Galilee

No one had the endurance to read through my Intifada essay and I don't blame you. I haven't gotten the grade back yet and it is worth 80% of our grade. I am a bit nervous about it.

I am in the Galilee. The lake has actually taken back its Old Testament name as the Sea of Kinneret. It claims to be a "sea", but really it is just a big lake. I love it. It reminds me of Utah Lake except much less swampy. The beaches are beautiful and covered with sea shells.

On the first day, we went on a boat. They played Baptist Praise music and everyone danced and sang along. I took a video. We read about all the things that happened on the lake itself out of the New Testament as we sat in the middle of the lake. Jesus walked on water there and so did Peter. Jesus calmed the sea a few times. Jesus also preached out of a boat to the people on shore back when people wanted to make him king. It felt amazing to look out across the beauty that Jesus grew up with.

That day we went to the Mount (or hill) of the Beatitudes, the hill where Jesus fed the 5000, the place where the pigs jumped into the sea, the shore where the resurrected Lord cooked fish for his apostles and Peter jumped out of his boat, and to Capernaum, an early center of the church. I can't possibly write about everything that happened that day. I imagined Jesus walking around and teaching on the spots that we went. The view from the hillsides would blow you away. I have heard that in the spring, "consider the lilies of the field" takes on completely new meaning. I read the sermon on the mount and reflected as we sat on the Mount of the Beatitudes. We read the account of everything that took place in each of the places we went. Capernaum has a giant church built over Peter's house. Peter's house converted into a church very early. The giant church has stilts holding it up so that you can look down into the remains of Peter's early church-house. Jesus taught in a synagogue nearby that we also visited.

It has rained almost all of the time we have spent here. I enjoy it. It reminds me of the Oregon coast a bit. Monday is supposed to clear up and have good weather. We went hiking through old Jewish towns on Thursday. It says that Jesus went to all the synagogues round about in the New Testament. We saw two synagogues, one was the oldest in the holy land and the other was the best preserved. The synagogue looks a lot like an early Christian church because they both adopted the same Basilica style. On Monday, we went to a synagogue in Nazareth that Jesus probably pronounced his messiahship to the people in his home town. We sang some hymns and the curator came and told us how much he appreciated that we didn't sing Amazing Grace. I really liked the synagogue because it looked very much like it must have back then. You could imagine Jesus reading Isaiah at the front and then sitting down and proclaiming, "this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears."

In Nazareth we also saw the Church of the Annunciation and a church on the site of Joseph's workshop. The Church of the Annunciation was enormous and on the lower floor had access to a small cave where the event supposedly occurred. I loved the church. They had artwork from all nations both outside and inside the church. The one from the USA had a very artistic flair. Sometimes I feel that building a church on the site can ruin your ability to imagine what it felt like when Jesus was there. I did not feel that way at all with the site of the Annunciation. If the church is pretty enough, it is perfectly fine with me. Other sites (like the place where Jesus fed the 5000) have little tiny churches on them. In my opinion, if you are going to build a church where Jesus walked, you have to go big.

We stay in a hotel complex run by a Kibbutz. The food here absolutely blows me away every time. I love the meat, the bread, the rice. I love the ice cream and the fish. The shower always has hot water and we can see the sea from our window. I have my own room. I could stay here for months. I am going to regret leaving this place.

We have a midterm on Monday. I am glad that we can stay here, but I wish we didn't have class. I don't get nearly the same amount of knowledge out of a three hour class every other day when I am exhausted from a field trip the day before as I would from a normal schedule.

I miss you all!

Scott