On the Southern Seas

Hello, all!

After Israel, the BCC travels to Turkey, Greece, and Italy, as we continue on our journey through the Bible and the grounds walked on by those who wrote or received it.

Turkey is such a unique place with a unique culture, and its ruins are my favorite that we see. The ancient city of Ephesus has persevered better than most, and even in its impressive size, only a small portion of it has been excavated. I love learning about this city because it is easy, especially when you’re standing in it, to place yourself there, in the past. There is enough information about each part of the city to grasp the living a bit, during the Roman era. I have found the heart of Ephesus to be quite modern, in a way. I could almost imagine the young western university students of today roaming around its streets, through the markets, discussing the spirituality and the many philosophies of the time. It was a place of beautiful art and culture, complete with one of the largest—if not the very largest--amphitheaters to exist in its time, where crowds flocked to watch dramas and sometimes even gladiator fights. It was a large and thriving port city, on the shore of the Icarian Sea, built on green hills and down into a canyon. The polytheistic and multi-philosophical nature of the place is what reminds me of Western cities today, as does the general aesthetic of the place: the white marble and the occasional flourishes of mosaics, with trees dispersed throughout everything.

Fascinating, but also quite disturbing sometimes, is the history of this place and the context in which the book of Ephesians should be read. The social pressures and even dangers that members of the early church there faced would cause a lot of confusion and fear. Some of the cult practices were very severe and come across, to me, as a display of the desperation to find something more in this life: to go beyond what the eyes see, because the spirit knows that there is more. I think it is human nature to feel as though you are roaming around in half of a truth, blindfolded, as you walk through something unknown. there are attempts to reach out into this unknown and to grasp hold of anything that is there. This is the same across all of human history. I find it very interesting, the certain things that reoccur in so many religions—certain signs or connections that very unrelated people groups have integrated into their beliefs: such as the concepts of purpose, an afterlife, worship, and even some oddly specific things, I’ve found, such as the necessity of blood as an atonement/sacrifice, the heavy imagery of stars and trees, and even stories of messianic deities.

In Turkey, we mainly stay in a beach town called Kusadasi, where we study the books of 1st and 2nd Kings, Haggai, and Ephesians. It is a really beautiful place: a perfect place for afternoon swims in the ocean, out to the little lighthouse, and runs at sunset, along the beach, to a castle and back. There is really good coffee everywhere: my personal favorite drink there is an iced Turkish coffee, served in a tall glass with dark chocolate shavings on top. There are several things to do nearby and my favorite has to be the Turkish bath, complete with a full body massage and a facial treatment. It’s a very unique experience and it’s so good for your skin. I would highly recommend it if the opportunity ever arises for you.

All of these things that I’m enjoying are for a much lower price than they would be for in any Western country, which is also very nice.

After Kusadasi, we spend a couple of days in Istanbul, where you can roam around markets, explore beautiful architecture, and enjoy delicious food and deserts. We went during a Muslim holiday, so the streets were definitely more chaotic than they had been the last time I was there and the Grand Bazaar was not open, unfortunately. I decided to spend my day off starting at the archeological museum there,

which is amazing, especially if you are a Bible/history nerd. There are artifacts from eras as ancient as the Hittite civilization and both the Assyrian and Babylonian empires: stuff that is right out of the Old Testament, it’s incredible. I find that I am becoming more and more like my Dad, in the way that I speak about history and the way that I enjoy museums, reading each and every one of the plaques. I’m honestly very okay with that. After the museum, I bought some Turkish towels, which are always lovely, and some Turkish delight (which unfortunately met a dreadful end back in Switzerland which involves maggots and permanent emotional damage to me.)

My day ended wonderfully, as I enjoyed a rooftop dinner with three of my wonderful students. We had really delicious food on the rooftop of a hotel in the heart of Istanbul, with a view of the sun setting beyond the blue mosque, that glowed with a romantic sort of light, and of the boats drifting along the water, as black birds flew overhead. I couldn’t have asked for a better evening or for better company to enjoy it with. I really love these women so much.

Greece is awesome because that is where we study 1st Corinthians and visit the ruins of the ancient city, Corinth. For this book, instead of lectures, the students have research that they do for themselves and actually present the book the each other, by taking on the different topics/issues that are brought up in the letter. They study the issues inductively, making observations and interpretations based on context

and their understanding of the Corinthian culture during the time that the book was written. I remember how studying this book was huge for me because there are a lot of challenging/controversial questions that it brings up and I had the freedom to ask those questions and to search, critically, for the answers, not leaving them until I was satisfied with what I had. I also find that when you explain something to another person, you actually gain a better understanding of it, yourself.

We stay at a place near Athens, where there is, again, a beautiful beach to enjoy and swim at, with crystal clear waters (it’s perfect for night swims too.) On my day off, I went to Athens, and since I saw all of the main sites there last year, I decided to take more of a chill day, walking around alone, getting a smoothie bowl, and reading. Then, by crazy chance, this tattoo artist that I had been following on Instagram and messaging had a sudden cancelation, so I actually went in that day and got a tattoo. I got a pomegranate on my arm. It has a lot of significance to me, as a symbol, because it is an image used a lot in Solomon’s Temple, as a representation of the beauty, life, and prosperity of the Garden of Eden, where God had perfect unity with man; man serving as his image in the garden that was the temple, where heaven met earth. Later, this unity is in the temple. Jesus becomes the perfect temple--God and man unified--as do we, as inheritors of his Holy Spirit. Our unity with God is his victory, and it is emphasized in the book of Revelation, where the Tree of Life is once again.

Also, pomegranates are just very delicious and I don’t know anyone with a tattoo of one.

I really loved the work she did. She does black dotwork, at Athens Tattoo Studio, and her name is Mairy Bubble, if you are ever planning on traveling in that area! The service was amazing and she is a lovely person, making the experience very pleasant.

I'm writing this quite late, but I will write next about our time in Rome and what we learned there, as well as back in Switzerland.

Thank you, as always, for reading. You can always join my mailing list to receive regular newsletters about my ministry, just message me and let me know if you are interested.

-- Emily Kathey

#bible #travel #europe