We started the day today with a visit to the Kassar el-Yahud baptism site on the Jordan River. Although there is a disagreement whether Christ was baptized from the east or west side of the river, Israel has won out in the tourist game. There was nobody visiting the Jordanian side of the river (to the left)!
There were quite a few groups on our side of the river. They did self-immersion, dunking themselves 3 times. We saw groups from many different countries. Happily for them, the weather was beautiful!
While we sat on the river's edge, Daniel told us stories not only about the baptism of Christ, but about the prominence of the River Jordan in the Old and New Testaments.
I was surprised how small the river was. It didn't seem like crossing it should have been such a big fuss, but maybe when Joshua caused the river to stop flowing so the Israelites could cross over with the ark it was a bigger river. Now there is a dam at the Sea of Galilee which controls the flow. (And several bridges, as well!)
There were lots of signs of spring out, and it made me glad we came in March! It also made me wish I knew the names of all these plants!
We were so impressed with the agricultural cooperatives we passed along the way as we drove through the West Bank!
Our next stop was Kursi National Park, a peaceful site with the remains of a Byzantine monastery. This site is associated with the miracle of the swine, where Jesus sent a legion of devils from a possessed man into a herd of swine that ran forthwith into the sea of Galilee. We felt sorry for the pigs.
We gathered around to talk about the story. Today we tend to think the man had mental illness, which Christ was able to heal him from. But, like the possessed man, aren't we all a little unhinged at times? We could use some help, too!
Laurie and Ken found a nice bench with a back on it, where they could look at the ruins and contemplate as we listened to Daniel. There is some disagreement about whether Ken was contemplating or napping. We'll never know, because of the sun glasses!
The monastery had some beautiful tile work on the floor, open to the elements. The whole complex wasn't uncovered till it was discovered by a road construction crew after the 6 days war!
We drove by the Sea of Galilee, which is in reality a very beautiful lake.
Our next stop (after a shewarma lunch) was the Church of the Transfiguration atop Mt. Tabor. It is a beautiful church owned by the Franciscans, who keep the church and the grounds meticulously. It was built on the ruins of a Byzantine monastery, and was finished in 1924.
The light, clean lines and beautiful tiled art reflect the feeling of light coming upon Christ as he spoke with Moses and Elijah.
The view of the Armageddon Valley from the church is spectacular! It is such a verdant expansive valley! It is hard to imagine any end-of-days war occurring here. It is interesting being here and realizing that Israel is a cross-roads of the mid-east. I think I've always pictured it a a hot, dry, hard-scrabble piece of land. This looks like land worth fighting for!
A very friendly cat cozied up to Ed and I as we gathered with the group to talk about the transfiguration. It looked (and acted) just like Brittany's Roo! Daniel Rona called it a Roman (roamin') cat. He likes to make puns which I find mildly entertaining, but nobody ever laughs at them!
We were on Mt. Tabor in the late afternoon, and the sunlight breaking through the trees felt appropriate for a site that is associated with such pure light!
Crystal was asked to hold Daniel's umbrella while he talked. After 20 minutes she started to feel a little like Moses holding up his staff so the army would win. Ed volunteered to play Aaron for her, but she just soldiered through!
We got our room upgraded to an adjoining suite after we found out the Sardoni's, as well as everyone else in our group, had an executive suite for just the two of them. They didn't have any of those left, so gave us a junior suite instead!
Crystal gets to sleep in the Harry Potter room next to the elevator. It's not Executive suite, but it does have it's own bathroom!
We're looking forward to sleeping longer in our rooms tonight. Tomorrow is church, as the BYU center has church on Saturday to go along with the Jewish Sabbath. We get to meet at the bus at 8:30. Yay!
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