CLOSE TO WHAT THE OASIS AT EIN GEDI LOOKED LIKE

We traveled to Jerusalem. One stop took us to where David hid from King Saul in Ein Gedi.

Also called the Spring of the Goat, Ein Gedi was a series of caves and rocks in the desert with only scrub brush and acacia trees dotting the landscape. Ibex, hyrax, gazelle, antelope, and leopard inhabit the area. On the day we were there, no leopards or antelopes were visible.

1 Samuel 24 tells the story of David's cutting of Saul's robe, yet sparing him because Saul was God's anointed. Saul responded telling David, "you have repaid good for evil." It was so easy to visualize this scene and imagine exactly where it happened above in one of the caves.

After one final climb, we reached the pool being filled by one of three beautiful waterfalls. "I was being respectful to her. I baptized her. A new tradition. Courtney terrorized me." These were Pastor Rob Wagner's words explaining the dunking of our daughter and her reciprocal reaction.

There were lots of others there that day who had made the climb. One group even threw their protesting teacher in. Whether they baptized her or terrorized her was open to interpretation. Ein Gedi was awesome with the beautiful waterfalls emptying into refreshing pools.

In one of the caves next to the pools there was a guard who would set down his machine gun to give a helping hand to a climber. I talked to him for a while. He had been to Arizona and liked it. I saw him later again that day at a food court. He smiled and waved. He was one of three armed guards at the site. It was a common sight in Israel to see people armed with machine guns. It is just a way of life for them.

I was reminded of Saul's words again about repaying good for evil.