This weekend has been our team’s adventure weekend. We combined all of our adventure days so that some of the team could go to Greece!
Because of money and other things, two of us stayed in Bitola. We have wandered around the city and explored various corners of where we have lived for two weeks.
Today I went to Heraclea Lyncestis. Located just outside of the city, it is the ruins of an ancient city built by Philip II of Macedon. It was begun in the 4th century before Christ, and was gradually expanded on and restore over several centuries, ruled by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. The city was named after Heracles, the Greek hero. (Cue the Muses in a gospel song…)
During the time of the Romans, The amphitheater was built as the center of the city, only closing when Christianity stopped gladiator fights. Baths were built near the theatre, and the main road through the city was repaired as part of the Roman Road system. Christianity of the Roman Empire is credited with the smaller of the two basilica ruins. There are absolutely incredible mosaics on the floor, and the columns have been set back on their original feet, making this basilica the more beautiful of the two.
During the Byzantine empire, the larger basilica was built, and the city became highly prominent for the bishops who lived there. Several mosaic floors have been unearthed and preserved. They are amazing to see!!
On the way back home, I came across a graveyard. It was huge, one of the largest I’ve seen outside of the States. It was hard to believe there were any plots left, with all the hundreds of graves I could see in every direction. The granite was immaculate on most graves, and one could tell they were well-kept. Several families were around, cleaning up their loved ones’ stones and putting fresh flowers on them. Some of the better kept graves had benches next to them. The beauty of the graves was breathtaking.
Then, right in the middle those beautiful stones, stood a few graves that hadn’t been touched in years, possibly decades or centuries. The broken rocks and worn out headstones spoke of forgotten memories and lost families. It reminded me of the gravestones in the Jewish cemetery we had been cleaning up. The problem there was different. There truly are no descendants left. In 1943, every last one of the 3380 Jews in Bitola were taken to Skopje, and then to Poland. Only a few had anticipated the deportation and fled to the Polish resistance where they died fighting. The broken stones and ruined graves were spread everywhere, and decades of neglect are slowly being restored. Those who have passed may not be able to live again, but we can honor them in the highest Macedonian form: clean the grass and roots from their graves, and washing the stones. One can still read the Hebrew on many of the slabs of stone… So many stones… Lives that may have never truly know who God is…
#GodIsInControl #redefiningdisciple
#THIRD
