We spent the morning in Capernaum, on the shore of Galilee, where Jesus lived during His three-year ministry.  We occupied the Synagogue where Jesus taught, for our own hour of worship and teaching before visiting the Mount of the Sermon, further along the Sea.

The synagogue where Jesus taught

The entire area was filled with an amazingly intense, bright white light, and most of my photos came out with nothing but light.  I kept shooting over and over and couldn’t capture anything but light.  I was trying to figure out what was wrong with my camera; the indoor shots were OK.  The sun was still low as it was 8.00am, but there were virtually no shadows.  I went to the shore to get a photo of Galilee and it came out like this:

A Bright Light

At the Sermon on the Mount location the same thing was happening.  Any image with sun in it came out intensely white.  I was getting frustrated but remembered the issue with my battery charger from the first day.  Something told me to put the camera in the bag and grasp the moment.  We had a half hour to sit alone for “reflection.”  I sat on a large rock to read Jesus’ Sermon.

I read this and wept…

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.