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TODAY
WE WENT NORTH to the Golan Heights,
and our first stop was the Jordan River, where John the Baptist did his
work and where Jesus was baptized.
The River Jordan
. . .
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The road now led immediately down into the tropical
Jordan valley, and soon Jesus was to have exposed to his wondering
gaze the crooked and ever-winding Jordan with its glistening and
rippling waters as it flowed down toward the Dead Sea. They laid
aside their outer garments as they journeyed south in this
tropical valley, enjoying the luxurious fields of grain and the
beautiful oleanders laden with their pink blossoms, while massive
snow-capped Mount Hermon stood far to the north, in majesty
looking down on the historic valley. [1374]
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. . . and with Mt. Hermon in the background
Joy at the Jordan River
By 9:30 a.m. we were on the road to Mt. Hermon, the
Urantia Book’s Mount of Transfiguration. All along the way were signs
of war—soldiers with guns, warnings about landmines.
The landscape
grew more and more barren the closer we got to our destination.
At the
base of the mountain we drove in circles trying to find the road up, at
one time finding ourselves partway up the wrong side of the mountain in
an obscure village that time had passed by. The inhabitants, who fitted
my idea of Andonites, all wore black and the women had identical white
headscarves. They were astounded to see us, two modern women driving a
car slowly through their village trying to find the way out.
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The indwelling Thought Adjuster now led Jesus to
forsake the dwelling places of men and betake himself up to Mount
Hermon that he might finish his work of mastering his human mind
and complete the task of effecting his full consecration to the
remainder of his lifework on earth. . . . This period of isolation
on Mount Hermon marked the termination of his purely human career,
that is, the technical termination of the mortal bestowal. . . .
And Jesus lived alone with God for six weeks on the slopes of
Mount Hermon. [1492]
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When at last we were on the correct path to Mt.
Hermon, it was a steep, winding ascent. The mountain was bare but for
many rocks and boulders. What a lonely place, we observed, for Jesus to
spend so much time!
Abruptly we came up against a checkpoint where
military guards told us we could go no further. We seemed to be in a
combat zone that was quiet for the day. It was the location of a
one-time ski resort, now deserted and occupied by the soldiers. Joy
wanted to be alone, to wander off and experience closeness with Jesus,
so she headed out by herself into the wilderness. I found this place so
creepy that I stayed near the car, finding a large rock on which to sit
and read my Urantia Book. About five minutes later, Joy came running
back, gasping “Let’s get out of here!”
JOY:
I was hiking along the side of a steep hill, looking for a good
rock to sit upon so I could meditate. I passed a sign written in large
red Arabic letters with exclamation marks. It looked rather ominous, but
of course I couldn't read it, so I continued on. But then, a little
while further on, I saw all these shiny things on the ground. Upon
inspection I realized that they were spent shells from some kind of
guns! This sent me running back to the car.
The view from the
rock I was sitting on
Leaving Mt. Hermon, while driving through a
spectacular landscape in the foothills, we rounded a bend and came upon
two colorfully dressed goat herders and their flock. It was a scene
straight out of a painting. There was no shoulder to pull over but when
I thought it was safe I stopped so Joy could jump out, run back and take
pictures of them.
*
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From there we took off in the direction of
Caesarea-Philippi, which has several UB mentions.
A section of our Bible map
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On Monday morning, May 23, Jesus
[and his associates] departed for Caesarea-Philippi, going by way of the Jordan
to the Damascus-Capernaum road, thence northeast to the junction
with the road to Caesarea-Philippi, and then on into that city,
where they tarried and taught for two weeks. They arrived during
the afternoon of Tuesday, May 24. . . . Although Jesus did no
public work during this two weeks' sojourn near Caesarea-Philippi,
the apostles held numerous quiet evening meetings in the city, and
many of the believers came out to the camp to talk with the
Master. [1727]
Caesarea-Philippi was situated in a region of wondrous beauty. It nestled in a charming valley between scenic hills where the Jordan poured forth from an underground cave. The heights of Mount Hermon were in full view to the north, while from the hills just to the south a magnificent view was had of the upper Jordan and the Sea of Galilee.
[1745]
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The
area was now a reserve and
archeological site now called Banias, a natural spring where the water flows down
from Mt. Hermon and passes on into the Jordan River to the south. We
paid an entrance fee and found it to be one of the most beautiful spots
we’d seen so far. In the steep cliff was a magnificent natural cave, a
rushing river nearby, nature paths, a mill, and many ruins with
excavations still in progress.
The ancient city of Caesarea-Philippi
appeared to lie under the modern highway, much of it having been
unearthed on both sides of the road. We walked around amid the ruins and
imagined what a bustling place this must have been in Jesus’ day.
After exploring the area for a couple of hours, Joy
went off by herself and I returned to the main tourist area, where I
found a restaurant, ordered some soup and sat reading about
Caesarea-Philippi in the Urantia Book.
JOY: I decided to take some hiking trail
which was supposed to circle around the park-like area and wind up back
at the restaurant. It ended
up being many, many miles long, and it seemed to me that I had been gone
for hours! Finally the
trail ended abruptly at a road, and I didn't know whether to go left or
right on the road. As I
stood there puzzling over this, a crowded tourist bus full of
non-English-speaking people drove up, and I flagged it down.
Somehow I communicated my dilemma, and the bus driver indicated
that I should stay on the bus. He
drove about a mile down the road and dropped me off in the parking lot
behind the restaurant where Saskia was sitting, nonchalantly sipping
soup and reading the Urantia Book as she waited for my return.
When we returned to the Sea of Galilee we decided to
take the road all the way around it for the first time, in wonderment
that for all its fame and historical significance it is not more
developed. There were many lonely stretches dotted with kibbutzes
offering holiday accommodations. While driving we picked out some spots
to revisit the next day as it was growing dark.
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| Some
views as we drove around the Sea of Galilee |
In Tiberias we stopped at the market to buy bread,
butter, avocados, hummus, cheese, olives and drinks, and sat out on our
“terrace” eating, writing, reading, drinking, and watching the
people go by. It was finally quiet now that all the socially-inclined
Dutch tourists had left.
In the middle of the night I woke up shivering
with the covers on the floor, but not motivated enough to put them back
on. I woke up thinking that I may have caught a cold. *
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CLICK
HERE TO RETURN TO CALENDAR
or
read on by clicking on any of the following
links:
1.
From Los Angeles to Amsterdam
2. The Flight to Greece
3. Ancient
Corinth
4. The
Citadel
5. To Piraeus
6. Hania on
Crete
7. A
Day in Limbo
8. Back
to Athens
9. From
Athens to Cairo
10. Cairo
11. The Pyramids
12. The Bus to Israel
13. Jerusalem
14. Bethany and Bethpage
15. An Old Palestinian Hotel
16. The Drive to Galilee
17. Capernaum and Environs
18. The Ancient Boat and Nazareth
19. The Golan Heights and Mt. Hermonthis
page
20. The Eastern Shore and Scythiopolis
21. Mount of the Beatitudes
22. Ptolemais and Caesarea
23. A Day in Piraeus
24. Santorini
25. A Rainy Day
26. An Eventful Day in Athens
27. Return to Amsterdam
28. Going Home
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