By Gill Katz
Jerusalem!
The news will depict the old city as a place of war. Conflict. Bloodshed.
A place where cultures clash, and old and new don’t tolerate one another.
A place of political turmoil. Of suicide bombers. Of death.
But there is another Jerusalem.
A city old and rich in culture, steeped in the golden light of God’s eye as He watches with a fierce love, and I know that His city will for all times be a very special place.
From Hillel Street and it’s quaint coffee bars to the Holy sites where Jew, Christian and Moslem seek and find their roots, to the Mount of Olives where one can stand and look out over the peach coloured Jerusalem stone buildings, the city is incomparable.
A trip to the Old City, and a delightful barter with Arab stall sellers, and the joy of walking back to ones residence carrying a basket of fragrant smelling fruit and succulent vegetables from the shuk.. ahh.
What can compare?
I bump shoulders with Haredi Jews, bearded Greek Orthodox Priests and bare bellied tattooed American teenage girls. There are old and young, firm and infirm – all on their own private mission.
The presence of soldiers is but a comfort to me.
I contemplate their absense.
I know in time they will be, but for now I see them as warriors of Biblical times, fierce in their desire to protect God’s chosen city.
It’s all good…
God chose well.
Jerusalem – City of Gold.
About the writer:
Gill Katz. Former children’s book author, journalist, member of Media Team (South Africa and International) and television scriptwriter, now retired in Florida USA.
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