Great job everybody! We more than doubled our miles this week, not only making landfall in Morocco, but crossing all of Algeria and ending for the week on the border of Tunisia. There are lovely cities to explore along the coast, with historical landmarks and beautiful artwork. But, since we turned in so many miles we don’t get to linger long before heading out over some interesting rocky hills and into the Sahara Desert.
Much of the area we cross in Algeria is uninhabited, with small towns located near oases. Between the oases we won’t see much but sand and we stop for the week in the Great Sand Sea, an area of rolling dunes. Be sure to fill your water bottles before you set out for next weeks walking!
This Sunday is Easter, and so our text for the week tells of Mary Magdalene arriving at Jesus’ tomb and meeting the risen Christ. This story is the inspiration for the beloved hymn “In the Garden.”
As we trudge through sand dunes we might be more likely to notice and appreciate the oasis towns we’ve passed: small patches of garden in the middle of the desert. It’s a more dramatic version of the green we see poking up through the brown grass in our own neighborhoods.
I come to the garden alone
while the dew is still on the roses
and the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
the Son of God discloses
and he walks with me and he talks with me
and he tells me I am his own
and the joys we share as we tarry there
non other has ever known.
— C. Austin Miles