Mount Nebo

The last trip to Israel included the Jordan extension.
Sharing a bit about Mount Nebo. 
Mount Nebo is an elevated ridge of the Abarim 

in Jordan about 2,330 feet above sea level.

It is mentioned in the Bible

 as the place where Moses 
was granted a view of the Promised Land. 

According to the final chapter in Deuteronomy 

Moses ascended Mount Nebo to view the Land of Canaan, 

which God had said he would not enter; he died in Moab.
The serpentine cross sculpture was created by Italian artist
Giovanni Fantoni. It is symbolic of the bronze serpent
 created by Moses in the wilderness.
Numbers 21:4-9 and the cross
 upon which Jesus was crucified. John 3:14.

The view from the summit provides
 a panorama of the land, the Dead Sea and 

to the north, a more limited one
 of the valley of the River Jordan.  

The West Bank city of Jericho
 is usually visible from the summit,

 as is Jerusalem and Bethlehem 
on a very clear day.

Preserved on the site
 is a Byzantine church and monastery
 that was discovered in 1933. 
The church was first constructed
 in the second half of the 4th century
to commemorate the place of Moses' death.
(Though we don't really know the exact spot 
where he was buried.)

The mosaics of the Diakonikon  

with its hunting and pastoral scenes

 of colorful almost intact teaserae

 is one of the most remarkable mosaics in Jordan.

 It was discovered in 1976 in the Basilica

 below a simple mosaic floor.

Friend Lisa Latall stops for a photo.

Areas of green break

 the barren landscape.

When we have dry spells in our lives,

and we look to the future

 to some sort of "promised land",

it is so important to see 

and value what is right in front of us.

Even in the barren spells, 

there springs the green of hope.