A 'Lonely Place'

I’m in a small cave burrowed high into a Galilean hillside, sitting on an split log worn smooth by centuries of wind and rain, resting my feet on rocks coughed up by the earth's fiery depths millenia ago. Oddly, a tree is growing at the back of the cave, arching along the ceiling, into the light it was born to crave. The small dirt patch in front of me is worn flat, stones trod level by centuries of pilgrims aching to see a place where their Lord prayed, broken only by insistent grasses struggling between the rocks.

Little birds hop in front of me, then dash away in a fit of fear. Patches of yellow and purple flowers grow wild, nourished by the gifts of sun and rain, budding glories exulting in dreams of full glory. Halfway down the slope a lone palm tree flourishes, sparse trees forest the coastal bottom and hills smattered with evergreens fade into the distant miles.

A cave a couple miles from Capernaum, Jesus' hometown, allegedly on the hill where he fed 5,000. There's quite a good chance he prayed here at times, when he went to 'lonely places.'


A bit further back.

The hill where Jesus fed 5,000, huh? It’s a little difficult to pinpoint since, in a very hilly region, one Gospel is sure they arrive at Bethsaida to feed the 5,000 and another claims they leave from Bethsaida to feed the 5,000.

Luke 9:10b, just before the feeding of the 5,000 - Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida.

Mark 6:45, just after the feeding of the 5,000 - Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

Logic, however, is in its favor; sitting at the top of the hill, you’d swear the voices halfway down were about to come around the rocks just in front of you.

I’m curious as to where you put 5,000 men? I mean, that’s a lot of space! Here’s what an empty field on a hill near the Sea of Galilee looks like in March:

Some people think this was a field owned by nobody, which would make it a tangled heap of green stuff gone wild, laden with bugs and impossible to sit in.

One theory is that it was used for grazing sheep and/or goats. The grass would be nibbled short, and the animals could go back to their owners’ courtyards.

A Lonely Place Spirituals
I wonder if this was a 'lonely place' you chose to pray in before heading off on that final trip to Jerusalem. Did you wrestle hard with God? Was it a prequel to the anguished prayer spilled from the heart, in an olive grove called Gethsemane?

It’s an inspiring place to pray, I’ll give You that. Wrapped tightly in a cloak, nightfall long past, listening to the quiet lapping of the sea you created. In the dark, you could listen and escape.

Cave of Christ's, cave of mine, cave of my Lord's feet. He sat down, and they crammed in, disciples with muscles bulging by the power of fish and plow, pulling their cloaks tight around them to escape harsh mountain winds hurtling through the mountain passes, frothing the Galilee's clear water. Peter sitting in the middle of that old log stretched across the rocks, because Peter was always in the middle of everything, marking ordinary places with sinfulness and righteousness.

For only Jesus and those knowing their sinfulness can memorialize holiness into an ordinary cave on an ordinary hillside.

I wonder if any of the disciples ever cried here. And if anyone comforted them. I cried here, hysterical tears born of loneliness and discouragement. I wonder if any of their tears were wiped away by the hand of God on earth? ‘Cause I very much wished He would show up and wipe away mine.

Travelogue
I called reception at the Caesar Tiberias Hotel at 5:50 a.m. to find out when I had to move my car by to not get a ticket.

“8 a.m.”

Anyone who knows me knows I like to sleep in. And to tell me at 5:50 a.m. that I have to be presentable and out the door and having moved my car by eight every morning inspires minor wrath, until they finally went outside and found me a parking spot and offered to move it for me. I cracked up when I got off the phone. I’m never like that – in fact I’d probably benefit from having a bit more of that in me. Ah, the power of 5:50 a.m. crankiness!

Not feeling like dealing with this again, I decided to do what the man suggested I do – buy two or three in advance. The girl at the front desk twenty minutes later: “Oh no, you just come in when you park the car, and then you buy one.”

“Yes, but the man just said…” I changed my mind, threw up my hands, and headed for the elevator.

It’s actually kind of ludicrous to make such a fuss, because I’m at breakfast by that time most days, anyway! Oh well, there’s no going back to sleep now, so instead I’m writing this blog. I’m stressed enough as it is. I need to use every spare minute I can find. And at 6:33, wide awake and enjoying my ever-gorgeous view of the Galilee, I feel like a minor success in the art of spare minutes utilization!

Last Updated: May 27, 2009