Galilee-Wednesday, 5/28-Water and Music

In between field trip days we have whole days back at the Kibbutz. We spend the morning in three hours of New Testament and then the afternoon is free for swimming and anything else. The last few days we have been trying to study hard for our Near Eastern Studies (NES) 136 midterm. We worked hard and took it Tuesday night (5/27). It was a good test but as to how well we did on it that is another question. We were all glad to have that over with though. So, on to this field trip. I have to be honest, just because you are in the holy land, doesn't mean the rules change. I still need to make sure and get my personal study time in or I'm tired. Well this morning was one of those mornings. I just felt tired and drained by the people around me. So I had a quiet morning but things got better don't you worry. We started on the boat ride across the Sea of Galilee and it was beautiful to be out on the water. I have always loved water and I'm not quite sure why but it brings such peace. However, with the Sea 600 ft. below sea level you have lots of warm low pressure with the high pressure in the mountains that rise out of the sea and it is easy to see how this body of water could easily become a torrent. The story of Mary Ann Baker and the hymn "Master the tempest is raging" was new to me but wonderful to relate there on the Sea. Just like Mary today I felt a little "tossed" by life and discouraged as to the future. But a wonderful peace entered my heart as we sang that song and remembered the Master of Creation. Bro. Ostler had given me a copy of an older hymn that isn't in the hymn book anymore called "Each Cooing Dove" or "O Galilee" and asked us to sing it. I grabbed a few girls I knew could sight read and we sang through it. It was in the music when my heart finally begin to feel light. Just as a side note, we performed that song again on Shabbat in the Tiberias branch only this time I arranged the music and that was a highlight for me. Something about water and music.
Next stop was the mount of beatitudes. We had a wonderful lesson and then just time to think and study up there on our own. There is a beautiful church up there with an order of Catholic sisters that keep the whole area very nicely. It was a great self-evaluation time to just think about the things I can repent of and do better.
We then went to the Tabgha Church and St. Peter's Primacy church. Tabgha is where they attribute the miracle of the loaves and fishes and Peter's Primacy is where he is sent out with the commission to feed the sheep after the Savior has already risen and returned to visit His disciples. I had a little miracle happen in Peter's church. There were so many people there and sometimes at these shrines it can get loud and boisterous with all the pilgrims and tourists trying to get their kiss or picture in. Sometimes that can be so frustrating as it really makes it hard to feel the spirit. Well, at the suggestion of a friend, I begin singing a hymn after most of our group had left and only these tourist remained. A hush fell in the chapel and the mood completely changed as the talking ceased and a spirit of worship returned. I am so grateful for the gift of music in my life and for those moment when I am blessed to use it to invite the spirit in to mine and others' lives.
Our last stop was Capernaum and my favorite for the day. Lexie and I were to prepare a lesson on three miracles performed in Capernaum. First, when the Savior healed the Centurion's servant, the woman healed by touching the Saviors hem, and Jairus' daughter raised from the dead. The preparation is what really made this site wonderful for me. I should take more time to prepare for each site like that. I was reminded about God the great Gift Giver when we taught about the Centurion who was too humble to receive the Lord into his house but had faith that even though he did not deserve the blessing, the Lord was willing to bless his house just because He loved him. I told the story of Christmas in our house and how Dad taught us about the Great Gift Giver. There are examples of God's willingness to bless us all over the scriptures and I am grateful for the merciful gift-giving God that I know and worship.
I learned so much from Lexie as she taught about the woman afflicted with the issue of blood who had been suffering for 12 years before finding healing in the crowded streets of Capernaum. We may never know the struggles others are going through, some things are not easily recognized. But even when others do not see the healing that goes on through the power of the Atonement, the Savior knows us each individually and wants to make each healing a personal one-on-one experience. This miracle occurred when Jesus had been summoned to the house of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue at Capernaum. We were sitting right there and I wrote some thought in my journal that express things perfectly:
Jairus was bring the Savior back here! To the synagogue where he was the ruler. I would assume his house was near by and he had requested this miracle of the Savior with faith in His power to heal. What anxiety he must have felt when they were held up by the woman and then what disappointment and hopelessness when we receives the message that is daughter has already passed away and it is too late! Yet in that dark moment the Savior brings light, "Be not afraid, only believe!" And then in that darkest situation, when all is gone and dead, the Savior brings life and light. That is Capernaum to me. (This is a picture of the synagogue built on top of the foundations of the one at the time of Christ where He would have come and read the scriptures, just blocks from the house of Peter in Capernaum)
The last thing that really completed this day was a quick lesson by Brother Seely on the Bread of Life Sermon. Brother Seely talked about so much that got my mind really working but it really hit home days later when again, on the hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee I partook of the Sacrament in the Tiberias Branch. Bread is a sacred thing in this land, it represents life and is a staple to the people's diet. In Christ's sermon on the Bread we are to 1) Seek and follow the bread, 2) Believe and then 3) Eat the bread by continuing to do all the basics (sacrament, scriptures, prayer, church, temple, sharing). Bread is becoming a sacred thing to me as well here and I hope that I will never stop partaking of the Bread of Life. I know that while I have been partaking here it has been a holy experience and I feel full, even brimming over with the Bread and Water of Life that is filling me daily.