Day 4) Another three hour session of Manscill’s New Testament class. We covered the Sermon on the Mount, which we actually got to visit yesterday and learn about. Some controversial things were said in that class, so I was a bit forced to do a little research and also for good reason read the Epistle of James. I did so while sitting with my feet in the water. Cool experience, because I love James and he grew up in this area. So, reading his “general conference talk” of an epistle helped me to remember the importance of faith and works and what pure religion is: caring for and visiting the widows and fatherless and doing your best to keep the commandments and live the gospel. This afternoon we set out to hike to a waterfall in the Golan Heights (a militarily controversial area which used to be part of Syria). The drive up reminded me a lot of Oklahoma – green meadows over rolling hills with a random tree here and there or a bunch around a creek. And there were flocks of gigantic storks in the fields and trees. The hike was so beautiful, taking us down into the Great Rift Valley, to the Jordan River (creek). The trial had us crawling up and down boulders and crossing the creek several times before it came to some great lookout points over a huge waterfall. Once we got down to the water and walked through the bamboo forest to the waterfall pool, some of us overcame trepidation and jumped in. Holy cold. Mountain runoff, my favorite temperature, but you only live once, right, so, we did it. The hike out was quick and we rushed back to the Kibbutz to leave again for dinner. St. Peter’s fish. Really not bad at all. I don’t know exactly how they cook it but the outside was definitely fried crispy – oh yeah, they serve you the whole fish, eyes, brains, fins, and all! Then we drove around the Sea to Tiberius and enjoyed the nightlife. Kalie and I found a great little dock to hang out on down in the little harbor. We lay in the dark, partially lit by stars and neon lights, listening to Jewish and Italian songs on the accordion, talking about Tongan men. Bliss. I realized tonight that the Lord is giving me this time to not focus on guys and romance but to focus on my relationship with Him. I think if I fix that then all other relationships I develop with guys or anybody will be so much better.
Day 5) Already?!? How have we possibly been here that long?! This time I right again from my cute blue chair on the shore of the Sea, but this time the water is perfectly calm and clear. This morning was fieldtrip time for our class. We drove up into the Golan Heights, through the Rift Valley or something like it to Gamla, a lone peninsula jutting from one side of the canyon out into the middle. “Gamla” means camel in Arabic and it’s called that because it looks like a camel’s hump. The Zealots made their last stand here. There are ruins of a synagogue and houses on it. It would be a well-fortified city, affording the inhabitants the advantage over invaders…unless those invaders are 25,000 troops of Roman soldiers. Anyway, the Jews’ city was sacked and probably never reinhabited. This is the episode during which Josephus turned on Judea and joined with the Romans. Anyway, we hiked out onto the gamla and took awesome amazing pictures, but cameras and nothing compared to human eyes. It was like Machupichu. So cool! Then we went to a really cool Talmudic era school and preservation. There were plenty of ruins of the houses and synagogues in the ancient community (7th or 8th century AD, I think), but what was really cool was a completely restored house, complete with roof and furnishings, which was actually built on the original foundation of the ancient house. Neat place. Lots of Jewish families and little boys from the yeshiva touring the place and learning the daily living activities of their ancestors the way we would by going to the Oregon Trail interpretive Center or having pioneer days at school – carding wool and making arrowheads and butter. We also made a stop at a lookout/memorial of the battles that have been fought in the area. The sounding land consists or the most beautiful, pastoral hills beyond the barbed wire fences, on which the “Danger: Mines” sign hang. Such an irony. No wonder Syria wants this land back.
Day 6) Today was a great experience. Sabbath at the kibbutz. Mostly it felt like we were just eating all day. The Galilee Branch meets in a lovely villa, which is aptly sized…for a villa, but quite small for chapel, so the classes had to go to church separately. My group went in the afternoon, but on the way we stopped are Yardinet on the Jordan River, the site where many Christians include a rebaptism in their pilgrimage. We actually witnessed a group doing this. You can rent white robes for $10, be baptized in whatever many you’d like and then you receive a certificate. We passed on that and continued on to our meetings to be “rebaptized” ourselves, as we participated in the Sacrament. (Sidenote: While we were waiting to get back on our bus at Yardinet, a lovely lady waited in the shade with us and it turns out she’s a Maussie! Ten points to the one who can tell me what a Maussie is.) Absolutely phenomenal Sacrament Meeting. I thought our view overlooking Jerusalem couldn’t be beat, but I’m sure that the Sea of Galilee actually provides a much better backdrop for a meeting centered on the Savior and His teachings and sacrifice. Some important and relevant points were made, such as the need to take time to be still (silent and faithful), in order to hear and feel the Lord guiding our lives, as well as how important it is to spend time with the Lord in order to know Him better. I was sad to have not been able to meet with the branch members, but a few of them came to the kibbutz later that evening for a fireside, during which they talked about the beginnings of the branch here and their experiences and answered questions. We were broken into groups for this and the sister who spoke with our group was a physiotherapist, who felt the need to come to Israel back in the 60s and never really left. She’s a Canadian but has been given Israeli citizenship, which is almost unheard of. She said she fell in love with Israel and that’s what has kept her here. Sometimes I wonder if that’ll happen to me. I really love some of the places I’ve lived. The more of the world I see, the more I want to see and feel brave enough to strike out and live in a remote village somewhere. It could be fun.
Day 7) Another lovely day of classroom study, New Testament, of course. We’ve been focusing on the time the Savior spent ministering in the Galilee, so today we discussed the miracles and sermons of His second and third years of ministry. We are flying through the scriptures. Something I like is the when the Gentile women asks Jesus to heal her daughter and He says to her that it is not meet to take the bread from the children and give it to the dogs, she understands right away and is humble as has enough faith to beg the crumbs from the master’s table. I always love the examples of the unlikely believers and converts, compared to those of the covenant who just seem to believe that their race will save them. These are very relaxed days because we get to spend hours on the beach. I was lifeguarding today, which is a no-brainer and almost a no-eye-r, so I spent the hour gleaning clay from the shore. There are ribbons of clay woven through the sand in and out of the water. With a little coaxing, it becomes very smooth and easy to work with, so I’ll bring some back to Jerusalem. I listened in on a conversation with two young jewish women who were American and Israeli, about their open-minded view of the conflict. So interesting. The more I learn about the conflict and each side, the more confused I get, however, one of the girls did say that she thought education would be the solution in the conflict, which I have believed for several weeks now. So, maybe I’m on the right track in my thinking, but still, it’s so complex, that no one thing is gonna fix everything…..but maybe the Second Coming….
Okay, that's not it, but this is way too long already, so I'll post the rest when I get back.
That Gamla bit sounds fascinating. I wish I could have gone with you. I bet you could almost still feel the presence of the Zealots....?
ReplyDeleteCool, cool, cool! Come live in my remote village!
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