Kissing Rocks

I might have been a little harsh in my last post. I keep wavering between trying to see some holiness here and just crass commercialism. I’m still waiting for someone to try and sell me autographed pictures of the apostles and something carved from the original cross. There are souvenir shops at every attraction, hotel and stop sign. There are merchants trying to sell you all sorts of things, but they aren’t as aggressive as they are in Mexico, so it’s not bad.

I counted 36 buses in front of the hotel yesterday. There were more around the corner out of sight. In defense of Daphne, I may disagree with her on history and theology, but when it comes to getting us around she is a Pro. She has been good at shuffling our schedule to avoid the busiest times at attractions and restaurants. She is on the phone more than Carli Costello checking on things ahead of us. She even tried getting our flight changed to get us home a little faster, but it looks like Monday afternoon is when we’ll get to Seattle. We are really homesick and I miss my bed.

We were at the Western Wall and the Muslim Quarter of old Jerusalem Friday. Friday is the holy day for Muslims and they go to the temple at noon and get out at about 1:00. Daphne got us there early so we could be out of there by 1:00, she said that they had a radical speaker and he could get them riled up and sometimes they riot afterwards. There were lots of riot police at every corner, more than she had seen before. She is always telling us everything is safe, but she was clearly nervous. We were away from there at 1:00, but nothing happened. She said that the Muslims in Jerusalem were peaceful, but many Palestinians come into the city on Fridays and they are the ones that cause the problems.

The only other time that I have seen her concerned was Thursday afternoon. We were in front of the Church of all Nations, beside the Garden of Gethsemane, which is next too a very large Jewish cemetery. Some Ultra Orthodox Jews started coming by, just a few at first then enough to block one lane of traffic, then the whole road. She told us not to take their picture because they have been known to come and break cameras. She told us not to look at them and they wouldn’t bother us. Apparently a high rabbi had died and they were going to the funeral. Jewish law requires burial before sundown. Daphne said that the Ultra Orthodox cause a lot of problems. She said they are all on public assistance and “breed like rabbits”. The biggest problem is that they vote in a block and the present administration needs their votes to stay in power so they won’t do anything about them. Those have been the only times that there has been any concern; we have felt very safe all the time.

We have seen lots of sites, too many. I am getting real tired of old rocks. It seems like there is something on every block. We can’t stop at everything, but we have seen plenty. They are all starting to run together. I have taken lots of pictures, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to differentiate them. I have seen way too many people kissing rocks. So many of the sites have multiple churches claiming to be on the exact site of this or that. Nothing dates back to Christ, everything here has been built, destroyed and rebuilt numerous times. Christian Churches are destroyed and Mosques built on the site, then they are destroyed and churches rebuilt and so on. So many of the locations are based on tradition, there is no real proof. I have seen lots of emotional people. I can understand that being here imagining what Jesus went through can trigger great feelings. I just can’t see kissing rocks that may or may not have been touched by Him. I know that most of these people are sincere, but it still looks like idolatry to me. I really don’t want to do or say anything that could take away from an emotional connection with God, but it sure seems misguided. This place is rich with history and tradition, but the thing that stands out to me is that no one gets along. All the different Churches fight over turf with each other and the Jews and the Muslims. There are a few Churches that are owned by a few different traditions that are in need of repair or restoration, but it can’t happen because they don’t agree. All of this just doesn’t seem like how Jesus would want it.

This may be my last blog from here, or I might have some time tomorrow, you’ll just have to wait and see.

Jet skis on the Sea of Galilee

We have been without Internet for a few days now, I could have paid for it, but I’m too cheap and I didn’t have my thoughts collected. I don’t have Internet now, but I do have some thoughts. I’ll write them down and when we get to Jerusalem later today I’ll post them even if I have to pay.

