Safety

   Up till last week, I would have said that Israel, and especially Jerusalem, is one of the safest places you could possibly live. There isn't much crime, and I don't feel that there are very many weird or unpredictable people around. I don't worry about being out alone at night, unless in some very remote place. There are certain dangers which are the same as anywhere else, such as getting caught in a crowd of excited people, but mostly it is really civilized and sane.

   After two rockets landed near Jerusalem last week, my feelings haven't changed much. But if I am out taking a walk, I look at my surroundings a little better. What do I do if the sirens go off? I wouldn't be able to run home in 90 seconds. So I look for  stone walls, which are everywhere, stone stairways between stone walls, open parking garages, or simply the cubicles surrounding the garbage bins, cement and stone on three sides. The chances of being in the wrong place at the wrong time are very small. (Unless you are in the wrong place at the wrong time--then your chances are zero.) And "chances" are God-ordained. God is good, and we are in his hands.

   Daily life has more struggles and conflicts than a "possible" missile strike. Reality is that every minute I am awake I am bombarded by complicated problems of my own and everybody else's. If anything, the possibility of something sudden and unusual helps me get in perspective, to a small degree, some of the other issues of life. Instead of getting into a downward spiral of trying to figure things out and getting deeper and deeper into a muddle, I can just "do it." Your instincts sometimes cause you to do what's right. Wash the dishes, now! Pray, now! Forget making plans and schedules, just forge ahead. With a more alert and composed mind, I can either do something or do nothing, and have confidence that "His eye is on the sparrow," knowing that to Him we are of more value than many sparrows.

   And no doubt his eye is on cats, too. There are many stray cats in Israel. Thousands of them. (Not many mice, ha ha!) They look at you suspiciously, some of them almost wanting to be friendly, but they don't dare. Just like our life in this world. Since we don't belong here permanently, but are just passing through, we should be suspicious of earthly things that take too much of our time and affections, in order to preserve the health of our souls. God gives us all things richly to enjoy, but we are seeking the things above that cannot mold, rust, be stolen, or be bombed away.