Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
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Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
So are we enjoined by the psalmist. So I have prayed many times. Not often enough.
Having just returned from Israel for my second trip this year, I was struck even more than the first time by the daily pressures that war against this prayer of the saints.
Just consider two factors--one for Jews, one for Palestinians.
Every day hundreds and thousands of Palestinians who live in the territories of the West Bank must line up in long queues in order to pass through security check points to cross over into Israel proper to get to work. This is a daily reality at the check point between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, seen in the picture with the call for "Peace" written in three languages on the security wall. Imagine the daily frustration, anger, fear and dehumanization for those Palestinian workers making their way to and from Jerusalem.
Then, on the other side of the equation, Jews in Jerusalem are bombarded five times a day by the call to prayer from the minarets of the scores of mosques that dot the city landscape. Five times a day that oppressive howl comes forth from loud speakers on the minaret towers, filling the atmosphere with reminders that the Israelis are surrounded by followers of a faith pledged to eradicate their very existence and push them into the sea. I can't begin to describe how disturbing and vexing those calls to prayer are--imagine being assaulted with that wail five times daily and maintaining a posture toward peace.
I did encounter some amazing believers in Messiah on both of these trips who are committed toward peace. Some are Jewish by birth, some Palestinian. But they have been born anew by the Spirit to become sons and daughters of the Most High, working toward peace in the land across centuries of fear, betrayal, mistrust and anger.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. It is a daily vocation.
So are we enjoined by the psalmist. So I have prayed many times. Not often enough.
Having just returned from Israel for my second trip this year, I was struck even more than the first time by the daily pressures that war against this prayer of the saints.
Just consider two factors--one for Jews, one for Palestinians.
Every day hundreds and thousands of Palestinians who live in the territories of the West Bank must line up in long queues in order to pass through security check points to cross over into Israel proper to get to work. This is a daily reality at the check point between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, seen in the picture with the call for "Peace" written in three languages on the security wall. Imagine the daily frustration, anger, fear and dehumanization for those Palestinian workers making their way to and from Jerusalem.
Then, on the other side of the equation, Jews in Jerusalem are bombarded five times a day by the call to prayer from the minarets of the scores of mosques that dot the city landscape. Five times a day that oppressive howl comes forth from loud speakers on the minaret towers, filling the atmosphere with reminders that the Israelis are surrounded by followers of a faith pledged to eradicate their very existence and push them into the sea. I can't begin to describe how disturbing and vexing those calls to prayer are--imagine being assaulted with that wail five times daily and maintaining a posture toward peace.
I did encounter some amazing believers in Messiah on both of these trips who are committed toward peace. Some are Jewish by birth, some Palestinian. But they have been born anew by the Spirit to become sons and daughters of the Most High, working toward peace in the land across centuries of fear, betrayal, mistrust and anger.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. It is a daily vocation.
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