"Cleopatra's Gate" in Tarsus, Turkey

While in Tarsus we stopped by "Cleopatra's Gate".  This gate marks the place where Mark Anthony escorted Cleopatra (dressed as Aphrodite) into the city after she sailed up the Cydnus River in her Royal Barge.
This is what is left of the wall and the gate at the west end of the city.

Bridges:

During our tour of Turkey, we got to see and cross many bridges.  Many of them have been around for a long time.  Like this one, Taşköprü (English: Stone Bridge), a Roman bridge panning the Seyhan River in Adana.  This bridge was vital to ancient trade routes and, until 2007, it was one of the oldest bridges in the world to be open to motorized vehicles. It was then set for pedestrians only, now hosting social and cultural events.  This bridge is believed to have been built by Hadrain in mid second century A.D.

 

This bridge and others like it are certainly impressive.  The fact that they have lasted so many centuries is astounding.  Even more so, it boggles the mind to think about the hundreds of thousands of people who have cross this bridge for commerce, trade, travel and war.  It can only be imagined what important people have used this bridge to get from one place to another.   Did Paul use this bridge?   Of course, we don't know for sure, but since Paul is known to have traveled through this section of Turkey, there is a pretty good chance he might have.

No bridge constructed by human hands is as impressive or important as the one God built (even before this impressive bridge was built) when he spanned time and eternity to enter into this world in Jesus and to forever bridge the gap created by human sin and rebellion.

Praise God for continually building bridges to humanity, to us.

The Archaeological Museum of Antakya:

In Antakya (ancient Antioch) we had the privilege of visiting the Archaeological Museum.  This museum has an outstanding collection of Roman mosaics, some of which were portrayals of life in ancient Antioch. 

I'm not sure that the pictures do justice to these ancient works of art.  Never-the-less, here are a few examples of what we saw.  Some of these mosaics were fully the size of a room floor, or a full size wall.  In some cases, sections are missing.

Close up detail....

Things that hurt:

Anything that hurts you can teach you,
and if it keeps hurting you,
it's because you haven't learned the lesson.
~Author Unknown~

The “Gnats” in My Life:

The other day, one of those steamy sticky hot days, I was doing some work outside for a few minutes.  It didn’t take long, it seems, for the gnats to find me and to bug me.  They don’t really hurt, but they sure are annoying.  They are a real nuisance.

Being bothered by gnats took me back in my memory to my childhood.  On the farm, when it was hot, there were always gnats, swarms of them.  They liked to bother us while we were doing farm chores, or stacking hay or trying to cool down.  They were all over as far as we could tell.  And we would spend a considerable bit of energy fanning away, swinging away, vainly at the gnats.

When did they go away?  They went away when it got cooler.  They went away when we cooled down.

Life is full of gnats.  The things that don’t bite.  Things that don’t hurt.  The things that annoy.  They are the gnats of life.  And like with the insect, we can spend a considerable amount of energy fanning away, swinging away, vainly at the gnats of life.  Out of frustration, anger or intolerance, we might swing away wildly at the gnats of life.  All in vain.

When will the gnats of life go away?

Like the insect, they will go away when things cool down; when I cool down.

My life lesson today is this:  the “hotter” things are the more the gnats are attracted to me.  Cool down and the gnats seem to go away.  My flailing and swinging away that the annoying things of life is all in vain.  But I can cool down and watch the gnats diminish. 

Said another way, my finding the calm of peace (“the peace of God that passes all understanding) is the strongest weapon I have against the gnats of life, the weapons of the evil one and the pestering annoyances of life.

   Be blessed in God’s peace!

 

Just for Fun Today....

Shopping Turkish Style in Tarsus

What can I say???

Lots of choices in Olive Oil....

Thanks for visiting!  Please check back.  I'll have some more pictures in the next few days.

Tarsus, Paul's Hometown

Tarsus is one of the few modern Turkish cities that continues to carry its original name.  Almost everything from Paul's time is buried 6 - 8 feet below the current city.

However, a short section of street has been excavated and there is a small section of what is traditionally believed to have been the city center that has been excavated.  There is a well there, a traditional site that may or may not have any connection to the Apostle Paul.  One might think, however, that if this were the city center of Paul's hometown and it was the site of the community well, the Apostle Paul might well have spent some time here.
