It is about 4:00 Thursday morning. I have developed this sleep pattern that I can’t seem to break. I will usually fall asleep easily, but only sleep for a few hours, then lay awake for quite a while eventually getting some more sleep. While lying there I think about many things, projects on the farm, things I’ve seen, and what I want to tell you. Well I’ve sorted out some thoughts and can’t seem to get back to sleep so I guess I might as write them out.

When we decided to make Israel part of this trip, it just seemed like a good thing to do because we were going to be in the area. I have always wanted to see what it is like. I guess I also thought that walking the same ground Jesus walked would help me to better understand Him. My prayer on this trip was for God to open my eyes and ears and let me really see. I may be premature in my conclusions because we still have Jerusalem to visit, but I have some very clear examples. I have tried to remain open, I realize that I don’t know all the answers and that I am positive that I am wrong about some things. As I listened to our tour guide, Daphne, she pronounces it daff nuh, I kept getting upset with what I felt were inaccuracies. I spoke up a few times, but D’Linda kept telling me to bite my tongue. The first example was when she said that Jesus was not a wood carpenter, but a stone carpenter. I had to ask her about it, her reasoning was that they build mostly with stone and that they didn’t have much wood around the area of Nazareth. I said that even for the stonework they would have had to have built false work for the arches and scaffolding, and the doors were wood and they did have some furniture. She was pretty confident that she was right though. On the grand scream of things whether Jesus was a carpenter or a mason really doesn’t matter, but the thought of being wrong on something so simple really bothered me. The Bible is the most scrutinized document in the world, why had I never heard this theory before? At almost every stop Daphne would say something that I thought was inaccurate or flat out wrong. I was trying my best to be open to everything, I was surprised that nobody else was speaking up. I didn’t want to reject all she was telling us, but I didn’t want to swallow the camel either. It was really bothering me, I had prayed for open eyes and ears, should I close them?

You know when you are watching a movie and something strange happens and you hear the sound of the needle being drug across the record, well that happened. I went for a jog early Tuesday morning along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. I was looking at the boulder-strewn shore imagining how hard it must have been for Peter and Andrew to land their boat, when the needle went across the record. I came to a yard full of jet skis. All of a sudden I could imagine Jesus walking on the water as jet skis whizzed by. Later in the day we were on the Mount of the Beatitudes, Daphne was telling us that we couldn’t speak in the church that was there, and that after we went through it we should walk alone quietly around the gardens, but the needle was going again, there was a groundskeeper using a bucket truck and a chainsaw to prune some trees nearby. That needle went across the record at the Jordan River. We got there and there were hundreds of people being baptized. They have a dressing room there and you can get a white robe and go into the river and get baptized. The white robes were the kind that once they got wet they were see through, but that wasn’t the needle. The needle was a group of Japanese teenage girls holding their noses, because across the river was a stable and the smell was very pungent. I have to admit it really stunk there, and I don’t mind farm smells.

One saying I had heard in the past kept going through my mind, I don’t remember who said it or even the exact quote, but here is my paraphrase. “Proximity to Holy people or places doesn’t make you Holy any more than standing in a garage makes you a car”. I certainly don’t want to take anything away from the many very sincere people coming here to draw closer to God, but you can be every bit as close to God right where you are, and it might smell better. This place might have some historical significance and interesting ruins to look at, but these old rocks that have been fought over time and again have no special powers. I thought of all the lives that have been lost trying to control this piece of ground. I know that a lot of people believe that this place has significance in prophecy, but don’t they think God can pull it off if he wants to?

30% of the Israeli economy is tourism. Most of that is American Christians. All of the souvenir shops have everything priced in US dollars and if you buy something they even give you change in US $. Would you want to have your leading industry be catering to a religion you don’t believe? That is probably the biggest needle scratch of all. How much more useful could all that money be if we used it to change the world, feed the hungry, heal the sick, set the captives free. Instead we are making people wealthy who think we are misguided fools.

