From our recent trip to the Holy Land, there were a few memories that came from points of fascination, ... sort of "Oh, the wonder of it!" type memories. Above a few of these are depicted.
Image #1 ... Wow! Walking by the Sea of Galilee, on the exact rocky beach where Jesus chose His disciples, it was fascinating to speculate that we were walking on the exact spot where Christ turned the world upside down with the 12 men He selected as His close followers. It made one ponder about the truth that I have the same Spirit of God in me as did Peter, John, Andrew, James, Andrew, and the rest. What could I be doing, as a saved disciple, selected by Jesus to turn my little corner of the world on its end for Christ? Yes, ... double wow!
Image #2 ... Incredible! This is Caesarea by the Sea where Herod, the Great, the ruler in Jerusalem at the time of Christ had one of his seven palatial estates. This one was sort of a spa retreat center for himself, his family, and his guests. And there he built the third largest worldly sea port of his day from a simple strip of sand. What you see is no where near as large as it was in the 1st Century BC; but just viewing this screamed, "How'd they do that?" ... moving massive rocks that weighed tons and sinking them into the harbor to create a breakwater that would support a major sea port. Yes, incredible!
Image #3 ... Wild! ... The art that you see in this vase is created by Beduoin artists dribbling sand into the vase with various colors, all naturally tinted, to create the designs that you see on the outer rim of the vase. And several hundred pounds of sand had to have been sifted into that big vase to create this work of art. We couldn't figure how to pack this sucker to bring it back home from Petra ... ;>)
Image #4 ... Forces of Nature! ... As we descended from sea level to the Dead Sea, to the lowest point on earth (above water), the effects of natural pressure are seen on this half full bottle of water, which contracted from the external pressure at 1400+ feet BELOW sea level. And when we were at the Dead Sea we could also feel the effects of a high concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere. It was very easy to breath and one felt almost high on the oxygen available to breathe. And then there was the amazing content of minerals in the Dead Sea which does not allow any natural life, including viruses, to live in its contents. Below in my blogs (on 2/23) you see me floating in the Dead Sea; and it's so dense with minerals that it's hard to stand in 3 ft of water. One becomes so buoyant that the water almost flipped me on my back - naturally, ... but wierdly.
All of these were truly fascinating ... only adding fascination to an already wondrous spiritual experience ... <'BB><
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