Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in spirit, and I believe that spirit is often communicated through the mouths of men and
women, of people moved by a desire to touch others, to remind us that we are whole and
loved.
As Mihali had explained over tea, “Yes, friend. Ephesus very beautiful city, but more
beautiful, Ephesus is city of God.”
How could I say no to the City of God?
In the morning, I siphoned off some gas from Mihali's stash (with his permission, of
course) and was on my way to Ephesus. Several hours later, I walked up to the ancient site
where Paul himself once stood, where he shared his experience of Christ with the ancient
Greeks who once inhabited this land. But as I quickly found out, if I wanted to see the
UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ephesus, I needed more than faith, hope, and love. I also
needed cash. All four quickly arrived in the form of a Dutch couple who offered to buy my
ticket. I would like to say I convinced them, but I believe it was another case of the charm
of Kindness One.
The temple of Artemis was a renowned structure even before Paul arrived to preach the
Gospel of Christ. Standing there, I was truly taken aback by the grandeur of this historical
marvel built over two thousand years ago. I walked through the broken ruins, and I could
feel again those lives that had passed through it. So many lives. So many stories. So many
wonderful acts of goodness and hope, pain and betrayal. And in that moment, it was as
though history had stopped, as though past and present were one and the same. We have
been here for so long, I thought, and yet we barely get the chance to be here at all. In a
matter of years, I would no longer be walking through this world. Someone else's footsteps
would replace mine, just as I now walked in those of others.
I stepped into the old library, where Paul himself once sat, writing the letters that would
later become Acts. I breathed in the musty air, feeling connected to this spirit from long
ago. As I imagined Paul writing those words—“But the greatest of these is love”—I could
feel his footprints below mine, two thousand years later, his words still lingering amid the
ruins.
I continued my tour and ended up at the amphitheater where Paul gave his sermons of
peace and kindness, and where he was eventually arrested and sentenced to death. He later
escaped the city of Ephesus, which he had made his home and the center of his congrega-
tion.
Ultimately it was Paul's message of love that led him to be punished by the powerful
Ephesians. That message had earned him many enemies. Throughout history, too many
