Sal a am Shalom

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Salaam 4.6.indd 2 27.01.10 10:06
 Alan Ames

Sala am Shalom

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 The decree of the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, A.A.S 58, 1186
(approved by Pope Paul VI on October 14, 1966) states that the Nihil Obstat
and Imprimatur are no longer required on publications that deal with private
revelations, provided that they contain nothing contrary to faith and morals.

The publisher recognizes and accepts that the final authority regarding the
events described in this book rests with the Holy See of Rome, to whose judge-
ment we willingly submit.

Sections of this book may not be copied without permission of the author.

© 2002 – Carver Alan Ames

Revised edition 2010
www.alanames.org

Cover by Esther Burch, Germany

Layout and design:
Andreas Zureich, Switzerland

ISBN: 978-0-9820329-4-7

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 5 Preface

P reface

It has been an educational experience to write the spiritual

thriller, “Salaam-Shalom” for as I was given the words I began
to see the people of the Holy Lands differently. I came to realize
my understanding of what was happening in the Middle East
had been influenced sometimes by information that did not
contain the complete truth.
It has become obvious to me how evil is working to cause pain
and suffering to all involved in the conflicts there. It has also
become clear that until all people, whether Arab or Jew, are
treated as equals, shown respect and offered fair and just treat-
ment, the troubles will continue.
As I walked with John King through the time he spent in the
Holy Lands I became convinced that in God’s love peace can
be achieved, because in the hearts of most people is the desire
for true peace. This book was completed on the day before the
World Trade Center attack, and perhaps Heaven has given this
book as a guidance towards peace between all people.
I hope those who read this book will experience the excitement,
the joy, the love, the forgiveness and the truth within it, hope-
fully bringing their hearts to desire this true peace also and
by the grace of God be inspired to stand up for this peace. God
bless you all.

Salaam, Shalom,

Carver Alan Ames

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 7 Chapter 1

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

As the man knelt down to pray silently in the chapel, the recent
events passed through his mind. He remembered it was not that
long ago he had left to visit a foreign land in search of excite-
ment. In his mind the picture unfolded of the days before leav-
ing when he had been visiting his family and spoke to them of
the adventures he hoped lay ahead.
As he was explaining his future trip to them his father cut in,
“Son, I know you are looking forward to your break but be care-
ful, it can be dangerous in foreign lands. I know, I have been to
many.”
The son looked directly at his father trying to hide the impa-
tience he felt within that his father still thought of him as a
child. ‘After all, I am 23,’ went through his mind.
“Dad, I will be okay. I can look after myself.”
“I know you can, son, just do not do anything foolish or risky.
There might not be anyone to help you there if you get in trou-
ble,” suggested the father.
“I will be alright!” snapped back the son. “Anyway, I’d better go,
I’ve got to finish packing.”
The son rose to leave and his mother came over and put her arms
around him and kissed his cheek.
“Have a good time, but do listen to your father and be careful,”
she implored.
“Yes mum,” the son replied impatiently, as if he had heard it all
before. Then he picked up his coat and left.

A few minutes later as the man sat in his car driving towards his
apartment, he felt regret that once again he had left the family
home feeling angry.

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 Salaam Shalom 8

Two days later the man was now at the airport queuing to
check in for the flight overseas. The agent at the check-in took
his ticket and passport then, after looking at them asked, “Mr.
King, do you have any seating preference?”
“What? Oh no, anything will be fine,” he smiled back now notic-
ing how pretty the young woman was who held his ticket and
passport before him.
“Have a nice trip,” she said warmly, handing back his papers and
his boarding pass.
“Thank you,” he replied as he thought how pretty she really was.
A short time later he found himself on the plane sitting in the
aisle seat next to a man of Middle Eastern appearance whose
breath smelt strongly of cigarettes; a smell he did not like. The
man was buried in a magazine he was reading and had said very
little since they sat down. The plane’s engines began their cus-
tomary roar as it raced down the runway and lifted into the sky.
John King lay back his head and closed his eyes and drifted into
sleep with the thoughts of what lay ahead on his mind.
“Mr. King, would you like a meal?” he heard, as a hand gently
shook his arm to rouse him from his sleep.
“Thank you, yes,” he replied trying to come to his senses.
When the meal was before him he removed the foil cover and as
he had always done since his mother had taught him as a child,
he said a prayer of thanks for the food quietly to himself.
“You’re a holy man,” smiled the Middle Eastern man next to him
with the stench of the cigarettes on every word.
“No, I just pray over the food as my mum taught me,” John
answered, with a hope in his heart that this man would turn
away and not say anymore.
“Bon appetite. Enjoy your food,” said the man, turning to eat his
own meal.
‘Thank God,’ thought John and he too began his meal.
After eating he slipped back into sleep again and after what
seemed like only a few moments, which in fact had been many
hours, was woken by the thud of the wheels hitting the runway
as the plane landed.

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 9 Chapter 1

“Home at last,” said the Middle Eastern-looking man with a big

smile on his face.
‘Israel,’ thought John excitedly. ‘The beginning of my adventure.’
“Enjoy your stay, holy man,” said the Middle Eastern man as
they began to walk down the aisle to leave the plane.
“I intend to,” he replied, feeling uncomfortable as he thought the
man was ridiculing him.

After clearing customs and the security checks he walked

through the doors to enter the arrivals area.
“John, John,” he heard a female voice call, and looked to see the
familiar face of his friend from university, Anna, who was wav-
ing frantically with both arms high in the air. With a big smile
on his face he walked over to her and as she wrapped her arms
around him he kissed her gently on both cheeks.
“John, it is good to see you. I never thought you would come,”
said Anna excitedly.
“I promised I would and I keep my promises,” he answered as
Anna continued to embrace him and he felt the genuine love she
had wrap around him like a warm blanket.
“I’ve missed you,” stated Anna, letting go of him and then held
his hand, “And I’ve so much to tell you.”
John felt almost drunk in the sweetness of her voice. He won-
dered was this love. He didn’t know but he did know he always
liked being with Anna and he was very happy to be with her
now.
“This is my brother, Raphael,” Anna said, leading him towards a
very large man in his twenties who seemed genuinely pleased to
meet John and after kissing his cheeks and embracing him, said
in a heavy accented voice, “Welcome to our land.”
“And this is my brother Michael,” continued Anna as she intro-
duced him to an equally large man who appeared to be a little
older than Raphael.
“It is good to meet you, my friend,” smiled Michael and then he
too kissed John on both cheeks and embraced him.
“Raphael and Michael; my two guardian angels,” said Anna,

