Oh my what a busy day! We drove through Golan Heights - lots of old military installations and an old U.N. facility and saw the snow on the top of Mount ______. Yes, snow in Israel! Then on to Ceasaria Phillipi. It was a pagan city where they worshipped many gods, but they had an affinity for the God Pan. As the story goes, when the women would be bathing in the river Dan (one of the three rivers that feeds the Jordan River) the god Pan would appear and the women would.... wait for it... panic!
Any way, back to the story. When Jesus took his disciples away and asked them "who do people say that I am" and they responded by saying, well may be John the Baptist, or Elijah, or another prophet. And then he asks his disciples "who do YOU say that I am". "You are the Lord". Imagine this in the context of a totally pagan city, surrounded by pagan idols with sacrifices being offered to many different Gods. Kind of brilliant, really. Jesus was saying, don't get me confused with any of this silliness....
On to Tel Dan... we began at the site of the Northeastern Kingdom, who decided that it was no longer necessary to travel to the temple in Jerusalem to offer sacrifice three times a year as required by Jewish Law. They built their own shrine and a huge sacrificial altar. Naughty, naughty kingdom... We then walked through quite a lush forest to Tel Dan. I love this place. Here we see recently excavated ancient walls that would have surrounded the city of Dan. Walls were necessary for more than just military reasons - they were to protect every cities "secret". The secret is always their source of water... There is a "seat" or a "throne" of sorts just outside of the palace gates where the King would have sat to receive requests or to collect taxes. But then we move on to the best part - the ancient gates.
Why do I so love these ancient gates? These four thousand year old stone structures that protect a city from intruders? It is because, as I imagine it, Abraham and Sarah who struggle through the dessert to the East in their travels towards the promised land might have knocked on gates just like these. Weary from travel, sandy, thirsty and in need of rest, they would have knocked and begged entry for a night or two. Abraham and Sarah, back when it all began, might have found themselves in that very place. I love those gates.
Back to the Sea of Galilee. At breakneck speed everyone (except me) enjoys a meal of "St. Peter's fish" (which have no other designation other than that...) and then onto the boat. We float upon the Sea of Galilee where it all happened. Everything else is a "commemorative" site - where we say, this is where Jesus might have been born or perhaps this is where Jesus died. But here, on the lake of Galilee, we know that he taught and healed and empowered those who followed him. We had a Eucharist there on the boat, celebrating the gift of all of Jesus ministry... What a lovely time it was, those 45 minutes of crossing the Sea....
And back to the other side... up the Mount of Beatitudes. Seeing the Mount of Beatitudes Guest House (or the "five star monastery as we came to call it) again was lovely and brought back some great memories from my last trip. You can just imagine Jesus sitting on that very hill side saying "blessed are the poor...."
Caperneum, home of Peter and where Jesus must have stayed. The ancient ruins show just how small their dwellings were - our 3500 square foot is feeling a little decadent right now. Tabgah, the site of the Loaves and fishes miracle you can feel the power of that miracle in the moment. And then, because we were all well behaved and ran for the bus, an added bonus. We managed to get into the site of the Primacy of Peter. A very holy site for our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters and a nice little Church ... with two bonuses. The first bonus is that this is the only spot where there is a "beach" where you can walk right up and stand in the water. The water where Jesus fished - for both men and fish. People stopped, prayed and some took a stone to commemorate their visit. But for me it was all about the stairs.
some ancient stairs, at least 2100 years old, that would have back in Jesus time reached down into the water. Now that the Sea has receded they are completely exposed. Dark gray rock that has barely retained its shape. But for me, for whatever reason, I know that Jesus was on these steps, entering the water or getting into a boat. So for me, the visit ended on a perfect note...
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