Sounds of the Garden Tomb

I’m a high church kind of guy – even though I’m an ordained minister in a denomination that doesn’t have much use for them, I like the ‘smells and bells’ and the liturgy and vestments and candles and what not. And so, when visiting the various places in Jerusalem proposed to be ‘the’ place where he was crucified and buried, I prefer the Church of the Holy Sepulchre over the Garden Tomb. I like the large echoing chambers. I like the dark stairwells and shafts of light from high ceiling windows. I like the smell of the incense and burning wax.

But hey, that’s just me. Others prefer the simpler, less ornate, less 'cluttered' style...

Our group went to the Garden Tomb this morning, our final morning in Israel and we had a brief service there in the garden – even though it was cold and windy (cold is relative. I’ll be returning to snow and ice…) and rainy. I had my audio recorder with me and so, using my keffiyeh as an improvised dead cat to protect the microphones from the wind I recorded our meeting. (The keffiyeh dead cat worked mostly… there’s still some wind noise in the recording. Sorry.)

 Listening you’ll hear our group singing and testifying and reading from scripture and preaching. You’ll hear my friend John’s slightly out of tune guitar (but hey- it’s an awesome collapsible guitar!) You’ll also hear bird calls in the garden, and the rain on our umbrellas. You’ll hear people walking on the gravel pathways, children playing at a nearby school, police sirens in the city. You’ll also hear the noise of the bus station that is right next to the garden tomb (really rather appropriate if this was the execution place right at the cross roads outside the city walls…)