Thursday, February 21st
The first stop today for our merry little band of pilgrims was the Jordan River. We visited the site of the Baptism of Jesus. In this photo it’s evident that the river level is up from what is “normal”. You can tell on the left side of the photo where the edge of the river typically is. And conversely, there have been times when the bleacher area has been mostly underwater. So why is that important?
No one really knows the exact spot where Jesus was baptized. The Jordan River almost assuredly looked different back then. But we do know with some certainty the area where John the Baptist preached and baptized people, including Jesus. So this site is thought of, and visited, as a likely spot where the baptism of Jesus took place. And the tour guides are quite forthright about that. More on how they talk about the various historic sites in a later post. I won’t presume to speak for others, but for me the exact spot doesn’t matter. Jesus was baptized in this area before he started his life of ministry. We share that baptism with Him in our own lives.
This is the town of Madaba in Jordan. It is known that at one time this area was a large Bedouin camp that was perched on a hill. Then a very important archeological discovery was made quite by accident. A large mosaic map of The Holy Land, that was the floor of some 6th Century structure, was uncovered while a site for a Greek Orthodox Church was being developed in the late 1800’s. 
And this is a taste of how Madaba looks today.
And here are the two sections of the map that survived the centuries right where they are. They are still a floor. It’s hard to get a perspective from the photos, but these map sections are in a protected area that is sixteen by five meters. It is thought that the original complete map was about twenty one meters by seven. But that’s only part of the story. The map eventually became key to a revitalization of mosaic art in the Arab culture.
The current Jordanian Royal Family, specifically Queen Noor, eventually took up the cause and a School of Mosaic Art was founded in Madaba.
The school became a springboard for the Queen to establish a non profit organization dedicated to getting people with physical impairments involved in the preservation and practice of mosaic art. How’s that for combining benevolent leadership and a heart social justice. We were treated to a lecture about how the stone is processed into usable pieces, and then cut and turned into beautiful works of art. The gentlemen who gave lecture, as well as the artists we were watching create, were in wheel chairs.
Okay, change gears.
If you know your Old Testament history, you know that Moses led the Hebrew People out of slavery in Egypt. It took them forty years of violent, wandering hardship to reach what today is the state of Israel. Moses never got to enter and live in the Promised Land. He only got to see it from atop Mount Nebo before he died. He lost favor with God and that was his sacrifice for doing so.
With allowances for the passage of time, and some imagination, this is what Moses saw as he gazed north from Mount Nebo.
Mount Nebo is also an important historic and archeological site. Our group celebrated Mass in what was both a Chapel and a museum of foundational ruins of one of the oldest churches in the history of mankind.
This sculpture of Moses was dedicated during a visit by the Pope in the Jubilee Year of 2000.
And below is a stone that was excavated in the area, still nearly in it’s upright position. It was the rolling doorway of a monastery, and is similar to stones that were used to seal tombs.
It was truly a varied day of learning and inspiration.