Love in Beirut
I have a really good friend who is engaged to a young woman in Beirut. Of course, right now that city is under attack from Israel, and it looks very grim for even the civilians of that Lebanese city. What makes this even more intriguing is that my friend has devoted his life to Jewish studies, and is planning some pretty amazing work on the language of 1st Century Palestinian Greek. So to see him dealing with the hate and anger for the nation of Israel, and yet working so passionately on this project in Jewish history has got to be making his head spin.
More than anything of course, he just wants his fiancee back. I don’t blame him. Last night as I was laying in bed I looked over at my beautiful bride and kept thinking to myself, “Why do I get to lay close and keep safe my wife tonight, while my friend aches with fear and is riddled with the political imbroglio of the Near East?” I don’t deserve the life I live - the maddeningly gorgeous woman that sticks with me through thick and through thin - the opportunity to devote an entire week carefully examining God’s Word, not to mention the years I have been involved in training for mission in the US… The blessings in my life are a mystery. Last night as I lay there wondering why I had been offered the undeserved blessing of watching my wife sleep soundly, I gave up all pretenses of wondering “why” and just began to thank the Lord for the gift of the moment. I thanked him for the gift of my wife. I thanked him for the life he had given me and the life I was leading. I gave thanks to him for the peaceful situation we live in, even while there is so much turmoil in the world around us.
The peace is not universal or fair, and that means the thankfulness should not lead to apathy. But for one moment - one blissful evening, I am reminded of just how much I am to be thankful for.
Last 5 posts by Mark
- God is Wholly - October 2nd, 2008
- The Great Moderation - September 30th, 2008
July 16th, 2006 at 11:13 pm
We’re lucky guys, aren’t we, Mark?
I thank God often for mine. (by the way, she got three compliments on her eyes from three total strangers on Saturday. Crazy, huh?)
The Middle East needs the Prince of Peace, doesn’t it?
July 17th, 2006 at 6:36 am
They may need the PoP, but would they accept him if he came? Would we? What kind of a message would Jesus have to say to some of the political leaders of our world today? What would peace look like among the G-8, verses what it might look like for our Lord?
July 20th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Mark bro, I appreciate your comments. I think it’s a good response to the situation: be very thankful for what you have, but let it make you aware of the millions of people like me who are deprived and live haunted by fear and need.
If there is any good coming out of my situation and Caroline’s, it’s that nobody who knows us is able to distance themselves and just suck in Fox news or Bush’s latest speech and not wonder about it. And it’s about time! May the Lord use the suffering of the Lebanese to smite the American complacency and arrogance and detachment from the world’s pain.
To other Americans, the Middle East needs the Prince of Peace no more than America herself needs it. Notice that it’s American M-16s, F-16s, Apaches, smart bombs, and missles that are killing people like my beloved everday. Get the log out of your own eyes before you point your finger at a culture and a people you are utterly ignorant of. What do you really know about “the middle east?” What you see on TV?! Fools!
If anyone reading hasn’t pondered that, maybe the Prince has some things to say to you.
I do want my fiancee back safe in my arms. I am trusting the Lord to save her for me and protect her family when I can’t.