Our Tripsters group gathered last night to share some of the Aha moments that we have experienced as we have traveled. Enjoy a few I share with you, our readers:
1) How quickly and dramatically rain can change and affect things. We experienced a flash flood in the desert, which did not stop our bus, but cars could not get through the mud and water.
2) The land is small, 150 miles by 50 miles and yet the geography is so diverse.
3) The reading of the 23rd Psalm took on new meaning when read in the wilderness where it is not easy to find green pastures or right paths or still water.
4) Standing on Mount Nebo where Moses also stood, but could not go further. Could not have been easy to wander in the desert for 40 years and not make it into the Promised Land.
5) Newly impressed with the importance of Josephus. We can be grateful that one man wrote so much early history
6) This small land which is not easy to live on produced Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
7). This trip has helped to snap pieces of a puzzle-the Bible and faith-together
8). After not reading the Bible for a long time finding new interest in it after seeing the land
9) For an Alaskan there is a new definition of the wilderness. In Alaska it is heavy, dense forest. Here it is stark and barren rocks.
10) An awareness of how many different nations are represented by the travelers to this land.
These are just some of the reflections on the Old Testament portion of our trip.
One of our Tripsters shared a list of "Israel by the Numbers". Here are but a few:
Israel is the one and only Jewish state in the world.
Israel is 1/6 of one percent of the middle east's total size
Israel has fought 7 wars since it's establishment in 1948
Israel has won 5 bronze Olympic medals, one silver and one gold
Thirty four political parties participated in the 2013 elections
Israel invented drip irrigation helping the world conserve millions of gallons of water a year
Voice mail was invented in Israel
Israeli's consume the most fruits and vegetables per capita of any country in the world
Cherry tomatoes were originally engineered in Israel in 1973
The Dead Sea is 1373 feet below sea level and the lowest place on earth
An estimated million prayers and notes are left in the Western Wall in Jerusalem every year
Three in ten Israelis are immigrants from over 100 different countries,
From high above the Sea of Galilee, seen far in the distance, we discovered wild flowers of all kinds making their way to the sun.
Our day was spent in the scenic beauty and fertile agricultural landscape of the Golan Heights. Lunch was in a Druze village with most of us trying Druze bread, a large round of flat bread spread with goat cheese. Yum!
It is sundown and Shabbat, the Jewish sabbath is at a close.
Shalom,
Mary
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