Insights from Week 2 on the Fitness Trail

     OK. Two weeks strong on the fitness trail, and I have a few insights to share.
     The last time around, which was about 1 1/2 years ago, it was all about the numbers on the scale. There was a lot of looking in the mirror to measure results. Nothing too atypical about that approach to fitness, but it ended with a thud, just about the time I moved from Beaumont to North Texas.
     Insight No. 1 -- This time around, there is a spiritual component to my working out. I have two wonderful people who "pray over me" each week at church. Through our prayer time, we have confirmed that my workout time is my time alone with God. When I go to the gym or hit the road for a run, I go to meet God. I go to pray. I go to relieve stress and "hand it over" to God.
     It is a markedly different mindset. Not that I won't peak at the scale now and then or strike a pose in the mirror, but the motivation is quite different.
     By God's grace, the Spirit will sustain what the flesh could not.
     Insight No. 2 -- I do need accountability. No sooner did I post the previous post than someone sent me this important reminder. There is something to be said for getting myself out of bed this morning and kicking myself in the pants. Nobody can do it but me. But I need other pants-kickers in my life. I need encouragement from others.
     Many thanks for this reminder.
     Insight No. 3 -- It's got to be daily. I can no longer get by with a Monday, Wednesday, and sometimes Friday workout routine. I need to work out every single day of the week (excluding a Sabbath rest). I've got to do it.
    I am not there yet, but I thank God for gains made so far. I am not sure how much weight I have lost, and for now, it's truly not the most important thing.
   

No Fitness Promises for This Guy

     I know I should exercise daily, and when I exercise, I actually like it.
     But for the past two years, my level of physical fitness has followed a downward trajectory.
    Now, there have been (recent) times in my life when I have exercised for weeks, even months, and experienced moderate success. I lost 32 pounds a few years ago and could run up to 8.5 miles non-stop. I never reached my goal of running a half-marathon, but I did run the Crazy Cajun 10K in Lake Charles, LA, and a few easy-peasy 5Ks.
     As my level of fitness continues to trend down, down, down, down, I feel a spurt of motivation coming along. It is almost as if I have to hit the bottom before I find the desire to climb back out.
     I do not recommend this approach!
     But now, call it too much falafel or too much schwarma in Israel, I feel a rally coming along. It started with the Ramparts walk in Jerusalem's Old City and with my hike to the top of Masada. It has continued with a few after-dinner walks in the neighborhood and a few trips to the Meullenbeck Fitness Center in Plano.
     Could this be the spurt that will help me shed these 32 pounds (and then some) that I have since re-claimed? Could it be the burn that will lead me back again to a regular running regimine?
     I refuse to say. I refuse even to entertain the "what-if's" down the road. For now, I just need to get my behind into the gym regularly and get a good 4-6 weeks of routine on the books. Only then will I allow myself to start saying "I'll do this" or "I'll do that."
     For now, I make no commitments, no promises, and claim no victory, so please don't hold me to anything!
     My only prayer is that God give me the desire, day-by-day, to get it done.
     With Christ, all things are possible.

Last Night in Jerusalem

     Well, it is time to pack up our belongings and head back home to good ole' Texas.

     The journey has been so full of emotion and meaning, and it is hard to put into words all that I think and feel at this point in time. Anne, Amy, and I will share our reflections next Wednesday, March 14, as part of our Lenten dinner program at GPC, so I guess we have a few days to put this jumble of thoughts and emotions to words.

     Today was more on the emotional side than anything. We visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum here in Jerusalem, so you can imagine how that might impact a person.

     What struck me most is the thought of husbands torn from wives, and children separated from parents. In a literal flash, whole families were ripped apart, never to see each other again. I can only imagine what it is like to lose my wife or children in a flash.

     It happens. Maybe not in something as big as the Holocaust, but we can lose loved ones in a flash. Each moment is precious.

     I also think about if my children (or their whole generation, for that matter) properly understand things like the Holocaust. We can't take it for granted that the next generation "gets it." I think I might need to plan a trip the Holocaust Museum in D.C. the next time we go to visit Grandma, at least for the oldest two.

     We wrapped up the evening listening to a world class harp/guitar/folk musician play all types of ballads and I was tearing up like a baby.

     I'm a mess today. Probably just miss the family.

     On an up note, we descended into Hezekiah's Cave. This is where King Hezekiah had his men dig a tunnel from opposite ends to redirect water to inside the city gates (during Assyrian invasion). 

     We were right there, where pick axes did their work 2,700 years ago.

     Tomorrow we visit the Garden Tomb (a possible location for Jesus' burial), the Garden of Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives, and then head for Tel Aviv.

     See ya'll when we see ya'll.

