“Let us drown out the howling nonsense of Gomorrah with the melodies of the New Jerusalem.” – Spurgeon
In 1996, shortly after the Rwandan genocide, just when AIDS was gaining attention, not many years after the end of Apartheid in South Africa, John and I got lost in Soweto.
There were six of us, white americans crammed in a car, driving around in circles until we stumbled upon the place where Nelson Mandela came and spoke after his release from prison. As I remember, it it was large and cavernous. We walked inside, the only ones there.
In the silence, our friend started singing in a crystal clear voice, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”
The notes softly bounced off the ceiling, the floor, the walls. It was a holy moment. We let it wash over us. It was a melody of the New Jerusalem.
Many years later I walked into the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, crowded with tourists, wanting a piece of Jesus, but not necessarily wanting the sacrifice necessary for Peace. Continue reading
