Mount Masada and the Dead Sea

At 2:15am, we departed via van for Mt. Masada to hike it before sunrise. The sunrise was beautiful; our star rose over the hills, spilling over the Dead Sea, illuminating the sparse desert below us. Everything was sand and rock and sea as far as one could see. Out of sight was Ein Geidi Oasis a few miles away, which we later hiked. After the oasis, we got a chance to float on the salty water of the Dead Sea and to cover ourselves with its mud (supposedly therapeutic). Alas, we headed home exhausted. 

Covering yourself in mud and letting it dry on you before washing it off is one of those things that makes you feel really good after it's all over, but perhaps only because you were quite uncomfortable during the whole process. I sometimes suspect this phenomenon enhances the feelings of relaxation and ease after massages too. It's all relative I guess. At a broader life level, there are some people out there that believe we should expose ourselves voluntarily to uncomfortable, but "positively" stressful things in order to improve ourselves, increase our tolerance for stress, and to make normal life seem a little bit nicer. For example, traveling might be conceived of as a positively stressful activity that, in the end, hopefully makes you a little bit stronger.

Sunrise... Mt Masada is famous for being the site of one of Herod's great palatial construction projects (completed just before Jesus's time) that was later destroyed, but it is even more famous for being the site of a mass suicide of Jews resisting the Romans. They were the last resistors, and with little hope left while being starved out of their desert fortress, they all decided to kill themselves (kids and women included) rather than become slaves of the Romans. Whether or not the story is true -- archeological evidence is somewhat lacking -- it has inspired countless Jews for millennia. Israel's soldiers often take their oaths on the mountain.

It was a very peaceful place. Apparently, Christians Monks lived on the mountain for a while too. I could definitely see it as a place with few distractions where one might become closer to God. 

On the way down, Mt Masada in the background.

Ein Geidi Oasis near the Dead Sea.

This American church group was at Ein Geidi too. The pastor in the white hat screamed angrily at the group for a good ten minutes about sin and evil in today's world. I don't know what to think of really angry people who are trying to do good. As a gut reaction though, we were all disturbed by the general dynamic and tone of his tirade.

Having a better time.

Holy Land/ Fantasy World

Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site of Jesus' burial and resurrection.

Jerusalem is a very different world than Tel Aviv, an intriguing and endlessly complex religious mosaic, a shared holy land, a center of both godly revelation and three millennia of human squabbles.

As a Christian growing up attending Sunday school, you get a mystical mental vision of the holy land. It was a place where miracles could happen and where God was engaged with the world, speaking via angels, prophets, bushes, you name it.

I wish someone would have showed us little kids a map of the world, pointed out Israel and Palestine, and then the exact little cities where it all went down, but that never happened. Maybe some churches do this, but I imagine certain churches might be afraid of getting a little too historical and having the ancient land lose some of its mystique. In the holy land, after all, the biblical world comes to life realer than ever while simultaneously coming down to size.

When you show up to the Sea of Galilee, you decide that your doubt of some guy literally walking on water here was probably well placed. The lake -- it's actually more like a lake than a sea -- looks like many others I have seen.

However, even if Jesus didn't actually perform supernatural feats, being here in the holy land reminds you that he was a real person and he visited real places and did real things and faced real enemies. The more I envision and remember him as a mortal human being that actually walked the Earth, the more awe and deep respect I have for him as a great martyr for love and tolerance.

In today's world, when it comes to religion, I think young people too often throw the baby out with the bathwater. Though there are elements of parochialism and mysticism in Christianity, as well as a long history of cruelty in the name of God, it shouldn't mean we handwave away the wisdom and deep challenge of the Bible's message.

The biblical times weren't that different or disconnected from our world anyway; they were full of moral dilemmas, inequality, suffering, and poverty. Jesus offered one of the brightest and most difficult paths to take, sacrifice of our own comforts for something far greater than ourselves, a humanity full of peace, justice and compassion. It was never a fantasy world.

I don't think the decline of religion in many parts of the world is neccessarily a bad thing, but I hope that our increasingly godless world can still find -- somewhere -- inspiration to struggle for shalom.

Where Jesus was crucified.

Where Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Palestine, now the Church of the Nativity. His birth spoke to humility, although somewhere along the line that theme seems to have been lost.

The Western Wall, one of the holiest sites for Jews. On the other side is the Temple Mount, currently the site of the beautiful Dome of the Rock (where Muhammed ascended to heaven). Problematically, the Temple Mount that is now in the Arabs' possession is supposed to be -- as God dictated long ago -- the center of the Jewish nation and site of their great Third Temple.

An odd combination of mourning in the background (no Third Temple yet) and celebration in the foreground (who doesn't like to celebrate?).

Orthodox Jews. More and more moderates in Israel are becoming upset that the orthodox don't have to work and instead get paid by the government to only study the Torah.

 Young Israeli soldiers coming to the Western Wall. This was shortly before they all joined together for a roaring, jubilant celebration. Gun-toting soldiers all dancing in a circle is a strange sight for a holy place. I had no idea what to think of all the various groups and different demeanors coming together here.

The Holy Land is not a Fantasy World where a great claw controlled by an omniscient, all-seeing being plucks out creatures judged to be worthy of an eternity of heavenly bliss. It's a place where great teachers like Jesus and Muhammed and impossible arcade games taught us to humble ourselves.

Dome of the Rock.

 Noelle and I can easily come to the Temple Mount even though it means relatively little to us. For a Palestinian for whom it would mean the world, however, it would be nearly impossible to visit.

Inside our hostel, "The Citadel," in the old city of Jerusalem.

The view from the roof.

The Sea of Galilee. Okay, it does look pretty glassy... perhaps walkable under the right conditions.