Yesterday evening, we went as a group to the Western Wall to welcome in the Sabbath, Jewish style. I honetly didn't know what I was expecting. People more somber, praying, reverant. I was not expecting a party, which was what it was. There was a bunch of singing and dancing, from both the guys and the girls. From what I understand, Jews worship with the men seperate from the women, so to go up to the wall, the men go to one side, and the women to the other. We met a bunch of American girls on the girl's side. I guess they were touring the Holy Land for their senior trip. They also assumed that we were also Jewish Americans at first, but then they still let us sing and dance with them anyway. It was really fun to see the soldiers singing and dancing with everyone else, dancing around with their assault rifles. Some of them also had some interesting colored berets. As in, turquoise blue, lime green, and orange. All in all, it was really fun. We've decided that we want to have our own Sabbath welcoming party every Friday evening.
To add to that, this evening I was with a big group of JC (Jerusalem Center, for now on) students watching the movie the Prince of Egypt, since we're studying it in Old Testament right now. When it got to that one really fun song when Moses is with the Midianites, we all got up and started dancing in a circle. It was so much fun! I dare anyone who reads this to try it next time they watch Prince of Egypt. Hold hands, sing, and dance in a circle. You'll thank me. :)
Today, after church (don't forget, I have church on Saturday, not Sunday) we walked to the Garden Tomb. It is another site that is thought by a lot of people to be where Christ was crucified, buried, and resurrected. We were given a tour, shown the skull image in the side of the mountain, then the olive press that they found, and then taken to the garden tomb. Afterwards, we went to a group of benches and sang hymns for about half an hour. It's amazing how the same songs that I've been singing all my life take on such new meaning when singing them here. Probably my favorite was Nearer, My God to Thee. There were several other groups of people there who were taking pictures and video taping us singing. It was so peaceful.
I've talked in this blog about both the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Garden Tomb, and so now I want to say a word on both. The truth of it is, there is no definitive proof to really support either site as the site where Jesus was crucified and buried. There are historical inaccuracies with both. And there is also no definitive modern revelation from any leaders in the LDS church to support either.
Protestants coming to the Holy Land felt out of place going to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It wasn't the way that they were used to worshipping, as in, much more ornate and Catholic than they liked, so they began to look for another place that they could worship in a way they were used to. The result of that search was the Garden Tomb. It only follows reason that the LDS church would choose to rever the Garden Tomb for the same reason.
Honestly, whichever you choose as the place where you think Christ was crucified and buried, doesn't matter. Both sites are beautiful, and you can feel the presence at the Holy Ghost at both. All that really matters is the reason why you're there. There are spiritual insights that can be had from both places if you're open to it. Don't just dismiss something because it's different that what you're used to.
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