Sunday in Shefa Amr and Sepphoris

This morning we traveled to Shefa Amr, a town of about 35,000 people situated to the west of the Sea of Galilee, about halfway between Tiberias and Haifa. The purpose of our visit was to worship with the Episcopal community of St. Paul's in the city. The pastor, The Rev. Fuad Dagher (who in addition to celebrating and preaching also serves as the organist -- he was a professional musician before ordination) is a dynamic young man who is active in interfaith dialogue in this city of many religions. Deacon Pat read the Gospel in English, and we were also privileged to be a part of the baptism of Hannah, a young girl whose family lives in Nazareth. Following the service, we attended a gathering in the church hall, where we met many of the parishioners and shared festive foods in honor of the baptism (no, it wasn't a cake from Stop and Shop!). After the reception, we visited a new Intercultural Center that the church has built with help from the Diocese of San Francisco, California. It is property adjacent to the original church property that was purchased and rehabilitated by the church. After its dedication next weekend, it will serve as a center for community education for all ages, enrichment classes, and interfaith dialogue.

We then had lunch at the Panda Restaurant which, to the surprise of many of us, is NOT a Chinese restaurant but is owned by parishioners of St. Paul's. We had a wonderful meal with a variety of Middle Eastern salads, followed by some wonderful cheesy things in filo dough, ground lamb meatballs, and grilled chicken breast as the main course. There was a wonderful stuffed cookie for dessert. I fear that despite the fact that we are walking between 5 and 8 miles per day, not to mention climbing up mountains to monasteries and the like, our eating habits are making all of our clothes a bit tight notwithstanding that most of what we are eating is healthy. Maybe we will sweat it off in the desert on Tuesday!

After lunch we traveled south to the ancient city of Sepphoris / Tsipori. Destroyed by the Romans around 4 BCE as a result of a Jewish insurrection against the Romans, it was built up under Herod the Great's successor, his son Herod Antipas, and rebuilt. It is thought that Joseph, Jesus' father, and Jesus himself in his younger years, would likely have assisted in the rebuilding of the city. Historical and a parsing of the Greek words indicates that Joseph and Jesus were in fact builders in the sense of contractors, and not primarily carpenters working in a wood shop. And we had to come to Israel to learn this . . . There are amazing mosaics dating back from Jesus' time that say a lot about the history of the city and what was going on culturally and politically at the time. It was also in Sepphoris that the Mishnah, the commentary and explanation of the Torah, was compiled. We walked the original Roman roads -- with the evidence of chariot wheels carved into their surface -- and toured the synagogue on the site.

We then returned to our cottages at Ein Gev Kibbutz on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee in time to do our Skype video call to the Sunday Adult Forum at Trinity. All of us who participated thought it was very meaningful to share what we have experienced so far on this trip. It was also good to see so many friendly faces and realized that we could stay connected even halfway around the world. By the way -- the people you saw holding coffee cups over here were not drinking coffee!! We hope you enjoyed the beautiful views of the Sea of Galilee taken right outside the door to the cottage Al and I are sharing. Supper tonight was at the famous Ein Gev fish restaurant (outside on the shore of the Sea of Galilee) where most of us had St. Peter's Fish -- which is a whole Tilapia grilled to perfection. Following dinner, some of us went to our rooms, while Mark and Linda MacGougan, Sandy Kissel, Kathy Steinwedell, Carlene McDonald, Percy Williamson and I went for an evening swim under the crescent room. It was a wonderful birthday present for Mark.

Tomorrow we will celebrate the Eucharist on the beach at 6:30 am with Fr. Frank celebrating and preaching, followed by a day of visiting sites of Jesus' ministry around the Sea of Galilee. Have a blessed day! Talk to you tomorrow! Shalom, Salaam, and Peace! don+