The Sea of Galilee

I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.

But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.

And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.  And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

 (King James Bible, John)

This weekend I took an impromptu trip to the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Kinneret.  It is fascinating to visit these places as a Baha’i…not only is there the wealth of Christian history in this area, but also Baha’i history.  I’ve posted some pictures of my visit to the area here.  I haven’t traveled a lot within Israel, especially since many of the historic places are not generally advisable to visit.  It is such a gift to be able to see these places with my own eyes.

Growing up in a Christian country as a member of the Baha’i Faith, I absorbed a lot of things, but seeing these physical locations made me really want to read the Bible all the way through.  I started in college, and even attended a Bible study (but was quickly written off as “unlikely to convert” haha), but now I want to gain a better understanding.  Especially considering the fact that Baha’is believe in the Divinity of Jesus and consider Him to be a Manifestation of God, just as Abraham, Zoroaster, Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Muhammad, the Bab, and Baha’u’llah.

It also brought home the point that the above passage from the Bible illustrates: that whenever a new Manifestation of God appears on the earth, we reject Him, we turn away and we subject Them to the worst kinds of degredation.  And yet God continues to send His Messengers to us.  The ultimate form of love.

In any case, it was wonderful to be able to spend the day with my relatives and get out of the city.  We were able to visit the resting place of Mirza Muhammad-Quli, a brother of Baha’u’llah.  “This great man was known even from his childhood for nobility of soul….he was detached from every selfish thought, averse to every mention except to whatever concerned the Holy Cause.” -Abdu’l-Baha, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 69

This weekend was also interesting because several religious holy days all happened within a few days of each other…and of course, living in Israel, I saw this happening in front of my eyes.   Naw-Ruz, of course, is the Baha’i New Year, and there was a celebration here that I attended…it was beautiful.  Purim, a Jewish holiday; Good Friday & Easter…suffice to say Haifa was a noisy city for the last few days.

It was so warm on Friday that I spent the morning out on my balcony in the sun.