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 Salaam Shalom 10

laughing as she did but as John looked at the brothers, he knew

they really did watch over her.
“Here, let us carry your bags,” said Michael and Raphael almost
in unison as they both leaned forward and took a bag each. The
doors opened to the outside and John felt the warmth in the air
touch him, lifting the coolness of the air-conditioning.
Stepping outside he said happily to Anna, “It’s great to feel the
heat. It’s cold at home.” Just at that moment the man, who had
been sitting next to him on the plane pushed past him, escorted
by three hard looking men.
“Ah, the holy man!” exclaimed the man with the smell of the cig-
arettes in each word, stepping into a large Mercedes which had
been waiting for him with another hard looking man who had
been holding the rear door of the car open.
“Do you know that man?” asked a surprised looking Anna.
“He was sitting next to me on the plane,” replied John.
“It is better you do not get to know people like that,” cut in
Raphael with concern in his voice.
“Who is he?” asked John with genuine interest.
“Forget him. Come on, we will take you home to meet our par-
ents,” suggested Anna with a smile.
“We have prepared a meal for you, it is waiting.”
Even though he wasn’t hungry John knew it would be bad man-
ners to refuse, so he just nodded and walked on with them to
their car. The car was a small, old Fiat; bright red in color and
to John’s surprise all four of them, and the luggage, fitted in,
although it was a tight squeeze.
Raphael drove the car and he seemed to push the accelerator to
the floor in every gear change. At first John was a little fright-
ened with the speed but when Anna, who was in the back with
him, smiled and mouthed the words, “It will be alright,” he
relaxed a little.
As they drove along at high speed Raphael seemed to cut in and
out of traffic oblivious to the danger he may have been placing
them in. When the traffic slowed and it was impossible to pass,
Raphael put his head out of the window and began to shout in

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 11 Chapter 1

Arabic until Michael grabbed his arm and pulled him back in,
telling Raphael to be quiet. Then Michael turned to John saying,
“He gets excited when he drives but he is a good driver.” The traf-
fic began moving again and Raphael seemed happier that once
more he could drive as if he were on a racetrack.

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 13 Chapter 2

“DO NOT BE AFRAID”

After almost another hour of driving Raphael came to a quick

stop outside a house down a side road on the outskirts of Jeru-
salem. It was quite a large house, which was well-lit and full of
noise inside.
“We are here,” stated Anna. John was a little nervous now as he
could see a lot of people within the house. “And most of my fam-
ily is here to welcome you,” continued Anna with a smile.
“Don’t be nervous,” said Michael with an encouraging tone in his
voice. “They will love you and you will love them.”
Suddenly, the door of the house was opened and a beam of light
shone out onto the car, which sat in darkness. Through the
door came a large man with a large stomach. He had his arms
open wide and a big smile on his face as he walked towards the
car.
“Anna, Anna,” he called. “So, this is your friend, Mr. John King.”
John was still only half way out of the car when the man
embraced him and lifted him the rest of the way. John felt the
strength of the man in the arms that lifted him but was at peace
seeing warmth in the man’s eyes.
“Daddy, this is John, be careful with him,” she said, pulling at
her father’s arms to make them a little looser.
“Any friend of my daughters is a friend of mine. My home is your
home, my family is your family,” the father said and then kissed
John on both cheeks.
“Come and meet my wife, Mariam,” then turned to lead John
into the house.
“We will bring your bags,” offered Raphael as John tried to pick
them up but found it impossible to do so with the father’s left
arm now around his shoulders.

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 Salaam Shalom 14

“Thank you for being so welcoming. By the way, what is your

name?’ asked John.
“I am Yousef,” answered the father as they entered the house.
‘Joseph and Mary,’ thought John, ‘That’s appropriate in Jerusa-
lem.’
“This is my wife, Mariam,” said Yousef, introducing John to a
woman in her early sixties.
The woman reached out to embrace John saying, “God be with
you, you are welcome in my home.”
“I can see where your daughter got her beauty from,” said John
in a way that sounded as if he meant it. In truth he did, for this
woman, Mariam, before him glowed in her beauty and her eyes
shone as if they were on fire; the same fire John saw in Anna’s
eyes every time he looked at her. Anna cut in politely as her
mother began to ask John about his journey.
“Mamma, the others should meet him first and then we should
eat, I think John is hungry.”
“Of course my dear, how thoughtless of me,” replied the mother
with a look of embarrassment on her face.
John smiled at her as if to say it was all right then he was led by
Yousef into the center of the main room, which had, between
thirty to forty people in it. Everyone was looking at John and
smiling as the father said out loud, “This is John King, Anna’s
friend from America. I won’t introduce you all to him, I will let
you do that yourselves over the meal that awaits. First, however,
I ask that we all bow our heads in prayer, thanking God that he
made it here safely and thanking God for the good food we are
about to eat.
Fr. Emile, will you lead us in prayer please?”
A man of about thirty dressed as a priest stepped forward say-
ing in perfect English, “I would be delighted.” He joined his
hands together and bowed his head then waited a moment for
everyone else to do the same.
In a loud voice he began by making the sign of the cross, “In the
name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Heavenly Father we thank You for bringing John to us safely so

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 15 Chapter 2

that he can join our family in Your love. Divine Lord Jesus, we
ask You continue to protect John throughout his life and ask
that by the power of Your Holy Spirit, Your truth fills his heart.
We thank You God for the food we are about to eat, may every
mouthful remind us of how generous You are and bring each
one of us to appreciate Your love for us. We ask this through
Jesus Christ Our Lord and Your Son, Amen.”
Everyone in the room joined in the “Amen” and then made the
sign of the cross.
Yousef said out loud with a big smile, “Let us eat together as
family.”
Anna, who was standing next to John, whispered to him, “Don’t
worry, we will not keep you talking too long. I know you are
tired and would like to sleep.”
“John, come and sit next to me and Mariam,” instructed the still
smiling Yousef as he led John to a seat next to Mariam. There
were two large tables in the room which seated all the adults
with the children sitting cross-legged on the floor with food in
front of them on a large mat. Each table had enough food on
it to feed the whole family with a variety of meats, vegetables,
fruits and breads.
“Don’t be shy, eat as much as you want,” encouraged Mariam.
“Eat, eat,” called out Yousef to the whole family.

