Tuesday, November 29, 2022

One more Israel story

Music was a big part of my Israel experience, and I was really looking forward to going to the site of the Last Supper on our last day in Israel.  I couldn’t wait to sing, “Love one another.”  


Well the day got away from us with ton of tourists at all of the spots we were trying to go to— so many busses, so much traffic, and we had to get to the Airport by 5:00pm— so we were on a time crunch and after being at Lazarus tomb, and  the steps where Peter betrayed Christ and the prison where Caiaphus held Jesus before turning him over to Pontias Pilate, lunch— rain came and we had to just head to the airport with out our final two stops— The last supper upper room , and the Israel museum.  It was disappointing to say the least.


As I was looking back on my trip I had a fellow bus mate thank me for singing “Love One another” earlier in the week.  


We were in the underground ( every thing original from 2000 years ago is under ground now, because of how civilization works, and earthquakes etc…. ) So we were down where Pilate washed his hands of Christ— and our tour guide had us there early in the morning, so we could have some time for a devotional here.  It’s pretty standard procedure to have different tour groups fill a space— talk for about 5-10 minutes, then move one.. every one is pretty congenial about waiting their turn and not taking too long.   Anyway, we were gathered hearing about Christ’s last days..and another group was pushing through.  Our tour guide asked them to wait, and they were pretty pushy and said, “It’s just a few of us” …well a few- like 8 people interrupted us, and then ten or twenty more surged through, our tour guide wasn’t happy and many in our group started booing to show their displeasure…and I started singing, “As I have loved you, love one another…” and everyone stopped.  It brought the temperature in the room down, and reminded us why we were there.


 So, I did get to sing this song on my Holy land trip. It wasn’t at the Last Supper room, but it was at a perfect time to share the message of Jesus’ ministry.



Israel is full of really ordinary places. Really not much to look at,, a rock here, a body of water, a hill...but It’s the stories that bring it to life.  Its not the location that’s important. It’s WHO came into it. JESUS  


Pres Monson:  We need not walk by the shores of Galilee or among the Judean hills to walk where Jesus walked. In a very real sense, all can walk where Jesus walked when, with his words on our lips, his spirit in our hearts, and his teachings in our lives, we journey through mortality.


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