One year ago today was definitely a day of walking where Jesus walked. And boated.
We began our day cruising in a wooden boat north along the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The water was almost a flat calm. We sang, read scriptures, watched nets cast (no fish), danced to Jewish folk songs, and enjoyed the water Jesus and the Twelve spent so much time on.
We drove north into upper Galilee and the upper Jordan valley, a land rich in agriculture. We could see the hills of Lebanon and we crossed into the Golan Heights. We were reminded of the more recent unpleasantries as we saw still uncleared mine fields, barbed wire, and the border zone.
Nearby were the ruins of Caesarea Philippi and the pagan temples of Banias. Here springs from the base of Mt. Hermon mark the source of the Jordan River. And in this area, Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.
On our return, we stopped and lunched near Magdala (we ate St. Peter’s fish), and walked the hilltop where Jesus may have preached his sermons and the Beatitudes. We touched the sea where Peter three times reaffirmed his love to the Messiah, and visited the ancient traditional site of the feeding of the 5000. Lastly we walked amidst the ruins of Capernaum, where Peter lived and Jesus spent much of his ministry.
As we finished the afternoon in Galilee, the wind had picked up significantly and the once calm lake was dotted in white-capped waves.
Remembering the calm that morning, I was reminded of another day when the weather changed suddenly:
"Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”" (Matthew 8:23-27)
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