I Look Forward to the Day

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 11/14/11

If you stand atop the Citadel, amid young boys flying kites and dodging the ancient pillars of Rabbath Ammon and Philadelphia, you can discern the clear divisions of modern Amman on the adjacent hills.

To the east, Palestinian and Iraqi refugees live in overcrowded, stacked apartments after fleeing from recent wars. To the west, sit high-rise buildings and affluent neighborhoods housing well-to-do Arab families, while still in another direction is a terraced hill inhabited by poverty stricken Jordanians.

Hospitable families in each neighborhood have opened their doors to me, welcoming me with kisses and food. They have shared their heartaches, their burdens, their losses... that often came at the hand of 'other' communities and 'other' Arab nationalities in the city. Each neighborhood, each people group, and each home carries a distinct burden.

Yet through their brokenness, Christ is revealing Himself to seekers in these neighborhoods: to the oppressed and angry as the Man of Peace, to the wounded as the Comforter and Repairer of Broken Walls, and to the empty as the Giver of Life.

I look forward to the day when the diversity of the city will no longer separate and divide, but become the radiance of Christ's Body.