Ruminations on Israel: KEYS

Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

The pictures have been retrieved from the disposable camera and I have put them into my trip journal; I'm going to need to print a few of the ones I took with other devices because there were a couple of days/places that I was just so absorbed in the location that I *forgot* to pull out the disposable for my designated pictures.

So, here was the deal: we were told about a week before we left that we were going to be provided a journal for the trip, and we were to get 'a word for the day' for each day and then see what God would say/show us regarding that word...and the disposable camera was specifically to take pictures regarding that word on each day.

So I started, well, paying attention.  And it was interesting...over the course of the next few days, I would either be speaking to someone or thinking about something and one of the words would kind of echo in my head.  So I just wrote those words down on 3x 5 cards...and I had 7 words before we left.  My plan was to randomly draw a word for each day.

When I got the journal, I discovered that Rita had included pages for the travel time as well; I didn't have words for those days, lol!  So my 'word' discussion actually starts on the first day we were touring/ traveling in Israel...Saturday May 25th.  And the word I drew for Saturday was 'Keys'.

Now, I remembered why 'Keys' was one of the words.  I had a moment when I realized I would not need to take ANY keys with me for the trip...not car keys, not house keys, not work keys...my luggage didn't require keys so...no keys.  To my surprise, the idea of not having keys left me feeling odd; maybe even slightly vulnerable.  Interesting.  So it went on a 3x5.  And we had a fair amount of bus travel time for me to ponder keys as we traveled from Tel Aviv to Tiberias, catching a couple of sites on the way.

Keys represent security...control...authority...access.  I wrote "...maybe 'keys' isn't a word about locking/unlocking but about what makes me feel safe, secure and prepared."

I read somewhat from the Psalms of Ascent as we were traveling about heading ultimately to Jerusalem, and this was from the day's reading in Ps. 121:

The LORD will keep you from all evil, he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever more.

Y'all...as I read that it hit me: GOD HOLDS ALL MY KEYS.

But as the day progressed...I discovered that 'key' has its own additional meaning.

The first site we visited was Caesarea Maritime, built by Herod, who built pretty impressive stuff.  There's an amphitheater there, with a fair amount of the structure remaining, that is still being used today; in fact, they were setting up for a concert while we toured the area.

  It was a port of some importance; and it was where Christianity first came to the Gentiles, when Peter came to Cornelius and preached the gospel to his friends and family.  It was there that Paul was held, first by Felix and then by Festus, and where he made his defense before King Agrippa, and from where he sailed on his journey to Rome for his trial before Caesar. Some of the mosiacs and the reflecting pool from the palace are still visible. Later that night, I wrote in my journal, 'Such a key place' purely by accident.

But the pic of the day came from our next stop...Mount Carmel...after an amazing meal at a restaurant owned by a Druze family (it was the Sabbath, after all, so no Jewish businesses were open).  We were the only folks there, but they had a spread.  The father introduced himself to us, saying 'My family is very happy to serve you dinner.  Please, come, eat!'  It was kinda like a church potluck in arrangement but it was very good.  I'm not terribly fond of falafel, but politely took some when it was urged on me and found that it was much, much better than the falafel I have eaten in Alabama...go figure, lol!

I thought we would have to hike up to the top, but the parking lot is right up by the summit; all we had to do was walk to the building there and climb the stairs to the observation platform.    I was not the only person there from our church; the pastors (husband/wife team) from one of our campuses also came, and I stood next to them overlooking the vast valley of Meggido (aka Armegeddon) and he commented, 'This is such a key location'.

I felt like Groucho Marx when someone said the secret word and immediately took a picture.

My sense of direction got a little skewed, but I'm pretty sure this is looking east...maybe a pinch southeast. 

And it hit me...keys are not only locking/ unlocking but also can also mean 'strategic'...well-planned, well-placed, in the right place at the right time, present at the moment of need.  And I realized that Elijah, in calling down the fire that day,  prayed,  "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.  Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."  (1 Kings 18:36b -37).

In other words, there was a strategy at work here.  God had a plan. Once again...God has the key...planned and executed at HIS word, in His time.

As I recorded all this that night, I thought...this is going to be great.