On a clear night in Palestine...

The power is out in most of Bethlehem. This happens occasionally here. And darkness is not so bad... when there are candles and stars and moonlight. On a clear night in Palestine you can see forever. I don’t know how long my computer battery will last, but I until then...

There are candles burning and the mood is uneasy. Every now and then there are explosions and shots in the distance. Are they fireworks? Bombs? Guns? I do not know. In fact there is never any way to know how to distinguish such sounds here.

I tell my neighbor to enjoy the silence. My optimism receives an answer tonight - even as I shut the door to my rooftop apartment an explosion resounds. Not so close, but still disruptive… especially now… since we all seem to be waiting for something to happen...

Waiting for power to come back?

Waiting for a definitive hostile sound to arise?

We wait.

I do not feel nervous. I am grateful for a chance to pause from my cleaning and laundry.

But what if that is a tank outside? What if that sound is the army rolling in? The fear that I see reflected in the eyes of each person I meet in this prison city…

I feel free… truly the Lord has set me free… but that does not alter this current physical reality.

So, we wait.

We wait.

On a clear night in Palestine you can see forever.