Nowadays, whoever visits the places scenery for Jesus prayers at that time is surprised by the dryness of the soil, the absence of shrubbery, the desolation of the landscape.

     However, at that time, when Jesus was here, Galilee was overflowing with well-being and joy.

    Verdant, shady and blissful, it was the authentic land exalted in the Song of Songs by the poet-king Solomon.

     Especially in March and April, the fields would become a tapestry of flowers in incomparable colors.

     The small animals were very docile. Birds were so light they would not even fold the grass they landed upon. Doves were slender.

     In the streams there were little turtles with sweet, lively eyes. Storks, with their serious countenances, allowed men to approach very close.

     Possibly nowhere else mountains would lay in such harmony, gifted with inspiring lofty thoughts.

     All indicates that Jesus had a special affection for them. Important acts of His mission took place in the mountains. There He sung his most beautiful verses, leaving us the Beatitudes.

     There he entertained discourses with discarnate prophets, as Elijah, and respect Hebrew lawmakers, as Moses. There He revealed Himself to His disciples in all His greatness, transfiguring Himself and shining as brightly as the sun.

     All exhaled renunciation, sweetness, tenderness. The fields abounded with fresh water and fruit. Gardens were full of apple,walnut and pomegranates trees.

     That was the setting where Jesus presented us the Glad Tidings. Himself a different, unique Messiah.

     He attends the wedding feast, recruits Zacchaeus the tax-gatherer , Mary Magdalene the courtesan and attracts the fishermen.

     While Greece painted admirable portraits of human life, leaving us a legacy of sculpture and poetry, Galilee planted the most sublime ideal of spirituality, sheltering the Divine Singer.

     The kingdom of God is within you , Jesus used to say to those who searched for external signs.

     And the young carpenter of Nazareth’s voice acquired an extraordinary sweetness.

     He exuded an endless enchantment whenever He talked about the kingdom that would not be established in the world, but within the open hearts for goodness to enter.

     The true kingdom of God is the kingdom of the gentle and the humble, the pure of heart, the men of good will that, wishing to attain happiness, look for it in the practice of the true fraternity.

*   *   *

     In the year 600 AD, 50 years before the muslim invasion, Galilee was still covered in verdant plantations.

     Its fertility was compared to Egypt’s one.

     The plains of Gennesaret , now treeless, are historically documented as being full of beautiful trees.

Spiritist Moment Team, based on chapter 4
of the book Vida de Jesus, by Ernest Renan, ed. Martin Claret.
June 07.2010.