22 june 09 – jericho, qumran/dead sea
from the heights to the depths.
on the road…from jerusalem to jericho.
visions of joshua and the people of israel marching and blowing trumpets like lunatics in the middle of nowhere…of a person who was held up, beat up, mugged and left for dead…
on the side of the road…from jerusalem to jericho.
to the right, the signs of affluence…an opulent casino and hotel with well-watered grass…built by arafat to raise funds for the the needy in jericho and elsewhere…used as a front for the higher-ups to line their pockets and build bigger mansions for themselves.
to the left, right across the same road…the remnants of bombed buildings and homes, fledgling farms growing nothing, people struggling for their own survival…little or no housing, food, water…
not even access to the water pumping through the sprinklers…watering the manicured lawns of the casino/hotel…
that is CLOSED.
right across the same road.
and a muslim merchant of quality ceramics and pottery, who opens his store to us at discounted rates…who opens his cash register regularly to families in desperate need in his neighborhood…muslim, jewish, christian…anyone.
on the road…from jerusalem to jericho.
and young men and women…twenty-six-seven-eight years old…ten-year veterans of armed service…holding machine guns and flashing mischievous grins…friendly banter and waves to the cameras…enduring the violence, and keeping the ‘peace’.
on the road…from jerusalem to jericho.
and from jericho to qumran.
to the enclaves of the essenes…the hidden life of purity…the stone ritual baths…the communal rule…the teacher of righteousness…the caves…the scrolls…over 800 in all…revealing insights and ideas far ahead of their time…ways of understanding the nature of the cosmos, the nature of the earth, the nature of us humans, the nature of God…decades before the coming of the Great Teacher, the Wise Preacher, the Grace River, the Life Giver.
the Justice of Mercy.
the Redeemer of Righteousness.
from the living rocks…to the dead sea.
more lake than sea…more salt than water…more burning than refreshing…more dead than alive.
and yet…the sun does shine…the water does glisten…the palm trees do sway…and things that should sink like stones…float.
like torsos and limbs…and laughter that swims…and feet and toes…and what little that grows…and buoys and rope…and visions and hope.
at the lowest point on the face of earth…things are always on the rise.
from the deaths to rebirth.
from the depths to the skies.
shalom salaam of Christ to you all,
brian
on the road...from jerusalem to jericho.
the 26-27 year old 10-year veterans of war...
cave 4...more scrolls found here than anywhere else
the dead sea...the lowest place on earth...where things are always on the rise.