Daily Dispatch: March 14, 2010

By Josh Tapper

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The Treasury in Petra, Jordan. (Lim Wui Liang/Journey to Jerusalem)

PETRA, Jordan — It’s possible that without the infinite benevolence of Professor Goldman, this daily dispatch would have been about the confines of our hotel and not the rock-cut splendor of Petra, one of the new Seven Wonders of the World and jewel of Jordan’s tourism industry.

An early morning departure mix-up left me stranded as the rest of the Covering Religion class rode the bus to Petra. I managed to contact our tour guide, and after some cajoling from my classmates Goldman agreed to turn the bus around. “It was against my better judgment,” he told me facetiously (I think). “It’s because you have friends. I did it under duress.”

In any case, the bus came back to get me and before long we were at the doorstep of Petra’s vast, serpentine canyon or, as our guide put it, a “well-respected gorge.” Constructed around 2,500 years ago, Petra was the capital city of the Nabataeans, a pre-Roman pagan civilization. But of singular importance, it appeared in the final scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where Indy and his dad ride off into a luminous sunset.

We followed the cobbled limestone path through the canyon, past jagged red sandstone protrusions and verdant trees poking out of the smooth rock façade. The trip was organized as a respite from religion, an opportunity to indulge ourselves as tourists. And what a tourist jaunt it was: geriatrics lazed in horse-drawn carts commandeered by Bedouins; locals hocked tchotchkes and mule rides, or “desert taxis”; and at some points the site looked like a promotional video for Tilley Hats.

Even still, the experience hit some of us on a raw emotional level. “Right now, I feel like I did yesterday at Mt. Nebo,” said Maia Efrem. “How many thousands of eyes have looked at this, and how many millions of feet have walked here? I think that everything in the Middle East – architecture, nature, religion – dwarfs you as a human being. It’s way too big for you to comprehend. Walking here, you’re just another pawn. And you just fall in because you don’t mind being a pawn.”

We hit Petra’s climax at the foot of the Treasury (Al Kazneh), an ornate, columned building lit by a pool of light. It’s grandiosity sneaks up on you while exiting the dim canyon. “It’s hard for me to fathom how they constructed things like that back in the day,” said Mamta Badkar, referring to the structure’s sheer grandiosity.

We hung out for a while, sauntering around the sandy hummock. I, and a few others, planted some amorous kisses on a snorting, doe-eyed camel. But minutes later, we spotted an Evangelical Christian group holding an impromptu outdoor service and jumped into “journalist mode.” Now, maybe it was divine intervention that we hit such a fortuitous moment. Or maybe that 30-minute delay I caused actually paid off.

The group was from the Horizon Christian Fellowship, a so-called non-denominational church from San Diego, that’s following, as they put it, “in the footsteps of Moses” through Egypt and Jordan. Many of us were ignorant of Petra’s religious significance, acknowledging its historical importance in Antiquity, but casting aside its role in Scripture. But, according to unnamed “scholars” quoted by the group’s pastor, Bob Botsford, Petra was a stop on Moses’ trek back from Sinai. He led the Israelites to the area, where he met with the king of the Edomites.

Botsford, a sinewy man with close-cropped hair, sunglasses and khaki cargo shorts, stood holding a Bible in front of his traveling congregation. “There will be many people who will come to Petra in the last days,” he said, referring to the time when Jesus would come to judge the earth. “Theologians have come to Petra knowing it would be a place of safety and refuge, knowing it will be a safe place.” He claimed that Bible tracts have been buried in the caves and rocky bluffs, which will serve those who flock to Petra when the Rapture comes.

A cool breeze swirled through the makeshift nave as Botsford implored his group of 40 to “take refuge under the Lord’s wings.” Amid Petra’s immeasurable scope, Botsford’s words had a gentle resonance. “We need to be the ones listening to the voice of God and listening to his bible,” he preached. “We shouldn’t be listening to the voice of the world, but listening to that still, small voice.”

The Horizon members I talked to said that walking in what they believed were the footsteps of Moses was a transcendental sensation. To be in Petra, and other stops, is to see the Truth reveal itself, they said. (I couldn’t help but think of the Indiana Jones’s hapless companion Marcus Brody and his cautionary words: “You’re messing with powers you can’t possibly comprehend.”)

Back on our trek through the “rose-red city” I was struck by just how diametrically different a trip of pilgrims and a group of journalists can be. After all, Pastor Bob was there to save souls and we were there to do religion journalism. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the pastor managed to post his blog about meeting us before I could write about meeting him. Oh well. I guess I missed the bus again.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 2:04 am and is filed under Daily Dispatches and tagged with Daily Dispatch, Horizons Christian Fellowship, Joshua Tapper, Lim Wui Liang, Petra. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.