Sea of Galilee

We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. The Sea is a bowl of  fresh water set among the hills of the Jordan valley.  It is thirty-three miles around and is the largest lake in Israel.   686 feet below sea level, it is also the lowest body of freshwater on earth. The Jordan River is its source.  Underwater springs also keep it flowing.  

I shouldn't be surprised about the hotel-lined shore and sailboats on the water.  What else do people  do with a beautiful lake?  But still, this is sacred space for everyone whoever heard the life-changing words, "Follow me."  So I must push mind beyond matter to consider the meaning of this place.

 

Water shimmered like draping for a display.
Mottled land slid into the Sea.
This is where Jesus lived after cousin John was imprisoned;
Where he fed thousands on the hillside with loaves and fish--twice.
It’s where he gave a deaf man his hearing and a voice,
      where Jesus slept during a storm,
      where he walked on water,
      where he had fish on a fire waiting for unsuccessful fishermen,
      where Peter was restored,
This body of water set the scene for so much,
And sitting in a wooden boat
While a Karaoke-style ensemble
Belts out crowd-pleasing worship songs--
It is another disconnect
Where present reaches for the past
Unsuccessfully.
Still,
I sit on my white plastic chair in a boat in the middle of the Sea
And try not to see the hotels lining the shore.
Instead, I want to remember that
Here by the Sea of Galilee
Jesus called some ordinary men,
    Called them from monotony,
    Called them from what they expected to do
         for the rest of their lives.
He pulled their world apart;
Then, put it back together in a way they could not imagine.
They, who knew about nets and bait and pitch of boat
        and rhythm of waves
Would learn that the One who called them
Knew more about fishing than they did.
But Jesus called them to do their fishing on land--
    To cast a different net,
         To pull a different catch,
              And ride a different wave.

Nothing has changed.
The call of Jesus still turns our world upside down,
Still sends us fishing.
And what I want to know as I feel the gentle chop of Sea
                                                 Have I learned how to fish?