A few thoughts on getting home

Home from Israel

We made it home. It took 26 hours to make it home. A long journey. Amazing how many times we had to go through checkpoints. In Israel we did not take our shoes off but in the states we did. Wonder why the difference?

Going to rest some, then add some more notes about the journey.

Tel aviv

Got all checked. Leave in 2 hours going home. Eating at mcdonalds.

Riots in Jerusaleum

We could not get to the Temple Mount this morning. It is Sundam Being closed seemed strange and solders we near us. Later a cab driver doubled price of the cab because of the disturbance. WE ARE OK BUT HERE IS THE REAL STORY!!

http://ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3794752,00.html

A miracle

Lost phone. BLAIMED CAB DRIVER. Found amazing.

Evening

The communion service was very special.

tomb

At garden tomb. He is not here!

Saturday

Visited Holy Sepucler. Crowd, crowds, lot of pushing. Went along Via Delarosa stations of the cross. Can't write more. Exhausted!

Prayers st Western Wall

Pray at Western Wall

Arrival in Jerusalem

Jeruslem

We arrived and went to Mt.of Olives, walked Palm Sunday trip, then to Gethsemane.

We will be in Jerusalem for 3 nights and will not have to move again.

Ready for bath and bed. My feet hurt!

Garden of Gethemeni

Qumran

Qumran

Finding the dead sea scrolls after 2000 years is a miracle to me.

Lots of flies.

10 purification pools used twice a day for purity.

Scriptorum in good shape.

One of caves is in the picture I made.

Hot.

Community destroyed 68 ce.

Essence community? Community rule much like benedictianes. Saw refectory, ate pita chicken sandwich and friend fries.

Books cost to much to buy.

Bus late. Can't find it.

Masada

We have spent the morning at the place where 1000 zealots committed suicide rather than be slaves of the Romans.

Also one of Herod's palaces is here.

I prayed in the remains of a 5th century Benedictine monastery of desert fathers.This is picture of it.

We are on our way to Qumran.

Israeli Air Force

Israeli Jets

Every few minutes airforce jets pass over our hotel. A heavy reminder of the seriousness of this placem

Tip for Dead Sea swimmers: don't go swiming if you have cuts on yourself or hemmroids it will be painful.

One does not type well ehen tired.

You cannot find an indoor pool in a hotel if you can't read hebrew.

This is the lowest place on earth.

Reflection requires solitude.

Great art happens when people have the leisure to paint.

Why Saul would hunt David in these surroundings he would have to have been crazy.

Sleep comes early to the tired in spirit.

Say your nightime prayers.

Mount Moriah

Mount Moriah CLASSIC

We are in the desert near where Sodom and Gommorah were. We are waiting to go swimming in the dead sea. We at least have a few hours to rest. We need it.

This morning we waded in the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized. We ate lunch at En-gedi where David hide from Saul.

We have been through barren territory most of the day. Jordanian security fences on one side, barren rocky mountains on the other.

For now, I am going swimming. Maybe reflections tonight. Anyone reading this?

Reflections After Supper

Supper Tiberius

It is tiring with much travel. We have just got back to the room after a big buffet supper. Am refreshed somewhat.

As a reflection on the day most of new understanding related to the Sea of Galilee. The boat trip across it was inspirational. Everyone was in a festive mood. The sea is tranquil and beautiful, adding to the religious flavor. The reading of the scripture psssage is always the highlight. A sense of God's presence always seems to be there.

The trip to Caesara Phillipi was confusing, mainly because of motion sickness through the curvy mountains. I can see how Jesus could have been there when he talked about Peter being a rock and also how the transfiguration could have happened there.

Capernaum was neat, and I was surprised how much of Jesus ministry was within 2 miles of that one place; the feeding of 5000, numerous healings, and the beautitudes.

In twilight we returned. It will take precious time to really reflect.

We had one bad moment, an arab teenager sat in the priest chair in a holy place and made fun of the scene. "A real jackass," said someone. It was disturbing.

Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee

We ride across across the sea of Galilee. We play the Star Spangled Banner, Amazing Grace, and dance. We see the 2000 year old Jesus boat.

We get motion sickness riding around the curves to Caesarea Phillipi, maybe the sight of the transfiguration. Then to Capernaum where the feeding of 5000 occured, the healing of Peter's mother-in-law, and rhe place where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. Then lots of souvenirs.

Dizzing describes the day. We watch sunset over the Sea of Galilee. It gets dark at 5:15 pm.

We ate lunch where the recent menorrah was discovered. Almost time for supper. Yeah!

Tiberias

Tiberias Tuesday

Good nights sleep. Weird covers. Feet stick out the end and feet freeze. Must be lots of short people here.

We can see the Sea of Galilee from our hotel. Spectacular.

From yesterday: Caesarea was meaningful because of Peter coming to see Cornelius. He was the first Gentile convert. Also seeinf how different civilzations built on top of one another.

