2. On a related note (to the Hebrew) I've noticed that spelling is very relative over here. I guess it happens when everything is transliterated and there are numerous correct ways to transliterate things. It's kind of confusing. With my horrible spelling skills you'd think I'd love it, but I've gotten so used to hard rules that I'm not comfortable just making up my own spellings any more, now that it's allowed.
3. I went to church at St. Andrew's Scottish Presbyterian church again. The pastor talked about "The Glory of the Cross." He made one statement in particular that struck me, and I would have written it down but I didn't have a pen. It was something like this: "Christ died on the cross for our unremarkable misdeeds." I think we tend to like to think about Christ dying for "big" sins. Perhaps because it makes his work seem more miraculous? Or perhaps because we feel we are less to blame, having never committed and "big" sins ourselves? But really, He died just as much for our petty selfishness and insignificant lusts as for murder and adultery. That's rather a humbling thought.
4. Then I started thinking a little about sin in general...Because really, all sin is rather petty, at its root. We look at "evil" and we think it looks so powerful and important. Then it's striped of its clothing and it's really just weak and pitiful. It's so absolutely nothing compared to Good.
5. Sunday afternoon I joined the Parables class for their field trip to Neot Kedimim, and I'm really glad that I did. Neot Kedimim is a Biblical nature reserve. We had an excellent tour guide who showed us around and talked about how the plants and animals and activities we observed and participated in related to the Bible, especially to various parables.
6. We talked about the "lilies of the field" from Matthew 6:28 and Luke 12:27. Apparently, most scholars think that the lily specifically referred to is the anemone:
It is slightly different from the "buttercup" which is also red, but has one less petal and is a slightly different color of red. Anyway, the anenome (as you can probably see) is beautiful, but only around for a short time in the spring. Then they fade and die as quickly as they came. 7. We got to see some Arabs from a nearby town demonstrate plowing, the old fashioned way. Normally, all plowing is done around November, after the rains have softened the ground, and then the seed is planted.
8. Now, of course, the grain is getting close to harvest time. Not quite there yet, but it will be shortly.
9. We even got a glimpse of what harvest would be like:
10. After completing our look at farming, we moved to herding. We even got to try some herding ourselves...It's kind of hard to separate sheep and goat, ya know? Anyway, we had fun trying to get the sheep and goats to go where they were supposed to go. If you notice the third guy from the right in the picture below actually picked up and carried one of the smaller sheep to aid in the process, which made it that much better.
11. It was so incredibly beautiful there. So many different flowers...and you know how I love wildflowers. Add to that the smells of the dirt being turned over, of the blooming bushes...it was amazing. Kind of made me miss spring at home. Probably the closest I'll get to the feeling of spring here. They have two seasons here in Israel: summer and winter. And winter is just about spent.
12. The best part was that I got to climb a sycamore tree! It was pretty amazing. I love to climb trees...and to climb one as part of a class...and then to have the rest of the class sing the Zacheus song to get the two of us up there to come down...it pretty much made my day. :)
...and now a couple Monday and Tuesday thoughts:
13. I really miss teaching. A friend here teaches a Bible class at a nearby school and I was talking to him as he was working on a lesson plan...and that in conjunction with another event that day made me realize (or remember) how much I miss teaching. And I miss my students.
14. I watched "The Syrian Bride" tonight, which provided an interesting glimpse into the lives of the Druze in the Golan Heights. I'd recommend it.
15. And with that, I should go to bed. Good night! Happy April Fools, Rabbits, and all that.
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