Lisa Foote's Excellent Adventures: Boats, Beattitudes, Fish and Pigs

Our first day in Galilee began with a boat ride across the sea of Galilee. I loved this! It was so cool to be on a boat in the middle of this sea. Some of my favorite stories from the New Testament happened right here. I have always loved the hymn "Be Still My Soul" and it has meant even more to me since this day. The line, "the waves and wind still know His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below" holds new meaning having seen this sea where He calmed the storm. Truly, He is the Son of God with the power of a God, to calm the elements and to calm our souls, and the love of a God to do so.
Here is part of what I wrote in my journal about this: "The peaceful calm I saw of the sea of Galilee will serve as a reminder that the winds and the waves still know His voice and when they seem to be ruling in my life, He can calm them--in His time. The Apostles asked Jesus, "Carest thou not that we perish?" He rebuked them from having little faith. I realized that they had faith in His power--that is why they woke Him to calm the storm. It was His love and concern that theyy doubted. Of course He cared if they perished. Of course He was concerned for their well-being. I am gulity of the same lapse of faith too often. I know that Heavenly Father has the power to bless me and direct my life and calm my storms, but I don't always think that He will."

This boat is at Nof Ginosaur, and that's a silly name. It is approximately 2,000 years old and is likely the type that the Apostles would have used for fishing and transportation. No wonder they were scared in the storm! There are also accounts of Jesus preaching from boats, as there are many natural ampitheaters along the shore where multitudes would gather to listen to Him.
It is interesting that in ancient Egyptian tradition the solar boat would carry the Pharaoh in the afterlife on his journey to eternal life. I'm pretty sure that idea was not widely known, but I love the image of Christ preaching from boats, showing that He is our captain on our journey to eternal life.
One more thing about the boat-- notice that the ribbing is on the outside of the planks. Perhaps that was 'the manner of men' that Nephi knew, but that would not be strong enough for an ocean voyage, so the Lord had to show him another way.

This was perhaps my favorite place of all, the Mount of Beatitudes. Some of the other students taught here, and things came together for me that I have been pondering for years. It was a very powerful experience. Here are some of the things that I learned (again from my journal). Harold B. Lee described the beatitudes as a 'bluepring for perfection' and this is a great way to view Matthew 5. The word beatitude comes from 'beatus' meaning to be blessed, fortunate, or happy. And htis is the way to be happy. I have long wondered why being poor and mourning are blessed states because neither seems Godly, but Monica's teaching was beautiful. She said that the poor realize their dependence on God and are blessed as they recognize that (see Mosiah 2-5). That recognition causes us to mourn for our sins. Our Godly sorrow leads us to progress and develop meekness-- a mastery over ourselves.
And about humility/being a light-- True humility is not denying who we are but embracing it and using our gifts to build the kingdom. "Let your light so shine" means 'let you rlight shine in such a manner'-- shine in a way that our good works are seen but it is Christ who is lifted up and God who is glorified. A city that is set on a hill should not be hid, nor should it try to be. We are meant to be that light. True humility is to be set on the hilll, to use our girfts and abilities and put ourselves out there as much as we can, yet do it in a way that we are not glorifying ourslves, but allowing God to be glorified through us. He is the light that we hold up.

No site is complete without a church! This is the one at the Mount of Beatitudes.

I just really like this picture of my roommate, Jessica. This is the Church at Tabgah that commemorates the feeding of the 5,000.

Here is the mosaic of the loaves and fishes on the floor of the Church. And a rock... I can't remember why that's important. Perhaps where the meal was prepared and blessed?

And this is Kursi. This is where the 'swine flew'. The legion of spirits were cast out of the man, into the pigs, and they jumped off a cliff right near here. That would have been quite a sight! Why didn't we take the picture with the cliff as the background? Not sure. But it's just to the left of us.

Now some random pictures from the day...