Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The day began at two different times, depending on which group we were part of. The early birds (5 of us: Doug, Susan, Judy, Suzie and Shiloah) were awakened at 1:00, packed our bags and sent them to the bus, picked up our sack breakfasts and headed off to climb Mt. Sinai where we would watch the sun rise over the Sinai Peninsula. We began our hike at St. Catherine’s Monastery at 1:45 on a glorious night when we could see a myriad of stars that boggled our minds. Before the night was over we saw Venus and Mars, the Big Dipper, the North Star and lots of other constellations that we’d all learned about, but took our guide to find for us. The Monastery had an apparently very sinful monk, 800 years ago, that spent 40 years building 3750 steps, as penance, to the top of the mountain which now has a small church on it. We walked up the Snake Path, around the side of the mountain, with hundreds of other pilgrims, many of whom were on camels. The trek took 4 hours to the top and was pleasant, as we walked by Bedouins who continually offered us a camel to ride and several small kiosks that offered everything from candy bars to coffee and tea. Upon reaching the 3000 step level, there were no more camels, just 750 steps that seemed to stretch steeply upward into heaven, as we climbed toward our goal. Our Bedouin Guide, Saba, had us on top by 5:45, 15 minutes before sunrise, with about 200 other folk, all trying to find just the perfect spot to take pictures. We spent about 15 minutes on top and then began our 1 ½ hour trek down the 3750 steps on the front of the mountain, arriving at the Monastery at the same time as our bus and those who “slept in,” at 9:30 and toured the Monastery, famous for having housed Sinaiaticus, one of the most significant ancient documents ever discovered and the 2nd largest collection of ancient documents in the world.

We left after our tour and drove 1 ½ hours to lunch at a beautiful sidewalk restaurant on the Red Sea where we watched wind surfers and looked across to Saudi Arabia as we enjoyed Shish kabobs and fish from the local fisheries. Once again, our lunch, especially the fish, were a culinary delight. As you might imagine, the hardy members of the Order of Mountain Goats (the five hikers) slept while we drove to lunch and then again after lunch until we got to our hotel in Sharm El Sheikh.
We are staying Hilton’s Sharm Dreams Resort and seriously enjoying the 8 pools, magnificent accommodations and a welcome rest. Several of us are a bit tired, so tonight is likely to find us in bed early and sleeping soundly as we look forward to another busy day tomorrow when we fly to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings for the day and then on to Cairo in the evening where we’ll spend the rest of our time in Egypt, before we head home to regale you with all our stories. The only possible thing that could have made this trip better is if each of you were with us.

~ Clergy Comments ~

This morning as we left the hotel in St Catherine’s, I read to the group from Psalm 63, “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” Although this psalm was written by David in the Judean wilderness, it well applies to the land we have traveled through in the last two days. The wilderness of Sinai is a dry and thirsty land, where there is little water. In my life I certainly experience times of spiritual dryness. At those times I am grateful for the faithfulness of God who hears the honest desire of my heart, and “leads me beside still waters.” What a wonderful God we love and serve! - Bruce