Daphne had said at one point that Ahab was Solomon’s son, I waited until there was no one else around and told her I was sure she was wrong about that, she said she was sure she was right, but would check here Bible later. When she walked away she made a phone call and came back and said that I was right. Later she asked a question about who the Samaritans were, no one spoke up, she looked to me and I answered it. We sat at the same table at lunch and she asked me what I did. I told her I was a carpenter. She said she didn’t believe that, I said that I had been a building contractor. She wanted to know what schooling I had, I told her that I just read some, I’m not sure she believed me. I should have just stuck with the carpenter, she must have something against them.

First Impressions

They say first impressions are fairly accurate, well we'll see. Tel Aviv airport is large and modern, with more security than most, but not oppressive. I noticed the concrete work outside the airport, it wasn't good quality, functional, but not as good as I would expect. The Madrid airport was really big and quite a architectural and engineering feat, probably the nicest airport I have ever been in, so that might have hurt the comparison. I noticed most of the taxis had dents on the sides. Driving in Tel Aviv it seems a lot more like the U.S. than anywhere else I have been. Our van driver might have learned to drive in Liberia though. This is not a very old city so the buildings are newer, some real nice, but a lot are run down and in need of repair. It was Sunday afternoon and the traffic was said to be light, but it seemed pretty heavy, so rush times must really be bad. I said it was like home, except for the road signs. They are all scribbles, however most of the store signs are English. Our hotel would be a four star in Liberia, but just an average motel at home. Our dinner was included in our package and it was excellent with quite a few strange dishes that tasted great. We met our tour guide, Daphne, maybe late 50s, with very short dyed red hair. She was born and raised in Jerusalem and assured us that we would be safe where ever we went, she encouraged us to go out any time we wanted. Our group will be 23 people, the average group is usually around 40, so she told us it will allow us to do a few more things. There are a few more people coming in tonight, but the ones that I have met so far seem pretty nice, there might be one person who might be hard to take. I hope that first impression is wrong. We're going to head out for the Sea of Galilee in the morning so I better head to bed.

Moving on

We're packing up just about to leave San Sebastian. We have had a nice stay. Yesterday we went to the Rizola Museum of Cement, I almost missed it. Those of you that know me well, know that I love concrete. D'Linda spotted it in one of the tourist brochures so of course we had to go. It was a little anti climatic. They had a portion shut down for renovation and they didn't have much in English, but I'm still glad we went. If I had found out about it after we left I would have felt cheated.

There are some real differences here, some I like and some not so much. In the not so much category is the schedule of things. Generally stores and businesses open between 9:00 and 10:00 and shut down for lunch between 2:00 and 5:00. I mean shut down, they lock up and turn the lights out. Then they reopen until about 9 or 10, except for the restaurants. They don't open until 1 or 2, so if you want to eat lunch at the correct time of noon you are out of luck. Then they close at around 5 and don't reopen until 7:30 or 8. They eat a large leisurely lunch and a late dinner, it doesn't fit my schedule at all. We did have a traditional lunch yesterday, it consists of a 3 course meal. They give you choices of each course and include wine with the meal for a set price. Our waitress didn't speak English so it was fun making our selections. For one of the choices she said "Moo" and motioned like she had a tail, that is what I chose. D'Linda chose something about a pig. My ox tail was good and D'linda's pork roll was excellent, she said. D'Linda had a salad and I had a rice and clam and mussel dish with a chunk of fish on it. It tasted like a solid clam chowder, they were excellent and the deserts were too.

In the like column, I had said everything is more expensive, but I have modified my thinking a little. The price you see is the price you pay. All taxes and fees are included in the advertised price. Tips are not expected either, so it is really not that much more expensive.

I also like that times are are based on a 24 hour clock. That helps with confusion on trains and planes and business hours.

Well we have to leave for the train station to go back to Madrid. We will stay there tonight and leave for Tel Aviv on Sunday morning. We will probably be out of touch until we arrive there.

One last note, my mom said in an email to D'Linda that she didn't want to post a comment on my blog because it might embarrass me. Well she has known me longer than anyone else and she could probably embarrass me, but just posting won't mom. That goes for all of you, please comment every once in a while just so I know someone is there. Thanks to those that have, I enjoy the comments.

