What a Day, Part 2 -Mount of Beattitudes

Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Korazim - Mount of Beattitudes - Seven Springs (site of Peter's Restoration) - Capernaum - the "Jesus" Boat - Sea of Galilee

(Written Wednesday, March 5, 2014)
It took me a while to ponder & think about why my reaction to some of the other sites we visited on Tuesday was different than that at Korazim... While we had some down time on the bus this morning, I journalled a bit...

As thrilling as Korazim was for me, spiritually, many (but not all!) of the sites we saw afterwards were pretty anti-climatic.  What follows are just my thoughts & feelings, and I in no way want to give the impression that I want anyone to agree with me. Everyone has their own experiences, and these are just mine... 

Scholars & historians believe there is a very high probably the Mount of Beattitudes is almost certainly the place where Christ taught the Sermon on the Mount, but for me, even w/ this authenticity of the location, it just didn't seem as organic or impactful.  The place was authentic, but my experience really didn't seem as authentic as it was at Korazim.  I was surprised and a little disappointed by this. I mean, the greatest sermon ever preached was preached here! Three chapters of the Matthew were taken up by the words spoken here.  Not just the Beattitudes, but the Lord's Prayer, Treasures in Heaven, teaching on anxiety, and ending w/ one of the greatest instructions I've ever had: But seek first the Kingdom of God and his rightousness, and all thee things will be added to you (Matt 6:33, the second to last verse of the Sermon on the Mount).

Why wasn't I blown away here???

Perhaps it was the crowds of people streaming in and out of the site, reminding me of crowded hikes which have transformed spectacular natural sites (like Johnson Canyon in Banff) into tourist attractions. 

This photo was actually taken at the Seven Springs, site of Peter's Restoration,
but you can see how crowded some places were...

Maybe it was the enshrinement of the place. Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful place, a present day monastary with beautifully manicured grounds with gardens and benches and places for quiet contemplation and prayer. 

And a beautiful 8-sided chapel (one side per beattitude).

But to me, all this actually detracted from the meaning of the place, and the words that were taught there twenty
 centuries go, and the man who uttered them.  It was just a place -- a beautiful place, where we did recite the Lord's Prayer together, but in a strange way, the enshrinement of the place seemed to supersede and shrink the events that happened there. I know they wanted to honor & celebrate them, but for me, it was kinda like not not being able to read the story for the cover.

There will be more places like this, significant locations where memorials and churches and shrines have been built to commemorate and enshrine (for lack of a better word) these places.  But for me, I think I prefer the raw, organic places, the ones which haven't been improved or commemorated or built up. Undug, yes, but built up, not so much (altho we do appreciate the wash rooms there!). I think I can see my Savior more clearly w/o the ornamentation & clutter of the celebration of him. 

Somebody asked me, on this tour, why I describe myself as a "nature girl" (I mean, has she not seen me?). I think the way I see my Savior is kinda like the way I live my life. Simple, unadorned, it the natural state, raw, organic, pure.  

More ruins, fewer crowds, please.

On the Sea of Galilee.

An amazing experience to sail where Jesus sailed.