Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem

I don’t like to write about politics, everyone has their own opinion. I am making an exception today. After I watched “Face the Nation” today I felt like I had to say something. Bob Schieffer had Fuad Siniora, Prime Minister of Lebanon on via satellite from Beirut and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres, who was in New York. The most telling statement was from Peres, he said Israel has no quarrel with Lebanon. They do not want their territory or to influence their politics. He stated that Hezbollah has about 6000 to 8000 men, the Lebanese army numbers 80,000. If the Lebanese government wants a cease-fire, they must order the army to stop Hezbollah forces that are firing over 200 rockets a day into Israel. Prime Minister Siniora has it within his power to stop this terrible fighting. He refused to acknowledge Bob Schieffer’s question about why he wasn’t doing this.

I am not surprised that the Lebanese government cannot or will not stop the fighting. I am sick at heart over all the civilian deaths in Israel and Lebanon. Deep in my heart, I knew 20 years ago that war would plague Israel forever until they overcame each enemy. After 2 wars, Egypt made peace with Israel. After 4 wars, Jordan made peace with Israel. I visited those countries 10 years ago. Their economies were better, they are poor countries without the resources of Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other oil rich countries. I made my first visit to Israel 20 years ago with 12 Christian ministers. Most of them came from black Baptist churches. Several incidents happened made me realize that the Muslim Arabs did not have our values, most were angry, even though they were citizens of Israel. I will say that the Christian Arabs had a different attitude. I think peace will come eventually because nothing stays the same. But the loss of innocents makes me want to do something, I just don’t know how or what. Israel is an awesome place, it's history is in our psyche.
Here are some images I took over 20 years ago on my first visit to Israel. As you can see, the Dome of the Rock is right next to the Western Wall, sometimes called the Wailing Wall. People come to pray, they write prayers on scraps of paper and push them into crevices. The Roman ruin is on the shore of the Sea of Galilee or Kinneret. It is where Jesus walked. We should pray for peace for ourselves, our children and our children's children. I hope this will happen in our lifetime.