hiking the jesus trail

tomorrow morning i am embarking on a four day, forty mile journey from nazareth to capernaum, following the route that jesus followed during his ministry. i will be stopping by pretty much every place that jesus is recorded as visiting. here is a list of things i am expecting:

mud
pita and peanut butter
blisters
wildflowers
funny stories
meetings with interesting people
culture shock (we are passing through arab, druze, and jewish towns - all within just a few miles of each other)
exhaustion
encounter with jesus


i think that my time in the galilee has to be among the most interesting of all the time i have spent in israel. spending time in nazareth is giving me a new, deeper understanding of who jesus is. for example, today nazareth is struggling to come out of an economic depression - after the last intifada, there was basically no tourism to this area. Nazareth is the largest arab city in israel and there is a definite sense among some people in israel that this part of the galilee is out in the middle of nowhere: why would anyone want to travel there? it reminds me of the story from john -

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. "Come and see,” said Philip.

i am hoping that the next four days will give me a whole list of insights like this. :) so - it is with great hope (and a bit of trepidation for the blisters) that i think of heading off on the trail tomorrow.