The time went very quickly even though John had met each one
of the family and soon it was the time when the children were
falling asleep and the adults were making ready to leave.
Fr. Emile stood up saying, “The meal is over and we have shared
our love over the food we ate. Now it is time to go and rest but
before we do let us pray in thanks to God for this joyful and
blessed time.”
The priest raised his hands in the air as again everyone made the
sign of the cross and bowed their heads to pray.
“Almighty God, today You have enlarged our family by bring-
ing John to us and You have blessed our lives by the love You
have given us to share with each other. Tonight, not only have

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 Salaam Shalom 16

You filled our stomachs but You have filled our hearts and souls
with Your love and Father, we thank You for this. May Almighty
God bless and protect you all, this day and every day of your
lives. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Amen.”
Now everyone was beginning to leave when Michael came to
John saying, “Your room is ready. You must be tired, come and
sleep.”
Just then Fr. Emile came over to John and said, “When you need
me, Michael, Raphael or Anna will tell you how to find me. God
bless you and do not be afraid.” The priest kissed both of his
cheeks and left.
John looked at Michael and Anna who was standing next to him
and asked, “What did he mean?”
Michael shrugged his shoulders and Anna said, “Fr. Emile is a
very special priest. He is very gifted.”
“John, go and sleep,” said a jovial Yousef as he patted John on
the back and Mariam who was there as well said, “If the bed is
not comfortable let me know.”
John smiled and replied, “I am tired, bed sounds good.” He fol-
lowed Michael up the stairs waving and saying goodnight to
everyone as he did so.
As John walked up the stairs over and over in his mind Fr.
Emile’s words kept coming to him, ‘When you need me … do
not be afraid.’ He wondered what the priest had meant and he
wondered why his heart had raced when the priest spoke those
words to him.
“Here you are, this is your bed,” said Michael, opening the door
to a small room with a single bed, a wardrobe and small table
in it. “Sorry it is not bigger, but it will be comfortable,” Michael
apologized.
“It will be fine,” answered John with dullness filling his mind
that told him he could not stay awake much longer.
“May God bless you in your sleep,” said Michael with a smile.
“Uh … oh, you too,” replied John with only the thoughts of sleep
on his mind.

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 17 Chapter 2

As Michael left and closed the door to the small bedroom John
just fell onto the bed and within seconds was in a deep sleep.

“John, are you awake?” Michael called out loud as he knocked

on the bedroom door. “It’s 11:00 am, you have slept a long time.”
John stirred from his sleep, “What? Yes, yes, I am awake,” he
answered with the gruff sounding voice he always had first
thing in the morning.
“Can I come in?” asked Michael.
“Yes, of course,” replied John, as the door opened before he had
even finished half the sentence.
Michael’s body almost filled the doorframe, it was so large, and
John had not really appreciated before how big Michael was.
“There is breakfast waiting downstairs for you if you are hungry,”
offered Michael.
“Thank you,” was all John could manage to say.
“By the time you have had a wash, my parents, Anna and Raphael
will be back from church,” explained the big man.
“It’s not Sunday is it?” asked John, wondering if he had lost track
of the days.
“No, no, it’s Tuesday. Our family goes to church everyday for
Mass. They did not want to disturb you this morning, as Anna
and mother thought it would be good to let you sleep, but
maybe tomorrow you can come to church with us,” invited
Michael.
John just gave a little grunt in reply while thinking to himself, ‘I
find it hard enough to go on Sundays, let alone going during the
week as well.’
“See you downstairs soon,” said Michael, turning and walking
out of the room and closing the door behind him.
‘Anna used to go to church a lot at university,’ thought John, ‘but
I did not know it was every day. How can I get out of going with-
out upsetting them?’
A few minutes later he was standing in the shower with the cold
water waking him up. Try as he might, John could not get any
hot water to come from the tap. ‘Church everyday,’ he thought

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 Salaam Shalom 18

as he stood there, then shook his head from side to side, ‘That’s
not for me.’
“John, are you coming down?” It was Anna calling, for the family
had just returned home.
“I’ll be there in a moment,” shouted John very loudly and turned
the water off before drying himself and dressing very quickly, as
he was anxious to see Anna again.

Sitting at the table as John entered the downstairs room was

Yousef, Mariam, Anna, Michael and Raphael. Yousef rose and
with his arms opened wide and a big smile on his face, beckoned
to John, “Come and sit next to me for breakfast.”
Anna smiled at John and nodded to him, confirming that he
should do as her father asked.
“Did you sleep well? Was the bed comfortable?” asked Mariam
with concern in her voice.
“It was fine, I slept like a baby,” replied John.
“Let us say a prayer before we eat,” cut in Raphael who obviously
was very hungry.
A few minutes later, when Yousef had finished the prayer over
the food, Raphael was filling his plate until his mother slapped
his hand as he was taking some bread.
“Have some manners, my son,” said Mariam in her gentle voice.
“Sorry,” replied an embarrassed Raphael who, with his head
bowed, now looked like a little boy who had been told off.
“Let our guest take his first,” said Michael to his brother in a way
that sounded as if he was scolding Raphael.
“No, no, ladies first,” cut in John and picked up a plate of food,
offering it first to Mariam and then Anna.
Putting the plate down, John heard several bangs in the dis-
tance. “Is someone letting off fireworks?” he asked, as the family
around him stopped for a moment and together each made the
sign of the cross.
“What is it?” asked John; curious as to why they would be doing
that.
Anna turned to him and said, “It is gun’s you are hearing. It

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 19 Chapter 2

sounds like there is a fight between the Israeli army and the Pal-
estinians again.”
Several more shots were heard and then it was silent.
“Let us hope and pray that no one was killed,” said Yousef with a
very solemn look on his face.
“So many deaths,” said Mariam sadly, shaking her head from
side to side, “and usually the young,” she continued.
John was amazed, he had never imagined he would be so close
to gunfire, he felt a little excited within at the thought until
Michael said, “And always some family mourns the loss of a
loved one.”
That made him think about how his parents would mourn if he
were to die and that made him feel very sad, too.
The remainder of the time at breakfast very little was said and
very little was eaten as they all seemed to lose their appetites at
the thought that people may be dying not very far away.

