Galilee - where it all began...

Today, we visited some of the places where Jesus really spent his time; Capernaum, the area of Tabgha including the vicinity of the loaves and the fishes, and the Beatitudes, and a visit to Caesarea Philippi. As it turns out, Caesarea Philippi was essentially an outpost of the Roman influence with a temple dedicated to Pan. And these days, it is on the lower slopes of Mt Hebron and the Golan Heights. We did see some real presence of the Israeli military in the area.
Capernaum has been partially excavated and it seems that Peter's house was probably where Jesus lived for much of the three years of his ministry there. It was just a hop, skip and jump to the synagogue (you see a photo of the group taken in the synagogue which was built after Jesus' time and is now partially reconstructed). Whether or not this is the exact spot... we are within meters of were he lived and taught for those years; where he spoke and won over his followers.
And then a fish lunch (complete with head) and a boat ride on the Sea (not really a sea is it ...) of Galilee. It is hard to put into words, but it does give a sense of reality to all of those lessons from Sunday school. Something inside seems to be stirred by physically being here. I guess that is what we hoped for in coming...