For the next seventeen days, home is Tantur Ecumenical Institute.  Arriving in my room yesterday, I read through the informational packet left on the desk.

This was the first page:

Welcome to this holy place.  You are embarking on a holy journey.  We have said many prayers for you as individuals and as a group.  Each of you has your own purpose in coming here.  Each of you has a longing for more of God and less of self and worldly distractions; you want balance, re-creation, and the spiritual energy to be co-creators with the Great  Creator.

Settle in.  Listen.  Pray.  Listen.  Walk.  Listen.  Be still.  Listen.

A great work is about to begin.

And my heart said, “Oh yes, Lord, let it be so.”

When home calls at the end of May, I’ll board the plane eagerly.  But for the next seventeen days, this place will do just fine.

Beneath that portion was a quote:

It is not thou that shapest God;
it is God that shapest thee.
If then thou are the work of God,
await the hand of the Artist
who does all things in due season.
Offer him thy heart, soft and tractable
and keep the form
in which the Artist has fashioned thee.
Let thy clay be moist, lest thou grow hard
and lose the imprint of his fingers. (Saint Irenaeus in the 2nd century)

This I will try.

Eilat was the “rest spot” after what’s been a fairly fast-paced twelve days.  From supper last night to lunch today, the time was completely ours.  Some shopped, some swam, some slept.  I chose to retreat a touch myself.  A bit of re-exploring a city that I saw two years back, a couple great meals, a search for a currency exchange booth (no easy task when you arrive on the Sabbath), and my best sleep of the trip so far.

This afternoon had us spend some time at Eilat’s aquarium (I love aquariums) before hitting the road for the nearly five-hour drive to Jerusalem.  We stopped midway for a breather at the Ein Gedi, on the shore of the Dead Sea.  I ordered and enjoyed a chicken sandwich from the lowest Burger King on the planet. Continue reading →

Wadi Rum—put that one on your travel bucket list!  Wow!  I’ve had more-than-average chances to travel; I feel like I’ve seen a fair bit.  But I’d never seen the desert—not like that!

The village of Rum puts the “off” in “off the beaten path”.  From there, entering the Wadi involves leaving the bus behind for a 4×4.  Once you reach the end of the road, you just drive off the end and into the sand.  And that’s when the journey begins. Continue reading →

It has been a day!  A few years back, Petra was named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.  If you’ve ever seen it, you know why.  It is massive, and it is stunning.  And it’s no less so the second time you see it.  Two years ago, we visited this place with great friends.  At that point in time, the site struck me like THIS.  Today was certainly not diminished. Continue reading →