Pinch Me Places: Kinnereth

This installment in this regular series of "Pinch Me Places" is Kinnereth, called by many the Sea of Galilee. The lovely Robin and I treasure many memories on and around this amazing place, which in Jesus' day was the background or foreground for much of his ministry.

The photo above was taken in 1987, when I was young and thin, at Tabgha, the traditional site of the feeding of the five thousand. It was also near this spot that Jesus had his disciples withdraw a coin from a fish's mouth for their tax bill. I tried it myself, but the only fish in the area on this particular day were as broke as I was.

Just a few miles from Tabgha is this setting, the traditional Mount of the Beatitudes, providing this lovely view of the northern shore of Kinnereth.

On each of our four pilgrimages in Israel, we have boarded a boat like this one to traverse the lake, from Tiberias to Capernaum. This was our 2010 vessel, and our guide for that trip, Nader, a Syrian Orthodox Christian who grew up in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Also on each of our visits to Kinnereth, a crew member has tossed a fishing net (like first-century nets....except it's smaller...and nylon....and has manufactured weights...but otherwise exactly the same) to show us how it was done.

And on our last trip, we were blessed by a glorious sunset, the only time we've been on the lake at sunset. This--and many other Kinnereth moments--were truly "pinch me" experiences, that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

No comments:

Post a Comment