The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1906-06-29
THE SEA OF GALILEE


summer in Switzerland.
This little fresh water lake, only
| thirteen miles long and six wide, is
| the most famous body of water in
the world. 1t was on the shores of
| this lake that Jesus called Peter and
| the other disciples who were mostly
fishermen and taX-gatherers. Nearly
fhis entire ministry was on the shores
of this lake and Capernaum was his
home. AS the misery of Christiani-
ty which will in time conquer the
whole earth, it has an interest that
has drawn to its waters countless
number of pilgrims in all the ages.
Our first sight of this lake was
from an eminence, coming over
from Nazareth. 1t was high noon,
and the sight was glorious. On the
way we had passed Cana of Galilee
and to test our credulity had been
shown one of the original jars in
which water was converted into wine
at the now famous wedding feast. The
Catholic church has covered almost
every historic spot connected with the
life of our Lord There is a beauti-
full church over this spot.
We could see clear across the lake
whose banks were covered with YER
dure. The contrast between the
blue waters of the lake and the green
sides of the hills presented a most
pleasing picture to the eye.
We went down to Liberals, the
only surviving town of the time of
our Savior. In His day there were
thirty-two towns around this lake;
the largest and most important of
which was Capernaum. Now all is
desolation. Not even the sight of
Capernaum is absolutely known, and
none of the other towns, cursed for
their bitter obstinacy in rejecting the
claims of Christ, are visible. A pile
of rubbish at one end of the lake
is thought to be the celebrated syna-
gogue where Christ himself taught.
The Emperor of Germany is now
seeking an architect who will ven
ture to restore the old building which
has not one stone left upon another.
Tiberias is now celebrated for two
things. First, it is one of the four
sacred cities of the Jews, and second
ly, it is filthy. An Arabic proverb
says that Eat Tiberias the King of
the Fleas holds his court" Yet it
has one good German hotel, where
the beds are comfortable and the
table good. Things to eat do not
interest me after the occasion is past,
but / do remember that at this Ger
man hotel we had which were called
Simon fish; probably named after the
great apostle. They were interest
ing to me because they were the
same kind of fish caught by the
fishing disciples and were many times
eaten by our Lord. Nothing during
the lapse of a few centuries is so
unchanging as wild plants and fish.
We saw oleanders and tulips growing
wild, together with thousands of
brilliant peoples. Many have eX-
pressed the belief that these gorgeous
peoples were the 'lilies of the
field" / saw no flowers resembling
our lilies anywhere in Palestine.
On the afternoon we reached I'll
berias we visited the supposed sites
of Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Mag
dala, but the exciting experience was
reserved for the morrow. We had
been told that if we would get up at
three o'clock in the morning, we
could get a train for Damascus at a
little fishing station called Samak
Trains run triweekly in that coun-
try and it a matter Of the gravest
importance to catch them. Yet no
consideration induced some of us to
break slumbers at that unearthly
hour. We did get up at six and at
seven o'clock entered a samll fishing
boat to be taken seven miles to the
railway station at Samak. When we
started the sun was shining so that
We got several excellent photographs
of the ruins and the shores. Soon
clouds gathered and the Arab boat
men began to work harder, painting
furiously for backshesh, as / believ-
ed, but these half savages knew what
was coming better than we did and
were making a furious effort to get
to shelter before the storm broke
on us. 1t was coming and coming
faster than We were going although
a sail had been hoisted. The sail
nearly capsized one of our boats and
the other ran for the shore. White |
caps and high waves were seen every
where and we were reminded of that |
occasion when Jesus walk |
ed on just such a sea on that identi- |
cal lake. The storm brought its dis |