The other day my aunt and I walked into a very old synagogue to do sight-seeing. The synagogue turned out to be closed but the gift shop was open. We walked up to this wall with colorful mezuzzahs and Jewish jewelry, and the items all over the walls represented the unique artistic expressions that are specifically Jewish art. My heart just swelled as I told my aunt, If you ever want to give me a gift, just get me anything at all on this wall. You know, I get it. I love seeing the ancient Biblical sites in both in Israel and in the West Bank, and there is something so gestalt about wanting to see all of that land in the hands of the people whose ancient history it represents. Sometimes in some dark part of my heart, I get the wish that the inconvenient people who have called that land home for over a millenia would just - go away, that it could all just belong to me, and my tribe, and the stories we read in the Bible would be the story of today - the whole place would be israel again. But this just isnt 33 AD anymore, and those people matter to God, and my culture and tribe and history has to be shared with other people now. I cant go back in time and be back in the story that once was - I must live in the story that now is. And that is actually a better story, I think - a story where my own tribe and culture has been used by God to share His story with other tribes and cultures, and where He wants us to find ways if at all possible to break down divisions and be One New Man in His Messiah.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 19:22:49 +0000
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