Let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. ~1 Corinthians 5:8
Modern Jerusalem has department stores, traffic lights and WiFi.
We wander through the city streets, noticing the accessories that announce religious affiliation. They proclaim a boundary: the fedoras and side curls of the Hasidim, the straight-sided hats and long beards of the Eastern Orthodox, the robes and keffiyeh of the Muslims. I realize that my khakis and ballcap brand me as a Westerner.
Clothes demarcate various boundaries: This is where I’m from. This is who I am. This is what I believe.
As we wander, a bit lost, we repeatedly pass a sign for the Holy Bagel bakery. The distinctive sign becomes a reassuring landmark, telling us where we are.
Also reassuring to realize: Bagels know no boundaries.
What boundary might you cross today, and why?
Prayer: O Creator, I crave your bread.
This material is adapted from my book, Chasing the Divine in the Holy Land.
The photo supplied by the book publisher, Wm. B. Eerdmans.
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