Dahab (and Egypt) has been taxing in particular. Strangely it was not the country where we traveled the most --- even though Dahab is a 10h mini-van drive away from Cairo...
Dahab is a tourist city with tourist-traps (and those who are in the game of "trapping" you) to be found everywhere...But it must be one of the most remarkable landscapes I have ever seen. The desert on your one hand and the bluest waters of the Red Sea on the other is something to behold. There are no white sandy beaches. Pebbles lead into the ocean (icy cold this time of year) and the fact that the water is ink-blue shows that it is quite deep --- we also realized this as we were snorkeling the blue hole...This brings new meaning to the journey through the red sea...
How awesome a day it must have been to see the waters parted, standing like blue towering walls to either sides of the Israelites --- to pass through this unscathed and then to turn around and see the waters crashing down on your pursuers and enslavers.
This makes me wonder about the walls in our lives. The walls we sometimes forget to see, the ones God sets up for us, keeping us from misery and hardship, while we walk by unaware and thus very unappreciative...sometimes I believe we need that few drops of icy cold water in the face and to not cry out and try to get dry as quick as possible, but to rather turn our heads, and see the power and majesty and delicate love of the God we serve. We need to get wet.
Yesterday we journeyed up Mt Sinai, or rather one of the mountains in the very large mountain range called Mt Sinai. I think ours was called Mt Moses though. It was difficult. It took as almost 3 hours to get to the top, this was by walking on a rather smooth road (it was uphill though) and then taking a couple of 100 steps to get to the church right at the top.
If you read through Exodus you see that God required the people (those few chosen by Him) to be holy in order for His presence to not consume Him. After trekking up the mountain past the numerous shops and tourists I began to wonder of the significance of the mountain in today's time. I know that I only need to close my eyes to find God, so 3/4 up a really asked "But why?" I pulled through (Fortunately our whole group did) and at the top I was amazed and saddened. Amazed at the views of the range and the way we had come. Saddened by what else I found. Everywhere signs of our human nature was visible...broken bottles, cans etc. Their was no atmosphere of holiness, people sat talking other joked and laughed. Maybe I expected to much?
Some people would climb that mountain to literally find God. I do not want to be there if His presence should come down on that place, especially with the state it is in. I actually believe there is no way He'd come down...the place is just not holy..everything and everyone would be consumed in a second...
Makes me think about another place that isn't holy. A place that God does fill. Where He even made His temple. Me... Do you regard yourself as holy? Do you regard yourself as fit for the presence of God? I cannot. Now, do you believe the Holy Spirit resides in you? I do. Fortunately for us we have the ultimate cover, the ultimate cleaner, the ultimate lawyer, the ultimate sacrifice that takes away all our trash. We are Mt Sinai (or Mt Moses). We have definite signs of human nature (Unfortunately not the good parts, and most times we don't bother to recycle, we just keep on dumping and littering). And God is definitely in us. And we are not consumed by heavenly fire. Praise the Lord for my Savior.
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