Reflection

Everything we see in this country, from hotels to churches, has an association with violence. Churches built during the Crusades. Bullet holes in the walls of the Old City from the 1948 war. The Kind David Hotel, which we've walked by about ten times. The mosques built after the repulsion of the Christians. Roman roads built after Caesar's conquest. Groups of touring high school students which invariably have one teenager designated to carry a loaded rifle, even inside of museums and ice cream parlors. A nightclub destroyed by a suicide bomb, and left in ruin as a visible reminder instead of torn down. The news, which is on all the time, is always bad, and always discussed. Violence is so evident all the time.