Examine Our Prisms

Day 336 – I took the day off today and I spent the whole day with my son. We drove to Nazareth and saw the Annunciation church; we even went into this very beautiful and modern church. It was a little unsettling to see all the signs around this holly church quoting passes from the Quran such as “and whoever seeks religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers” I have to admit, I didn’t like this open display of disagreement, I would even go one step further and say verbal violence. The city’s population used to be almost entirely Christians, but at present they are only 31% of the population, and signs as the one I just quoted are highlighting this shift. it made me a little sad to see that. Later we drove through the very narrow allies of Kafr Kanna looking for a pretty mosque we saw from the road; it’s funny how such a big thing can “get lost” when we wondered through the village’s roads, but after almost an hour we found it.  We ended the day in Tiberias, the city on the edge of the sea of Galilee; we wondered the city and visited some archeological sites, in short a very productive day. But the most important part of the day was spending time with my son, getting into some very philosophical discussions about tolerance, prejudice and such, being challenged to examine our prisms through which we see the world; A very eye opening day, in more ways than we care to admit.
I am thankful for such a wonderful day; for all the sites we visited, for all the wonderful conversations we had throughout the day. I am so very tired after such a long day that all I can think about is my bed. I am thankful for that and I am leaving my desk right now, for a good night sleep.