Only if it were raining in Palestine. It's 30+°C daytime and 15+°C nighttime in Palestine this week according to local weather forecast. The land could certainly use some rain now. I wonder how long would the region survive on the current amount of rain-fall and water in aquifers. I hope Summer is wearing his "I'm a nice guy" spring shirt on this season!
It's funny that the town I currently live in is called Bethesda! Moving from Bethlehem, OPT to Bethesda, Wales... Hmmm...
When I looked closely at the name, I thought, "Hang-on, is this like 'Beit-Hadasa'?". Well, it could be. Then, this would indicate, to a certain extent, that this town I live in is "of Grace"! And you know what, it is! It rains all the bloody time, not that it's a bad thing. Bethesda wouldn't have been so green and amazingly stunning if it weren't for all this water falling from the sky. The lanscape is amazing; hills, mountains, valleys, waterfalls, water reservoirs, the lot. Also, the people here are so down to earth, it's unbelievable.
There are some other Biblical town names here, I mean in the UK. There is a Nazareth, a Jericho, and lots of Beth-s. I am sure that I will find more, if I keep looking.
Also, there are town names with references to saints and holy entities. Some even have 'Holy' in the name, such as Holyhead, Holywell and Holy Island.
I do remember someone telling me once that there were a group of people who genuinely believed that the Bible was referring to Wales rather than Historic (or Roman, if you are inclined to call it so) Palestine, hence all the Biblical/Holy references.
The other funny thing is, both Bethlehem and Bethesda where under the same administration some 2000 years ago. They were both part of the Roman Empire and probably would have had to use the same currency and follow the same rules, probably even intermarried. This might also explain the "dispute" concerning Jesus' story in terms of origin and location.
Jesus was a rebel. He could be classified as a revolutionary figure, in both political and spiritual terms. The Romans didn't like him, neither did the local authorities, religious and other. Jesus posed as a threat to all those who had the political and religious power at the time as they were at risk of losing the support of the people to this revolutionary, who advocated the disengagement of the status-quo and oppression, the abolishing of the class and hierarchy systems, and the living and sharing in a community based on equal rights for all.
Well, those revolutionary figures existed everywhere across the Roman Empire at the time. Jesus could have been anyone of them! Regardless, men are mortals, but "ideas are bullet proof*". You can never kill an idea...
* Alan Moore
Note: Pesda is the 'nickname' for Bethesda, used sometimes by the locals here :)
It's funny that the town I currently live in is called Bethesda! Moving from Bethlehem, OPT to Bethesda, Wales... Hmmm...
When I looked closely at the name, I thought, "Hang-on, is this like 'Beit-Hadasa'?". Well, it could be. Then, this would indicate, to a certain extent, that this town I live in is "of Grace"! And you know what, it is! It rains all the bloody time, not that it's a bad thing. Bethesda wouldn't have been so green and amazingly stunning if it weren't for all this water falling from the sky. The lanscape is amazing; hills, mountains, valleys, waterfalls, water reservoirs, the lot. Also, the people here are so down to earth, it's unbelievable.
There are some other Biblical town names here, I mean in the UK. There is a Nazareth, a Jericho, and lots of Beth-s. I am sure that I will find more, if I keep looking.
Also, there are town names with references to saints and holy entities. Some even have 'Holy' in the name, such as Holyhead, Holywell and Holy Island.
I do remember someone telling me once that there were a group of people who genuinely believed that the Bible was referring to Wales rather than Historic (or Roman, if you are inclined to call it so) Palestine, hence all the Biblical/Holy references.
The other funny thing is, both Bethlehem and Bethesda where under the same administration some 2000 years ago. They were both part of the Roman Empire and probably would have had to use the same currency and follow the same rules, probably even intermarried. This might also explain the "dispute" concerning Jesus' story in terms of origin and location.
Jesus was a rebel. He could be classified as a revolutionary figure, in both political and spiritual terms. The Romans didn't like him, neither did the local authorities, religious and other. Jesus posed as a threat to all those who had the political and religious power at the time as they were at risk of losing the support of the people to this revolutionary, who advocated the disengagement of the status-quo and oppression, the abolishing of the class and hierarchy systems, and the living and sharing in a community based on equal rights for all.
Well, those revolutionary figures existed everywhere across the Roman Empire at the time. Jesus could have been anyone of them! Regardless, men are mortals, but "ideas are bullet proof*". You can never kill an idea...
* Alan Moore
Note: Pesda is the 'nickname' for Bethesda, used sometimes by the locals here :)
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