ays.On our second to last day (during this trip I was completely lost as to what day of the week it was), we got up at the ungodly hour of 2:00 AM to prepare for the arduous task of making it through the Tel Aviv airport security. It took us 2.5 hours to run the gauntlet. But finally we were through and on our way to Athens. Once in Athens we got on a hydrofoil and sailed to Hydra, a beautiful island with no cars (only horses and donkeys). After the crazy travel time, it was wonderful to finally get to Hydra. We spent the rest of the day swimming, diving off rocks, and wandering around the small town exploring and shopping. We had a wonderful sunset dinner overlooking the Mediterranean.
The next morning we slept in until 7AM and joined together for worship. I preached the sermon for the morning on Acts 1:1-11 and reflected on what we could learn in our own transition from the disciples' transition as Jesus ascended. I will post a manuscript of this sermon on the blog in the coming days.After worship we got back on the boat and went back to Athens where we checked into our hotel and then had one last romp through the Acropolis. Our guide said that we acted like people who had seen and done all this before. She pegged us well.
It is good to be back home now. I enjoyed sleeping in my own bed and eating my own food. I'm wrestling with the time change (7 hours worth), but that will be over in a day or two. I have a reflection paper to write about this trip. I suspect I will write it on the question of the relationship between one's nationality and one's Christianity. It was a question that dogged me the entire time in the Middle East. I will eventually post it on this blog for others to read. I may as well post a couple more thoughts in days to come. So check back in coming days.Thanks to all who have read this blog. I had no idea going into it that it would have such a wide audience. It helped motivate me to write knowing that so many were reading.
Peace and grace,
Tom
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