Introduction

Sometimes people ask for signs; some indication that they are on the right path. Often times we are disappointed when it seems no sign presents itself as we might imagine. Other times there are so many options and we must make a decision on which path to take. But, more often, signs - if there are any - go by unrecognized.

There is a small and often overlooked archaeological site on the western side of the Sea of Galilee called Kursi. It was recognized in the 5th century as the location where Jesus cast demons into swine after which the swine jumped off a cliff and ran into the sea (Matthew 8:28-9:1, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39). There was no town built there, just a monastery on the cliff and a church below that.
It is an interesting site with nice Byzantine mosaics, but one thing that caught our attention as we visited Kursi last weekend was a sign on the path from the church to the remains of the cliff-side monastery. Now, this was a small dirt path that snaked up the hill; but it was only one path – no forks in the road, no options for the hour-long hiking route up the cliff, just a simple dirt path that ended at the monastery. The sign was an arrow, obviously pointing in the direction of the path. But we found it funny that the sign also spelled out directions in both English and Hebrew: “follow the arrow.” That is the sort of sign we long for in our lives, isn't it? The arrow pointing us in the direction we were already heading, and blatantly explaining to us, “yes, this is the way, just follow this arrow.”

Of course, there are never are such signs in our lives, but sometimes when we have an opportunity to think about our experiences we can find points that, in retrospect, we might like to call signs. Maybe they are events that help us determine a next step in our lives, or new goals we hope to accomplish. Or, maybe they are just chance encounters that spark a new interest, or give us new insights into something we never knew we needed to know. Or, maybe, it is literally a sign that helps us solve a particular problem, like: “what should we name our blog?”

So, this blog will be our means of communicating those events, perspectives and other experiences that seem meaningful, interesting, or just fun. We welcome you to join us on our journey through this year in the Holy Land where, whether recognized or not, we hope to be:

“Following the arrows”