Mt. Carmel, Megiddo-a place where 25 different nations had ruled. The Vallyey of Jezreel. What depth. The place of Armaggedon.

Beautiful day. Ready to go.

Bedtime

We concluded with night visit to Nazareth. Disappointing. Guess we were to tired.

Mount Carmel

We are on top of Mt. Carmel where Elijah defeated prophets of Baal. We read 1 Kings 18:20-40, 24 of us held hands and prayed. It was a memorable moment for me. What an extraordinary view. I went into the Carmel chapel and prayed and bought postcards. I also love 1 Kings 19.

On the way out trash was everywhere. We visited Dru villages on the way out. Very unmodern built on hill sides.

Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel

On top of Mt. Carmel where Elijah defeated prophets of Baal. We read 1 Kings 18:20-40, 24 of us held hands and prayed. It was a memorable moment for me. What an extraordinary view. I went into the Carmel chapel and prayed and bought postcards. I also love 1 Kings 19.

On the way out trash was everywhere. We visited Druze villages on the way to Haifa. Very unmodern built on hill sides.

Haifa

Very modern.European culture. Large University. Reminds people of San Francisco. "Most beautiful women in Israel are from Haifa," says our guide.

We see Bahai Gardens which are tremendous, a marriage and new bride leaving from Bahai Gardens, a cruise ship in the harbor, and an ice cream truck with a tinkerbell song dingling in the air. A beautiful city not mentioned in the Bible. We ride through the Germany colony, built in 19th century.

We drive through the Port of Haifi. We pass largee cruise ships, lots of young people walking the harbor with cell phones in their ears. Shoes, clothing items, a sex life shopl and a grocery line the street by the harbor. It is starting to grow dim with evening approaching. We are hoping to see the sea of galilee before dark.

Meggido

On top of mountain. 25 previos civilizations here. One was Solomon's palace. Overlooking where Battle of Arnegeddon will take place. More laterm

TelAviv Monday Morning

Monday

6 am awakening call like a bomb. Scared me. "A little jumpy today aren't we said Janet.

Buffet breakfast terrific. First cup of coffee in 2 days, fresh fruits and salads, scrambled eggs, olives, cut my own cheese, walnuts, dates (ugh), bread, walnuts, more cheese, grapejuice, and more cheese. A remarkable leal at the Tal Hotel.

It is time for the journey we have waited for. "Too bad it is during a heatwave," says Tikla our guide. I wish I had time to walk outside. Not enough time after a wonderful night of sleep. Away!

TelAviv Monday Morning

Monday

6 am awakening call like a bomb. Scared me. "A little jumpy today aren't we said Janet.

Buffet breakfast terrific. First cup of coffee in 2 days, fresh fruits and salads, scrambled eggs, olives, cut my own cheese, walnuts, dates (ugh), bread, walnuts, more cheese, grapejuice, and more cheese. A remarkable leal at the Tal Hotel.

It is time for the journey we have waited for. "Too bad it is during a heatwave," says Tikla our guide. I wish I had time to walk outside. Not enough time after a wonderful night of sleep. Away!

TelAviv Mutterings

Arrived 3:37pm. Ben Gurion airport. I never sleep much on planes. To cramped. Legs ache. Lavatory waits lengthy.

On escalator one of our fellow travelers fell backwards diwn escalator. They started carrying him off and someone yelled, "could you do it again I missed most of that."

On bus to hotel a man and his wife got in an argument. He said to a man beside him,"she thinks I am crazy."

TelAviv reminds one of Phoenix. Heavy traffic. Lots of palm trees.

Familiar names in Engkish surrounded us: kawasakil coca cokal budget, yamaha, boscg, dvd, alfa, sushi, mont blanc, and Miss Sixty, whoever that is.

Saw 2 digs walk into a sidewalk grocery, sniffed, and keft.

Nice buffet at the hotel. Waiting for our group to meet at 8 pmthen to bed. Really tired.

Atlanta

Plane loading an hour early. Looks like the plane is full. Lots of nationalities represented. National security reports puncture the loud speaker system. Good night.

11 AM

Everything packed and ready to go. 49 degrees F. Leaves falling. When I get back most of the leaves will be on the ground. Rather cool this morning.

I read from Roger Housden's book, Sacred Journeys in a Modern World, last night about his trip to St. Catherine's Monastery at the base of Mount Sinai, where Moses had his burning bush experience. He thoughts of the journey magnify my own:

"I wanted to know what it was like to emerge out of the wilderness and see, as thousands had done before me down through the centuries--before roads, buses, maps, and schedules had altered our vision forever -- the walls of this legendary place shimmering in the desert haze."

PRAYER FOR THE JOURNEY -- MY FAVORITE PRAYER BY THOMAS MERTON

I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Thomas Merton

Compline

"You have only to let the place happen to you.....the loneliness, the silence,, the poverty, the futility, indeed the stillness of your life." (Kathleen Norris)

Friday Night Packing

October 16-Friday Night

Preparation

"One must sit in silence and wait if one is to be a writer."

