Israel, Day 2, July 9

Amazing day, with so much having happened that I am doubly glad that I am not falling behind on the blog. After breakfast we loaded up the bus with all the luggage of us 22 travelers, including Father Houk and our brilliant guide, Hani. Our first venue took us north of Netanya to the city of Caesarea Maritima. Herod the Great was known for the building projects that he completed in the Holy Land. On the site of an ancient Phoenician fortress known as Strato's Tower, he built a new city that he named for the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus. It served for about six centuries as the Roman government's administrative capital for the province of Palestine. He constructed a port for ships at Caesarea by creating a huge breakwater wall to provide protection from pounding surf and shifting sands. This was accomplished by towing huge forms out to sea, then filling them with stones and concrete and sinking them into place on the sea floor. This is one of the first documented uses of concrete in the ancient world. I was also impressed with the remains of a Roman theater that stood on the site. Archaeologists digging here found a stone tablet inscribed with the name of Pontius Pilate. Another testimony to Roman ingenuity and the skills of Herod's engineers is an above ground aqueduct that brought water to the city from Mount Carmel, about 13 miles away. The aqueduct may have provided water for a population of as many as 100,000 people. It was also interesting that both Philip and Peter traveled here, and Peter converted a Roman military officer and his entire family to Christianity here. And St. Paul was imprisoned for two years at Caesarea Maritima, and argued his defense of Christianity eloquently to Herod Agrippa. Fascinating place! From there we drove to a 13-mile ridge of low mountains just north of the Jezreel Valley known as the Carmel Range. One specific peak of these mountains near the Mediterranean Sea harbors a significant story. Here the prophet Elijah pitted the pagan god Baal against the one true God to show which was superior. First, the priests of Baal slaughtered a bull and placed it on a pile of wood. For an entire day they implored their god to come down and set the wood on fire to complete the sacrifice. Nothing happened. Then Elijah took over. He built an altar on which he heaped up wood with a sacrificial animal, just as the false prophets had done. But then he went one step further, digging a trench around the altar and filling it with water. Then he drenched the altar twice more until everything was soaked. Finally, he uttered a simple prayer and the entire sacrifice was consumed. When the people saw it, they fell on the ground, praised God, and pleaded for His mercy. The priests of Baal were all massacred--all 450 of them! The place is now presided over by Discalced Carmelite nuns, who keep lovely gardens and have a superb view of the surrounding field of Megiddo or Armageddon, and in the church courtyard stands a statue of Elijah with upraised sword. From Mt. Carmel we drove to the port city of Haifa, where we stopped at the Baha'i gardens and saw a portion of them from above--absolutely astounding beauty. We had lunch in a restaurant overlooking the port city (hummus with pita bread is something I could eat every day--hummus is the creamiest I have ever had) and then went next door to the Church of Stella Maris to see the supposed cave Elijah lived in during his ministry), and finally we drove through the center of Haifa and saw the remains of a considerable enclave of German settlement during the 19th c. I am going to have to research that more carefully. Then we drove to Nazareth, Jesus' hometown. His earthly ministry began there after he was baptized by John in southern Israel. He traveled northward into the area around the Sea of Galilee, and here he met Philip and Nathaniel, who skeptically asked if anything good could come from Nazareth. Nazareth is not even mentioned in the Old Testament. It was a quiet little settlement where only a few families lived. A major trade route did pass through the valley but the traffic bypassed Nazareth. In this town Jesus grew up from childhood until about 30 years of age. But He was not well accepted there, and he criticized the townspeople for their infuriating response to His claim to Messiahship. We were headed for the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. Here an angel told the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to Jesus. Nazareth, in recent years, has grown into one of the largest Arabic cities in Israel, with a population of about 80,000. The Basilica of the Annunciation was built over the reputed site of the angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary. It is a beautiful 2-story building with a spire that towers high over the city. It is built over the ruins of several other churches that have stood there in the past. The interior of the building is decorated with murals that portray scenes in the life of Christ during his growing-up years in Nazareth. Our last stop for the day was Cana, now the modern Arabic village of Kafr Kanna, where Christ turned water into wine at a wedding feast. Father Houk conducted several vow-renewals among the couples there and served Communion at an outdoor chapel at the Wedding Church. I was allowed to read Scriptures at the service, and all of us took Communion with him. Very festive and excellently and rapidly put together by Father Houk, who bought Cana wine, some pita bread and a goblet to conduct the service, among the occasional peal of bells, a late afternoon mellow sky, and the flight of birds. A very special place. On the way back we stopped in at a beautiful Greek Orthodox Church around the corner, which had a fountain and the sounds of a men's choir singing vespers in beautiful harmony. A moment to be frozen in time! Tonight we are in the Restal Hotel in Tiberius, a town I will describe tomorrow, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It is a privilege to be here--how I wish I could transport you all here. More tomorrow--one thing on the agenda is a boat ride in the Sea of Galilee!