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 21 Chapter 3

THE HOLY LANDS

After the meal Anna asked John, “What would you like to do
today? Do you have anything in mind?”
“Not really, I thought I would leave it in your hands, as this is your
home town,” responded John, remembering how Anna had said
the same words to him when they were together at university.
“Would you like to see some of the holy sites?” suggested Anna.
“Will it be safe?” asked John with the earlier gunfire still on his
mind.
“Of course it will,” cut in Raphael. “Michael and I will be with
you,” he said with a big smile on his face.
John looked at Michael who nodded as he said, “It is our plea-
sure.”
Yousef came and stood in front of John and placed his hand on
John’s shoulder saying, “My sons will take care of you, you will
be safe. Anyway, God is with you, so there is nothing to fear.”
“What do you mean?” asked a confused John.
“When you meet some people, it is obvious that God is working
powerfully in their lives. It is obvious in your life,” stated Yousef.
John shook his head in disbelief, for he had little faith.
“No, not me,” he said, almost laughing as he did.
“Anna has seen it in you and so have I,” confirmed Yousef.
John looked at Anna who just smiled back to him.
“That’s enough talk,” said Mariam with a happy look on her face.
“Let them go and enjoy themselves,” she took hold of her hus-
band’s hand and said sweetly, “And you, my husband, should go
to the factory and see if any work has come in.”
“Yes … go, go,” encouraged Yousef to his children and guest.
“Come on,” said Anna, taking John’s arm and leading him to the
door with both Michael and Raphael following them.

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 Salaam Shalom 22

Outside, Raphael slid once again into the drivers seat of the car
and John said quietly to himself, “God protect us,” as he thought
of how Raphael drove. Just for a moment John thought he heard
a voice say, “I will,” but dismissed it as his imagination.
“We will start in Bethlehem,” stated Anna, “It is where Our Lord
was born.”
Raphael said out loud enthusiastically, “Bethlehem it is,” then
after starting the car and putting it into first gear, planted his
foot flat to the floor. As the car screeched off John’s head jerked
backwards from the motion.
“Slow down!” shouted Michael as he slapped Raphael’s arm. “We
want to get there alive.”
Raphael, with a look of disappointment on his face reduced
speed saying, “Sorry”.
“Is it very far?” asked John who, in his heart, did not want to
stay in the car longer than necessary.
“Not far,” replied Anna. “We will get there in a little while.”
‘Thank God,’ thought John and wondered why he kept bringing
God up in his thoughts.

A short while later they were approaching an Israeli road block at

the entrance to Bethlehem. In front of them a soldier was look-
ing into another car while two or three other soldiers watched
with their hands on the machine guns they carried.
“What’s this?” asked John.
“They always check who is going in and out of here,” answered
Michael, matter-of-factly.
The car in front was waved on and Raphael slowly pulled for-
ward to the waiting soldier.
“What is your business in Bethlehem?” snapped the soldier
through the open car window.
“We are bringing our friend to see the holy sites,” replied Raphael
politely.
“Where is he from?” queried the soldier.
“America,” called back John.
The soldier looked directly at him, then to Anna and Michael.

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 23 Chapter 3

“Show me your papers!” he demanded of Raphael who got out of

the car and produced what was required.
“Go on through,” instructed the soldier as he gave Raphael his
papers back and stood back from the car until it had moved on.
As John looked out of the rear window he could see the soldier
now talking to the people in the car behind them. Looking for-
ward again, John noticed immediately how different it looked
in Bethlehem compared to Jerusalem. The buildings were in
disrepair. On the roads there seemed to be a lot of rubble and
stones and the people on the sidewalks seemed to have an air of
despondency about them. Many looked as if they had little to do.
To John’s surprise there did not seem to be many foreigners. All
the people he saw looked Arabic.
“I thought there would be a lot of tourists,” he said out loud.
“The troubles have kept many away and those that do come are
sometimes not allowed to come here,” explained Michael.
“Why not?” asked John.
“The army sometimes closes the check-points and lets no
one through. We were blessed today that they allowed us in,”
answered Michael.
“Can they do that?” asked John.
“The army, it seems, can do almost anything it wants,” cut in
Raphael, as he looked back over his shoulder at John.
“In this land today often the rule of law is the rule of the gun.
Whoever is more powerful enforces their law, their will and the
weaker always suffer, but then that is the history of this land,”
stated Michael.
John reflected on what Michael had just said and realized the
truth in his words. He remembered the Old Testament and the
many battles and wars in that. Then he thought of the New
Testament and how the Romans ruled and then how later the
Romans destroyed Jerusalem, the crusades, the world wars and
the wars since the formation of Israel in present times.
It was true the history of the land is shrouded in bloodshed.
‘How sad,’ he thought.
“That’s not the only history,” said Anna out loud to her brother.

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 Salaam Shalom 24

“No, there is the history of salvation,” smiled Raphael as he

looked back at John again, until Michael said, “Keep your eyes
on the road.”
“Yes, the history of mercy, of love, of forgiveness. The history
of when God came to earth as man,” explained Anna, “and now
you will see where Jesus, Our Lord and Savior was born,” she
said, as the car came to a stop.
“We are here!” exclaimed Raphael.

