The Super Bowl meets the Mount of Beatitudes

Super Bowl snack food:

 

I spent Super Bowl Sunday (actually Monday morning because of the time difference) at a friend's house in northern Israel. A group of folks, mainly Israelis, were gathered for the annual event. A projector had the game up on the wall - real big and mostly live. Our fare included Israeli nachos (different from American nachos), french fries (called "chips" here), fried chicken (called schnitzel), and generic snack foods (courtesy of the grocery store I wrote about here). 

Anyway, I've had on my list of places to go here in the Holy Land the Mount of Beatitudes. Until recently, I had not heard of the place. And until a few minutes ago, I'd been pronouncing it wrong. Mirriam-Websters and wikipedia say the Be and Attitudes are pronounced separately as they appear.


Well, the Mount is said to have been where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount. Its a modest hillside at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. Too long to quote fully, some of the best known components are "Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth" and "Our father in heaven, hallowed by your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread..."

Where I woke up this morning is located pretty near the Mount of Beatitudes. Lucky me! On my way, I passed a place called Nirvana :-) Driving this region's hills is dangerous -- not so much for the bends and curves but for the amazing views that distract me from the road! After another few minutes in the car, I found a Roman Catholic Franciscan church that commemorates the Mount of Beatitudes.

The timing of my arrival meant that I had a few minutes outside the park to walk a bit, sit and read, close my eyes, and chat up some other tourists. Once the place opened, I got to go inside the church alone. Then as I was leaving, tourist groups came tumbling in. Seeing the throngs of people attracted to this place was powerful. Two things in particular surprised me:

1. I was shocked at how different this place looks from how "the Middle East" is portrayed in the media (see video below for what I saw today)
2. I cried. Emotions rose up inside me as I sat, stood, and leaned about the Church of Beatitudes... Despite not having a deep personal connection with the Bible, I experienced something today. Thanks for Aunt Kim and Uncle Glenn for suggesting I visit Beatitudes.