As expected, there were lots of animals at the The Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem!
The zoo is in walking distance of our hotel – all downhill to get there, but of course we also had to walk back "home" – and upon returning, we slept for 2 hours. I am a keen observer of people. I love and am deeply curious about people. Today was Shabbut (Sabbath which runs from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday every week), which meant that Jewish people were not working, and that lots of families were out and about. I observed that many young families had several children – many had three or four children under perhaps six years of age. Moms and dads were both fully involved with the care of their vibrant little ones. It was good to see. But there is also obvious tension. Our Jewish shiroot driver commented about the trouble with Arabs in the Old City, and tonight a young Arab man serving us made a lot of disparaging comments about the Jews in Jerusalem. It seems that both groups are trying to get people on their "side," and it’s quite sad. In light of what happened in Paris last night, I wish I had the courage to ask both of these men, “Why can you just not love your fellow man?” Another observation: the Jews are very confident in God. They openly share their commitment to God and the scriptures. They are not ashamed of their history. To me, they are not arrogant, but confident. As a matter of fact, I was conscious of this all last night. I kept waking up and every time I did, I was clearly thinking about the young Jewish man who donned his prayer shawl on the airplane that brought us here, and how he said his prayers and read his book of Psalms, and how his face looked peaceful and full of confidence that his Great God would protect him that day. Tomorrow Ian and I will venture into the Old City and trust, with the same confidence in our Great God, that we will be just fine! Continuing with the adventure… - Michelle
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AuthorMichelle Sim - licensed Christian minister, speaker, author, founder of Northern Praise Ministries Inc., and supporter and connector of creative people. Archives
June 2016
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