Boat Rides and More

Heading out on the Sea of Galilee

water, worship and music
Claire in her happy place

Robin and Paige

There cannot be a better way to start the day than to be in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. We motored out to the middle of the lake while singing “How Great Thou Art.” As the music soared so did our hearts. It was thrilling to recognize all the places we had recently visited from this sea-bound vantage point. We could see the towering cliffs of Mt. Arbel, the ancient ruins of the Magdala fishing village, and Jesus’ hometown of Capernaum. We spied the Mt. of Beatitudes with its natural amphitheater quite visible. The place where Jesus fed thousands was right next door to where he forgave and fed Peter.  

Jesus Boat

We learned about the weather patterns that kick up storms as well as the geopolitics that keep the Jews separate from the pagans and Romans. Even today, from our watery vantage point, we spied the complicated borders of the Golan Heights. Some things never change.

expressions of unity and love

We debarked from our board ride only to find ourselves experiencing another boat – this one dry docked and preserved. Discovered in 1986, this ancient “Jesus Boat” harkens back to the time of Christ.  

The ruins of Pan's Temple

We hopped back onto the bus and drove up quite near the Lebanese and Syrian border. With snow-capped Mt. Hermon as our compass point, we toured the beautiful grounds of Banias, or Caesarea Philippi as it was known in Jesus’ time.  We learned about the pagan worship of the god, Pan, and how the temple built over the spring that fed the Jordan River was known as the gates of hell.  

Jenny at Banias

It was here that Jesus asked his disciples about who they thought he was. Peter blurted out that he was the Messiah. Jesus then promised to build his church using Peter as the rock and saying the power of Hell would not prevail against it.  

After some time of pondering our relationship and understanding of Christ, we celebrated communion together. We sang of Christ’s amazing grace, a generous measure of the love we sensed.  

Communion at Banias
"Who do you say that I am?"

local Druze food

Our next stop was lunch at a Druze village. Our understanding of this mysterious version of Islam is complicated by their location in the border areas of the Golan Heights. They consider themselves Syrian and not Israeli. Families were separated by the 1967 war. Relatives still talk across this border valley with bullhorns, sharing news as they wave to one another.

Bill on the Syrian Border. 
The UN headquarters in the background

For the next hour, we traveled down the Syrian/Israeli border, stopping at a vantage point where we saw the UN peacekeeping compound. Bill had visited there many years ago when he was working for the Pentagon. Given the American new reports, we were surprised to experience the serenity and peacefulness of the border.  There were no signs of conflict or tension.  

Kursi
ruins where demonias ws cured

Our last stop was the location where Jesus cured the man with many, many demons. A quick look at the ruins of what had been the largest Byzantine church in Galilee and a hike up to the cave where the demoniac lived capped a beautiful day. We were all grateful for a shorter day. That meant swimming in the lake one last time as well as shopping in town.  

We will be sad to bid the Galilee goodbye tomorrow morning. Each of us has encountered Jesus in unexpected ways here.  His spirit is indelibly imprinted on ours. 

gathered for communion at Banias