More Galilee ... :)

K guys, I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little sad that no one has taken my Beatitudes challenge... I know I'm kind of a dork, but humor me, huh? It'll be fun...

Today we toured the Jezreel Valley. We started with the Mount of Transfiguration. I have to say, I wish we knew more about what happened up there. I mean, I’ve gotten to learn a bit from my classes and teachers and everything, but so much of it hasn’t been revealed. One thing that my teachers said, though, is that Christ used the Mount of Transfiguration as His temple, since the temple in Jerusalem was not exactly available for His use, nor appropriate for His purpose. And it felt sacred up there. One thing that we do know is that Peter, James, and John saw Christ in His full glory as the Creator of the world and Redeemer of mankind. When we had our free time up there, I just thought about what that must have been like. I have to say, I do almost wish there weren’t so many churches everywhere—it’s hard to put things in context in medieval church—but I suppose if there wasn’t, there would be no holy site to see in the first place.

Next we went to the little chapel commemorating the miracle at Nain. It’s not very well known—I had never heard of it. But Jesus came to this little, quite out of the way town, actually, called Nain and there raised the only son of a widow from the dead. What I loved about this little chapel is that it’s so humble, and plain, and it just fits, to me. This wasn’t some glorified, mighty work that Christ performed for the world to see. Only one of the gospel writers even records it (I don’t remember which, sorry), and only this small town and His disciples were there to see it. It was a simple act of compassion, where Jesus reached out to lift a woman in need, and the chapel was just so plain, and sweet, I just loved it.

On our way out of Nain I had kind of a funny thought. So, if Jesus knew the End from the Beginning, do you think He ever thought, as He walked all over Galilee, *Man, a car would be nice right about now… with air conditioning.* Lol. Seriously, tho. Of course then it occurred to me that, since He really can travel basically faster than the speed of light anyway, He probably is not that impressed with cars, but still.

After Nain we went to Beth Shean. This is where the bodies of Saul and his sons were hung on the walls by the Philistines. I have to say, I always thought it was so sad that Jonathan met that end. He’s pretty much my Old Testament crush. But seriously, he was such a good guy, and I always felt like he deserved better. Beth Shean is also the most impressive Roman ruins in Israel (as opposed to Jerash, which is in Jordan). I have to say, it wasn’t all that different than Jerash, except Jerash was huge (and better, really), but somehow Roman ruins really never gets old for me. They’re just so cool. This one did have a bathhouse (Jerash doesn’t) that was pretty sweet. The floor was covered in these mini-pedestals that Bro. Wilson said used to hold up the floor of the hot tubs. It was pretty awesome.

So then we went to Gan Ha-Shelosha. This spot was named, by Time Magazine (according to all our teachers- Bro. Wilson in particular is pretty impressed by this, lol), the “most beautiful spot in Israel.” K, so they weren’t kidding. It’s a natural pool (I mean, there’s fish in it), but the water is so unbelievably clear, and blue, and WARM! It was incredible. And there was a waterfall that you could go stand under and have your back massaged (although the girls did have to hold onto their swimsuits….), and the fish came and nibbled on our toes, and I’m pretty sure I swam farther than I ever have in one go before in my life getting from one end to the other. It must have been 100 yards long, and about 20 feet across or so. Maybe 30, I dunno. But it was seriously amazing. It wasn’t even warm outside, and I still went swimming. I’m pretty sure the water was warmer than the air… So, so beautiful.

Then last of all we stopped at the Bet Alpha synagogue, which has a mosaic floor with the Zodiac, the Ark of the Covenant, and Abraham sacrificing Isaac all on one thing. And there was another stellar movie. I’m telling you, whoever’s in charge of the Israel monument movies needs a gold star, lol. In other news, I still have water in my ear... Maybe that's just from my shower. Oh well, worth it. :)