After leaving the vehicle, the four of them entered the large
Basilica of the Nativity. John looked around inside and was
impressed by the rows of columns on either side.
“Come on, the cave where Jesus was born is at the far end,”
explained Anna.
John was interested to see the cave only as a part of mankind’s
history and not because of any religious belief. It would be the
same as looking at the columns or the bits of mosaic he saw
through some of the wooden floor boards that had been lifted to
expose them … interesting, but that was all.
“Normally you would have to queue for a while but as there
are not many visitors in recent times, we can go straight in,”
explained Michael as he stood at the top of the steps that would
take them down into the cave.
“Our family has a tradition that on every step we say a ‘Hail
Mary.’ Will you join us in that?” Michael asked John.
“Why not?” replied John, thinking it would keep Anna and her
brothers happy. So, on each step the four stopped and prayed
together. At first John did not remember the words of the prayer
but by the third step it had come back to him.
As they prayed John looked at Anna and then at her brothers
and he could see peace in their faces and thought it was that
which was making him feel at peace in the prayers too. Stepping
inside the cave it was smaller than John had expected.
“Here is where baby Jesus was born,” Anna said, as she pointed
to a star on the floor, which was surrounded by what looked like
marble.

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“You can touch the spot if you want,” said Raphael, kneeling
down and putting his head to the star, kissing it and then put-
ting his hand in the center of it, after which he put his hand on
his chest where his heart is. Next, Michael and Anna did the
same. John thought he should appease them by doing it also.
As he did, something unusual happened. As his lips touched
the star it seemed like electricity was filling his body and as he
placed his hand in the center of the star, he saw before him baby
Jesus in the arms of His mother, Mary with Joseph standing
beside them. The Holy Family turned and looked at him and
smiled, then they were gone. John stood up quickly and banged
his head on what seemed like a brass lamp as he did so.
“Are you alright?” asked Anna
“Uh … uh,” John could not say anything, not because of banging
his head but from the shock of what he had just seen.
Michael came over and looked at John’s head. “There is no
injury,” he said. “He is probably just dazed.”
“No … I … uh,” stuttered John, as he tried to explain, then
decided it would be better to say nothing and so just smiled at
Anna and her brothers saying, “I am alright.”
Voices could be heard of several more people coming down the
steps so Anna said, “Let’s go so these others can have their time
here.”

Leaving the cave, John felt as if he was leaving part of himself

there and he did not know why. On the stairs he passed a man
dressed in a white robe that Anna, in front of him, did not seem
to notice. The man said softly to John as he passed, “You have
left nothing behind but you have been given much to take with
you.”
“What are you talking about?” said John but the man walked
past him and again Michael and Raphael did not seem to notice
him either.
“Come on, John,” called Anna. “Don’t block the stairs.”
John looked up at her then turned to look back at the man in
white but could not see him anywhere.

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 Salaam Shalom 26

“Where did he go?” John asked Raphael.

“Who?” responded Anna’s brother.
“That man in white!” stated John.
“I did not see any man,” answered a confused looking Raphael.
“Me neither,” added Michael.
‘I must be imagining things,’ thought John as he joined Anna
outside the cave in the large area of the Basilica again.
“It must be the heat,” said John out loud.
“Yes, it is hot today, isn’t it?” agreed Anna. “Let us go and get a
cool drink and sit down for a while,” she suggested.
Walking outside the Basilica, Anna asked John, “Did you enjoy
seeing Our Lord’s birth place?”
“It was very interesting,” he answered.
“Did you feel the peace in there?” asked Michael, who looked as
if he was the happiest man in the world.
“I certainly felt something,” replied John as he rubbed his head.
Anna laughed at that, saying, “Stop joking, let’s get that drink,”
and took John’s hand, leading him towards the nearby shops.

Nearing the shops, John noticed several people coming towards

them. The people’s hands were full of trinkets and souvenirs
and some of them were calling out, “Hey you, buy … only $ 5,”
while others called out various prices. Michael stepped towards
them and spoke in Arabic, then handed each one of them a few
coins. The street traders then left.
“Beggars,” John said out loud.
Anna cut in, “John!” she exclaimed, “They are not beggars, but
hard working people trying to make a living.”
John realized he had said the wrong thing and apologized by
saying, “Sorry”.
A few moments later they went into a café where the owner
came and greeted Anna, Michael and Raphael warmly. They
exchanged words in Arabic and as they did the owner looked
at John and smiled, “Any friend of Anna’s is a friend of mine.
Please, come and sit down and I will bring you something to
drink,” he invited.

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They sat down and the owner, who made a great fuss over each
one of them, gave them a cool drink.
Michael then looked at John and said, “My friend, there are a lot
of poor people here but none of them choose to be poor. Most
want to work but because of the lack of tourists and the army
blockades there either is no work for them or they are not allowed
to go to work. You must be more careful in what you say, for it can
be very easy to offend people when they are hurting this way.”
“I truly am sorry. I don’t know why I said that,” John apologized
again, seeing he had hurt Michael.
Raphael spoke, “We all make mistakes, it is especially easy to
when we are visiting unfamiliar places but it is wise to take care
in what you say in public, for it could cause a lot of problems.”
John sat silent and thought about the words his friends had
said, then asked, “Why does the army stop people going to their
work?”
“It is in retaliation for attacks on the Jewish people. The Israeli
government believes if it punishes all the Palestinians, this
will stop the attacks. Of course it does not, all this policy does
is cause more suffering for the Arabs and more resentment in
them. It is a self defeating policy,” explained Michael.
“I think it is unfair that all should suffer for the actions of a few,”
stated John.
“Yes, it is, but there is not much fairness in these Lands today,”
agreed Michael.
“The guilt is on both sides,” said Anna. “The Jews attack the
Arabs, the Arabs attack the Jews; both are wrong when they
turn to violence to resolve their problems. Violence does not
resolve anything, it only makes matters worse.”
“I can see that,” replied John. “There are hardly any tourists. That
obviously is hitting the economy badly, not only for the Arabs
but surely for the Jews as well.”
“It is sad we cannot all live in peace in the Holy Lands,” added
Raphael.
“Holy Lands? I thought there was only one Holy Land,” ques-
tioned John.

