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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 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]
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.
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]
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.
View from
the rock I was sitting on
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.
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 a picture
of them.
* * *
From there we
took off in the direction of
Caesarea-Philippi, which has
several UB mentions.
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]
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 a 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.
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. When I later woke
up I thought that I may have
caught a cold.
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