Sierra Pacific Synod’s Holy Land Solidarity Pilgrimage - Day 3

First, some impressions from a first time visitor. I expected Galilee to be green, because it is the rainy season, but I did not expect so many hills. The roads weave around them, and I lost my sense of direction easily. The lack of sun didn't help. It seemed strange to see whole fields covered withnetting – most turned out to be protecting banana plants. Old villages spread across hillsides while modern high rises, many under construction, were close to the road.

This morning we headed for mountains, first Megiddo, with its many layers excavated at first by foreigners, and learned that the Arabic word for mountain is “har" creating the compound “harmegiddo” is the source of “Armageddon” and it is no wonder this became a term for the final battle between good and evil, since Megiddo had been fought over for thousands of years.

From Megiddo, which is properly a tel not a mountain because it is human-made, we headed for Mt. Carmel, stopping along the road to see a tomb found during road construction with one of its sections closed by a round stone. I was not the only one surprised to see that the stone was a flat disc, not the natural looking rounded stone pictured from Sunday school. The Carmelite brothers have made wonderful gardens which don't quite fit the battle between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, with its fire and bloodshed.

Our third stop of the day was Caesarea Maritima. This port city with its grand palace strikes me as a first century example of both colonialism and excess. We saw yesterday several examples of churches built on churches and synagogues built on synagogues. I had been reflecting that this kind of attachment to place was missing in the generations when the best thing for American churches to do seemed to be to join the move to the suburbs for more space and growth. Is there something out of balance in the American psyche that is adding to the world's woes?

-Ellen Young, St Paul’s Lutheran, Oakland