I flew back to Israel last week, a week after my father’s funeral and two days after my birthday. The plane was unusually quiet, although a surprising number of families with small children were flying into Israel to celebrate Pesach.
The flight was uneventful; although I was the only passenger, it seemed, whose suitcase did not transfer in Frankfurt Airport. It caught up with me eventually.
My colleague, Rev Dr Stewart Gillan, met me and the transfer to Jerusalem was quick, on quiet roads. Only 4 days earlier the skies above Jerusalem were aglow with intercepted missiles from Iran. The country was holding its breath: what response would there be?
It is very odd how life goes on, seemingly as normal. Hotel and guest house staff are pleased to see me, but give little away about how they feel.
The morning after I arrived I went to the British Consulate in Jerusalem where Peter, the husband of the British Consul General has been growing cuttings of plants from his rather splendid consul garden for the Galilee Garden in Tiberias. We loaded my car and he and I set off for Tiberias. He then spent the next 48 hours trimming and plotting in the garden. There was a short hiatus when he was called back to Jerusalem (on the
bus) for security reasons. That passed, however, and he and the Consul General drove back to Tiberias. She enjoyed some much needed rest at the Scots Hotel and Peter continued his deliberations. He is such an enthusiast, and, wielding his secateurs, spoke to all the staff who came across him. As an architect and garden expert, his reflection and input on the Galilee Garden (given free with boundless enthusiasm and knowledge) will be invaluable.
The idea for the Galilee Garden has had a longer gestation period than an African elephant. There are several prompts for it. The Church of Scotland has wonderful lakeside land which is well looked after by the Scots Hotel, but the land surrounding the church building is very neglected and a real eyesore. Downtown Tiberias, which is shaped by the Yigal Allon walkway, is also very run down but the promenade means many tourists and locals walk daily past the church and garden. Above the church building we have accommodation which we hope to offer on a budget basis to pilgrim groups from Scotland and elsewhere. There will be basic accommodation for up to 18 people.
As the garden develops there will be possibilities of acting as hosts and companions to garden visitors, and building Christian community in this important downtown setting.
At the moment, 3 hotel workers from the Philippines live there, and one room is available on a twin bed basis to folk looking for study leave accommodation.
The centre piece of the Galilee Garden will be a large stone-paved labyrinth, visible from the hotels and the spa and available for spiritual reflection.
Peter’s useful insight following this visit is to focus on what we can do, and build incrementally. He will send his suggested ‘jobs to do’ and I will investigate next steps, including completing the business plan.
When pilgrims return there will be a real need for a peaceful place of reflection which does not further add to the layers of information ladled in to pilgrims from early morning to dusk. The Sea of Galilee is surrounded by wonderful sights and beautiful buildings, but just as the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem provides a place of rest and reflection with
opportunities to pray and worship and share communion, so the Galilee Garden can become a much-needed refreshing place in a dry and dusty land.
But not all at once. Peter has helped me see how 2 or 4 gardeners (no skill required) could come visit for a couple of weeks at a time. With their help, the neglected, overgrown trees could be refreshed. Gardening will only be possible very early in the morning, so any visitors would be free to explore the rest of the day, or swim and help rebuild the worshipping community here simply by being here.
In the grand scheme of things, while Gazans continue to suffer and rockets fly in and out of Lebanon, and the West Bank burns unnoticed, and settlement expansion and settler confidence grows apace, whatever I do will be small. I recall the beauty of small things. I picture Jesus, mustard seed in hand. I remember the hillsides of Galilee, which will be a riot of mustard yellow in a week or two, and I get his joke.
I also understand that my uncertainty, my feeling of inadequacy and my sense I can do little by myself, allows me to rest in God. Carla Grosch-Miller’s paraphrase of Psalm 23 says:
In peril, I remember:
Death’s dark vale holds no menace.
I lean into You;
your eternal presence comforts me.
In the words of the Passover Haggadah,
‘Dayanu: It is enough.’
Stepping out of the boat... 