Israel/Greece - It's not easy being One 6/15/2017

Our final day on this excursion/vacation/pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Greece. And it has been a ride.  

It was a simple day.  A hot day, but simple.  We got an early start for the Acropolis, only a 15 minute walk from our hotel.  Cindy's knee and asthma were bothering her, so we received permission to use the elevator to ascend to the top. It was really more like a funicular or one of those skyscraper construction lifts attached to the side.  It was fun.

The plateau atop the Acropolis was a rocky surface with a few gravel paths.  But the temples!  It was amazing that such grand work was performed thousands of years ago. And built in only 9 years! We circled the three temples and enjoyed the experience with our friends from the tour, nearly all fellow church members.  

I know the Apostle Paul was in Athens, but it's not certain he went to the top of the Acropolis.

One place we know he went to the was Mars Hill, a rocky hill on the western side of the Acropolis.  This is where the Apostle Paul spoke to the high council of Athens in Acts 17.   There is a tablet imbedded in the stone that contains his words in Greek.  

Two of our young students with us read Paul's words aloud to us very near the same spot he likely stood at. Then our tour co-host, Ronnie, also our preacher, added some brief thoughts.

Our local tour guide, Thenia, closed with the observation that part of Paul's message was that we are all equal in the eyes of God.  That was a well accepted message in Corinth, with its multi-levels of society.  But it was not a message well received among the elite of Athens.

My thoughts turned to, have I absorbed that same message well?  How well has anyone? I pray this trip has reinforced for me what is important to God.

"There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

Israel/Greece - Fake vs Real 6/14/2017

Alas, it was time to leave our idyllic coastal town and head for the capital city of Athens.

We wound our way through the country roads on the way to the main highway, passing olive orchards, vineyards, citrus trees, and ripening apricot trees.  The latter proved to be a temptation too great to pass-up.  The bus driver pulled over at a roadside fruit stand and bought a bag of freshly picked apricots.  At our next stop he washed them for a mid-morning snack for us all.  I'm not a big apricot fan, but these were great.  

As for our first scheduled stop, we once again had a chance to see the Corinth Canal.  Completed in 1893, it is about 4 miles long, connecting the Gulf of Corinth of the Ionian Sea (between Greece and Italy) with the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea.  Because of narrowness of the isthmus, people have dreamed of digging a canal here for nearly 3000 years.  It's rather narrow for today's shipping, but still a marvel.

On to Athens.  We arrived along one of the city's main shopping streets, sort of a hodgepodge of resale and antique stores, and caught our first glimpse of the Acropolis (which we will visit tomorrow).  That was kind of exciting, leaving me to wonder what ancient visitors, such as the apostle Paul, felt when first seeing the hilltop buildings.

We disembarked on this street, making our way to the central market.  There we saw dozens of butcher stands, well stocked with freshly butchered, or about to be, goats, cattle, and poultry.  In some cases, heads and tails and feet still attached.  In the center of the market was Epirus Taverna where we had lunch. Now, imagine eating a fantastic goat or chicken soup, while looking just outside the glass walls of the taverna at a ready to be butchered goat or chicken.  It tasted great!

Following our lunch, we saw the fish market, with all the varieties of today's catch on ice before us, then headed for one the plazas in town, the Monastiraki.  It is the home of a large flea market, souvenir shops, a church, and a great view of the Acropolis.  

We walked past the ruins of a library built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd Century, the former Roman Agora (market), and many other ruins before returning to more of the shopping streets.

From our hotel, we can see the ruins of temple of Zeus.  Our dinner was nearby at a great little Greek (what else) restaurant.  We had gyros, and learned that the way we get them in the US would be considered street food in Athens.  Ours were served with the bread and yogurt on the side.  Very tasty.

As I mentioned above, as we walked today we passed many shops.  Those that sold "real" stuff - brass, old DVDs, vinyl records (remember those?), and clothes, for example - didn't get a whole lot of attention from the tourists.  Instead it was the gift shops selling magnets, t-shirts (including some promoting Sparta, a rather odd thing it seems to sell in Athens), and Grecian urn reproductions that got most of the traffic.  And I confess, we've spent some funds at places such as this.  But in this city of so much authentic Ancient Greece, one wonders why the inauthentic gets so much attention.

"I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (Philippians 3:7-8)

Israel/Greece - Refreshed 6/13/2017

Oh, what joy it was to once again get a full night's sleep without time pressures.  We had nothing planned until late morning, following a delicious Greek breakfast in our hotel courtyard.  First time to have honey-glazed orange cake (revani) and baklava for breakfast. 😋

We took a short walking tour through the old town of Nafplio, stopping first at the community Greek Orthodox Church.  The building was dark, lit mainly by what sunlight came through the doors and few windows, a few electric candle lights, and several oil lamps.  While looking at the art, almost all Greek Orthodox icon imagery, the priest came out to visit us.  When he found out we were from Texas, he explained the etymology of "Texas" and "freedom" that both can be traced to back to ancient Greek words.  Maybe so, maybe not.  But it was reminiscent of a scene from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

The town is a quiet and restful getaway after our "church camp" pilgrimage tour of Israel.  

A great medieval fortress sits on the mountain, looming over the town, but much of the buildings date to the mid-19th century when Nafplio briefly became the capital of Greece at the beginning of their independence from Turkey.  Sitting above the town square is an old Turkish mosque that was secularized as the home of the first Greek parliament.

We traveled from there to Epidaurus, home of the best preserved ancient Greek theater in the world.  The view from the top of the theater was breathtaking, and the acoustics were amazing.  From the center of the stage I could speak in a quiet voice to friends at the top of the seating section - 110 steps up - and they could hear me fine.  Quite impressive engineering.

We finished the travel with a refreshing excursion to the coastal town of Tolo for time in the crystal clear waters of the Aegean Sea.  

Then a long, relaxing lunch of 9 courses of great, home cooked, fresh Greek dishes.

We came back to the hotel with new energy for our last two days in Greece.  All-in-all, the day was a reminder of God bringing me to a place of rest to be refreshed.

"He leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul." (Psalm 23)

Israel/Greece - Renewal 6/12/2017

We were tired.  We had an very early flight from Tel Aviv to Athens.  Israeli security requests 3 hours minimum before a flight departs.  So we got up in the morning by 2 AM for our 3 AM checkout, one hour drive, and arrival for our 7 AM flight.  Everything went smoothly and helped with enough caffeine.  We were in Greece by mid morning.

Martha, our coordinator, and tour guide Thena, met us and we promptly headed south to the region of Ancient Corinth. 

We visited the old Corinth harbor at Cenchreae where the apostle Paul once arrived and sailed from.  

We lunched along the Corinth Canal, and lastly we walked the streets of Ancient Corinth.  

Paul was definitely here at one time, as were many other notable Bible followers of Christ. Many places he may have walked are conjecture - the forum, the main street to the port, perhaps the shops or places in the water district area.  But one place we know for sure Paul stood was the Beme, the judgement seat of Corinth.

Here Paul prepared to defend himself before the Roman pro counsel, only to see his case dismissed.

Paul’s influence and memory of what he taught (and the One he taught about) has long outlasted the city where he spent over 18 months.

Later we drove down the coast to Nafplio, a town along the shore of the Argolic Gulf in the Eastern Peloponnese in the south of Greece.  It had been a long but filling day, and we looked forward to a couple of days to reset and renew.

As the Apostle Paul once wrote to the very city we had just visited:  "That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day." (2 Corinthians 4:16)