I suspect it wasn't the smartest thing I've every done but I had to taste the water.  It was cool and had a mineral taste, which may have come from the bucket.






In the heart of modern Tarsus, archeologists have excavated a section of street, the colannaded cardo.  It is from the 2nd century B.C.E. and is complete with gutters and an under the street drainage system.  The road is 23' wide and excavated to a length of 50 yards or so.  Also uncovered are shops and houses.  The visitor could conceptualize that the road extends beneath the surface level to a point near the courtyard which contains the well.

 Thanks for stopping by!

"St. Peter's Grotto" in Present Day Antakya, Ancient Antioch

Antioch was an important center in Paul's ministry.  It is mentioned several times in Acts 15 and Acts 18.  The church here is also described in Acts 11: 19 ff, at the time Peter was one of the main movers in the early church.  It was here that disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).

Not much remains of ancient Antioch.  The interesting thing to see is a cave, called St. Peter's Grotto.  The cave is reported to be called "St. Peter's" because it is said that St. Peter had a hand in carving it out of the hillside.  Others dispute that claim.  No matter, this cave is quite a ways up the mountain side and still contains an altar and a statue of St. Peter.  This was a site of early Christian worship, perhaps going back to the times mentioned in Acts 11.

The floor still has some ancient mosaic areas.

Here are some pictures. Again you can see a larger version of the picture by clicking on it.

 The exterior.  The actual entrance is a bit to the left of this picture.

 Her is the altar.  The inscription "A" and "O", are the alpha and omega, Jesus is the beginning and the end.

Our Turkish Guide, Seanan, is in the yellow shirt in the photo of the Statue of St. Peter.


Thanks for stopping by.  I'd welcome your questions for clarification.

A Moment at the World Trade Center Memorial

Before we caught our plane to Istanbul, we spent a couple of days looking around New York City.  On Monday after Mother's Day we found our way to the World Trade Center Memorial.  It is an impressive and moving place.  I have to confess I wasn't sure I wanted to go there, but I am sure glad I did.

Teresa was able to capture this special moment.  One can only wonder about the full story that is told in this moment.

May God bless this young lady and all the families of those who perished on that dreadful day as well as the families of all those who have given their lives for freedom in the wake of September 11.

And may God bless the memory of each one who has perished.

Out of Nothing!

Genesis 1 begins the story of creation.  It says that before anything was, there was "chaos and void", nothing.  In fact, some might say there was less than "nothing" in that to suggest "nothing" might mean that there is "something" somewhere.  But there was nothing.  Literally empty void.

Then, God spoke.  God spoke a word, or maybe two and this whole wonderful and beautiful creation came to be.  At just a word, God was able to create beyond our imagination or our desire, our lives and our being, our environment and our way of life on this earth.

I don't know about you but sometimes I fear it is easy to feel like there is "nothing".  Nothing that I can contribute, nothing that I can do, nothing that makes any sense in the grand scheme of things.  Then I take a step back and recognize that there is God.  This God that I believe in still has a voice.  God can speak a word, any word, and things happen.  Forgiveness, healing, renewal, strength, direction and more.  God still has the power, and still uses the power, to bring into being order and wonder out of the chaos and nothing in life.

May God be praised for the power of God's Word!

More From Turkey

Our first evening in Istanbul, Turkey we had the occasion to walk a few blocks and ascend to the top floor of a neighboring hotel.  The report was that from the bar/cafe there was a wonderful view of the city and straights.  We weren't able to make it before sunset, our favorite time.  However, the view was spectacular at twilight.
At the moment this picture was taken there weren't many boats in view.  However a bit later, there were many freighters and ferries on the water.

Let me point out the mosque in the lower left hand area and just to the right, between the two larger buildings, a soccer game is in progress on the lighted field.  And, you may know, Istanbul is a city which sits on two continents:  Asia and Europe.

(You may click on the picture for a larger image.)

Grandson Owen

Can you believe how cute this little guy is.  He's growing up fast. 

Thought for Today!