Friday, May 11, 2007

A Message from Patmos!

Yes! I just received a reply from Jason Kefalas from the website Patmos Island!
Thanks for taking time to send me this email, Jason, it's great to hear from you and I really appreciate your help - please also read my first comment on this entry...

This is Jason's message from Patmos today - not a new revelation but an interesting read nonetheless,

Hi Paul,
sorry for the delay, things are picking up here for the tourist season and I have been thinking about this email and trying to see where to start from.
I would have to start from Patmos has become a tourist destination, tens of thousands of pilgrims show up with the cruise boats and visit the monastery of St. John and the cave of the Apocalypse, all in high speed, not having enough time to absorb our island.

Our island is dry, there is not enough water to go around so we import water from neighbouring islands, it has been dry as long as history can tell, its dry and rugged terrain is one of the reasons Patmos was a place of exile hence the arrival of St. John.

As for Christianity, all the locals are Greek Orthodox, things get very holy around Easter time but lost during the summer were locals work hard to gather as much money as they can to cover there expenses over the long winter, busy season is July and August for all the island, although some people are busy already.

To speak about the island of the Apocalypse would be like talking about The Book of Revelations, its very personal, you can read it a hundred times and have a different feeling at the end, different people either theologians or professors from around the globe come up with there own theory about what St.John wrote about, the truth is that St.John didn’t write a word, his student Prohoros wrote The Book of Revelations, St. John was in a daze and tried to explain as much as possible of his vision.

I could go on and on, but one things for sure the Apocalypse has a different meaning for every reader and so does the island it was written on. The only way to see what it means to you, is come and read it on the island it was written and see for yourself.

Jason Kefalas

Please click on this link to read all about my quest for information about the Greek island of Patmos!

4 comments:

Paul said...

The following is the text of the reply that I've just mailed to Jason,

Hi Jason!
This is great- thanks a lot! I'm really happy that you took the time to follow up my request and I'm sure this will also be highly appreciated by the people who visit my blog. Some of them are regular visitors, others might just visit my blog by coincidence (this can also be a little bit like arriving on an unknown island...) Your visit to my blog was 'provoked' of course, but that's why it's so much fun! It is nice to get a reply from places where you've never been and to find out that friendly people are living everywhere on our little planet.
I do hope to visit Patmos one day in real life and - if I am so lucky - I will make sure that I have enough time to see everything and not just the 'must-see' tourist attractions. Please keep an eye on my weblog to read the comments that hopefully will flood in. Thanks again - and blessings from the Netherlands!
Paul

Anonymous said...

This is great. I really must read up on the Greek Orthodox Church.

Anonymous said...

Wow! This is really great! I'm thrilled to know more about Patmos. Imagine...being an island and having a scarcity of water. Reminds me of line from Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: 'water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink.'

Thank you, Paul, for taking us island-hopping with you.

Anonymous said...

I never thought of visiting Patmos. I really want to go there now. Thanks for a place to ponder.