More greetings from Israel! How funny that I didn’t know if I’d be posting from my trip or not. While it’s an inner experience, the whole point is to bring that out into the world, in whatever that authentically means for you. For me, it’s clearly pretty loud. But isn’t it nice to be able to relax into not knowing and to even state that with innocence? “I have no absolutely idea…” (breath)… “Ahh…” If you like, drop in for a few seconds and consider how this might resonate with your own life. There sure is lots of contraction in our world about needing to know, and it really is optional. Just something to explore. And to have fun and be relaxed while doing so!
Yesterday we swam in the Dead Sea, and I just want to drop a quick line to attempt to describe it to you here. An old friend of mine who has been there tried to describe just how buoyant the water is, and now I know what he means. It’s exactly as he described, but I had to experience it myself. It’s like describing a strawberry to someone who hasn’t had one before. Not a chance. And having said that, here we go!
First of all, you don’t really swim. The water is so salty that it burns your eyes and tastes horrible in your mouth. You float. And the second you get in, you know because your body just pops up. Immediately. There’s nothing you could do to stop it. And then there’s this huge smile of wonder and amazement.
The most natural thing to do is to float on your back. And when you’re on your back, if you start to roll to the left or right, it’s easier to just roll all the way around than to stop the momentum. The feeling I got was that it must be closer to what it’s like in zero gravity in space. And then there’s floating on your stomach, like the dog paddling position. I was not able to put my feet down to stand up again. Instead, I had to recline over to my back and then stand up. Then about five of us got on our back with our feet connected, like the spokes of a wheel. And we joined hands in a circle. This was really like zero gravity, drifting into one another. It was pretty hilarious. There was also the trampoline move. You go where it’s deeper and push your body down, like you’re trying to touch the bottom. You pop right back up right away, and then down, and up, etc. It’s like you’re jumping up and down because you’re touching the bottom, but you’re not. Wow.
And then there’s the mud. It’s the most awesome and perfect mud on the bottom, and everyone rubs it all over their bodies, face and all. Good times. I didn’t get the best pics, but I snapped a couple. Check out the Facebook page for this blog to see. We also went to Masada earlier in the day, and there are more pics from there. Masada is a very significant place in the history of the region and the conflict between the Jews and the Romans. Which I learned as we pulled up in the bus… Yes, I’m totally an ignorant American. Actually, I take that back. I’m totally ignorant. The other Americans on this trip are familiar with all of this stuff. Hey, timing is always perfect. All good.
In a few minutes, we’ll be headed to Jerusalem for our final four nights in Israel. And despite all that’s happened so far, it’s really just been the preliminary part, the warmup. The trip is definitely heating up now. In fact, I’d say it’s just now beginning. We’re a week in, and the group is gelling. Some major healing has already happened to many if not all. Jerusalem, here we come. And we’re ready! Some of us feel like some stuff might go down, and if so, bring it on (and I’m talking about inner stuff, Mom, so no worries!). Not only are we visiting holy places, but we’re also putting the holy back into them. And of course holy just means whole. This area has ben divided for a long, long time. So… it’s on. Peace out, love you!