This may be surprising.

Im coming home, to Lodi. Little, lovable Lodi. It doesn't make sense, I don't know why, I just am. But its not that simple. I'm not the kind of person who gets homesick, and I'm not the kind of person who flippantly decides to waste half my tuition. It isn't as if I got bored with Jerusalem, the center of the world to some people, and decided that Lodi would be a much more exciting place to be. It's all Gods doing. It's hard to explain and some of you might not believe me or understand, I don't care. Basically I believe God told me to go home early, so I go. I guess it's pretty easy to explain, but to act on it is something else. I feel like God has given me enough confirmation to put the "ball in my court." Now the decision isn't, is this from God? it's, am I going to be obedient. Please, tell me, write to me, explain to me why this is ridiculous and a waste of time and money. Expound on how God doesn't interrupt a semester of bible college in Jerusalem because He is a God of order. Tell me about how God is logical and reasonable. Explain to me how when God told Abraham to offer his son as a burnt offering, it made total sense to Abraham(Gen 22). And not to mention that God told Abraham to break the law HE gave to Noah (Gen 9)...

....If I completely understood God I would be God. So. All this to say... I'm flying out friday morning and I'll be back friday night. I would love to talk to you about my experience in Israel so call me. I believe it's better to step out in faith, and make a mistake, than to stay in our comfortable little basket and wait for heaven. I'm really excited to come home, because I have no idea what I'm going to be doing. But I know God is good, His way is better than mans way. We can say that all we want, but just wait till one day you'll have to back up your words with your actions. Faith is a cute idea and it looks nice on our wall, but when we actually are presented with the opportunity to use it, what do we do? I'm going home.

Walking out.

So all this talk about walking means nothing if we never walk. We can plan walks, look at other walks people have taken in the past, or even lie about walks we have taken, but if we don't walk... are we truly walkers? Owning a pair of walking shoes doesn't qualify us unless we use them. So do we walk? What about when others think its a bad idea to walk? Who are we walking for? Why are we walking? If we risk the chance of rain on our walk do we still go? If logic tells us to stay in the comfort of our home, and God tells us to walk, do we go? If it doesn't make sense to us do we go? If we base all our decisions on our knowledge, and not the knowledge of God, what will be the outcome?

think.

believe.

rely.

The Cold Rains and the Broken Umbrellas.

For the umbrella, life in Jerusalem is hard. I would venture to say Jerusalem is one of the greatest oppressors of umbrellas in the modern world today. To those who have yet to visit the city, I will explain the true tragedy of the umbrella in descriptive and at times shocking language. There will be no pictures on this blog due to the graphic content and the younger and easily shocked readers. It is advised for the safety of the reader and those around the reader to sit while reading this account, or maybe even recline, eye protection is suggested, as well as knee protection and possibly neck protection. Enough of this.

Jerusalem is a holy city. Jerusalem is a high city as well. It is not a hot dry dessert with camels and turbaned men. It is a cold and at times sunny city with camels and turbaned men. Lately, as in the past 12 hours lately, it has rained a good rain. When I say good rain I mean a miserable rain. It is only when one must walk through the rain to go to school or to the market or to home when one truly learns to despise the rain. Precipitation is so loveable in a warm and dry room with a good window and a hot drink. In a sea of blankets and pillows the rain out side the window is like a good lazy grey dog. He doesn't bother you much, just remains content where he is supposed to be. You are where you are, he is where he is. But outside those blankets, outside those windows, outside that congenial warmth ironically caused by setting aflame parts of trees, outside of this, rain is bad. There are many hills in Jerusalem. Droves of rain causes only one thing. Wetness. And Wetness that is all around. Water was constantly coming from the sky, rain, hail, wet hail, snow, heavy rain, sprinkling, heavy sprinkling, light sprinkling (almost never). Rivers were being formed on the ancient bricks below our feet. Lakes that had not been there before were now uncontrollably... there. I witnessed a few major canyons being formed. Water was now all over Jerusalem. Jerusalem was wet. I was wet. Thankfully I had a beautifully waterproof rain jacket, unfortunately I did not purchase a waterproof pair of trousers, nor water proof shoes, nor waterproof socks. Next time though... Needless to say I was wet. And do not forget to remember that this water was ice cold, thanks completely to Mr. Icy Wind. Mr. Wind was the main opponent of the umbrella. That is where our story begins.

