We still stayed in the northern region visiting Capernaum first. We toured the home of where Peter lived and one thing I learned very quickly, is that once there was a sacred site - the Catholics quickly built a church over it. I love them for that!! They take such great care and make things so beautiful without taking anything away from the ruins themselves. I am truly glad that they have done this, that we could have them preserved to view, feel the spirit of the past and enjoy them.
The ruins of the synagogue there were amazing! The place where Jesus Christ taught while in Galilee, taught by parables, and healed so many people, where he performed miracles. A short walk away were the ruins of Peter's house and then past that was the Sea of Galilee. Truly a beautiful and sacred place.
Scripture references for this site:
Matthew 4:23
Matthew 8:14-17
Matthew 17:24-17
Mark 1:21-34
Mark 2:1-12
Luke 4:31-41
the synagogue ruins
this is the church built over the ruins of Peter's home
ruins of Peter's home
I am ACTUALLY standing on the same stone, over 2000 years old, that Jesus Christ once stood. He taught, healed and performed miracles right here on these stones. I couldn't even talk to anyone while I was walking around inside
one of the sweet sisters who takes care of this site. I couldn't thank her enough.
Mom at the waters edge on the Sea of Galilee
Overlooking the Sea of Galilee
mom and me
I just thought this was unique and beautiful. I have never seen anything like it.
statue of St Peter
We then stopped at the Mount of Beatitudes. We had scheduled a Bowery for our lecture with Michael, but another group was still there, so we took some free time to tour the church and the grounds.
Scripture reference for this site:
Matthew 5-7
I'm standing in the back and these are my beloved old mormon folk
Behind us in another group were some Iraqi's celebrating Catholic mass. Beautiful.
This group ended their mass after we ended our lecture and we walked all together up the path to the church and then parking lot. It struck me that we were all there together in peace, enjoying our own things and then the path had room for all of us to walk together. We have more in common with our fellow man than we think, we just need to provide ourselves more opportunities to see it and enjoy it.
Inside the church was a confessional
people praying
On the grounds
view of the church
On our way out of the park this group of worshipers passed by us. I didn't understand that they were singing, but they fascinated me
As we were on the way to Tel Dan, we stopped at the Canaanite city of Hazor, Viewing these ruins you can get an idea about the fortifications Joshua would have faced when he conquered the land.
Scripture reference for this site:
Joshua 1: 6-13
We then moved on to Tel Dan and viewed those ruins. Here we saw the platform that they raised the golden calf and worshiped it.
This is the platform that the golden calf was raised and worshipped on. In the very far distance is Lebanon
From there, we went to visit Banai, Now a natural forest preserve, but in the days of Jesus, was called Caesarea Philippi. The place where Jesus asked of His apostles, "whom do you say that I am?" Peter professed his testimony of Him.
Matthew 16:13-20
part of the Jordan river.
We were asked of our selves and our own testimony of Christ. And follow up question, if we faltered, "to whom should we go?" So much to think about as we rode the bus throughout the day.
This was original piece they found that started the process of the dig
ancient mosaic tile
And now some random pictures for the day seen out our bus window while driving
Random tombs alongside the road
One with the round stone, similar to what Christ would have had rolled across the entrance to His
a quick shot of some of the town of Galilee
As you can see, we had very FULL days. Starting in the morning and ending after dark. I'm still loving every minute of it
Several things stuck out to me today:
Walking next to other worshippers at the Mount of Beatitudes. The feeling of love was palpable. We obviously didn't speak to one another because we didn't speak Iraqui and they didn't speak English, but with our smiles and facial expressions, and I hope the light in our eyes, we were able to communicate our love for one another. Again, my heart just opens more and more every single day for all the other human beings on this planet.
The question of "to whom shall I go" started a very introspective part of the tour for me that not only grew my testimony of Jesus Christ stronger, but allowed for me to exam my chosen religion and my testimony of the Savior's gospel being restored.
Mike gave a lecture about the mote and the beam (Matthew 7:3-5)
He related an experience after his beloved wife died. Deep in grief, he was having a hard time moving forward/dealing with his fresh memories and a friend gave him a piece of advice. He said Michael, think long and hard about your wife. Any less than perfect memory - see that as a beam in your eye and take it out and throw it away. Now you have nothing but perfection to remember her by.
He likened that our every day lives in that we should not only take our own beams out, but THROW THEM AWAY. That now allows us to see the goodness of others, but we can see them as God sees them.
I really loved this
Tomorrow is another full day of mountain tops and more lessons from the scriptures!
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