by Samuel Irving
A BURDEN for Our Cities
R
ECENTLY my wife and I took and seven) and thrown them off one of together, as a hen gathers her chicks
our weekly leisurely drive on our city bridges. One of them died. A dis- under her wings, but you were not will-
our off day and headed out of traught father who had lost his job and ing” (Matthew 23:37, NIV).
Portland, Oregon and down whose wife was suing for divorce tragical- Sitting there, we recalled our trip years
the beautiful Columbia River ly took the lives of his three young chil- before to the Mount of Olives overlook-
Gorge toward Idaho. Our discussions were dren before taking his own. ing Jerusalem. It was as if we could still
about the prayer focus at our church and With these images before us, praying hear the honking of horns and the
our study practicum, Prayer: The Heartbeat for God’s leadership, we found ourselves screaming of cab drivers as they jockeyed
of the Church by Doug Small. Our devo- on a historical highway that leads to a for fares. We recalled how disappointed
tions that day had suggested we find a high peak called Vista House that over- we were to find very little of the quietness
place or a group of people who desperate- looks several cities and communities in and tranquility we had envisioned before
ly needed our prayers. Washington and Oregon. We parked the our visit to the Holy Land.
A recent week of violence in our city car and then held hands, weeping from Perhaps an ancient Jewish prayer says
was heavy on our heart. A high-school our hearts toward heaven and praying for it best: “To Jerusalem Thy city, return
student attending a barbeque had been the salvation of our cities. It was as if the with compassion, O Lord, and dwell
gunned down just two days before gradu- voice of Jesus could be heard as He cried, therein as Thou has promised. Rebuild
ation. A hopeless mother had recently “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . how often I Thou our city speedily in our days, O
taken her two small children (ages four have longed to gather your children God, a structure everlasting. And the
18 EVANGEL • SEP 2009
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