Departing early once again, we were told that it would take nearly four hours to arrive at the outskirts of Aleppo, and our first stop: The mountain of Simeon Stylite.  Last year in Turkey, I visited the site associated with Simeon Stylite, the younger.  Today was the site of his father (a spiritual reference rather than a biological one).

To appreciate the bizarre nature of these figures, my post from last year would likely help.

This led us into a discussion of desert spirituality and how it might speak to the church today.

Continue reading →

Any visit to Damascus would be incomplete without a stroll down Straight Street, so we began our morning with it.  In Acts 9, the home of Ananias was found here.  Today, it’s home to every church that can squeeze in, with boulevards containing stones excavated from the Roman-era road.  In other words, the streetside gardens contain rocks from “Paul’s Straight Street”.

Our primary stop was just off Straight Street, at a church marking the site of the home of Ananias.  The fact that the story of Acts 9 takes us to Judas’ house, as opposed to Ananias’, seems misplaced, but the spot commemorated Ananias’ place in Saul’s awakening, all the same.

In my mind, this is when the trip began.

Continue reading →