Crossing the Borders

Well, you might have been reading the best piece I've written, but after typing it out late last night, I pushed the wrong button and lost the whole piece. But trust me, it was good! :^)

We left Israel on Thursday morning after having spent a wonderful time in a small hotel which we had for ourselves (tourism is down - and it needn't be), at the top of the hill in Nazareth. Our movement across the border was fairly smoothe by Israeli standards. One of our group was singled out and questioned about his appearance - beard and braid, the nature of his trip and other questions that seemed probing and invasive. One can only surmise that it was another data gathering device used to monitor the activities of groups like ours.

The purpose of the day ws to visit the ancient ruins fo the Roman city of Jeresh which has been carefully reconstructed to portray life for its citizens some 2,000 years ago. After about an hour and half ride from the border, we had lunch at the entrance to the city, and walked the main street of the city which took over 300 years to develop. The street was lined with massive pillars, some taller than others which indicated the importance of the place. To the right of the entrance was a huge track that still has a yearly comemorative race and the end of which the loser is not executed as might have been done during Roman times. One could almost imagine the furor on the track as teams of horses raced around and around. The theatre with the capacity of 5,000 sat high on the hill above the city where attendees might have watched Greek drama or some kind of entertainment. The forum in teh center, was a large space that led to a long street, some 4,000 meters long. The structures of the market, the bathes and various temples were some of the principal buildings there. One could almost imagine the din of activity on market day. Those among us who have traveled to Rome indicated that these ruins were the most extensive they had seen in Italy. The power of the Roman Empire was so evident in the massive stone arcles and walls of granite and limestone. What an experience!

We then traveled back to Amman for an hour, passing the rich agricultural valleys below with their fields of fruit trees that looked like the occupied territories might have appeared before the 1967.

In the ening, befoe a wonderul meal of fresh veggies and stewed chicken, we heard from the leader of the Malkite church in the region and was inspiring as he talked about ways he has worked to build an interfaith dialogue with Muslims and other Christians in Jordan.

Today we worshipped in East Amman at an Orthodox Greek church and met with the elders of the church who expressed their disgust for American foreign policy which has created a disaster for the Arabs in the region. Later in the afternoon we met with two IRAQI refugees who shared their stories, and talked about the work they did for some of the more than 1 million Iraqis in the region.

I leave in the morning for the West Bank and a mandate by our group to plan olive trees on behalf of Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. Talk with you when I return on Tuesday. LOVE AND PEACE TO YOU THIS DAY. bill