Christian Hospice
Christian Hospice
The spiritual battles I witnessed and heard about in Israel, especially in
Jerusalem, reminded me of what I read about the trench warfare during World
War I. All sides are battle weary and resigned to staying in their trenches.
Few venture into the no man's land, and those who do face both enemy and
friendly fire.
During my visit, I once found myself next to an orthodox Jew in the lobby of an Anglican Christian hospice in Jerusalem. After greetings and some small talk, I asked him, "If I gave you a book about Jesus, would you read it?"
Before he could answer, the manager of the Christian hospice jumped in to cut me off, then sheepishly begged the man to ignore me. I waited until the man left the lobby, then confronted the manager. Instead of apologizing, the manager declared that while I may speak to Jews about Jesus elsewhere in Jerusalem, I was to refrain from doing so inside his hospice and certainly not in the lobby.
When asked why his hospice was off limits to the Gospel, he said they had their way of telling people about Jesus and outsiders couldn't participate. When asked how many new Christians "their" way had borne, the manager conceded that they were still working on their first.
Speaking of battles, the painting above, found hanging in the lobby of the Masada cable car station, depicts the battle of Masada in which about 1000 Jews held out atop the impregnable plateau against a Roman legion. The battle actually never took place as painted; the night before the Roman siege mound reached the plateau, all but 7 of the 1000 committed suicide.
During my visit, I once found myself next to an orthodox Jew in the lobby of an Anglican Christian hospice in Jerusalem. After greetings and some small talk, I asked him, "If I gave you a book about Jesus, would you read it?"
Before he could answer, the manager of the Christian hospice jumped in to cut me off, then sheepishly begged the man to ignore me. I waited until the man left the lobby, then confronted the manager. Instead of apologizing, the manager declared that while I may speak to Jews about Jesus elsewhere in Jerusalem, I was to refrain from doing so inside his hospice and certainly not in the lobby.
When asked why his hospice was off limits to the Gospel, he said they had their way of telling people about Jesus and outsiders couldn't participate. When asked how many new Christians "their" way had borne, the manager conceded that they were still working on their first.
Speaking of battles, the painting above, found hanging in the lobby of the Masada cable car station, depicts the battle of Masada in which about 1000 Jews held out atop the impregnable plateau against a Roman legion. The battle actually never took place as painted; the night before the Roman siege mound reached the plateau, all but 7 of the 1000 committed suicide.