If I forget you, may my right hand wither

"If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand wither." 

Psalm 137:5

I like thinking of this psalm because it has so much longing for Jerusalem, a place at the heart of this Holy Land I've grown to love so much. I like to remember, though, that the psalm is about a real exile from the city experienced by real people. 

For one thing, I've met people, Arab Christians, who feel that same longing for Jerusalem and almost that same feeling of exile, rarely even able to visit the city only 6 miles away.

For another thing, the psalm isn't just about ancient Israel or even geographical Jerusalem. Jerusalem represents the real home of humanity, the heavenly city. We're all in exile here on earth. So let's go back home. 

Some more beautiful things

I could tell about 100 stories from Galilee/Nazareth. However, that would likely take several hours. Please ask me about that weekend when I come home. I will, instead, show you a few glimpses of the beautiful things I saw there. 

Cana:

Outside the Basilica of the Annunciation, Nazareth:

Church of the Transfiguration, Mt. Tabor.

Swimming in three seas

Friends, I'm sorry the blogging has been so spotty the last few weeks; I've been doing a whole bunch of traveling around the area, and I'm trying to catch up a bit. 

Here's a post I owe you about swimming in some pretty sweet places -- the Sea of Galilee, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Dead Sea. 

The Sea of Galilee was really beautiful. It reminded me most of Lake Michigan, though warmer of course. I can see why Jesus, who could pick anywhere in the world, would choose to hang out there. We also had a fun time trying to find a place to swim. Good thing one of us is bold enough to just jump off a pier.

The Mediterranean was as beautiful as I could guess and we had a bit more of a beach time there. Lovely:

Probably the most fun though was swimming in the Dead Sea. Of course I knew that it was so salty, and that you could float easier, but that defined the whole experience.  It honestly kind of felt like swimming in a giant lake of jelly. It was also very painful when someone I was with got some in the eye, so make that a giant lake of poisonous jelly. And actually, the mud from the Dead Sea is supposed to be great for your skin. We tried it, and it was! So, I'll leave you with  a picture of me floating (you can't do anything else!) in a giant lake of skin-nourishing, poisonous jelly :).

Excellent Signs

Behold, the greatest signs the Terra Sancta has to offer:

 Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences? 

What a weekend!

Hi friends,

I just wanted to let you all know I had a completely amazing weekend visiting Tiberius, Nazareth and Haifa. Here are some of the places I saw:

-Mount of Beatitudes

-Sea of Galilee

-Church of the multiplication of loaves and fishes

-Church of Peter's Primacy

-Capernaum/Peter's house there/now a church/Jesus' synagogue there

-Tiberius (modern city)

-Cana

-Mount Tabor, Church of the Transfiguration

-Nazareth, Basilica of the Annunciation

-Mt. Carmel/Stella Maris Church

-Haifa (modern city) and the Mediterranean Sea

Since there are literally hundreds of photos to sort through, and I have piles of beautiful stories to tell, I'm going to take requests to decide what order to post all this in. Any place you want to hear about, dear friends? Let me know, and I'll try to let you see/hear about it first. 

And the Glory of the Lord Shone Round About Them

Last weekend I had a chance to visit the Shepherd's Fields in Beit Sahour, just outside of Bethlehem. 

If you need a refresher on the event, I suggest Charlie Brown style.

Patricia and I stayed mostly at the Catholic site (the Orthodox have a different one nearby), but we saw some pretty beautiful things.

There's a really cool angel on the exterior of the church:

This is part of the interior of the church:

All the details of the church have to do with the angel's appearance to the shepherds, even down to the candlesticks:

Here's a look at the fields themselves, the area is full of just awesome views:

Finally we got a peek at some ruins of the Byzantine church that was once on the site, along with some caves:

I thought this was interesting; part of the first reading for the votive Mass celebrating the occasion/place:

Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.

1 Corinthians 1:26:29