Athens and beyond

Dan and I have followed the connection between the Bible and so many of the sights we have seen. We imagined being Paul and standing in Athens by the statue to the Unknown God and hearing him say or saying ourselves, “I know this God you have built and alter to…”. We read of the travels by ship as we passed Sicily and islands as we neared Rhodes. As we sat (not on the toilet seats) beside the Library façade that has been reconstructed we closed our eyes and listened to the bustle in the ancient city of Ephesus. (true the bustle was many tourists from many lands, but use your imaginationJ) The city ruins are so wonderful and there is so much still buried. They were so progressive and yet so many centuries ago. We thought of Mary with the disciple John in the small house above Ephesus with the wonderful view of an ancient harbor and the memory that Jesus asked John to care for his mother. The artifacts that have been left by very religious people remind us of our hearts and it is not hard to feel the identity with those who walked before and search our hearts for the truth that is here for us.
We are grateful that we do not need to have a secret mark to show we are Christians, but intrigued to see the mark in cement in Ephesus. The Greek letters for Jesus are found in this symbol and it is found often as you walk the ancient streets. As you think from Rome and each port of the bloodshed by Christians and courage to stand for what we believe.