Off to get in line to go up Mt Tabor (didn't see any corn), the traditional site of the Transfiguration. The local Arabs have the taxi monopoly up a road reminiscent of the old Sunshine road to get to a church on the top of the highest mountain in Lower Galilee. Once again there was the history of multiple churches up and down with the various conquests over the years, leaving us now with two; one for the Western churches, and one for the Orthodox. And we complain about others not getting along.
It was a day when we heard about how difficult it was to be a Christian living in Israel, with the multiple narratives of Israelis, Ultra-Orthodox Jews who have no patience with anyone other than their own, yet take advantage of the social service system, of the Palestinians, and this confusing number of ethnically Arab, religiously Christian people who just feel like they belong nowhere. It is not a simple place this "Holy" Land.
A visit to Nazareth Village was fascinating. It showed some of the things that life was like for people living in the area of Nazareth 2000 years ago, and linked many of the stories of Jesus and his metaphors with life with grapes, olives and bread. We also learned that many of the homes were actually caves in the limestone, perhaps with a front addition.
A final visit for the day was to the Church of the Annunciation (with a side trip to a church for Joseph... he really does get minor billing in this narrative - maybe that is my ego complaining). It is a modern church over a cave which is traditionally considered to be the home of Mary. Once again, it is a day of complex images, and my own confusion of reality and metaphor, of the "real world" and the deeper meaning of things. No simple answers today.
