A thousand years is like one day...

Today spanned thousands of years in history from the site where Elijah battled the prophets of Baal to the place of Paul’s house arrest at Caesarea by the Sea. We began at Caesarea by the Sea where we strolled through a hippodrome and a royal palace built by King Herod the Great in the first century BCE. The palace grounds included gardens and a swimming pool! It is here that Paul was under house arrest for two years and where Simon Peter shared the gospel with Cornelius, a Roman centurion who became the first Gentile convert. (Acts 10:44-48).
From Caesarea we drove to Mt. Carmel where our choir members were particularly thrilled to see the site where Elijah battled the prophets of Baal. We were in hope that they might break out in song, to commemorate the event, but sadly they refrained!
In Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus, we visited what is known as Mary’s Well, a spring that still flows today and where tradition has it that Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel.
Culinary treats also provided entertainment and delight today. We ate our first falafel, for the uninitiated this is a pita bread filled with fried chick peas and then stuffed with a variety of salad type condiments. We stopped in Cana of Galilee. While no water was miraculously turned into wine, we did have one of the most delicious pieces of baklava ever eaten!
Our day ended on the Sea of Galilee as we gathered on the garden patio and reflected on the amazing sites, experiences and “God moments” that we had encountered this day.

Cold to touch
warm to my soul
I stroll along the sea – places where
people have walked for thousands of years.
Echoes of the past surround me
Whispers of the future call to me
a moment in time
a brief second
intermingled, now with all time.
A speck and yet a life surround by
the rhythm of the cosmos
waves crashing and returning
stars shining
a mist hanging over the world
Water separated from water
in the beginning…
and still, it is good.
for this rhythm sings of God’s
on going creation
the mist covering everything reminding
me of all who have come before
and all who are yet to come.
God’s presence real and tangible in a
place as ancient as time.