We have packed up to leave Jerusalem, my Jerusalem. Today we travel to Caesarea Maritimes – the City by the sea. As something that only King Herod could imagine – he who insisted on having the biggest, the best, and the most opulent – a spectacular city arose on the shores of the sea. In a place where there should never be a port he found a way to build a breakwater – using a type of cement made of chalk that would solidify under water. He builds his residence out into the sea and even has the sea water come into a pool where he would have the world’s first water ballerina’s perform for him – naked.
We sit in the amphitheatre imagining the kind of performances that would have been put on there. We hear the story of Paul who takes his chances and visits Jerusalem may be one last time and who ends up being arrested – and being brought to Caesarea. For two years languishing in a prison just metres from where we are standing Paul keeps the faith and works to convert those he meets. Miraculous. The Apostle Peter shows up in this opulent city after having had a vision that it was OK to eat “unclean” (non-kosher) food and realizes that Jesus has come not just for the Jews but for the Gentiles as well. You could well imagine him standing on these shores looking across the Mediterranean Sea towards Greece, South to the horn of Africa, north to Turkey and realizing that Jesus came to bring a message of love to the whole world. Imagine that. The whole world could be saved by this man from Galilee who brings with him a radical vision of relationship with God not through sacrifice but through prayer. Imagine that.
We drive to the next stop after wandering around the ruins of an ancient city and swim in the Mediterranean. No locals are in the water – for them it is too cold – but for those of us used to swimming in frigid mountain streams it is absolutely balmy! We recreate the water ballet performed for Herod – only we kept our clothes on! Onward and upward we travel to Mount Carmel. We see before us the convergence of three valleys. Whoever ruled Mount Megiddo in the distance would control all travel via these three ancient roads. Imagine, marching armies from Egypt in the South coming to greet the descending armies from Mesopotamia from the North only to meet at Megiddo. The number of lives lost there by combating armies is astonishing. Now imagine that you can hear our guide Nadal say the word Megiddo. When he says it in Aramaic you can hear the connection to – Armageddon. The end of days is to happen in this very spot. You can see why every time there is conflict between Israel and Lebanon to the North religious folks begin praying harder – some for this to be the time, and some for them have their children spared.
Rising to Nazareth we get the sense of the enormous distance between here and Jerusalem. It would be more than a week’s travel. But imagine that travel. The silence of the rich valley with its lush fruit and vegetables, picking something to nibble on as you go. Your only distraction your own thoughts that may turn to such questions as the nature of humanity, the reason you are here on earth, this God of whom you’d heard but had yet to experience. Imagine that. No distractions. No IPod. No cell phone. No hotel to be looking forward to with an internet connection. The only thing to look forward to might be to meet a fellow traveler on the way to converse with – to listen to their stories and to share your own. We have come so far and yet so far away from such a simple way of living. We are so disconnected from the earth, our surroundings, our own thoughtful musings and storytelling and listening that we may have just become separated from God. It is God’s intention that we have relationship with one another, with our own thoughts, with our surroundings and with the earth.
Might we find our way back?
(I am not suggesting giving up our creaturely comforts and living off the land – just incorporating being truly present into our daily lives. Surely, surely, we can turn of the television for a time and be a companion on the journey....)
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.
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