Weekend Adventures
[written June 7]
There is a strong possibility I am going to sound rather redundant on every post I put on this site. Israel continues to amaze me. On the weekends we have no responsibilities at the dig site so they are totally up to us. I have been traveling this weekend with a group that came with Dr. McNamer. We went all over the place this weekend and I cannot even begin to process all that I have seen and experienced. We about died of a heat stroke yesterday trekking through the desert heat in Megiddo,
Nazareth (you should know what that is),
Sepphoris (notice the ruts in the road made by chariots),
and
Caesarea Maritima.
We have been a bit rushed through some of the sites we've been to so I hope to revisit some with Dad (he meets me in Jerusalem June 21st).
Sunday morning was one of my favorites days so far. We started of visiting the Mt. of the Beatitudes. There is a beautiful church atop of it which is taken care of by the most precious Italian nuns. The view is breathtaking. Beside the church, one of the guys read aloud the beatitudes. We just stood there in silence and let them sink in. We didn't get to reflect nearly as long as we wanted but we had to make it to mass on time.
Next we drove down to a benedictine monastery in Tagbha. Facing the sea, we enjoyed a mass in german. I didn't know what they were saying but it was one of the most memorable church services ever. The simplicity and beauty of it felt like worship in and of itself. From there we visited Capernaum and Caesarea Philipi. Looking at the gates of hell (a huge cave that a temple to Zeus was built in front of) and the ruins of the temple of Pan was quite the setting as we read the passage in Matthew 16:13-20. To tell Peter that he was the rock on which Christ would build his church means a bit more when looking at the massive rock temples that had been errected to other gods.
There is no way to give an account of this trip that would even begin to explain what it feels like to be here. It is an irreplaceable experience. Can't wait for you to get here, Dad! See you in 2 weeks :)
Nazareth (you should know what that is),
Sepphoris (notice the ruts in the road made by chariots),
and
Caesarea Maritima.
We have been a bit rushed through some of the sites we've been to so I hope to revisit some with Dad (he meets me in Jerusalem June 21st).
Sunday morning was one of my favorites days so far. We started of visiting the Mt. of the Beatitudes. There is a beautiful church atop of it which is taken care of by the most precious Italian nuns. The view is breathtaking. Beside the church, one of the guys read aloud the beatitudes. We just stood there in silence and let them sink in. We didn't get to reflect nearly as long as we wanted but we had to make it to mass on time.
Next we drove down to a benedictine monastery in Tagbha. Facing the sea, we enjoyed a mass in german. I didn't know what they were saying but it was one of the most memorable church services ever. The simplicity and beauty of it felt like worship in and of itself. From there we visited Capernaum and Caesarea Philipi. Looking at the gates of hell (a huge cave that a temple to Zeus was built in front of) and the ruins of the temple of Pan was quite the setting as we read the passage in Matthew 16:13-20. To tell Peter that he was the rock on which Christ would build his church means a bit more when looking at the massive rock temples that had been errected to other gods.
There is no way to give an account of this trip that would even begin to explain what it feels like to be here. It is an irreplaceable experience. Can't wait for you to get here, Dad! See you in 2 weeks :)
posted by Haley Kate @ 11:36 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home