Made it to the Top of Masada

OK. This is Masada. You can faintly see
the Snake Path winding up the side
of the mountain. It is 700 steps, and about
1,000 feet, to the top. I climbed that bad boy
today.

Floating in the Dead Sea. Good times.

Ramparts walk was a continuous flow
of narrow walls and occasional lookouts
over the Old City wall.

     After the last two days, I am just about out of gas.
     Monday was our free day, and six of us decided to walk the ramparts of the Old City wall. The wall to the Old City is basically from the Crusader era (12th century); only the base of some sections of the wall contain stones (Herodian stones) from the days of Jesus.
     It had a medieval castle vibe to it, complete with narrow slits in the watchtowers for archers. For $5, we walked the entire perimeter of Old City Jerusalem from about 25 feet in the air.
     It gave a different perspective of things, for sure, and it was quite a workout.
     Speaking of workouts, I hiked to the top of Masada today. The rest of the crew took the cable car to the top, but for my second visit to Masada I wanted to conquer the Snake Path to the top. Not sure how many feet it was -- probably a million or something. All I know is that toward the end of the climb I had to stop about every 30-40 yards.
    I'm not gonna lie. It rocked my world.
    The entire climb took me about 45 minutes. Many thanks to the group of Australian students who gave me high-fives just about the time I was going to drop from exhaustion.
     After the Masada climb, we headed back to the Dead Sea for some flotation.
     I'll be honest, the Dead Sea never gets old. I was thinking about skipping the whole changing-into-my-bathing-suit, walking-across-painful-pebbles thing and just watch the group swim.
     I'm glad I didn't. It is a lot of fun. I even went Braveheart with a few of my traveling buds with some of the mineral-rich mud. We slathered it all over our faces and chests like a bunch of crazed Scottish highlanders.
     Right now, I am absolutely whipped. Time for bed.
     Two more days before we head home. Tomorrow we go to the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem and then go to King David's Palace, where get to go underground and explore.
     Not looking forward to the flight home, but it's all part of it, I guess.

The Ramparts crew

I Have Not Been Type-Casted After All

     The highlight of today was visiting Neot Kedumim. It is a biblical landscape preserve that also has a Torah scribe on staff. The founders of this reserve have a passion for the Scriptures and preserving all species of flora and fauna that are named in the Bible.

     Since the weather was still very much wet and cold today, we went inside to learn about the work of a scribe, from how to make ink to how to cover mistakes. It takes about one year for a scribe to copy the entire Five Books of Moses.
     One thing I learned: As a Torah scribe, you DO NOT want to mess up the name of God. In fact, when it comes time for this scribe to write the name of God, he first pauses, puts down his writing implement, and prays.
     He says he makes writing errors every day, but has NEVER messed up the name of God.
     There is a lesson in here somewhere about reverence and intentionality.

     After Neot Kedumim, we journeyed to Valley of Elah, the site where David squared off against Goliath. There are "degrees of probability" that each of the sites we visit are the actual sites identified in Scripture. It is a certainty that the place where the David-Goliath battle occurred is within 500 yards of where we stood today. We marked the occasion with a re-enactment, with members of our tour group playing various roles.

     For ONCE in my life, I was NOT picked as Goliath. I was certain that I had been type-casted into this role for life, but apparently not.

     Tomorrow is a free day. I think I will pay $5 to walk around the ramparts of the Old City Walls. You can apparently walk the entire perimeter and get a bird's eye view of things.

     Sounds pretty cool.

     Missing the family pretty bad. We are past the half-way part of the journey. Tomorrow is definitely a laundry day, if I am gonna make it the next few days.

     Still on our agenda: Masada, the Dead Sea, Qumran, the Jewish Quarter, and a few other places.

     We held a Lord's Day worship service this morning at the hotel. We prayed for each of our congregations. As pastors, we are extremely grateful to serve congregations that continue the work even when its pastors are away.

     At Grace, of course, Pastor Bryan and I work together, and for that, I am grateful.

A Torah scribe demonstrates his craft. Amazing!

Our tour guide, Mike, prepares Russell (a pastor in Harrisburg)
and Amy for their roles in the big David vs. Goliath drama
Sunday afternoon in the Valley of Elah.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Tomb of Jesus).

A Beautiful Stations of the Cross mosaic
inside of the Holy Sepulcher.

