own. The bazaar that we found was undoubtedly the same in the time of Jesus. People from all over selling their wares. The smells - coriander, cinnamon, rosemary, and ginger - along with the sounds of music and bartering, everyone coming to shop for their daily needs. Can you imagine Jesus walking along these narrow streets talking and eating leading a crowd down the streets. What a commotion it must have caused as his many followers filled the streets, talked with the merchants and their customers, as people were healed on the streets and watched as this man whose reputation had preceded him walked among them. And then he came in on a donkey through the Eastern Gate, Solomon's Portico and rode onto the Temple |Mount.

Now we are off to Egypt in the morning. 5:30 wake up call.

Pray with me: Lord help us to see with your eyes that we might never see an us and them, that we might always be a blessing to those we meet. AMEN

By the Sea

We drove through the Judean Wilderness (desert) til we got to Masada.

To get to Masada we had to ride the cable car up! It is at the top of a mountain. Herod built a huge palace and fortress up there that would hold 1000 people. The sad part is the story of the Jewish Zealots - call them terrorists of long ago. They wanted the Romans out of Israel so these men would attack soldiers... and kill them. This started the Jewish War of 66 AD culminating with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The leaders ran off to Masada with their families hoping no one would find them, but the Romans did.

They stayed up there quite a while, until the storehouse was empty and the Romans had breached the wall. Faced with sure slavery the next day when the Romans would advance in, the leaders decided that death was better than slavery and killed first their children, then their wives then each other with the last falling on his sword. The Romans came in to find all dead.

View from Masada

Then we were off to the Dead Sea, which you see above from Masada. Here we floated on our backs in the water and then put the black mud on ourselves. What soft skin we got!

Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for my name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou annointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

On the way home we stopped to see some Bedouins - but also to see the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Unbelievable. This is the valley people walked between Jericho and Jerusalem.

via de la rosa

We started today on Temple Mount. Temple Mount is the size of 12 soccer fields. That is where the temple was before the Romans destroyed it in 70 a.d. but now there is the Dome of the Rock over the threshing floor that David speaks of. That was the foundation of the Temble. The mosque is beautiful from the outside and closed to visitors since 9/11.

We then went to St. Anne's. I do believe I loved this church. It survived all the destruction over the centuries because the accoustics in it are superb. We sang and sang. From there we began our treck along the via de la rosa or stations of the cross which meanders through the narrow streets of Jerusalem. When I say narrow - I mean 3 or 4 people across! Shops and vendors all along the way. We finished at the Church of the Holy Sepelchur which is on Golgatha. There in one church is the rock Jesus was crucified on, the rock he was laid on to wrap, and the tomb he was buried in. On a 1-10 bet of whether this was true, the bet is 10. Amazing to be there, though the church was very different. It is a Greek Orthodox |Church, dark, icons, incense....

We went from there to Jericho - the oldest city in the world for some GREAT fruit and breads. Well, we also saw bedouins along the road, the Judean wilderness where Jesus went after his baptism. Hard to get a picture to really display that. The bedouins had sheep, goats, and camels. We went from there to Qumran. What a desolate place! The Essenes must have really needed to get away from everyone. We were exhausted and HOT!

Prayer: Holy One, we give you thanks for sending your only Son that we might be saved and in your presence. Help us to spread your word. Amen

Wailing Wall

There I am! On a camel!! That's my friend Jan behind me. What fun! We are on the top of the Mount of Olives. From here we can look across the Valley of Judgement to see the house of the Last Supper, Caiphus' house, and the rest of Jerusalem. It was a big WOW!

Right next door is the Garden of Gethsemane (Gethsemane means olive press). In the church located there called the Church of All Nations or Church of Agony is the rock that Jesus prayed on. The tree you see here is at least 2000 years old. All the trees in the garden are ancient except the one planted in the 1990's by the pope.

This is the Wailing Wall or the West Wall. After all the destruction from various wars, this is the only one still standing. It is unbelievable. The bottom blocks are 300 tons! It is built with one block on top of another - no mortar. The small blocks are 2.5 tons!

It is a sacred wall because directly on the other side of the wall is where the Holy of Holies was. Praying at the wall is as close as you can get to being with God.

I cannot tell you how this day has affected me. To put my hand on the rock Jesus prayed and sweated and bled on as he waited for Judas and the soldiers to come and arrest him, then to put my hand on the West Wall and hold all of you in prayer, my family, my friends, my church and myself. I was drained and at the same time encouraged.

Let us pray - God, creator and almighty, merciful, compassionate Lord, I give you thanks for sending your Son, for walking with me, for always being there. Amen