Walking the Jesus Trail

Tue, Feb 2, 2010
Nazareth

We came to Nazareth to walk the Jesus Trail, and that is what we did today, at least the first leg of it – Nazareth to Cana, about 14 km. We awoke early, about 6am, to a clear blue sky and what looked like the promise of a beautiful day. By the time we ate our breakfast and fixed ourselves sandwiches for on the route, the sky had clouded up. The forecast was for rain, and as we sat deliberating, it started to rain. So we waited and watched and kept debating. After about 30 minutes, the rain had let up and it looked like it might clear off, so we decided to just go for it. The first thing we had to do was climb up and out of the city – a climb that included some 400+ steps. I was about done in by the time we got to the top of the town. It took us about 15 minutes or more to walk to the edge of town and then we went off the road through what looked to be a composting site with lots of dead brush, etc. We managed to fashion ourselves a couple of walking sticks out of some sticks we found and it wasn’t long before I was grateful to have one.

Everything around us was lush green because of the rain they’ve been getting. Little white and purple cyclamens were blooming everywhere and mixed among them were hundreds of bright red miniature poppies. There were other wildflowers blooming as well, and the sight of all of them together was really cheerful.

The weather throughout the day was cold (50s) with sporadic rain. I was praying to Grandma Kunkel to hold back the rain, and for the most part we got pretty lucky. Mostly we had very overcast skies with occasional bright spells of sunshine and then brief showers, but nothing too bad. The few times it rained a little harder, we were near the shelter of trees or buildings and were able to stay out of most of the really wet stuff.

Even so, it was a very challenging trek. The dirt trails had turned to wet clay, and our shoes turned into Herman Munster feet, about 5 pounds apiece. Just lifting my legs became a chore, made even more challenging when the ground tried to suck my shoes from my feet.

By the time we got to Cana (about 14 km), I was chilled and exhausted. I sat down in the main church to rest while Jeff went and explored a little. He came to get me after a few minutes “to show me something.” In one of the side chapels, a group of about six couples were renewing their wedding vows. As in Gethsemane, I was suddenly and unexpectedly overwhelmed. I stood there looking at them and thinking of how many years most of them have probably been married and of the hard times and the good times they would have been through and there they stood grinning and laughing and posing for pictures like newlyweds. And then I thought of sitting with Jeff's mom and his family the night the decision was made to take Fabian off the ventilator. That must have been such a difficult decision for her to make, and I thought of the great love it took for her to let him go. And of course I thought of my folks and how Dad so tenderly cared for my Mom as she became weaker and weaker. The great faith and fidelity that Jeff and I have been witness to has been such a blessing and such an incredible model for our own marriage. The good marriages are not the ones without hardship but the ones that meet those hardships together as a team. But in the end, someone has to be the first to say goodbye, and standing there in Cana, exhausted and wet and cold, it all swept over me with such powerful emotion that it took me to my knees. And while I was there I made sure to say Thank You for reminding me of how blessed we are.