Galilee’s Natural Beauty

Lamar Helms writes for us:

That we have only to look out our doors or windows and see the Sea of Galilee, or to walk a few yards and descend two sets of steps to wade in the water would seem sufficient to stimulate the body and spirit. But no — there is so much more.

Within our reach are pomegranates, olives, limes, and other such succulent fruits to remind us of God’s “good” Creation. Oh, and there are the fresh fragrances—the rosemary encircling the trunk of the palm trees waiting for its musky oil to be brushed onto our hands and distributed to the air.

Or the delicate fragrance of the lugustrum coreceum’s tiny white blooms amid the lush dark green of its foliage. Or the sweet smell of the prolific blooms of the out-stretched (poisonous?) oleander. And the hibiscus, the grasses, the boxwoods.

So much beauty amid the chirpy singing of hundreds of birds and the cooing of doves from the north, south, east, west sides of us!

All around us, “all natures sings and ‘round us rings,” reminding us God is our ruler yet!

We have come to pray, to listen, and to draw near.

My precious brothers and sisters and I have done that. And we grow and blossom, and sing, “God reigns, let the Earth be glad!”

Lamar

Reflections on the Journey

The first week of the Spiritual Renewal Pilgrimage has convinced me of one important thing: Great hope for the church. Neal and I have the privilege of traveling with 21 outstanding ministers who are very diverse, very committed to ministry in Christ’s church. They are insightful, wise and filled with joy. We have drawn strength from common prayer, daily Eucharist, and wonderful conversations ‘along the way.’ They have the patience necessary for group travel; and have revealed their gifts as worship leaders in our daily liturgies. We are all grateful to the CF Foundation for making this trip possible. The wisdom of their decision to support this program is evident each day as we travel together.

Bill Leonard

July 24 (Thursday)

Our morning excursion took us north to Banias, or Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27), in the Golan Heights. The bus ride wandered through historic parts of the area, with views of Mount Hermon, Nimrud’s Castle, Hazor, and the surrounding mountainous landscape of the Upper Jordan River Valley. At Banias we went for a leisurely hike down to the waterfall there and had a wonderful time enjoying the “land flowing with milk and honey.” We also explored the nearby ruins of a Herodian cave sanctuary to the Greek god Pan at one of the origins of the Jordan River. Afterwards, we had a light lunch at a Druze village. All in all, a very restful day of fellowship, diminished only by the looming political realities of this part of the Holy Land.

July 23 (Wednesday)

Today was a big day, with visits to Sepphoris and Nazareth. Everyone is doing very well and getting along famously.
Sepphoris was an important city of the Galilee during Roman and Byzantine times, with a population of perhaps 20,000. The city had a theater and prosperous villas with beautiful mosaic floors. Sepphoris served as Herod Antipas’ capital in the early years of his reign (ca. 4 BCE to 15 CE). The small village of Nazareth, with a population of only 400, was only four miles away. It is likely that Joseph would have worked as a carpenter or builder in the growing city of Sepphoris and that Jesus would have walked its streets during his childhood. The following centuries saw Sepphoris become an important center for Jewish learning. It was home to Rabbi Judah the Prince, the compiler of the Mishnah, in the second century. The remains of an impressive fifth-century synagogue have been uncovered there, with beautiful mosaic floors (including a rare zodiac at its center).
The powerful city of Sepphoris fell into ruin during the medieval period, virtually forgotten until its recent archaeological rediscovery, while the tiny village of Nazareth has grown to a thriving city of 75,000 today. It is not a particularly appealing city, but it does house important sites of Jesus’ early life. We visited two churches there, the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Gabriel and the Roman Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation. The Church of Saint Gabriel, built in 1750 over an earlier church, houses the important village spring, where one tradition says that Mary received the Annunciation from the angel Gabriel. A competing tradition locates the appearance of Gabriel to a cave in the crypt under the modern Basilica of the Annunciation (1969). Apart from the crypt, the most striking element of this magnificent church is the collection of panels depicting Mary, donated by Catholic communities around the world in their own artistic styles.

July 22 (Tuesday)

Thanks be to God that this morning found everyone feeling better, with restored health and appetites. We embarked on a relaxing boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, where Michael and James led us in morning prayers. (Check the “Gallery” section of this blog for more pictures of our nautical pastors.) After the boat ride, we visited the new museum of the first-century fishing boat recovered from the Sea in Ginosar.

Although their collegiality was clear from the very beginning, this group of pilgrims continues to demonstrate a wonderful spirit of friendship, encouragement, and good humor. Daily prayers and Eucharist are authentic times of worship and communion, and every meal is dominated by lively (and loud) conversations. Each evening the group gathers on the veranda for talks that last into the night. The group is very grateful for this opportunity for retreat and spiritual reflection among peers. As one pastor said, it is such a blessing to be able to just sleep when you’re tired, eat when you’re hungry, and not have to worry about all the daily responsibilities of your job. Many of us have marveled at the refreshment offered by a spiritual retreat. This theme may appear in more than a few sermons once the group returns to the States.

It’s been very hot here, with a temperature of 102 yesterday.

More Pictures in the Gallery

Check the “Gallery” tab for more candid photographs of our group and the places we visit each day.

Our Guide, Claudia

We have a wonderful guide through the Galilee, Claudia. Today she brought along her six-year-old daughter, Maya, who listened closely as Bill led a devotion on the Mount of Beatitudes.

July 21 (Monday)

Travel and exotic foods caught up with our group today, as a quarter of us suffered through stomach and digestive ailments. While tired, almost everyone was able to keep to our schedule and visit three churches in the Tabgha area.

We began on the Mount of Beatitudes, where a modern octagonal church marks the traditional location of Jesus’ preaching (Matt 5). Franciscan sisters maintain this beautiful site, which includes numerous spots for communal worship and solitary contemplation. We next visited the Benedictine Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes, close to our pilgrim’s hostel. This modern church is built upon the site of an ancient church, some of whose fifth-century mosaics remain on the floor. The famous mosaics include the depiction of two fish and four loaves; the fifth loaf of bread from the biblical account (Matt 14:13-21) is meant to be represented by the actual bread of the Eucharist. Lastly, we spent some time at the Church of the Primacy of Peter, dedicated on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus appeared to some of his disciples after the resurrection (John 21).

July 20

We arrived safely in Israel on Saturday and drove directly to our pilgrims’ hostel, the German Benedictine Pilgerhaus, in Tabgha on the Sea of Galilee. Everyone is healthy and in very good spirits. After morning prayers next to the water, led by Karen Witt and Andy CastroLang, we explored the archaeological sites at Capernaum, with the first century House of Peter, second-century house church, and fifth-century octoganal church, as well as the remains of an impressive fifth-century synagogue. We also viewed the lanscape of the Sea of Galilee from the eastern Cliff of Arbel.

This evening at 6, just when our congregations in America were beginning their 11:00 worship services, we celebrated the Eucharist on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Program Description

This Holy Land Pastoral Renewal program, sponsored by Wake Forest University Divinity School, begins with the idea of pilgrimage, a journey that is both geographic and spiritual. It offers twenty parish ministers an opportunity for spiritual reflection during Holy Land travels in the Galilee and Jerusalem. Amid visits to a variety of sacred places, participants will undertake a spiritual pilgrimage that utilizes the various locales for contemplation and solitude, communal prayer and worship, and extended conversations regarding the spiritual life.