God created the heavens and the earth, and all that dwell therein, and it was good. The Nabateans, however, are a close second. Working over two thousand years ago, this industrious tribe built Petra on what was already present in their land, fashioning the available landscape of canyons and ravines into a marvelous complex of…
Author: jmschaller
Castles in the Sand
Today we began our “loop trip” through the south of Jordan, a five day jaunt that will bring us back to Amman on Thursday night, in preparation for our Friday morning flight home. Our first stop today was the town of Mukawir, the site of Herod’s “summer castle”. Approaching the castle is in itself a…
Finding Nebo
Today our journey took us south from Amman about twenty miles, to Mount Nebo and the town of Madaba. We passed through gently rolling terrain, gradually climbing to a height of about 2,500 feet as we reached the top of Mount Nebo. This is the location from where it is said that God finally showed…
Finding Nebo
Today our journey took us south from Amman about twenty miles, to Mount Nebo and the town of Madaba. We passed through gently rolling terrain, gradually climbing to a height of about 2,500 feet as we reached the top of Mount Nebo. This is the location from where it is said that God finally showed…
There Is a Bus in Gilead
Today we visited historic sites in the northern portion of Jordan, in an area which in our Old Testament readings is known as Gilead. The area has been populated for centuries, due to the availability of fertile land and reasonable amounts of water. Our first destination is Umm Qeis, a historic site about twenty miles…
There Is a Bus in Gilead
Today we visited historic sites in the northern portion of Jordan, in an area which in our Old Testament readings is known as Gilead. The area has been populated for centuries, due to the availability of fertile land and reasonable amounts of water. Our first destination is Umm Qeis, a historic site about twenty miles…
Down the Rabbit Hole
As we gather in the departure lounge in preparation for boarding our Royal Jordanian Airways flight, a sense of the “familiar” begins to gradually melt away. Strange accents, different facial features, headscarves on many of the women, kafirs on the some of the men, a smattering of Sikh turbans, the occasional thobe. Writing begins to…
Crossing Jordan
In Matthew 11: 2-15 Jesus asks, “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? A man dressed in fine clothes? A prophet?” These questions are very relevant for me personally. What am I going out to the desert to see? For that matter, why am I going…
Why Am I Here?
The “I” in the title can refer to either the reader or the author. I cannot answer the question for you, only for me. Here is a question to ponder: when a long-since-deceased artist made these paintings in the caves of Lascaux, was the artist creating art for the world to see and admire, or…
Hawaii Photos
A photo gallery of my trip to Hawaii in 2004 is available by using the right and left arrows on the image below to view all of my photos from this trip.