\u21d2\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u30da\u30fc\u30b8\u306f\u3053\u3061\u3089\u3092\u30af\u30ea\u30c3\u30af\u3057\u3066\u306d\uff01<\/span><\/a><\/p>\nThe path up the hill began just behind the house.
\nAt first, it was wide and firmly packed, because children leading sheep and goats walked there every day.<\/p>\n
Halfway up the hill, the land opened into grassy pastures, perfect for feeding animals.In each household, young children were given this job.
\nFamilies without children asked their neighbors\u2019 children to take their animals along.<\/p>\n
In return, they paid a small reward or shared vegetables and fruit from their fields.<\/p>\n
Partway up, the path split in two.
\nThe left path led into the pasture, while the right path climbed all the way to a hilltop with a wonderful view.<\/p>\n
On clear days, you could see all of Nazareth spread out below, and far beyond it, the western horizon where the great sea lay.<\/p>\n
To the north rose Mount Hermon and the mountains of Lebanon.<\/p>\n
If you were lucky, you could even catch a tiny sparkle of sunlight reflecting off the Sea of Galilee.<\/p>\n
To the south, Mount Carmel stood tall, its gentle slopes like the graceful curve of a beautiful woman\u2019s neck.
\nYou could not go there on the Sabbath, but on ordinary days, from the far side of the hill , you could see the Jordan River and wide open plains.
\nNazareth was truly a place of beautiful views.<\/p>\n
Luke climbed the hill for the first time with a heart full of excitement.
\nSmall purple flowers he had never seen before grew in clusters along the slope.<\/p>\n
At the fork in the road, he turned right and headed for the top.
\nHe soon found a spot halfway up that he liked best\u2014it looked out over the town of Nazareth.
\nThere were rocky places where he could sit down and gaze quietly at the scenery.<\/p>\n
The breeze felt good on his skin.
\nHe slipped into a hollow where a rock cast a cool shadow.
\nIt felt like a secret hideout.
\nLuke stayed there for a while, very still.
\nHe felt as if he had been here before.<\/p>\n
Next time, he thought, I\u2019ll bring Theophilus too.
\nHe had named his cat after his best friend.<\/p>\n
As Luke searched for another rocky hollow, he suddenly froze.
\nSomething was there.
\nIn the dark shadow ahead, it seemed as if something was breathing.<\/p>\n
Luke stared carefully\u2014and then a human face appeared.
\nIt blinked.
\nSuddenly, it stood up.
\nA person stepped out.<\/p>\n
He wore clothes the same color as the rocks, and his head was covered, so all Luke could see was part of his face and the gentle rise and fall of his chest.<\/p>\n
The person spoke.
\n\u201cHello. You\u2019re Luke, aren\u2019t you? Welcome to the hill.\u201d
\nLuke was so surprised that no sound came out.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh! Did I scare you? I\u2019m sorry, I didn\u2019t mean to,\u201d the boy said, pulling back his head covering.<\/p>\n
He was about Luke\u2019s age.
\nThe wind stirred his long hair.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like you like this rocky place too,\u201d the boy said.
\n\u201cThis is one of my favorite spots. I come here to think about the brave heroes and people of faith from long ago.
\nI imagine rocks where David hid while he was running away, or the rock Moses struck to bring out water.
\nDoesn\u2019t that rock over there look like Mount Sinai?\u201d<\/p>\n
Luke noticed something else, too.
\nHe understood every word the boy was saying.
\nAnd that was because the boy was speaking Greek.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can speak Greek,\u201d Luke said at last.
\n\u201cYes,\u201d the boy replied.
\n\u201cMy father taught me\u2014the human one,\u201d he added with a smile.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s a carpenter, very skilled. People from many towns ask him for help, and I go along sometimes.
\nMore and more people around here speak Greek, so I learned it naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luke asked the question that had been on his mind.
\n\u201cAre you the one they call the \u2018Singer\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHahaha!\u201d
\nThe boy laughed loudly.<\/p>\n
Then he stood on a rock, took a deep breath, and began to sing softly in Hebrew.
\nHis voice grew stronger and echoed across the hill.<\/p>\n
How lovely is Your dwelling place,<\/span>
\nMy soul longs for Your courts.<\/span>
\nI will sing praise to Your glorious Name,<\/span>
\nI will sing praise.<\/span>
\nOne day in Your courts is better than a thousand.<\/span>
\nI love Your house, O Holy One,<\/span>
\nI love Your house.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s a good song, isn\u2019t it?\u201d the boy said.
\n\u201cI wrote it while thinking about my Father\u2019s house in Jerusalem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes your father have a house in Jerusalem?\u201d Luke asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHahaha!\u201d
\nThe boy laughed again, tears in his eyes.
\n\u201cYes\u2014my Father\u2019s house.
\nCome with me during the next festival. It will be a wonderful journey.
\nMy mother says your mother and she were best friends as children.
\nThey always went to the festivals together.
\nNext time is the Festival of Booths\u2014the Festival of Light.
\nJerusalem will glow with lamps.
\nAt night, it\u2019s so bright, it looks like daytime\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
The boy gazed up at the sky, closed his eyes with a peaceful smile, and became still.
\nOnly his breathing gently moved his chest.<\/p>\n
Luke didn\u2019t fully understand, but he stood up too and closed his eyes.
\nHe felt the warm sunlight.
\nHe smelled summer grass.
\nA cool breeze brushed his skin.<\/p>\n
When he opened his eyes, his mother\u2019s town spread out before him, fields shining all around it.
\nI\u2019m in my mother\u2019s land, he thought.
\nTears quietly slipped down his cheeks.<\/p>\n
Luke listened as the singing boy spoke and sang.
\nThe boy even showed him where a rock owl nested, its big round eyes blinking cutely.
\nLuke heard the call of a rock partridge, though he couldn\u2019t see it.
\n\u201cChuk, chuk, chuk\u00e1\u2014chako, chako, chako!\u201d<\/p>\n
The boy explained that the rock partridge was a beautiful bird, like a dove but larger, with bright orange around its beak and eyes.<\/p>\n
Luke understood now why the boy sometimes fell silent\u2014he was speaking to God in his heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh! I have to help my mother,\u201d the boy said suddenly, running down the hill.<\/p>\n
As Luke watched him go, he realized he had forgotten to ask the boy\u2019s name.
\nAnd so, on that hill, Luke\u2019s true journey quietly began.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Please leave a comment\uff01<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u21d2\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u30da\u30fc\u30b8\u306f\u3053\u3061\u3089\u3092\u30af\u30ea\u30c3\u30af\u3057\u3066\u306d\uff01 The path up the hill began just behind the house. At first, it was wide and firmly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-long-novels"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=778"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":785,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778\/revisions\/785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}