Just the other day, I arrived back in Israel after an extended visit to the States. This explains my absence from Jerusalem Dateline. Please accept my apologies to those of you who looked for updates during the past few weeks and haven't found them.
When I first arrived in America, I had several questions on my mind: Is America 'healthy'? Is it prepared to withstand the threats it faces from various parts of the world, particularly from the Middle East? Are Americans aware of the dangers they face throughout the world? Is America too self-centered and self-absorbed to be aware of these dangers?
I do know Americans are absorbed about the price of gas as it dominated conversations from region to region and state to state. Friends, family and acquaintances talked about whether gas was over or under $4 a gallon. Everyone was glad when it dipped below and burdened when it creeped above that new unfamiliar threshold. A few family members in the Northeast talked about what they'll have to start paying for heating oil this winter. It might be double what they paid last winter -- a potential budget buster for a lot of households.
In the midst of this economic crunch, I found people who believe that what America needs most now is prayer, especially with a crucial Presidential election just three months away. One place I found people praying (and fasting) was the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. When I arrived there, they were just about to start a 40-day fast leading up to August 16th and "The Call." The question "The Call" -- a day-long prayer meeting in Washington D.C. -- asks is, "Can a nation be changed in a day?" Obviously many believe through prayer and fasting the answer is yes.
Coming back to the Middle East, the need for prayer seems just as acute. When I opened The Jerusalem Post the other day, for the first time in weeks, I was struck by the number of conflicts here. Whether it was the latest deadly skirmish between Fatah and Hamas in the Gaza Strip or a bitter and contentious political race here in Israel, the paper was filled with stories of conflict and contention. After being away for several weeks, it seems the narrative of this region continues as it has for so long. Details and personalities change, but the story line often remains the same.
Yet last night, in the center of Jerusalem, I also found people praying. A citywide prayer meeting brought together a few hundred believers who cried out to God for integrity and honesty in the government, protection for the nation of Israel and salvation for the people of this ancient land.
While I still don't have all the answers to the questions I asked myself when I arrived in America several weeks ago, it seems safe to say it's at a crossroads. It's also clear that people on both sides of the ocean -- in the U.S. and here in Israel -- believe the solution to this region and the answers to America's woes (and my own questions) may be too big for politics but not too big for the One who answers prayer.