So peaceful here in Jerusalem. One finds serenity just walking through the neighborhood. All buildings are made with indigenous stone nicknamed “Jerusalem Stone.” This gives the place a look of antiquity, even when you are not in the Old City. A number of years ago, I read The Source by James Mitchner. In the pages of his utterly brilliant historical novel, a Jewish Rabbi, escaping persecution in Renaissance Italy, manages to make his way to the Promised Land. Every morning he runs through the town, shouting with unrestrained joy and awakening his fellow Jews to the utter ecstasy of being allowed to live in the land chosen by God. I’m not one to go running and shouting in the morning. Come to think of it, I’m not one to wake up very early in the morning at all. But I do relate to this feeling of gratitude. I am thankful to be in a place countless others have merely dreamed about.
There are modern satisfactions as well. Many coffee shops are open all night here. This is especially appealing to someone like me, who has spent so many years writing in coffee shops, socializing in coffee shops and informally debating in coffee shops. San Diego is filled with places like Starbucks and Panera Bread, designed to be laptop friendly. But such establishments close early, even on weekends. In Jerusalem, most of the coffee shops are open until wee hours of the morning and many are open 24-7. When I want to pull an all-nighter in my American neck of the woods, the choice is usually Denny’s or Denny’s. I suspect that Denny’s has stayed in business these many years precisely because they are open all night. I doubt that their “food” has much to do with it.
Life in Jerusalem is calm, but with a peace that wraps itself gently around a growing sense of adventure and awe. How strange to turn on the news and realize that only one hour away, Hamas has been firing missiles into Israel every single day since I arrived. Perhaps, with its own strange rhythm, this serves as typology for the other big news story; Iran’s missile testing, matched with ugly promises to wipe Israel off the earth. A map of Israel does not seem much smaller than Israel itself. And yet so many are threatened by her very existence, hell bent upon her destruction.
I’m not concerned. I know God called me to take this trip. He has always taken parental care of me. Ever since finding God in the early 1970’s, I have felt a sense of personal destiny. God still has work for me to do and I will be safe until He and He alone decides to take me home. It is not up to Hamas. It is not up to Ahamadinnejad. It is up to God.
I have always been one who gets stressed or annoyed over little things. But major events, the kind that instill a fear of death in most people, do not seem to shake me. I have been on planes that suddenly nosedived. While others around me panicked, I remained calm, not because of any lone strength but because my strength is in Him.
Yes, I myself will be fine. But lately, I am not as sure that the world will be fine. Global events are overwhelming, even in that fortress called, America. I keep thinking of the very first narration in the film version to Lord of the Rings. We hear the elf queen whisper, “The world is changing.” For many of us today, the world we grew up in does indeed seem to be changing, as morals and institutions crumble around us. We long for them the way one thirsts for old acquaintances whom we hope to find again someday, if only at a High School reunion. Like Frodo, I say to God, “I wish I did not live in these times.” And yet, I truly believe if God were to answer me, He might just say something similar to Gandalph; “It is not for us to pick the times in which we live. Our task is to decide what we will do with our time.”
This is Bob Siegel, reporting from Israel, enjoying the presence of God both inside my spirit and outside my window. Courage, my dear friends. The hand of the Lord is near.
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