Crossing Vauxhall Bridge in London, looking at Battersea Power Station (from near where we lived in Pimlico). Also snapped on an iPhone 4 (we have this blown up on the wall at home too):
Sunrise is something to look forward to on early morning rides in fall / winter and early spring... Makes it worth it to get up at 6AM on a Sunday morning...
There's a song/poem that's part of the Shabbat evening service, L’Chah Dodi. It was composed by a 16th century mystic, and supposedly was originally sung by the Kabbalists as they danced along hillsides below the town of Sfat to welcome the holy presence, the Sabbath Bride, as the sun set and Sabbath began. I always liked the story and the image of these ecstatic holy men dancing down the hills.
I happened to find myself in the town of Sfat a few years ago, now home to a mélange of modern-day mystic wannabes, endless Chasidic families, tattoo parlors and third-rate artists. My tour group had just finished a highly entertaining session with a hirsute young gentleman who fancied himself both an artist and a mystic. I was thoroughly amused and enjoying our stroll back to the tour bus through the town's ancient alleys. We came out to the parking area and saw this:
I've only had a few moments of true transcendence in my life, and this was one. The photos cannot do justice to the jaw-dropping beauty of this sunset.
If I was more of a believer, I'd say the eternal One was putting on this show just for me. Whatever the deeper truth might be, I have seldom felt more in tune with the physical world and the spiritual one than I did for the ten minutes I got to stand on this hillside.
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