Too much...

(a section of the year 2000 Jubilee monument at the Basilica of Mt. Nebo)

Already.  Day 4 and I have already reached the point where I have too much to share.  Today was a day here on our trip which appeared straight forward at a glance.  But when I stretch the experience out just a little it was a day deep with meanings - personal, historical, and intellectual.

The day began at Madaba, Jordan.  Antiquity holds this as the city of Ruth and it is mentioned in Numbers and Joshua.  What a lovely city with very nice people!  We went there to see the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, or the Church of the Map.  The floor of this church is a 6th century mosaic which is the oldest existing map of the Holy Land.  It is stunning in every way, a piece of art I will not soon forget.  I have more to share than I have space or energy to write and my reaction to the ancient work of art was more moving than I expected.  I found a great blog a little while ago which can tell you about it:    

http://mosaicartsource.wordpress.com/2006/12/31/marble-mosaic-jordan/

(Panoramic of the interior of the Church of the Map. My photos of the mosaic floor were poor.  See the blog above.  And remember, the map/mosaic is 1500 years old.)

Next we went to Mt. Nebo.  I read Deuteronomy 34 out loud to our group.  This is point two where I have too much to effectively share.  Our guide, Naim, shared of his admiration for Moses, for what he did, for what he accomplished, for what he means to Christians, Jews, and Muslims.  It was as incredible a moment as I have ever had on a church trip.  I'll have to think about it for a long time to find the words....  But I am truly humbled.

(Naim explains the renovations going on at the Basilica of Mt. Nebo.  It is a huge project.)

(This is my panoramic of the view looking west from Mt. Nebo into Israel.  We got a hazy day.  But to the trees on the left and beyond is the Dead Sea.  This is overlooking the Jordan River valley.  The green in the middle is the area around Jericho.  Down below on the east side of the river is Bethany Beyond the Jordan, where Jesus was Baptized.  Admittedly, not a great picture, but an amazing experience.  Surely it has changed over time, but to be near the place and have a similar view to Moses?  That is a gift.)

(Our group and our guide in front of the Mt. Nebo marker.)

From there we went to Karak, or Al Karak in modern Jordan.  For hundreds upon hundreds of years Karak was a fortress, a citadel, a castle where invading and occupying armies exerted forcible control. For 190 years in the Middle Ages crusaders occupied it.  It is the largest fortress I have ever been in.  I can say that I have never seen anything on its scale or its size.  In order to understand the ancient allure of the Holy Land, the conflict of civilizations East and West, or the drive to conquer and occupy with which we humans have historically been afflicted, it is a "must."  Just look at these pictures, one inside and one outside and try to imagine 50,000+ troops inside while Salladin seiges it for three months.  I should share that from the top of the wall, to the bottom of the valley below seemed like it was 1,000 feet.

(The castle.  Some parts of it are 9 stories, above and below the ground.  Imaging one of your favorite mountains and the entire top had been turned into a fortress.  That is what Karak is like.)

(Recently excavated room in the castle / fortress.  Not the holes in the roofing - for light and ventilation. This room is presumed a soldier barracks.)

The hills in this part of the world are impregnable.  Whenever you read of the Exodus or in the history books of scripture -- if you are imagining it flat, like Kansas or Louisiana you need to know that it is more like the Blue Ridge Parkway (only steeper, drier, and rockier).  I am at a loss for how to describe it.  I have gone through my photos and I am not sure any do it justice.  Maybe this photo?

(This is obviously me, standing high above the Al Mujib Dan and reservoir.  This is the Mujib River, which in the Torah is referred to as the Arnon River.  That ledge behind my right foot is about a 1,000 drop.  The hills/mountains dominate everything.  I am starting to understand better all the language in Hebrew about elevations, heights, and depths.)

We ended the day driving to Petra.  For me, my longest extended drive in the desert.  Again, I cannot describe it to you.  Imagining our faith's ancestors surrounded by that desert?  Imaging Abram trudging across it?  More than my mind can bear.  As we headed south for hours, I was blessed with my first desert sunset to the west.

And the full moon to the east.

   

The nothingness -- it is all dry and brown and rocky -- made me want to stay until dark.  Just to get a glimpse of those stars?!?!?!

Then I noticed that there were, every so often, streams in the desert.  Like a prophet, or a psalm, or an anthem sung by a choir, there were streams here and there (it has rained and snowed since we've been here) and water flowing.  And everywhere there was water?  There was green.  Not much.  But enough.  Water.  Life.  Plants.  Food.  Sheep grazing.  Bedouins camping.  Little road side shops.  And then more desert - it always followed.  Until there was a little glimpse of green on the horizon.  Soon enough, pieces of life would start to appear.

That is what I'd call a spiritual metaphor.  One I am glad I got to see.  One that suggests providence, water, manna, hope on the horizons of even the desert itself.  One that will never let me sing these words again, and not think about that drive from Karak to Petra, or my days in this amazing part of the world:

"I've got a river of life flowin' out of me,

makes the lame to walk and the blind to see.

Opens prison doors and sets the captive free.

I've got a river of life flowin' out of me.

Spring up O well!

Deep in my soul.

Spring up O well!

And make me whole, whole, whole!

Spring up O well!

And give to me, my life, abundantly."