Preparing for a great journey requires a thoughtful process, more often than not supposedly celebrated in silence, but the bags must be packed and "the list" checked off.

Which bag should I take as the carry on? What are the ingredients of this strange brew carried across the Atlantic Ocean to a hotel on the Mediteranian Sea?

The List

Omnia i910 and power supply.

Tiny am-fm-sw radio with proper earpiece.

Camera and charged batteries.

One small Bible without a concordance. This may be a mistake.

Journal to write in.

Airline schedules.

Jerusalem map and Fodor's Guidebook.

Small windup flashlight.

Comb, toothpaste, electric razor.

Binoculars

Passport and copies of important things

Medicine

Hat

Bathing suit

Umbrella

Earplugs

A note from a previous journey to Greece in 2002 says, "no time for reflection." And " life is a journey. We stumble, fall, rewind, and return to our beginning."

I wind down watching the Yankees and Angels in the playoff. It is 43 degrees or colder. It is wsy to cold for baseball! I have been to one World Series gamel the Yankees and Braves in 1999. It was 43 degrees but surely colder in the top of the standsm We like to have froze to death. All the hot drinks were gone by the fourth inning.

The temperature in Jerusalem is questionable. Weather bug says it will be 97 and hot. Weather watcheer says mid 80s.

Its still to cold to play baseball.

Questions About Israel

Do they have hotdogs with mustard?

Are there large advertising signs on highways?

Do they have trains?

What about dumpsters, stadiums, maps in english, advertisements for toothpaste, speed limits, hdtv, police without machine guns, Starbucks and McDonalds?

Pilgrimage

"What makes a trip a pilgrimage? Pilgrimage is about steoping back, reflecting, and spending time in greater spiritual awareness." (Mark Ogilbee)

Notes on a trip to Israel

(I hopefully will be blogging each day from Israel, Blog starts on October 17. Please follow along and tell others about it. Thanks. Bro. Dan)

Today, I bought an updated, durable, water-repellent, write-on/wipe-off surface, map of Jerusalem for $7.95 at Barnes and Noble.

Where did this journey begin? The old school house in Ellenwood, Georgia, sitting beside the trembling railroad tracks that carried the fragile leftovers of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, or was it in the bomb that blew up the only high school I had ever gone to? Or maybe it was the in-between places; a church library, the old gospel bluegrass hymns playing on WCKY, or the death of the 14 year old boy who lived next door on Sanderson Street in Atlanta, Georgia.

Most of live is like that, lived between the lines. Life is a place one cannot name. This, my first Jewish journey is like that, a journey tounlock an encounter with oneself.

Someone once said, "Travel literature is a literature of dialogue, presenting a conversation between the traveller and the place, looking for points of connection."

I begin this journey to Israel with a distorted view of Jewish history. My total understanding is related to the Bible and the story of David "Mickey Marcus" in the movie Cast a Giant Shadow.

It is late on a Sunday night. The football game between Arizona and Indianapolis is almost over. I venture to begin reading the Art of Travel again by Alain De Botton. This book easily preceeds any important pilgrimage. In 2002 it was the only book I carried to Greece, Turkey, and Austra. It is a guidebook for a soul on a precarious journey.

The weather has changed recently, a forerunner of cooler autumn temperatures. I am a wanderer in the world of weather. As an amateur radio operator colder weather means immeasurably better radio conditions. Worldwide reception improves each day.

Choosing to go to Israel in October was partly a weather decision with hopes of cooler days and days. This is partly a speculative journey on our parts. I am now in the twilight of life, 66 to be accurate and Janet is 60. Our biggest concern at this point relates to health. I have survived a bout with cancer and Janet has constant headaches. The 13 hour flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv, seems to be a tenous journey at best.

Jerusalem is one the bucket list, followed by Rome, a boat ride down the Rhine river, and a trip to North Dakota, the only one of the 50 states I have missed.

News on Monday 9/28/2009

Jewish group's visit sparks clashes at Jerusalem holy site.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Street battles began in Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday morning. Police: Clashes begin when Palestinians praying there start to throw rocks at visitors. Police says 2Palestinians and police officer hurt; former mufti says 9 Palestinians hurt.Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat calls the visit a deliberate provocation. (Nothing quite kike reading Israeli news early in the morning. In my mind danger is in the background always but I hide the possibility from myself.)

On Mount Carmel a group of hermit nuns came in 12th century. Carmel noted for its purity. Our lady of mount carmel.

October 8

Bought 5 books at Mckays uzed book store. Three were on Judiasm.

October 11

Studying the 20th century wars in israel.

October 12, 2009

Morning Prayer

Heavenly Fatherl our trip is 5 days away. I am trying to get in a spiritual mood for the journey, but it seems impossible. At work every moment is taken. People need assigning to take over my job. Letters need to be written. It is like a zoo. There is always something to clean up. There is no silent time. Every spare moment is taken up planning. Call verizon, visa, prepare cameras, check tickets.
Father, where is there time for you? Amen.