It is a brilliant day in Israel. The temperature is hot, I considered writing that it was a “dry heat” but I am so close to the Holy Sites that lying seems quite risky. It is just plain old HOT. The boys are moving in and out of the group like seasoned veterans. The older couples simply love the energy that children bring to the day. I am the proud dad as I receive many compliments on their maturity and courtesy.
The Holy Land is filled with people and I am grateful for the tremendous experience that our guides provide. We maneuver like a sports car from place to place as if we’d been given the race map and it’s everyone else’s first time on the course. We started the day on the Mountain where the Beatitudes were preached and looked out to the Sea of Galilee. It is a simple message like the landscape on which it was preached but a difficult one to live.
The next stop on the odyssey is Caesarea Philippi. You walk from the bus knowing that this is the site where Peter was told “you are the rock and upon you I will build my church.”
It was also the site of the temple and sacrificing altar for the god Pan. Pan was the pagan god of Sheep. Hmmm and Peter the first Pope is the Shepherd of the Church, coincidence I think not. The walk up to the cave, the grotto and the markings of the Greek and Roman yester-year is surreal. The boys climb all over the crags and hoist themselves into the former pagan grotto’s and collect a few rocks, other than the ones in their shoes. They are happy and glad to be out of the bus and enjoying the things that boys enjoy. The Jordan River is but a few meters away. Yesterday we renewed our wedding vows. Today we gathered and renewed our baptismal vows in the Jordan River. Are you kidding me? The boys are busy filling water bottles from the Jordan for all of our new friends. They are spry and are able to jump up and
down the knee wall with ease as one after the other returns with a full bottle only to have another handed to them. I think to myself no wonder there is a water issue in Israel. The Jordan provides 70% of the water for this country and we’re taking it 12 oz at time back to the USA. Our 2 priests prepare for the reaffirmation of our Baptismal promises. They dip the green branches, just pulled from the river bank, and with a few flicks spread this water of life to all of us. WOW The Sea of Galilee is all around us and while the day is amazing in all its history and significance, the boys want to go swimming. We exit the bus and they bolt for the elevator door. It may be the fastest they’ve moved since this morning. We meet in the lobby and are off to swim in the sea. The footing is different as there are rocks like small boulders but easily remedied with our crocs. The water temp is comfortable and a fitting end to a fantastic day. The 3 boys enjoy the swim and I chuckle at the juxtaposition of the old vs. new as I look up the beach and see the familiar golden “M” that is McDonalds. As we exit the sea the sun is being clipped by the mountains and one of the boys says “Can you believe this, swimming in the Sea of Galilee in Oct?” “No my son I can’t!”
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