This weekend...

I was in the dead sea.
It is said that the Romans marveled at Palestine for three reasons:

• The People who are never peaceful
  
• The Sea where nothing sinks
  
• The Temple that you can see from the coast

The sea where nothing sinks is a misnomer, and i didn't expect to see all the rocks floating on the surface, but i was excited to find how i could float without having 80% body fat. It is truly a self-defining experience-there is nothing else like it. The full moon added an element of poetry to the deserted landscape at 1300ft below sea level. The sea itself is so salty that it irritates your skin and burns your eyes and mouth. A thimble of this water is enough to bring a Mr. Machismo to his knees. It's more like a large body of oil than water. It saturates your skin and leaves your hair coated in a white frost. I floated out to where couldn't see the shore at night, but i could see my feet... and who knows how much deeper. The moonlight seemed to saturate the water instead of reflect it-a prism effect. such mystery was far too much for me to understand. i felt like i was losing more of the experience the longer i stayed, yet the romance of it all fascinated me and kept me longer. this conflict of will and intuition reminds me of Soteriology. That's why i call it the Dead sea. It is a natural occurrence, and even though it seems completely observable, i know my eyes are dimmed to the fullness of it's glory. It prompted a poem i wrote on the back of a paper plate:

"sight, oh sight-may i see"
the cross between you and the father
separated from the face of God
you are silent like a sheep to the slaughter
you died with your crown stained with blood
the image of God is polluted
tainted by the nails in your hands
the darkness of sin you refuted
creeps in through the spear of man
the veil between me and my savior
my dim eyes fall quickly asleep
anticipating my failure
i have a kiss and you've turned your cheek
i play the role of the serpent
the venom is your first taste of death
you embrace me, steadfast and fervent
just as you loved me before your first breath

Shalom,
John