It doesn't get any better than this...

... thanks to John Mennell for this end-of-the-day shot of a spectacular rainbow that went straight into the Sea of Galilee. Almost as much fun was watching John run full speed down to the shore in anticipation of seeing it.
Cynthia

John adds:  Our  first full day in the Holy Land ended back at the Sea of Galilee where we are staying for the first few days. God was kind enough to adorn the sky with a rainbow just in case we didn't pick up on the fact that we are in a special place.  To be in the place where Jesus called his first disciples, did his first ministry and retreated to pray makes it all more real.  I like to touch and see and this is the place to do that. The rainbow that God showed Noah marked a covenant. God's covenant with us is as alive and real today as it was then.

Day 2 Zippori Nazareth Cana

 Zippori

 Bazooka, anyone?

 Almonds in bloom

 Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth

 Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth

  Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth

  Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth

 St. Joseph's Church, Nazareth

 Nazareth

  Nazareth

  Nazareth

 Reading from Luke's gospel, Church of St. Joseph, Nazareth

 Wedding Church, Cana

Renewing wedding vows, Cana

A Japanese Madonna and Child...

Today we left in the rain for Zippori to walk across a 2,000+ year old stone path that Jesus likely walked as well. It is hard to put into words the beauty of the path itself and the sense of presence felt. On to Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation. SO much symbolism there... a mosaic walkway with mustard seeds and birds forming an ever growing tree...  glass windows created by a thirteen year old Jewish girl... a Japanese Madonna and Child in mosaic... my mind is still spinning. A highlight of the day was having all our partnerships blessed at the Church in Cana... priceless!
Colleen

Mary is incredible

It's been a wonderful, rainy day.  Visiting the Church of the Annunciation was the highlight for me.  Let it be done to me according to your will.  Mary is incredible.  I try to think about what it would be like to have her kind of faith.  Her kind of trust in God to risk something big for something good.  To honor her gift to God's people is a powerful thing.  In this season of Lent, and in this place, it's especially meaningful to reflect on what it means to say yes to God.  To say yes to loving God's people enough to put everything aside except loving God and following the example of Jesus.  Loving our neighbors as ourselves.  Honoring the dignity of every human being.  Even, and especially, when it's inconvenient and requires personal sacrifice.  To see the bigger picture.  That's what I'm experiencing here in the Holy Land.  The opportunity to see things from the perspectives of the ones who have gone before us.  The chance to trust God the way they did.  The chance to love God with the intensity of the communion of saints behind and before me.
Megan

A few more photos from Day 1

 Jon at the Sea of Galilee

 Sea of Galilee

 Sea of Galilee

 Shoreline, Sea of Galilee

 Steps into cistern, Megiddo

 Jezreel Valley

 Down into water source at Megiddo

 Bishop and guide, Megiddo

 Wind at Megiddo (tho nothing compared to the wind at Caesarea)

 Guide explaining Megiddo

 Caesarea

 Caesarea

 John & Shane, Caesarea

 Caesarea

 Theater at Caesarea

 Caesarea

 Caesarea

Schoolgirls at Caesarea

Day 1 Caesarea-Megiddo-Galilee

 Detail of carving at Caesarea.

 A friendly visitor gets driven up the wall of the ancient theater at Caesarea.

 John dipping his toes in the Mediterranean.

 Near the top of Megiddo.

Colleen arriving at the Sea of Galilee (at our Kibbutz).

All I want to do is go to sleep... but here's a few pix. It was a long day. We arrived in Tel Aviv at 9:20a, and headed up the coast to Caesarea (where ruins of Herod the Great's palace, harbor and theater are being excavated. When I was there 25 years ago the theater was the only thing visible. Then it was on to Megiddo for some walking and lunch. From there we headed for the Galilee. We are staying for 5 nights on the shore of the Sea (well, lake, actually) of Galilee. Rumor has it that it is going to rain for the next 3 days...
Cynthia

I’m so excited...

   Well, Ash Wednesday is over, and now the trip is really at the top of my agenda.  I have a cold.  Sigh.

   Honestly, I’m so excited and overwhelmed.  I’ve heard of people who go to the Holy Land and have a psychotic break, who find themselves so deeply in the Biblical story that they can’t find their way out.  I don’t think it will happen to me, but I can understand how it does.  But I also have current connections there, and they keep me grounded.  I have four friends in Israel from a leadership school I’m a part of, and one of our Newark ACTS interns from last year is in Bethlehem this year, so I’m looking forward to seeing all of them.  I follow a group of Israeli feminist activists on line, and want to see their work up close.   I want it all – the Bible, and the current realities.  I know this will be an amazing adventure.

Shane

I go with expectancy...

I am about to leave for the Holy Land; a place of history, of turmoil, of births and deaths, of sacred sites and so much more.  My mind is racing with the things I will experience all influenced by what I have already seen through media and texts and my own visions of their reality.  Colored by childhood memories of Bible stories and the big screen epic of Charlton Heston playing Moses and the gut wrenching movie Masada; I know I can only begin to imagine what it is I will see and how it is I will be changed forever as I walk in the footsteps of Jesus.  I go with expectancy and an overwhelming anticipation of the awe and wonder that is about to be.  Thanks be to God.

Colleen

Getting ready...

I'm starting to think about how public I'd like to make my experience of the Holy Land. It seems a shame not to share it with my congregation, but at the same time, I don't want to feel like I have to post something every day. So I've enlisted an intrepid team of bloggers to help share the Holy Land experience that my fellow pilgrims from the Diocese of Newark and I will have from February 28 - March 10, 2012.