My day started and ended with wonderful singing with African Pilgrims from Nigeria. They seemed to be so humbled by the thought that I would show an interest in their country and their people. As our morning began I sang songs with one group and as the day ended I sang with another….what pure joy it was….just as the church ought to be.
We got an early start today and headed to Mt. Tabor. This massive mountain sticks up in the middle of the very hilly landscape. It is surprising to see how incredibly hilly this region is as you leave the shore of the sea of Galilee. It is beautiful and green and there are Kosher McDonald’s popping up on the landscape (as you would expect of a tourist area for Israeli people. The bus could not take us to the summit and so we boarded vans in groups of eight to ten and zoomed up the hairpin turns to the summit. It was a wild ride, especially when meeting another flying van coming the other direction. The view from the top was stunning….just stunning. The church rests on the spot where Jesus was transfigured and appeared with Moses and Elijah. It is a beautiful church and some of us sang in the church….someone recorded it and will post to YouTube….I will post a link if they do.
I bought some incense from the Franciscan monks there as this felt like such a holy place. On the way back to the vans to go down we met several groups of Nigerians coming the other way. We greeted them, expressed our concern and then found ourselves singing with them on top of the mountain. It was wonderful….the insisted on taking my photograph with them….I only wish someone would have taken one with my camera. It was quite a sight….but what an experience of the body of Christ….and his call to West Africa for me.
We left the mountain and headed to Nazareth to visit a farm that dated to the time of Jesus childhood. There is an effort there to recreate and period village with characters in period dress and help the story of Jesus’ life in Nazareth to come to life. It was informative and I enjoyed feeding the goats. I think my Katherine would have loved that bit…as well as the woman spinning wool the old-fashioned way.
We enjoyed eating lunch and visited Mary’s well and the beautiful church which is now built around yet another Holy sight. We all shared a good laugh about the toilets at the restaurant which had saloon style doors on them…meaning you could say hello to people as they passed by….I would have taken a photo but was worried someone might think I was a bit strange.
We were going to finish our day of exploration with a trip to Cana, another beautiful hillside town where we visited the church of the Wedding Feast. We had also visited the magnificent church of the Annunciation, the House of Joseph with its 4th century baptistery (amazing!)….lots of things today….all of them wonderful. Our day ended as we walked out of the Cana church and I came upon another group of Nigerians. Expressing my love and concern for them and their country we again broke into joyful song. It was real and heartwarming. It was an ever-present reminder of what all of these relics represent, a real and powerful God who is present and transforming our world through acts of generosity.
Driving back for the evening I found myself thinking about what an amazing adventure today truly was. It was a beautiful drive, to beautiful places, in this gorgeous hilly green landscape, to walk in the footsteps of Jesus’ first 30 years of life. We visited the little synagogue which would have been the place where Jesus taught the first time, and we too almost got lost in the market getting there. Coming here really helps the Bible to come to life. It also puts life into perspective. If I am going to believe this story and the generations who have believed this story, then my life will need to be ever more Christ shaped.
Tomorrow we visit the house of St. Peter and take a boat trip in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee followed by a meal….at the site of the feeding of the 5000. I am hoping they pack more than a few loaves and fish….but even so, I imagine it will feed us all with baskets leftover. Such is life here in the Holy Land. God Bless you all.
