Day 24 Walking with Marie

The Old City of Jerusalem looks hauntingly beautiful at night. A simple streetlight bathed the double-arches of the Golden Gate in a golden glow, making me forget that I was surrounded by Muslim graves there and the Jewish ones on the adjacent Mount of Olives. Gates are meant for the passage of the living, yet these mark the place of the dead and a city in conflict. On other days, the sight of the sealed gates brings sadness to my ribs.

But today, I was glad to see it in the spontaneous company of my new friend Marie. She was showing me her version of the Old City, which she called home for five years. She was unknowingly fulfilling the final items on my wish-list and then some.

We were deep in a cordial disagreement about veneration of relics when my mind floated into a zoomed-out scene of us.

I asked, "Lord, what would it be like if you visited Jerusalem today?"

The Lord replied, "But I am -- through you. I wanted to walk alongside Marie, to see whatever she wanted to show me, and to keep her company. Today, you are doing that on my behalf. I am not the God of the dead, but of the living."

PS: I had Kanafe at Mahane Yehuda Market in the morning. This Kanafe is the Jewish version of a traditional Arabic savoury dessert.