Wednesday November 27th, 2019 Isaiah 33:17-22
Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, an immovable tent? (verse 20)
A quiet habitation? Jerusalem? Was Isaiah ever in Jerusalem?! I experienced Jerusalem as a noisy city, bustling with activity at all hours and every day of the week, even on the Sabbath. Vendors in narrow streets and alleyways, worshippers hurrying to the Western Wall or the many Christian and Muslim sites in the Old City, delighting the senses in a way no other city can. Jerusalem: a holy city for all three Abrahamic faiths.
At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I lit a candle near the supposed site of the crucifixion. I joined the pilgrims as they remembered the One who came into our complex world as the voice of peace.
At the Western Wall, I witnessed several Bar Mitzvahs, with young boys carrying Torah scrolls beside beaming fathers and rabbis, everyone singing. At the same wall, I listened to an elderly Orthodox rabbi, surrounded by his many students, teaching the Torah, and I imagined what it might have been like in Jesus’ day.
On the Temple Mount, I witnessed Islamic worshippers on their way to worship, smiling as they greeted each other.
All three faiths love this land and the God whom they encounter here. Perhaps that makes it “an immovable tent”!
God of love, I thank you for my sisters and brothers of all faiths. Amen. — MW
Contributed by Jerusalem!
A quiet habitation? Jerusalem? Was Isaiah ever in Jerusalem?! I experienced Jerusalem as a noisy city, bustling with activity at all hours and every day of the week, even on the Sabbath. Vendors in narrow streets and alleyways, worshippers hurrying to the Western Wall or the many Christian and Muslim sites in the Old City, delighting the senses in a way no other city can. Jerusalem: a holy city for all three Abrahamic faiths.
At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, I lit a candle near the supposed site of the crucifixion. I joined the pilgrims as they remembered the One who came into our complex world as the voice of peace.
At the Western Wall, I witnessed several Bar Mitzvahs, with young boys carrying Torah scrolls beside beaming fathers and rabbis, everyone singing. At the same wall, I listened to an elderly Orthodox rabbi, surrounded by his many students, teaching the Torah, and I imagined what it might have been like in Jesus' day.
On the Temple Mount, I witnessed Islamic worshippers on their way to worship, smiling as they greeted each other.
All three faiths love this land and the God whom they encounter here. Perhaps that makes it "an immovable tent"!