Next report from Israel.

Mornings

I've seen some great sights and enjoy being here, but I think my favorite thing is in the morning with the boys. Every morning when Caden hears me he gets up and comes and talks with me. We have had some fun talks. He goes to school and we take off for the day, so we don't get a lot of time together. He is very articulate and smart, he tells me about all sorts of things, and asks questions. Sometimes I can answer, but sometimes it is too complicated for him to understand so I'll just say "I don't Know". Owen takes a little while to wake up, he can be a little cranky at first, but it doesn't last long. He still isn't completely over what ever he had. Owen has a round face with dimples and red hair. When something spills or he doesn't know something, he is quick with a shrug of his shoulders. He talks real clear and has a large vocabulary for a two year old. I love the honesty of young children, they aren't afraid to ask what ever is on their mind, no PC spoken here. Maybe that is one of the qualities Jesus had in mind when He said we needed to come to him like children?

D'Linda and I really love our grandkids. Don't tell our children, but I think we love the grandkids more. I already miss the boys and Blessing and we just left them a few days ago. We have a hard time with Andrea's girls living so far from us, D'Linda is always afraid they will forget us. That is unlikely because she talks with them on the phone or skype regularly, but it 's not like being there. We see Gabe and Sophie about once a month, we had them for a weekend just before we left. We see Nathan and Mattie almost every day when we're home, but that is not too much either. If I had my choice I would have them all living in one place with us. If that really happened I would probably change my mind though. Maybe if I could just talk to each one for a few minutes every morning that would be the perfect way to start the day.

Maybe our Father in heaven is like that? If we just talked to Him each morning for a few minutes, we could tell him our plans, or what we've been thinking, or ask him a question. He might answer, or just smile knowing that we can't understand, or he might reach down and turn that puzzle piece so it will fit. Or maybe we are trying to fit a puzzle piece for the wrong puzzle, or their might be a piece missing. Good parents know that sometimes they have to let children struggle to learn, but they will help and encourage. Why not talk to Him, you might enjoy it too?

Why can't we all get along?

Yesterday we spent the day wandering around San Sebastian. I just love seeing the old buildings and different styles of architecture. We went to the top of Ilgeldo, that is a hill on the opposite side of the harbor from the statue of Jesus. It is a little higher and there is a tower on top that has a fantastic view of the whole area. It was another great day weather wise. We also walked on the beach and watched the surfers.

Today we went on the train to Hendaye France. It was only about 30 mins. away. It is a resort town and most stores and homes were closed for the season. It has a beautiful very big beach. There is a large harbor with lots of sailboats. The style of buildings is very different than here. We went to a restaurant for lunch that was owned by a man from Portugal. He could speak a little English, we were having a little trouble communicating, but we decided to have the daily special. The soup was calamari, I thought it was very good, but D'Linda wasn't so sure, but she ate it not wanting to offend. We had turkey and french fries for the main course. The desert was good except for the bitter liqueur that was generously spread over it. We ate most of that and were really full. We then took the train back.

As I thought about the mixture of peoples we have come in contact with I wondered why we can't all get along? Americans vacationing in Spain visiting France eating Portuguese food, and it all worked just fine. Here in Spain though they have the Basque who want their own country and occasionally create havoc. In Liberia there are the former slaves that founded the country who only make up a few percent of the population, the indigenous tribes who resent that, but can't get along with each other. In the US we have ethnic disputes, republicans and democrats, conservative and liberal. It seems we all belong to some group that has been wronged.

As I traveled in Liberia I saw lots of old abandoned church buildings, I also saw lots of others that were being used. Why can't we as Christians get along? Why can't we show the world that it can be done? Check your Bible, there is one God, one Savior and one Church. We don't have to agree on every point to glorify God. I'm not saying everyone who claims to be speaking for God is right, there are wolves masquerading as sheep, but there are lots of Christians who won't associate with other Christians. We need to be doing what our God wants done rather than critiquing our brothers. Jesus was accused of associating with the wrong people, he spent time with prostitutes, Samaritans, tax collectors and all sort of riffraff. He showed us that he loved them all. Can't we love other people who love Jesus?

