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How
beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” Isaiah 52:7
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Hi
All,
I’m back! Our plane from Salt Lake landed
at the Missoula airport at about 5:00 on Tuesday, January 24th.
Marsha and I were back home by 6:30. I managed to unpack and get
degrimed. I was in bed much earlier than usual and grateful for it
after about 28 hours on planes and in airports. Hallelujah! It was
a great trip, but, it is good to be back home!
On our last
day in Jerusalem a small group of us walked around the top of the
old wall – for the price of 16 shekels (about $4.50) you can get an
all-day ticket walk the ramparts. We finished our walk near the
Wailing Wall and went up to a roof-top terrace that had a
spectacular view aver the Wall, the Dome of the Rock (the Muslim
holy place on the temple mount) and over to the Mount of Olives.
Standing in that place, we not only had the spectacular view, we
could hear the city below us. We could hear drums and trumpet calls
from groups of Jewish worshipers approaching the Wall, we could hear
the Muslim cry to prayer coming from the minarets, we could hear the
hubbub of the city below, all rising up in a great cacophony of
praise to God!
As we
listened it became apparent to me that if any of this was lost,
whether Jewish or Christian or Muslim, Jerusalem would be
incomplete. To truly be Jerusalem, Jerusalem needs all who live and
worship there.
Throughout
the city we were prompted to “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem.” The
message was written in different languages, requested of us by
shopkeepers, heard from the several folk who spoke with us. The
Hebrew word for peace is the one I close all my letters with –
Shalom. But shalom means much more than just
peace, a lack of conflict. It means wholeness,
completeness, being in a place of prosperity and good relationship
with God and neighbor.
Praying for
the peace of Jerusalem – or any other place for that matter –
implies just this sort of wholeness. Jerusalem needs all who live
and worship there to be a part of its fabric that it might be a
place of wholeness. We, who live around our lake, need everyone who
lives here, to be complete. Shalom – wholeness – does
not come when everyone is alike and think the same. Peace comes
when folk learn to celebrate one another as God’s creation – as
God’s children. Truly, when we learn to live together in the Shalom
of God, God will truly reign among us.
Shalom,
Dave
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