Any ordinary layman endowed with a special kind of common sense would think on an especially rainy day to bring the usual umbrella. I tell you, and with a deep passion in my heart I tell you, all umbrellas die in Jerusalem. Only the cruelest and most demoralising fate is kept for those umbrellas who are forced to work on a windy day. Some of you may be living in disbelief. Don't. I myself was in disbelief when I first experienced it. Men, women and children together in a terrible spirit of frustration and with a grotesque lack of perseverance do only what is natural but in no way is morally right. With malice, rage and disgust they throw their maimed umbrellas on the ground to drown in puddles of the very substance they were made to repel. Wind launches the first assault on the umbrella, then man finishes the job. The smallest bend or slightest tear of the umbrella unleashes the beast inside of man which is rage. A beautiful city square on a windy and rainy day is transformed into a ravaged war zone with skeletal remains of umbrellas dotting the pavement, serving as warnings to others of their soon tragic fate. Size, shape or colour cannot change the deranged mind of the holder, if it is broken, it is cast away, as if to say "we have no business with each other anymore." Bare bones of the metal creatures are scattered about the city. Their canvas which once was so dear is now torn and wasted. The narrow metal arms are rendered twisted and broken, some still reaching up, in part as a plea for help from a kind soul, in part as a silent demonstration, to bring to light the cruelty that was shown to them. This is not myth of which I write. Ponder the plight of the umbrella.

On Galilee and others.

So for a study tour, (almost) the whole school (18 in all, 15 students, 2 staff, 1 guest) went to the Galilee region. Basically we went to a few cities around the sea of Galilee. All the sites were pretty significant, biblically at least. Some of the big hitters were, Nazareth (can anything good come from Nazareth? yes.), Capurnaum, great ruins, very Catholic. The North Shore of the Sea of Galilee, pictured above. Tel Dan (home to a 4000 year old building), Ceasarea philipi, Tiberius, The Golan Hights, and the Jordan River. At all these places we had teachings from our guest speaker Drew. It was a neat time of learning and sight seeing. Drew was an old friend of Mikes. Mike is our director at the college. Basically they were a dynamic duo of sarcastic bickering old men. Really the drama between them added a bit of humor and confusion to the trip. We are all confident that there is a strong bond of brotherly love between them. 

Something that has jumped out at me just about the whole time that I have been here is the large presence of tourists. Tourists are the plague of this land. Though instead of eating the crops (though the fruit is delicious), these pests tend to pour out their pockets. The Israelis have cleverly turned the pestilence around to their favor. I use such strong terms because I think tourism promotes a false image that tourists want to see and nationals want to show. This by no means is limited to Israel. Money is money and tourists tend to spend. I don't know that I would do any different if I were in the place of an Israeli. I just don't like it. Especially after living in a city, then seeing from a local perspective what tourism looks like, awkward and curious mobs of slowly meandering, overly prepared aliens, with cameras and without courtesy. Again, thats a bit harsh, I personally know many tourists, I think I was/am a tourist of sorts. Really the thing I hate most is ignorance, but really ignorance coupled with pride. Everyone is ignorant, but when one doesn't care, and doesn't respect the culture or the people. Like all things that upset me, I find them in my own personality after I vent about them. 

So all this to say that I'm trying to get out into the culture of Jerusalem, to get the local perspective. It's not everyday that you live in a culture that has such an emphasis and history in religion. Even the secular Jews have religion in their life. Sorry if this offended anyone, its my blog. Disagree if you want. I feel like this is a hostile post, but really I'm not trying to be. I'm loving Jerusalem. I'm loving the bible college, I'm learning good things. God is good, I know this. He is good just because He is, thats the only reason I need to praise Him and serve Him. Its not about us, its about Him. God is God, no matter how bad you think things are. God is good.  

not as bitter as I may sound

matthew 

Dancing.

Dancing is a very common practice in most places around the world. Not in the ocean. Dancing has many forms and can conjure up a variety of images in ones head. Humans have, for centuries, combined music with movement. This combination has been recreational, religious, or romantic. Dancing can be celebratory; a rush of excitement or happiness naturally spurs the body to action. Dancing is a response. 

Yesterday Shabat started again, the weekly protest of slavery. Intentionally not working. A ritual the Jews have is to visit the Western Wall before shabat starts to pray. This wall is all that is left of their temple, today it is the holiest place they can go to. Constantly Jews pray for the coming of the messiah and the reconstruction of their temple. On Fridays around 5 the courtyard is packed with men and women (separately) praying. In addition to prayer, it is a time of celebration and friendly conversations. It's the beginning of the Sabbath. In the Jewish culture dancing is a common form of celebration. Usually guys or girls will form a circle and dance and sing. Yesterday there was a group of students dancing in the plaza of the Western wall. The guys and girls formed separate circles of maybe 150 students each. These kids were shouting their traditional songs and dancing together in celebration. It was shabat. It was a happy time. 

