This week's post comes from Stephen Mickelson:
I
spent this past summer at my university's Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern
Studies. In my short three-and-a-half month stay in the Holy Land I had
the opportunity to visit some of the most sacred locations on earth for
Muslims, Jews, and Christians. The call to prayer from neighborhood
mosques became my music every night as I’d watch the city lights glimmer off
the gold of the Dome of the Rock. On two occasions I welcomed in the
Jewish Sabbath Friday at sunset at the Western Wall. There I danced with
Jews my age in Kotel Plaza as I tried to hum along to their Hebrew songs of
worship. I said countless prayers in Christian church pews on ground
dedicated to various events of Christ's life and on occasion followed
processions of Franciscan monks through the old city.
Upon
returning home after seeing so many wonderful places, people often asked me,
“What was it like to walk where Jesus walked?” I always told them about
the following experience I had in the Garden Tomb.
The
Garden Tomb is the traditional location of the burial and resurrection of
Christ for some Christian faiths. It was the location that I most looked
forward to seeing in the Holy Land. As a Latter-day Saint, the
resurrection has always been the ultimate message of hope and victory for me.
Surely the greatest message ever received by mortals was that given to Mary by
angels. "He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the
place where the Lord lay" (Matthew 28:6). Just as Christ rose from
the tomb, we too can rise. We can rise from sin, temptation, mortal
frailties and death to return to our Father in Heaven because of the sacrifices
of our Savior.
I
found the Garden Tomb to be peaceful. The gardens are well kept.
There is a reverent atmosphere there despite the bustle of the
surrounding East Jerusalem. However, I found my initial experience there
to be vastly underwhelming. There was peace, but there was no burning
conviction.
After
a tour of the gardens, we sat on some benches and sang hymns until it was our
turn to enter the tomb. As we started singing a hymn called "I know
that my Redeemer lives", something changed within me. The words were
no longer lyrics that someone else wrote: they were a declaration of my
personal faith. I felt a fire grow within my heart until it consumed me
with gratitude, love, and knowledge. It was the powerful spiritual
experience I was looking for.
I've
thought about this experience a lot as an answer to the question, "What is
it like to walk where Jesus walked?" The experience taught me that
when seeking spiritual conviction, the physical location is nowhere near as
important as the location of our hearts, thoughts, and actions. After
all, those are the elements that made such places meaningful to begin with.
The thoughts, actions, and emotions of the Savior are what made the paths
He walked sacred two millennia ago. It was Paul's prayer that the
disciples of Colossae walked as Christ walked. "That ye might walk
worthy of The Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and
increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col 1:10).
Throughout
the rest of my stay in the Holy Land, my greatest increases in knowledge and
discipleship came from walking worthy of The Lord's guidance. I know that
I will never forget standing on the same steps to the temple that Christ
ascended many times. I'll never forget walking on the shores of the
Galilee or through the streets where Christ carried His cross. But I will
be slower to forget paths my heart walked as I learned to love my brothers in
Abraham, regardless of how different our cultures and beliefs may be. I
will be slower to forget the thousands of humanitarian kits we put together so
that Bedouin children can attend school. I'll be slower to forget sitting down
to share pita with Palestinian kids and looking for even the smallest ways to
serve my classmates.
If
you'd like to know for yourself what it is like to walk where Jesus walked,
it's not hard. You don't have to travel halfway across the world.
In order to know what it is like to walk where Jesus
walked, you simply have to walk as Jesus walked. No Galilee
is necessary to be a fisher of men. No road to Jericho is necessary to be
a Good Samaritan. Just act, speak, and love like the Savior. Then
stop and listen to the Spirit. He'll tell you in your heart and your mind
what it is like to walk where Jesus walked.
