The last few days have been wonderful. Last night we went to the Western Wall to welcom in the Sabbath with the Jews, it was an incredible spiritual experience. We got there about an hour before sunset. I had bought a kippa the day before and put it on once we got to the plaza. At first I felt awkward, almost sacreligious, wearing their thier religious garb. But by the end of the night I felt to be a major part of thier seramony. The Ultra Orthodox jews were on the far north side of the wall praying. I loved watching thier devotion, they let nothing distract them. On the far south side of the plaza a huge group of young jews, more my age, were gathering, they were singing and dancing. The dancing and the singing was lound and very physical. I was confused at first, but I asked our district president and he said that the sabbath is a time of joy and that they believe that they must worship with all their heart, might, mind, and strength and that thru dance they are able to express that. Once the sun went down I went down by the wall where all of the jews were praying and worshipping. It is important to remember that the Western Wall is one of the most sacred places for the jews, so it was neat to be there with them. A few of us were standing near a group of dancers and got sucked in. For over an hour we sang and danced with this people. It may sound weird, but it was an incredible spriritual experience. The devotion and the faith of these people were strong and I could feel it. I feel blessed to have been there.
This afternoon after church the whole group went to the Garden Tomb for the first time. The tomb is kept up by a Brittish charity and is very beautiful. Our guide was a man from London and was excited about his belief in Christ, yet again, good to see people devoted to their beliefs. The Garden Tomb was a spiritual place for me. There are two suspected places for Christ barrial, the Church of the Holy Seplecure and the Garden Tomb. I have been to both places. The Church of the Holy Seplecure was neat, and it was neat to see people travel from all over the world to be there. Many religions believe that the Church is the place, but I wasn't feeling it. At the Garden Tomb I felt something special today, that's all I'm going to say.
So to say the least, it has been a wonderful past few days. I've learned alot about others devotion and how they worship. God bless!
2 comments:
The Jews sure do know how to throw a party. Did you get to go inside the little synagogue to the left of the Western Wall? That was pretty cool. Sounds like you are having an amazing time down there.
There are a lot of neat people there who are truly worshiping in the only way they know how. Isn't it great they already have so much. As pres. hinkley said, "we take the good and just add to it!" I felt the same way about the Garden Tomb. Love ya!
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