Bibles Are Open-Christianity Comes Out From Underground

Oh What a Beautiful Morning, Oh What a Beautiful Day!

Saturday in Kusadasi dawned lovely and sunny.. We were up early, bags out and boarding the bus. Our cruise ship awaits, a deep royal blue, docked in a thriving port of rug and jewelry shops-the common currency of cruise passengers world wide.

What do you do when the tour company sends a guide that speaks no English and has never led a group aboard ship? The answer-stand in a mobbed area, in the wrong place, watching passengers board the ship, until the good Lord sent an angel in the form of another Tour Guide leading a group from Mexico, to return to assist the stranded PPC pilgrims.

Safely on board, we settle in, then weigh anchor on our way to Patmos, the northernmost Greek island, and home to the site where John received the vision to write Revelations.

For now, we enjoy the glory of the water, the harbor, Greek music, and the port of Kusadasi. Farewell Turkey, we saw the bustle of Istanbul, the majesty of the Blue Mosque, the early villages and the footsteps of Paul echoing in Ephesus. We await the Revelations of Greece.

The ship glides along the Aegean Sea reaching the port in Patmos in early afternoon. The travel bug continues to fell our pilgrims, but the stalwart march on just as Paul travelled

The population of Patmos is 3000, with tourism being the number one source of income, specifically visiting the sites of St. John the theologian. It is in a lovely place of whitewashed buildings and stunning vistas of the sea.

Our first stop is the Holy Monastery of St. John, set high on a hill,and a grueling walk up a steep incline. The reward at the top is a Greek Orthodox Chapel, commissioned in 1088 AD. Icons, silver and ornate ancient wood carvings create a gorgeous, but busy space, still used for services today. Twenty monks live and work here, and in keeping with our animal sightings, care for a lovely large cat. Perhaps most amazing for us, we are beginning to connect the passages from Revelations 1 to the pictures on the icons and the cities we have visited: Ephesus, Smyrna(Izmir), Sardis and Laodecia! The seven churches in seven cities is a recurring theme-who knew! The final museum piece of note was an icon of Jesus painted by El Greco-originally from Crete.

We then brought Christianity out from underground and went to the Cave of the Apocalypse. This is THE site where John wrote Revelations, receiving the word from God. An earthquake occurred while John lived in the cave, creating a crack in the shape of the Trinity. If we were in a cave during an earthquake , we would certainly be seeking God's word. But, walking on stones and touching the walls of such an ancient and holy space is an amazing opportunity. Doing it with fellow PPC pilgrims=priceless.

Susan and Robert Haynes