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 Salaam Shalom 28

“Well, wherever Our Lord Jesus walked the earth the land must
be holy, for Him doing so makes it holy,” explained Raphael and
then continued. “The Lord did not only walk in Israel but also in
Jordan, Lebanon and as a child, Egypt. So, these Lands too must
be holy.”
Michael and Anna nodded in agreement. “Think of the times
Jesus went to Tyre and Sidon, the times He went across the Jor-
dan. Many people do not recognize the fact that these lands had
Our Lord’s holy body walking upon them, or if they do, it means
little to them, but to Arab Christians it means a lot.”
‘It was true,’ thought John.
“I never saw anywhere but Israel as the Holy Land,” and so he
now too nodded in agreement.”
“Peace will only come to the Holy Lands when all the people in
them begin to respect and treat each other with love. Whether
a person is a Christian, a Jew or a Muslim, we must all learn
to live together in love, if not, the suffering will continue,” said
Anna.
“How do Christians who live here relate with the Jews and Mus-
lims?” Asked John who was genuinely interested in the situa-
tion.
Michael answered, “The Muslims tolerate us, as long as we do
nothing to offend their faith, they leave us alone. The Muslims,
or many of them, treat us well, better in fact than many of the
Jews.”
“Not all,” cut in Anna. “There is good and bad on both sides.
Extremist Jews, extremist Muslims, but most people just want
to live in a secure peace together and not worry about what faith
a person is. Sadly, there is a minority on both sides that just
wants to destroy the other or anyone who is not of their belief.
I personally know many very good Jewish people and I know
many good Muslim people and we have no problems relating to
each other, but I also meet Jewish and Muslim people who dis-
like me because I am a Christian. Whoever they are and what-
ever they feel about me, I try to do as Jesus, Our Lord asked us:
To love them, all friend and enemy alike. Doing that I know I am

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 29 Chapter 3

showing Our Lord’s love to each and every one of them and as a
Christian isn’t that what I am supposed to do?”
The strength in her voice amazed John, he had never known her
to speak like that before and he really admired her for doing so.
Just then he saw before him the vision he had had in the cave
where the Holy Family had turned and smiled at him, but now
he saw they were smiling at every person in the world.
“Where shall we go next?” asked Raphael who was obviously
keen to drive again.
“Let’s go to the Garden of Gethsemane,” said John who could
not believe he had just said that. ‘Where did these words come
from?’ he thought.
“A good idea,” agreed Anna, “we can go and see where Our Lord
sweated blood for all people.”
“Here John, wipe your brow,” suggested Michael as he handed
John a handkerchief. “You are covered in sweat.”
In a slight daze John took the handkerchief and wiped his face
dry. As he did so, he knew the sweat was not from the heat, but
from the shock of the vision he had just seen, and the ache it left
in his heart, as he had seen many people turning away from the
Holy Family’s smile, and he saw that he was one of them.

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 31 Chapter 4

“WHO IS THAT MAN”

John was impressed by the view as they drove towards the Gar-
den of Gethsemane, for he could see most of Jerusalem from
the hill they were driving up.
“Can we stop and have a look?” he asked of Raphael.
“Sure,” the driver answered, then slowed down and pulled into
the side of the road.
All four got out of the car and crossed to the other side of the
road where there was a little area to stand and look out over
Jerusalem.
“It is very impressive,” stated John as he spanned the city with
his eyes. “What is that dome?” he asked, pointing to a golden
dome standing high in the city.
“Oh, that is the ‘Dome of the Rock’. It is the third most holiest
site of the Muslims,” replied Michael.
“Why do they believe it is so holy?” wondered John out loud.
“The Muslims believe that is where the prophet Mohammed
ascended to heaven,” explained Anna.
“It is a beautiful building,” admired John.
“Yes, it certainly is that,” agreed Michael.
“Jerusalem is full of holy places. I wonder why with so much
holiness here, there is so much pain, suffering and hatred. It
does not seem to make sense,” commented John.
“Well, if you could solve that mystery, you would go down in his-
tory,” suggested Raphael.
“I think wherever there is true holiness, evil tries to destroy it
with deceptions that lead good people into confusion and in that
confusion then good people often can be deceived into accept-
ing what is wrong as the truth and denying the truth, believing
it is the wrong. Evil is cunning and in it’s cunning, once it has

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 Salaam Shalom 32

got some people to accept and live to what is wrong, it can get
them in their blindness to destroy what is good.
In the world this is what has been happening for thousands of
years and I think it will go on for a long time yet,” stated Anna
with sadness in her voice.
John continued to look out over Jerusalem and wondered in his
mind as he did, what was the truth and who really knows. Then
once again in his mind he saw the vision of the Holy Family but
this time mother Mary and St. Joseph turned to him and were
signaling to him to come to baby Jesus as they said the words,
“The Way and the Truth and the Life.”
John shook his head trying to clear his mind. ‘What is going on?’
he thought to himself.
“Are you alright John?” asked a concerned Anna as she put her
arm on his shoulder.
“Oh yes, I am fine,” he replied, not wishing to explain what had
just happened.
“You know John,” said Michael out loud, “if the Jews, the Muslims
and we Christians would respect each other, love each other and
care for each other, I think the holiness in these lands would be
magnified and would bring all of mankind closer to a true peace.”
“I think that is what God would want,” nodded Raphael in agree-
ment.
He then turned and began walking towards the car. “Wait until
you see Gethsemane,” he called to John who, now with Anna
and Michael, were walking towards the car.
A short while later they had arrived outside the Garden of Geth-
semane and the large church which sat inside it. As the four of
them entered the Garden, Anna turned to John saying as she
pointed, “The trees over there are supposed to be ones that were
here when Our Lord came to the Garden.”
John looked over to where she pointed and said in amazement,
“That would make them two thousands years old then!”
“Yes, and it would also mean that Our Lord prayed under them,”
added Raphael with a large smile then continued, “And we are
blessed to see them.”

