Wrap Up

 

 

   My friend and fellow writer Ginny Graham asked me to write posts about the towns mentioned in the New Testament (NT). In early December I had posted about the city of Tyre because I had heard an interesting account about Tyre's resistance to a siege laid by Alexander the Great. Ginny found my post interesting and suggested that I write about other cities that appear in the NT.. 

   I’m always game for the strange and the weird and imagined my posts about the NT towns could be turned into a pamphlet later to be sold or given away at churches. Logically, I should have written about Sidon, Tyre’s sister city. But with Christmas coming up I opted for Bethlehem and Nazareth. What interests me most about these cities and towns is what it's like there today and could I go there. Many people are leery about visiting Israel today though it’s fairly safe if you use a guide and avoid protests and demonstrations. 

   Next was Jerusalem. This was the most fun city to write about. I want to go there. It’s on my list. Posts on Jericho, Gaza City and Capernaum followed. I’m always amazed at what I didn't know till I looked it up and I'm also amazed at how quickly I forget what I’ve learned after a few weeks. As I was writing my post about Cana the other day Teresa asked if I was writing another of my Bible stories. I asked if she found them boring. Not boring she said, but she couldn't put her finger on what they were. If she had said "out there" I wouldn't have minded as long as she didn't find them boring.

   Being boring is for me the great sin. That's why I enjoy being around boring people. They never find me boring because they're too busy being boring themselves. That's one reason I went into social work. Social Workers spend a lot of time listening to boring people who won't listen to their counselor's advice on how to solve their problems. In my field, gerontology, my client and I often muddled along until they died. Death is boredom's end.

   Social Work itself is boring. My social work classes were intensely boring. Statistics was actually the most riveting class I had. The only thing that kept me going was my classmates. Most of my classmates had good senses of humor which is essential for a social worker to not become hateful.

   I've now hit rock bottom with my New Testament towns. Cana was mainly interesting because no one is sure now exactly where it was. One Cana candidate has two large water jars that their caretakers believe were used for the water to wine miracle. I love that goofiness in history. I once saw an old jail key at a local flea market with a tag that read "Used during the Civil War ". No argument about that.

   There are still a couple of dozen more towns mentioned in the New Testament on my list but they're peripheral places - spots where Jesus fed 5,000 say, or where the the 2,000 pigs dashed off a cliff into the sea. It's been a good run with the towns, but enough is enough. By February 6 I need a new post. What shall it be? February 6 is the anniversary of Domingo de Salazar's appointment as bishop of Manila in 1579.

   Salazar was an interesting man. He was a Dominican priest who served in Mexico, explored Florida and spent his last 15 years as bishop of Manila. He worked to prevent the exploitation of indigenous peoples in Spain's colonies. My post could then go on to talk about my own time in the Philippines. Like the time I was telling a story to a bunch of American and Filipino friends. Most Filipinos speak fairly good English. When I finished my yarn, one of the Filipinos said, "Joe, your story was very...." As he struggled for the adjective, I thought he'd say "boring", but he said "interesting". I felt good, while remembering that Filipinos are the politest people in the world.