Old Songs Say So Much

My remote and I stumbled across a wonderful PBS show this afternoon. I had seen part of it before and was thrilled to see it again. As much as I try to at keep up with and accept the trends in music, it is the old music of my childhood that lingers in my heart. This fundraiser presented the best of the genre that preceded and then collided with a young rock and roll. It is because of my mother, a woman of many loves, that I am familiar with these wonderful old tunes. When I was little, it seems that she was always singing, whether it was her favorites from the forties or along with the pop music on the radio, and by a natural force, I was gathered in to do the same. Now I see what "bewitched" us. I hear honest passions, common yearnings, humor, and clarity of voice in songs such as You Belong to Me, Wayward Wind, and Remember When. I don't know of any song that doesn't come with a memory. (I guess our brains are just wired that way.) They cut across time and place and take us back. It was fun to reminisce this afternoon. Maybe my mother was hanging out somewhere near and singing with me.

Dead Sea Scrolls

In Israel, we went to or near the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found by Bedouins back in 1947 on the eve of the establishment of Israel. Yesterday, yahoo had an item about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the odd behaviored, very strict sect of Jews called the Essenes who wrote them close to 2000 years ago. Because of my trip, I could picture the caves, the Bedouins wandering the mountainous desert lands, the huge pottery jugs holding the time capsules, and even the Essenes since we got such a good education about them. Traveling is wonderful. Interesting to me was that they were written on parchment, on the skin of kosher animals, and in Hebrew, the same language as used today, unchanged. I thought about how much the English language has changed since its earliest time. This picture may not show an actual cave in Kumran (Qumran) where they were found, but it is nearby and one of many of the caves in the area.

Caesarea on the Mediterranean

Info about Caesarea.

Reflection and Remembrance

At many of the stops with Christian significance, Bob, the rector of the church and also a Jew, read to us from the Bible and offered inspired teachings.

Nature in Israel

The spreading trunk and fallen edible fruit of the jujube tree, also called Christ's thorn. It is believed the crown of thorns was made from its spiny, flexible limbs.Rushing waters of the Dan Stream.Pretty acorns from the Mt. Tabor Oak.A coney or hyrax as mentioned in Proverbs.
Proverbs 30:24-28 (NIV)
24. Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
25. Ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer;
26. hyraxes are creatures of little power,
yet they make their home in the crags;
27. locusts have no king,
yet they advance together in ranks;
28. a lizard can be caught with the hand,
yet it is found in kings’ palaces.