I have a couple brothers who aren't getting along right now, it is bothering me. That is probably why I got on this train of thought. I am sure that one or the other or both have probably done something wrong or thoughtless, but who hasn't? Why not give each other some slack? What if all Christians got along for just one week, no arguing, no name calling, just good will towards each other. Give it some thought, and Prayer please.

Everything is so, European

First of all some of you may not know who Joel and Kelly are, so let me introduce them. One of my son, Rusty's best friends was John Perry. They were such good friends that they married sisters so they could be brothers-in-law. Well Joel is John's younger brother. He also went to school and was friends with my daughter Andrea. So we have a double connection. His wife Kelly is a sweet heart and has become good friends with Andrea. Last fall they were home visiting while we were planning our trip to Liberia and she invited us to come and visit. We had planned on taking in a few other sites, seeing we would be so far from home anyway. So we decided that that would work out good. Joel is working doing research into robotics here in Spain. They have two sons, Caden 5 and Owen 2. Owen wasn't feeling good yesterday but he is recovered and doing fine now. I have had some great conversations with the boys they are both very articulate.

D'Linda and I spent most of the day wandering around San Sebastian, it was a beautiful day and everything is so interesting. We went to the top of a hill where there is an old fortress that has a commanding view of the harbor and the city. At the top there is a large statue of Jesus. It was all quite fascinating. I like all the old buildings and narrow streets. Back home a building is old if it is 100 years old. Here that might be the newest on the block. There are lots of old cathedrals with bells chiming every 15 minutes. The sad thing is hardly anyone goes to church here. The pace of life here is slower, people walk more, but nobody seems in a hurry. Most of the shops close from 2:00 to 5:00 for a long lunch then they open back up until 9 or 10. They eat dinner late, lunch is the big meal.

One of the reasons we decided to come here is we have traveled in Mexico quite a bit and I know a little Spanish, not enough to really talk, but enough so I can survive and find or buy what we're looking for. The problem here is they speak Basque, Most speak Spanish also, but a lot of the signs are in Basque, and it is nothing like Spanish.

I took Joel's bike for a ride this morning to get a look around. They have bike lanes almost everywhere, and lots of people ride bikes. With the narrow streets and the traffic, bikes would probably get you places faster. Bike etiquette is a little different here and while I was trying to learn it I almost got hit by a bus. After a couple of near misses with cars I'm getting the hang of it. They honk a lot here also.

Guess where we had lunch... Okay, MacDonald's, I'm not a big fan, but I have to admit the fries tasted great. It's been at least a month since we have had fast food, or a fountain diet Coke. If you know me you know I'm a diet Pepsi guy, but the diet Coke was almost as good as the fries. Everything seems expensive, Kelly told us that most people live with their parents until they save up enough money and then usually move in with a roommate. It's not unusual for people in their thirties to be living with parents. Apartments are pretty small. Joel and Kelly's is large for here, but would be considered barely adequate back home. My impression is people seem to be more concerned with living good day to day rather than sometime in the future.

There is a lot of graffiti around. Kelly told us that they consider it art and don't discourage it. It is just teenage boys expressing themselves and trying to be like Americans. Isn't it great to know we're looked up to for something?

On the train ride up I was thinking about my experiences in Africa. I was just writing down words that represented some of my thoughts. One word was "bars", I meant the kind that are on all the windows. There are fences or walls around most homes and bars on the windows and steel plate doors on the houses. I noticed that most of the houses and ground floor windows here in Spain are the same. We associate bars with jail or prison, so why do we make cages and lock ourselves in? are we really free? The only place I saw without bars were the huts in the villages. They didn't even have doors. They didn't have much, but they had food and shelter and seemed happy. So who is really free?