First Day in the Old City

     We finally made it to the Old City this morning. We visited the Holy Sepulcher (where Jesus is believed to have been buried) and the Pools of Bethesda (John 5).
     I am not much on marble and brass at these holy sites. People wait in long lines only to come before a painted icon or a shiny grotto that marks a significant site. I do not stand in judgment of these people. For me, however, it is the gift of storytelling (inspired by the Holy Spirit) that transports me to new heights.
     Don't get me wrong. There are some magnificent sanctuaries, mosaics, and structures to behold, but the most impacting moments come when I stand at a holy site and our guide paints a vivid, word picture of its history and significance.
     In the afternoon, because of the cold and rain, we visited the Israel Museum. Of particular interest here were the Dead Sea Scrolls.
     Tomorrow morning we begin the day with our Lord's Day worship service, led by the 5-6 pastors on this trip. We then return to the City of Jerusalem.
     We will be praying for drier weather and warmer temperatures.

Bringing our A-game to Bethlehem

     The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was a bit intense today, and not entirely for spiritual reasons.

    There was a church group from Ecuador waiting in line behind us inside of the Sanctuary. They were a very friendly bunch, and had a much easier time fitting through the church entrance than I did. They were all no bigger than 5-3, and fascinated by my height.

     We were all nice and chatty with our Latin American friends for the first 45 minutes of the wait, but as it drew near to closing time for the grotto, things got a little pushy. These little 5-3 men and women transformed into defensive linemen, pressing down upon us as we descended a steep set of stairs.

     My training as a basketball player came in handy, as I boxed them out and kept them from cutting in line. And before it was all said and done, our team from Pennsylvania and Texas made safe passage to the holy site.

     They meant no harm. They were just a little anxious to see the site, I guess. It was a comical sidebar to a very meaningful afternoon.

     In other news, it did snow in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It hasn't snowed here in three years, according to Schmoolik, our bus driver.
     Incredible to experience snow in Jerusalem. There was much excitement in the hotel this morning.

     Finally, we spent a good hour or two bonding as a group. We each had an opportunity to share our stories, as we continue to develop new friendships with each other. As it turns out, we have five English teachers (current or retired) in our group and about four church musicians. There are four Presbyterian congregations represented on this trip and one congregation from the Brethren in Christ tradition.

     You can tell that the Holy Spirit is at work among us.

     Praise the Lord!

     

Sure enough, it snowed in Jerusalem,
and even into the afternoon in Bethlehem.
Amy and I pause to document the occasion.

Our crew creeps slowly down the steps and into the cave
to see the purported site where Jesus was born. A crowd presses
in behind us.

Entrance to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem,
about 4 feet high by 2 1/2 feet wide.

A panoramic view of Bethlehem.

Let it Snow? Last Day in Galilee, Arrival in Jerusalem

     We concluded our time in the Galilee today with more cold, wet temperatures. In fact, 10 inches of snow fell last night in the Golan Heights, just a few hours after we had left the region and returned to our kibbutz.
     It is actually supposed to snow tonight in Jerusalem and drop to 32 degrees.
     This is not the Israel we are familiar with, and even natives do not see snow in Jerusalem but every few years. I will let you know if we awaken to snowball fights and snow shoes :)
     Another thing that seems unusual to me: Israel is quite hilly and mountainous. Now, I remember Jerusalem (of course) as being quite high in elevation, and places like the Golan Heights and Nazareth. But as we took the two-hour journey south from Galilee to the Holy City this afternoon, it was nothing but hills/mountains.
     Jesus and his disciples must have had the legs of soccer players, as they walked around Galilee and made the trek north-south from Galilee-Jerusalem. They obviously followed well-traveled routes that cut between the mountains, but these are no easy trips to take in a bus, let alone on foot.
     The highlight today, no doubt, was our visit to the Jordan River. Two in our group were baptized. The rest of us renewed our baptismal vows with water from the Jordan. It was my honor to renew the baptismal vows of my pastor, Bill Harter.
     This was a strange but powerful experience. Bill is "just another guy" -- just another follower of Jesus in need of renewal. And yet, he is also the man who baptized two of my children, and he has been a strong spiritual leader in my life for years. And so, it is strange to have the roles reversed and have me pronounce a blessing on him!
     I'll remember it fondly for years.
     I am excited to hear that we have so many from Grace Presbyterian Church-Plano, attending North Texas Pilgrimage this weekend. Amy, Anne, and I will keep the pilgrims and staff in our prayers, as dozens renew their faith in Christ.
     I'm sure I speak for Anne and Amy, our friends Julie and Dave (from Baton Rouge), and the 35 others in our tour group when I say we miss friends and family. My prayers are with Max and Ben as they get braces today, and of course, Kim.

A special moment at the Jordan River.

These yellow signs on the Golan
Heights indicate leftover mine fields
from the 1967 war with Syria.

Pastor Lloyd receiving a blessing
at the Jordan River this morning.

A spring at Caesarea Philippi is one of
the three sources of the Jordan River.