Now I'm wondering why we don't dance like this in America. When we dance its fun, but its usually different. In the younger generations dancing is more sensual. It's about you, or your partner. The dancing I witnessed was focused on the whole group. It was a community dancing together, everyone with everyone. If we were really happy we wouldn't all get together and dance and sing. It's just not what we do. I don't think either is right or wrong, just different. What is it that makes us different? Why don't we dance?  

Shabat. Rest.

In America one may here the term "the day of rest" referring to Sunday. Westerners have this idea and envision sunday barbecues, church services, and football games on the television. This has always been my understanding of a sabbath. Being a bible college student I know how extreme the Jews practiced their sabbath. But I had never experienced it until now. Shabat isn't just a day where they take it easy and watch television. Shabat (sabbath) is rest. 

On friday afternoon Jerusalem is a busy as usual, cars honking, buses stopping, people walking. The market place is packed with grocery shoppers looking for fresh produce and likewise the store owners yelling out their prices and their products. I would probably buy more food if I could understand hebrew. The vendors usually speak enough english to get me some juicy oranges and some fresh pita bread. For those of you who think Jerusalem is in a hot and dry dessert, think again. It's probably never been above 65 degrees while I've been here. Jerusalem is delicious. Then the sun goes down. 

Sabbath lasts from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. The formally bustling city of Jerusalem falls silent. The recently inhabited streets are now abandon, save for the occasional car or pedestrian. You can feel the silence, the peace. All the shops are closed, all the people are at home. This occurrence I have never experienced before. Imagine New york city just silent, no cars, no buses, no people. Shabat is as amazing as the rest of Jerusalem and must be experienced by all visitors. After the sabbath is over, every one comes out and the city is brought to life again. 

It is odd to live in such a place that is Jerusalem. This city is so famous and I live in the middle of it. Today we flippantly decided to walk up to the temple mount, the third most holy place in all Islam. Not to mention the site of the first and second jewish temples. We walked past the Wailing wall, but thats nothing new (I've been there three times already). The temple mount turned out to be closed, so we just walked over to the Kidron valley(pictured above) and climbed around there for a bit. But we got tired of that after awhile and walked back to the dorms. The history of this place is overwhelming. The ancient and the modern beautifully compliment each other here.

 It's a new feeling to be in a city that the majority of the world focuses on, no offense Lodi.  

Just the Beginning.

Well for those of you out there who care about what I'm doing over in Israel, I'm walking. Walking has been around for awhile, I'm sure of this. I know because I now live in Jerusalem, and it is a very old city, and walking is quite popular here. Today is my first (of many) days in the city. Four months can fly by, but here I think it will walk. I love bicycles. They provide the sense of unity with ones surroundings that walking has, but they are faster and less tiring. When you walk for a while you start to feel every step you take. On a bicycle you can just coast, and not work at all. But when walking, one must continue. 

I'll be honest, I didn't walk to Israel. I had two very long flights. My first flight from California to London was 10 hours and very enjoyable (as far as ten hour flights go). Then after a 5 hour layover in London, I flew to Tel Aviv, which was not as enjoyable. It was a crowded flight, and many people were trying to switch seats and it was all very stressful and cramped. I was in the last row in the aisle. Many people enjoyed waiting for the bathroom and standing very close to me, awkwardly close. There was also turbulence, bad turbulence, right when the stewardess gave me my cup of water. It was a good choice. I drank most of the water, the rest I spilled on myself. A man fainted. We were all glad to get to Tel Aviv, especially the crying baby. 

The airport was nothing new. Security, customs, baggage claim, the works. With some help I got the last seat in a bus to Jerusalem. On one side was a man from baltimore, on the other a couple from Argentina. So I had a nice conversation with both parties in their native languages. I was hastily dropped off right out side my new home, having no idea where it actually was. Luckily a man came out to meet me. 

I got well acquainted with the dorm and its 5 other inhabitants rather quickly. As of now we're still waiting for one more guy to come to make it a nice and complete total of 7 guys. There are 11 girls a floor down. The next morning I got properly settled in and took a walk around the city with another guy. Then we had registration at the school where I met the rest of the student body. It was a fun time. Everyone is awesome, so thats good. No un-awesome people. Then a big group (maybe 8) went out and had some lunch and walked around the Old City a bit. It was slow going but that was to be expected. Now I'm a cold room with the heater unplugged 5 feet from me and copious amounts of warm clothes in the next room, but I wont do it. 

More later. 

(Pictures  1. The Western wall. 2. The school, 2nd floor windows. 3. At the airport in London)