Oh, Jerusalem

Scenes of worship, conflict and battle have engulfed this city for some 5,000 years

Cradle of Christianity, residence and battle ground of Abraham’s descendants, Jerusalem has been the setting for reverent worship, of many faiths, and a bloody battleground for millennia. We wonder what choices the boy pictured here, circa 2003, has made in the 21 years since, with respect to faith in God, worship and prayer practices, family, employment, and citizenship? Is he, perhaps, involved directly in the conflict presently raging in this historic and long-troubled region? What occupied his father’s thoughts and prayers, then? If the father is still living, what might he be praying for now? The same questions may be asked about the proud adults and the young children pictured below. When these images were taken in 2003, only a few days earlier, the bombs had just ceased falling during the US invasion of Iraq. Though Israel is always under threat, and their opponents consider Israel the perennial threat, the larger battle might have seemed further removed at that time. Not so now. For all the occupants of that city, and that region, peace must come eventually: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee (Psalm 122:6).” Eventually, the lamb and lion will lay down together. Let it be sooner than later.