Brethren & Friends,
While Murphy's Law is still the predominate force in my life (looks like I've lost one phone and the other won't work, my bottle of cologne fell off the bed and shattered on the stone floor, internet connections have been either non-existent or ridiculously slow, etc. etc) I find that even Murphy and his law are subject to a good night's sleep.
I woke up a few minutes ago at 5:30 after a delicious 6 and 1/2 hours of sleep (which is pretty typical and most refreshing for me) to find that the room smells great - a small ocean of cologne will do wonders for an entire city. The internet is now quite speedy so I don't need a phone anyway, and best of all I've been able to confirm that only one blog post is actually missing. For some unknown reason last night I was the only guy on earth who couldn't see the others, but I wake this morning to find that they are all right there where they belong.
The first sounds I heard this morning as my eyes opened in the dark was the rustling and cooing of doves. Then, the sound of thunder. From the covered porch outside my room I looked out to find that it was gently raining, so the air was wonderfully fresh and clean. The rain is comforting, romantic, in the Old city of Nazareth, no problem for a guy who's spent the last 36 years in the Puget Sound area.
Nazareth! I'm in Nazareth.
Here are a couple of photos of the 200 year old Arab inn which contributed to the overwhelming sense of awe which envelopes me as, (WOW, I just heard a HUGE thunderclap) I sit and type in the city of our Lord's youth. First, just one shot from the approximately 1/4 mile of labrynthine alleyways I walked to get to the inn, and then a couple of shots of the establishment itself and my view down into its courtyard. There are three stories which are accessed by stone stairs on two sides of a central courtyard which is open to the sky. My room is on the third floor, one of four which share a common covered courtyard which overlooks the central one. The place is stunningly beautiful with stained glass windows and other common rooms with stone walls and arches. You just have to see it to believe it and of course, the pictures fail once again to reveal just how truly enjoyable the environment is.
Nazareth's alleyways:
Central courtyard. There is another common room with chairs under the archway you can only barely see to the right, so the courtyard is open to the sky three floors above while the other room is a large alcove not open directly to the sky.
View from my third floor covered porch down to second floor open air deck.
View of 3rd floor covered porch. My room is on the right.
View of central courtyard from my third floor porch.
View of the city of Nazareth from my third floor porch.
But enough of that. What follows is the missing post from last week. Then, I've got to get into my day now so the posts from the last two days will have to wait. Sorry I'm behind, but circumstances are what they are.
DAY 11 (May 7, 2011): Second Journey, Day 1
Nebi Samwil, Mt. Scopus, Jericho area, Michmash
Our first day after the tour group went its separate ways began with an amazing view of Jerusalem from our new ninth floor room. It had rained during the night so the air was crispy clear and we could see all the way to Nebi Samwil (which being interpreted means “Prophet Samuel”). This is a very high hill where tradition has it that the prophet was buried (no way to verify). But when Ferrell saw the hill he knew it would give us a commanding view of the Old Testament territory of Benjamin and the city of Gibeon. So, hey, we don’t have any schedule to keep now, let’s check it out. Yes the view was amazing, 360 degrees of Benjamin’s ancestral heritage and Jerusalem’s present beauty.
Then we drove over to Mt. Scopus which overlooks the Kidron Valley and the Temple Mount like this:
Since the day was so clear and beautiful Ferrell wanted to get some photos of the Judean Wilderness so we headed east out of Jerusalem and down through the wilderness to explore the general area south of Jericho. Many vistas of this more desolate region presented themselves but lunch time in a café close to Jericho was so blissfully enjoyable that I asked a passing tourist to snap my photo just as I was finishing my “chicken schnitzel”:
Eventually we worked our way back up the hill toward Jerusalem and located Michmash (1 Samuel 13 & 14). The little valley in the foreground of this picture is the one which figures in the story of those two chapters:
So now I'm two days behind on my blog entries. Those were the last two days of what I'm calling my Second Journey. Those days were spent with just Ferrell and I exploring the land of promise. Today I begin the solo hike which I'll call the Third Journey. What with the rain falling pretty heavily now and lots of thunder I just may be the only guy on the trail.
I'll try to get caught up in the next day or two but since I'll be staying in a different place every night (and walking anywhere from six to twelve miles through the hills of Galilee each day to get there) I can't make any promises. Have a great day. Raining or not, I sure expect to!
Larry H
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