Advent 2025 December 9

On my trip to Turkey, we visited a place in Cappadocia that stood out in contrast to the rest of the region, which has a distinct topography. Some photos of the norm.

Ilhara is a canyon with a creek running through the bottom, so the landscape there had more vegetation. It was a nice three-mile hike. In the canyon Christians lived and hid, and they built churches out of the rock. One had remarkable paintings of vibrant, more pastel colors.

This one is of the three wise men. What I liked about it is that their three presents are musical instruments. Instead of the stately, elaborately dressed kings with a cask each, these guys are dancing and jamming in celebration of Christ's birth!

So that is my advent thought--these ancient Christians of Asia Minor, the near Middle East, who would have been closer historically to the nativity, had a very different view of the Wise Men!

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