Blogs from North District, Israel, Middle East - page 5

Today was filled with many different adventures. We started with a delicious kosher buffet. No meats but plenty of taste. Then we were off to The Sea of Galilee for a boat ride. It was amazing to be on the same water in which Jesus met His Disciples after resurrection. Our boat tour rides were very informative and entertaining. We even partipated in a traditional Israel dance. Then we took a ride to visitthe Mount where Jesus preached the sermon on the mount. There is a octagonal Catholic church that is beautiful to visit. It sits above the area where the sermon happened. Which over looks the Sea of Galilee. We then visited the temple of Pan with a spring that feeds into the Jordan river. Jesus visited here while it was a place to come ... read more

I decided to start the day with a brunch on the beach at the Primacy of St. Peter. This of course was where the disciples sat down and had breakfast with the resurrected Jesus. I sat there and really tried to imagine what that scene must have been like on that same beach two thousand years ago. Suffice to say a more meaningful meal I cannot remember. Afterwards it was time to visit the Mount of the Beatitudes. Somewhere on this hill sloping high above the Sea of Galilee Jesus Christ was said to have delivered his most famous discourse, the sermon on the mount, to an assembled multitude. You know the sermon on the mount, right? 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who ... read more

“Today is special. Perhaps THE day of my life. I walked through Eden. Baptized myself in the River Jordan. Felt myself get physically sick to my stomach when I held the thorns that crowned Christ. And now I am sitting here on a still evening in Tabgha looking past a cross towards the lapping blue waters of the Galilee. I want nothing more. My heart slowed and sung out with joy today. I felt God so nearly and got a faint glimpse at what it might have been like before man had its earthly fall.” These were some of the words I wrote in my journal this day. What brought on such strong feelings? Well, I’ll tell you. I hadn’t planned on seeking out the River Jordan during my pilgrimage. The place where John the Baptist ... read more

What is not frothy is where I am right now. I am seated on a huge private balcony overlooking the Sea of Galilee. I began the day grumbling about having to move hotels because of a large incoming pilgrim group. And it wasn’t until I came out here to read and write that I get it. Being out here is a gift. Drifting up from the streets I get the hum of Tiberias street life. I get the smell of its early spring fragrance, I get birds chirping their songs. Most importantly, I get the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus chose to work and live, glowing a timeless grey-blue in the not quite distance. There are palm trees and ancient walls. And then there is me perched above it all, an unexpectant seer. What makes it ... read more

I planned this trip because I just love the trail. One of the most beautiful in Israel. Late Tuesday morning we gathered at the Dvora Falls parking lot and left one car there. Then we went to the Jilaboun parking lot. Most of the hikers start this trail at the Dvora waterfall, follow the valley downstream to the Jilaboun waterfall, and then climb out of the valley to the Jilaboun parking lot, but to save us the arduous ascent at the end of the trail I decided to do it the other way around. So we waited a little until all the group’s participants arrived, 13 in number, and we set off. The group consisted of six adults and seven children, ranging in age from four to seventy-one, including my son, my brother and his two ... read more