The Sea of Gallilee

It is the second day of our journey. We are staying by the Sea of Gallilee in the city of Tiberias and it is a wonder to behold. David and I can see the sea from the window of our room with palm trees and bright pink flowers along the edge. It is something I cannot quite describe it nor can I describe the feeling I get when I think of the early apostles travels to the shores of this city or when I think that Jesus was in these very waters.

The first day we traveled to Capernaum. On the way we passed by the ruins of Magdala - the place from where Mary Magdalene came. It was terrible small. Just a square of rocks off the side of the road. It is hard to imagine this was a city. Capernaum, the place of so many of the stories in the Scriptures, is a small place. Maybe 15 families, 100 people lived there. The temple and the house of the mother-in-law of Peter. We went to the Church of the Multiplication where Jesus fed the 5000. There is a rock under the communion table said to have been the rock where Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves. We also went to the top of Mt. Arbel where we could look out and see all around.

The odd thing about all this was the feel of a tourist town - kind of like Gatlinburg and it was hard to get my mind around the spiritual aspects. Tiberias is small with a lot of tourists. There are old and crumbling buildings -- litter strewn around. The Holy Land. It was not a disappointing day but different than I imagined.

Today was different. Tiberias is still all the things today that it was yesterday but there is a sense of the past that must blend with the present and prepare for the future. We visited The Mount of the Beatitudes and it was a wonderful peaceful place. We shared communion and I could imagine Jesus walking down the mount to the shores of the sea as we did after our time of worship. God was surely present as we waded in the waters of the sea. God was present when David and I tried to feed the little rock hyrax some of our trail mix.

The most spiritual place for me this day was when we visited the archaelogical dig at Bethsaida. A city of several apostles. The thought of people digging in the dirt and rock searching for information about God -- the same way those of us on pilgrimage are searching for information about God. Searching for connection. Seeking relationship.

It is cool to imagine being near the places where our Savior walked trying to imagine who it is my Savior wants me to be.

Hope all is well with those back home. Everyone is remembered in prayer.

Much love and the peace of Christ,
Fran