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“Come into the church and see the rock Jesus is supposed to have
prayed on before He was arrested,” suggested Michael with an
excitement in his voice. He then led the way towards the church.
As they came from the Garden to the front of the church John
looked up at the artwork above the arches and was impressed at
how good it was.
“Come on,” encouraged Raphael, “come and see the rock and you
can touch it. Imagine that, touching the rock God touched!”
Stepping through the door of the church John felt a sadness
touch his heart, he did not know why he felt so sad but he almost
wanted to cry.
“Come on,” said Raphael again, as he rushed towards the altar
which John now noticed had a rock in the floor in front of it.
Raphael, Michael and Anna knelt and kissed the rock, remain-
ing with their lips on it for a few minutes. Then, as if on cue,
touched the rock with their right hands and placed their hands
on their chests. Anna looked up at John who was still stand-
ing watching them and her eyes beckoned him to kneel and join
them. Not wanting to offend her, John obliged and in a moment
was on his knees beside her. John looked at the rock and felt a
strong desire to kiss it, which he duly did.
While he kissed the rock his whole life seemed to flash before
him and all the bad things he had done seemed to stand out
clearly. The feeling of sadness within now felt like a lead weight
on his heart and from deep within him he sensed something
about to explode.
The next moment, to his surprise he called out very loudly, “For-
give me Lord, I am sorry.”
He knew that he meant the words but he certainly did not intend
to shout them out.
John lifted his head up and looked at Anna, Michael and Raphael
and was about to apologize for his shouting when Anna smiled
and said softly, “He will forgive you because He loves you.”
Her brothers were both nodding in agreement and as John
looked at them he saw standing behind them the man in white
from the cave in Bethlehem. He too was nodding in agreement.

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 Salaam Shalom 34

John looked back at Anna who was now holding his hand, then
he returned his gaze to where the man in white was but to John’s
surprise the man was no longer there. John looked around the
church but the man was no where to be seen.
‘How is that possible?’ wondered John to himself.
“Are you alright John? You are crying,” asked Anna.
“I feel very sad and I do not know why,” replied John as tears
rolled down his cheeks.
Anna put her arms around him and he seemed to just sink
into her and then began to sob uncontrollably. Anna stroked
his hair as he did and her two brothers also came and put their
arms around him. John continued to sob as the three kept
their arms around him but remained silent. For the next ten
minutes the church was filled with John’s sobbing and while
they remained there in the embrace no one else entered the
church. It was just the four of them sharing this deeply per-
sonal moment of John’s.
Later, outside the church as they walked through the Garden
towards the exit, Anna asked John, “Are you feeling better now?”
John nodded and smiled back at her but said nothing, as he felt
ashamed that he had cried in front of them. He always thought
that he was too strong to cry. He wondered what Michael and
Raphael thought of him now.
Just as he thought that, Michael said softly to him, “It is alright
to cry. I have several times, so has Raphael and Our Lord did
too.” Raphael put his arm around John’s shoulder and squeezed
him saying, “Tears often help wash away hurt.”
‘How wise,’ thought John to himself, for he was feeling refreshed
inside and the embarrassment he had before had gone and now
he felt much closer to Anna and her brothers.
“Would you like to return to our home now?” asked Anna with
concern sounding in her voice.
“You might like to rest,” she continued.
“Maybe we could get something to eat,” suggested John as the
pang of hunger touched his stomach.

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 35 Chapter 4

When they stepped out of the Garden of Gethsemane a man

dressed in a dark shirt and dark trousers, who was also wear-
ing sunglasses that reflected John’s face as he looked into them,
bumped into John. “Excuse me,” said John as the man looked
directly at him.
“You should be careful, this land can play tricks with your mind
and a person can come to imagine many things,” the man said
to John who stuttered in reply.
“What … what do you mean?”
“Are you coming?” Raphael called to John who turned to look at
him.
“Yes … yes, I am,” he replied still stuttering in his words. “Sorry,
I don’t know what you mean,” John began to say as he turned
back to face the man in black who was no longer there. John
looked into the Garden but still he could not see the man any-
where. Then he nearly died of shock as he felt a hand touch his
arm.
“John, what is it?” asked Anna who had come and taken his arm.
“You look so white, are you sick?” she inquired.
John said nothing but just walked to the car with Anna where
Michael and Raphael were waiting for him.
“I think we should take him home,” suggested Anna to her broth-
ers while John stood there as if in a daze.
“He said he was hungry,” stated Raphael who was hungry too.
“What do you think Michael?” he asked of his brother.
“I don’t know,” Michael said with a shrug of his shoulders.
John stood there thinking about what had been happening to
him. ‘Maybe I am sick’ he thought. ‘Is this all real or my imagi-
nation?’ He felt as if an ice-cold chill had touched his back and
he automatically reeled around to see what it was. There, at the
entrance to the Garden was the man in black looking directly at
him and shaking his head from side to side while making a cir-
cular sign with his hand which was a common sign to indicate
craziness or madness.
“Let’s get out of here!” demanded John.
“Where to?” asked Raphael.

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 Salaam Shalom 36

“Anywhere, let’s just go,” insisted John. As he opened the door

and sat down inside the car. The others got in and John said,
“Hurry, let’s go,” while he looked over at the man in black who
was now laughing at him.
“John, you are shaking. What is it?” asked Anna who was sitting
next to him.
“Who is that man?” responded John as he pointed with his right
hand that was shaking dramatically.
“What man? I can’t see anyone,” inquired Anna.
“That man there!” shouted John.
Michael leaned over the front seat saying, “Calm down John,
there is no one there.”
‘Obviously they are not seeing him,’ thought John, lowering his
hand but kept looking at the man in black who continued to
make the sign of madness to him.
“I think we should stop for something to eat. That may help. He
hasn’t eaten much has he?” suggested Raphael.
Michael nodded in agreement while Anna stroked John’s face
saying, “Maybe a little food will help.”
He looked at her and said, “Anywhere away from here.”
John closed his eyes and put his head onto her shoulder. Within
a few seconds he had fallen asleep from the motion of the car
and the gentle caress of the woman whose arms he felt safe in.

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 37 Chapter 5

“AM I GOING MAD?”

“We are here,” said Anna as she gently shook John to wake him
from his sleep.
“Uh … uh, where are we?” he asked in a gruff voice that sug-
gested he would have liked to sleep longer.
“At a friend’s house where we can eat and you can rest if you
want,” replied Anna as she opened the car door and stepped out.
By the time John had joined her in front of the small house the
door had opened and two men and a woman had come out and
began speaking in Arabic to Michael, Raphael and Anna. The
customary kisses on the cheeks were exchanged and then the
older man, who was about fifty, came and kissed John in the
same way saying, “May Allah bless your every moment.”
“Thank you and God be with you,” responded John, again sur-
prised at how God had got into his words.
“I am Ishmael and this is Abdoulah, my brother and his wife
Fatima,” said the older man as he introduced the other two.
“May the peace of God be with you,” said Abdoulah as he too now
kissed John’s cheeks while Fatima just looked at John through
the yashmak she was wearing.
“Anna said you might call in to see us. I thank God that you were
able to do so,” said a smiling Ishmael.
“Please, come into our house and eat with us,” invited Abdou-
lah. He then spoke quickly but gently in Arabic to Fatima who
rushed into the house.
“My wife will prepare the food. Please … Come, you are wel-
come.”
Anna had followed Fatima into the house already, to help with
the food that John could smell as he walked through the door
and the aroma made the hunger pangs return to his stomach.

