Biblical/Political Jordan

 Decided to hit all the spots in Jordan where our heroes of the Bible visited - thankfully, my program already had the trip planned.

First stop: the Jordan River.  Originally something like 300 feet wide, today there are parts that I can leap over.  This particular spot, where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, is about 25 feet wide.  Some gross percentage of the river is being diverted for irrigation - handily blamed on Israel, but Syria plays a large role in taking its water as well. Jordan is the last to take from it, a small 5% or so in comparison to its neighbors.

 After visiting the baptismal sight (which didn't move me spiritually/emotionally - I guess you have to psych yourself up to it, or not surround yourself by 20 year-old IR students snapping pictures and bemoaning the politics of the place), we went to Mt. Nebo.  This is where God allowed Moses to view the Promise Land, but not enter.  That is it behind us: the Promise Land, today known as the West Bank, Israel or Occupied Palestine, depending on who you ask.  (Are you catching on? Politics overwhelms religion.)

 To the right, you can see part of the ancient mosaic map of the Middle East that stretches out over the floor of St. George's Church in Madaba.  This map, completed in the early centuries after Jesus (something around 400 or 500 AD), was used for the sake of guiding Christian pilgrims to the holy places.  In this picture you can see the Dead Sea with the Jordan River flowing into it on the left.  The people in the boat are unrecognizable because it was at the time when saints were not depicted so as not to tempt people to worship the image.

 The remaining pictures are from a mountain by the Dead Sea, home to Herod's palace where John the Baptist was beheaded.  That is the mountain there, on the left, and if you look closely, you can see the ruins on the top.  This was my favorite part of the trip.  Hiking up to the top, then sitting there with the breeze whipping our hair around and watching the sun sink behind the mountains of the West Bank with its reflection forming a glowing bridge over the Dead Sea.  It was quiet, peaceful.  Though I didn't feel awed at being in the place where John the Baptist breathed his last, I did feel the presence of a Creator.