Desert Inns, Samaritans, and the Valley of the Shadow of Death

In the Judean wilderness the rugged terrain made for a two day journey between Jerusalem and Jericho. Besides the possibility of robbers, a careless misstep could easily result in a lethal fall. Here, St. George’s monastery sits on the ancient road from Jerusalem to Jericho perched above what tradition calls the Valley of the Shadow of Death where King David is said to have written the 23rd Psalm. In one of Jesus’ parables a Samaritan, despised by the Jews, finds a beaten, almost dead man and takes him to a desert inn for care and keeping, challenging the conventional notion of neighbor.