Saying farewell (again, and for now) to Kos, and headed off to Patmos. This tiny island is chalk full of history! The book of the apocalypse was written by Saint John in the cave monastery. Apparently when he laid down with his head In the rock while his right hand was in another crevice, God spoke to him, and a scribe took down the end of the world...no I am not making this up, this is how the book of the apocalypse came to be, and what Mr. Rapture priest dude is looking to as fact. Now, if you're a devout Christian, I implore you, stop reading now...because umm REALLY? WTF? Mork and Mindy nanoo nanoo comes to mind. The rock with your antenna hand was a conduit to hearing how the world would end...alrighty then sir. Wonder if he were alive today if Saint John would have his own TV channel, or a straight jacket. Please don't get me wrong, religion can teach a lot, and has its purpose...but remember where it came from, humans. Humans who were struggling to make sense of the world around them just as much as you do. Give yourself a break, And remember the lessons...maybe remember things are lost over time, and through translation, perhaps a strict view, is a skewed view. From the cave where an exiled St. John had his scribe take down the book of revelation, we motored on to Petra, a beach dominated by a huge rock...with many of its own myths and legends. It's been lived on/in by hermits, and there are stairs, fire pits, and even a cistern left behind. There's a door that supposedly leads to a cave left by the famous pirate Barbarossa....but because a mineral was found on the rock that leads scientists to believe the rock came from space (mineral isn't found on earth) the rock is now a monument, and opening the cavern is illegal...I wonder if sonar would be useful? (no there is nothing keeping anyone from climbing or living on the rock, and apparently during the summer some people still do live there...) from here we went up to another (no longer opened, and now used for cell towers) monastery at the highest point of the island to watch the sunset. Back to town around 9, and booked our ferry tickets to Samos...seriously America, this whole everything shuts down at 6(ish) thing...is going to take a bit of adjustment. I kinda wonder....do we really work more than the Europeans? Or is it perception? True we only get 2 weeks of vacation, to the norm of 6 here (or the off season for the Greek aisles/Turkish coast line) but on the flip side, we have an end to our work day, and weekends. Here, people work from 8am with maybe a 4 hour break until 1am, or from 8pm till 4am from May through October...no weekends off, not even a day off (unless they're sick, or there's a strike) granted, this isn't the corporate world...however, still, makes me wonder.
"My religion is love"- Amma
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." — Mother Teresa
"As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it." -Mahatma Gandhi
When asked to march against war, Mother Teresa declined, stating: "when you march for peace, I will join you."
"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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