Pilgrims value Christ above all

What a day! We started in Philippians 3:7-11, considering for ourselves in modern times what it means to shift from what we are accustomed to or think that we want for ourselves to realizing that we have all we need and with Christ, we are missing nothing.  In the true spirit of missing nothing, we set out for several big sites today and were able to experience with awe and wonder the incredible discoveries that Greece has to offer us.

We drove outside of Athens a bit, on our way to ancient Corinth.  We made a stop at the Corinth Canal and, admittedly thought that it was going to be just some bridge over a river.  It was more like a jaw-dropping view of a gorge that in ancient times connected the Aegean and Ionic seas, creating an important east-west trade route that centered in Corinth.  It is WAY too narrow for modern ships now, but was still fascinating to imagine what it was like in its hey-day some 2000 years ago.

We then rolled into Ancient Corinth - or of course, what remains of it - and were able to view some impressive remains of the Temple of Apollo and wander the grounds, just as Paul did when he visited and lived in this city.  Corinth was a strategic and interesting stop for Paul.  Known to be a city of luxury and corruption because of it's great wealth, this was a skeptical audience, one not easily swayed or ready to accept Paul's teachings and words of Jesus Christ.  Paul has his troubles in Corinth, yet he visited and wrote them several times, resulting in what we know in the new Testament as 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians.

A few fun facts for you - 1 Corinthians is considered to be the best preserved of all the writings in the New Testament, for it was translated and recorded in such a way that it was carried forward in as close to a "pure" and authentic form as possible.  Also, 2 Corinthians is widely believed to actually be two separate letters to the people of Corinth, but somewhere along the translation they were pushed together as one.  All of the bible study info aside, 1 and 2 Corinthians are often on the "favorite" lists when listing popular and meaningful scripture. We heard a bit from 1 Cor 11:23-34...a very familiar text and connection to the Christian theology around the Eucharist.

The afternoon was spent in Mycenae, visiting both the Acropolis and Tomb of Agamemnon. Dating all the way back to the ancient conflict between the Greeks and Trojans, this was a beautiful valley with a fascinating story, and lots of sights to see.  The pilgrims hiked and sweated it out in the hot Greek sun, but it was a journey fully worth it, as you can see from our amazing PHOTOS here.

Tomorrow we will depart Athens and travel north for more pilgrimage journeys.  As a side note to those of you wondering about the news of riots in Greece...they are not riots, they are demonstrations and they are not aimed at Americans, but rather at their own government as the issue of work week, pay for government employees and a few other austerity measures are under debate to get their economy back on track.  We have experienced no issues of hostility and have at no time been at any risk of violence or had issues with safety.  Things are great and we are enjoying ourselves - and these experiences - immensely.