Travel
Diary of Mrs. R.P. Eaton:
Europe,
Egypt, and Palestine, ca. 1857
It was now Saturday evening, The last two Sundays we had been in Jerusalem, so intimately associated with our Lord’s sufferings, death, and resurrection; and it was peculiarly pleasant to think of passing the next here, by this beautiful lake, the scene of so much of our Saviour’s life, teaching and miracles.
It was by this lake that He said to the weary, “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest.” In our tents we come to Him, commit ourselves to His loving protection, and sleep by the Sea of Galilee where He so often slept.
A Sabbath by the Sea of Galilee! What a blessed privilege! It was the first day of April, and the morning was light and warm. After breakfast our party gathered for a religious service under the shadow of an old high wall, with the green grass, and the sweet flowers beneath our feet, and the open heavens above our heads. We thought of home, and of the sanctuaries where we were wont to worship. We thought also of the crouds that once gathered around the Great Teacher at the shore of this sea, and we could only echo His instructions. We sang that dear hymn commencing, “How sweetly flowed the gospel sound.” Several passages from the New Testament were read, all relating to incidents in the life of Jesus by or on this lake. After prayer, another hymn was sung, in which were the lines—
“The voice that stilled the stormy waves
On distant Galilee.”
It was a most hallowed and precious season and like those we enjoyed
in Jerusalem, and the Garden of Gethsemane, deeply impressive, spirit
really proffitable, and long to be remembered.
The next morning about seven o’clock, we left Tiberias for Nazareth.