(This is a short note
from a friend of mine in Israel) Some of you may know that on June 12 near the
ancient Jewish city of Hebron, 3 Jewish Israeli teenagers were
kidnapped while hitchhiking home from school. Two of them were
16-year-old high school students, and the third was a 19-year old
youth director doing a year of volunteer service. They were
kidnapped by Hamas activists who were only a couple of years older. than they
were. One of the boys managed to call the police and tell them about
the kidnapping. The recording was released today and you can hear
in the background voices shouting at them to put their heads down, and then you
hear several shots.
Long story short, for 19
days the army was literally searching every centimeter of the area, aided by
trained civilian former soldiers. The bodies were found
yesterday. You can imagine what was left after 3 weeks in a shallow grave
in 110-degree weather. The funeral was today. The
army is still looking for those responsible.
During the funeral our
prime minister Netanyahu (whose older brother Yoni was killed in the Entebbe
rescue 38 years ago tomorrow) talked about the pain that stays with you
forever. He stated that despite the pain, life had a way of helping
us to go on. " Life is like as river of pure, living water that
not only refreshes us, but surges forth to push us forward and onward
so that we are pushed to a new place where we are forced to go
on." It sounded better in Hebrew.
So often we think of
living waters as quiet and calm. But Bibi compared them to white water -
full of energy pushing us forward. I like that metaphor.The Gospel
we believe in is one of action and energy and cleansing. It also
buoys us up when our own ability to hold on is gone.
The secular and normally
very anti-religious press in Israel has been absolutely amazed at the strength
and serenity of the families. When they asked where this
strength came from, the reply was always "from the creator of the world".
Instead of Days of Rage, these communities organized days of prayer and days of
song.
Today, during the
funeral of her 16-year-old son, one of the mothers stated "Yes, today
is a bitter day, but what we need to always remember is how richly we have
been blessed by our Creator."
“Waters
of Life”
cji
7/2/14
Roaring
at first seen
high mountains
begin
falling torrents
heard
carving
deep into rocks
eroding
away soils
quickly
to meander
forming
creeks/streams
then
mighty rivers
flowing
endless miles
till
reaching far deserts
being
absorbing again
returning
to heavens
as are
we thus the same
loud
streams falling
waters
broken open
craving
our names
some
restlessly to sea
others
into the deserts
some cut
short in lakes
or ponds
to remain
as we
thus others
some in infancy
others
small children
more as
teenagers
young
adults as well
in
measures of time
some to
stay long
others a
moment
all at
some time
returning
to heavens
whence
they came
to be
judged sure
by their
works
some
great rivers
others
but creeks
some
evaporated
other
enjoined to sea
most
often mourned
by those
left behind
gathering
in living
waters
of life!
Copyright
© 2014 – cji
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