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 Salaam Shalom 38

For the moment he had forgotten all about the unusual events
that had been happening to him.
“It smells great. How did you know to have it ready?” asked John.
“We prayed, we prepared, and we left it all to Allah’s will,” explained
Ishmael.
“Please sit down,” said Abdoulah, offering a chair to John.
The house, even though it was small, was very comfortable and
John sensed it had a good feeling about it. Michael, who was
now sitting next to John, started to explain about Ishmael and
his family.
“These are very good friends of ours, our families have known
each other a long time. As you can see Ishmael, Abdoulah and
Fatima are Muslims but this does not stop us loving each other
as family. If ever we are in need, they are there for us and if ever
they are in need, we are there for them. God has given us great
gifts in each other.”
“God is great,” added Ishmael as he nodded his head in agree-
ment.
“We believe this is how God wanted it to be for all people,” stated
Abdoulah.
At that moment Anna came in the room and said out loud,” The
food is ready.” Raphael was the first out of his chair, obviously
his large body needed to be fed. However, he waited by his chair
patiently after Michael gave him a stern look.
As John entered the next room, which was as small as the first
one, he saw several dishes of food laid out on a table and had to
stop himself from reaching out and taking some. He knew what
Raphael must be going through.
Anna whispered to John, “Fatima is a little shy.”
He looked over at Fatima who was standing at the other door to
the room and felt sorry for her having to wear so many clothes
on such a hot day. She extended her hand to invite John to sit
down near the food but said nothing.
“I will eat with Fatima in the other room,” continued Anna. “You
eat here with the men.”
Soon the five men were around the food and ready to eat but

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first they wanted to pray. Even John had the desire inside him
to pray and he wondered why. Michael said something to Ish-
mael in Arabic and then Ishmael seemed to be reciting a prayer
in Arabic, after which Michael said out loud, “May God bless
every mouthful we eat and every word we speak over this meal.”
To John and Raphael’s delight they then began to eat.
“You know when you share a meal under our roof with us, you
become part of our family,” smiled Abdoulah as he offered John
some food.
“It is a great blessing,” said Michael.
“God is good,” added Ishmael.
“Yes, He is, isn’t He!” stated John, feeling happy within as he
said it.
Raphael looked up from the food he was about to eat, saying,
“When a person shares a meal in love with others, then God,
through that person, is pouring out blessings.”
“Thank you my friend,” said a smiling Abdoulah as he patted
Raphael’s back.
The feeling of hunger had now left John, to be replaced by a
warm sensation within from the food he had just eaten which
had been truly delicious.
“You must thank Fatima for me. The meal was wonderful,” he
said as he patted his stomach.
“Yes, she is a great cook,” Raphael added, with a smile on his face
that said he had enjoyed the food.
“Would you like to sleep? You can have my bed if you like,” Ish-
mael asked of John.
“I was tired before but now I am refreshed by your company and
by your food. Thank you for being so kind to me,” he replied.
“Hospitality for us is part of loving God,” stated Ishmael, con-
tinuing, “Whenever you come to this land, know that our home
is now your home.”
Abdoulah smiled and happily added, “We are always here for
you.”
“And if you ever come to America, my home is your home,” sug-
gested John.

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 Salaam Shalom 40

“Anna told us how you welcomed her and took care of her when
she was there. Thank you for that. She is special to us, a little
sister maybe,” explained Ishmael, still smiling.
Just then Anna entered the room and asked, “Will you rest or
would you like to see more?”
At those words, thoughts of the unusual things that had been
occurring flooded John’s mind. He did not know what to do when
suddenly he blurted out, “Would it be possible to see Fr. Emile?”
“Of course, he is not far from here. I will phone him and see if he
is free,” replied Anna and went to do so.
A short while later she returned to the room saying, “Fr. Emile
will see you in an hour. He is happy to be of service to you.”
John had a sensation of relief within as if a lifeline had been
thrown to him while he was drowning in this sea of confusion
that had taken hold of his life. He wondered why he felt this
way. Maybe it was just the thought of telling someone what was
happening or was it because he expected Fr. Emile to have the
answers he needed to understand these strange occurrences?
After saying farewell and giving thanks to Ishmael, Abdoulah
and Fatima, the four of them left the house and headed for Fr.
Emile’s. In the car everyone was silent until John said, “They
were nice people; so welcoming.” Anna looked at him and replied,
“That is the face of our Muslim brothers and sisters that the west
seldom hears of.”
Silence returned and John thought on Anna’s words. It was true.
So often on the news the Muslim extremists were seen, and
most people he knew thought that all Muslims were like that.
How different the truth is.

“This is Fr. Emile’s church,” stated Raphael as he stopped the car

outside a large old church building with a cross on top of it.
“You go in John, we will wait here for you,” suggested Michael.
“I do not know how long I will be,” John responded.
“It does not matter, we will wait,” insisted Michael.
John stepped out of the car and made his way into the church
thinking as he did so, ‘What will I say? Where will I begin?’

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 41 Chapter 5

“John! Welcome my friend.” It was Fr. Emile calling out as he

walked down the center of the church towards him with his
arms open wide. “Welcome,” he said again as he embraced John.
“Fr. Emile, I need to talk to you but I do not know how to begin,”
John said after the priest had released him from the embrace.
“Let’s go to a room in the back where it is a little more private,”
suggested the priest then led the way to the rear of the altar and
into a small room.
“Now John, just tell me whatever you want in any way you want
but first let me say a prayer that the Holy Spirit will guide your
words and my understanding.” Fr. Emile then made the sign of
the cross and John did the same.
Fr. Emile closed his eyes and began to pray, “Come Holy Spirit,
come Lord and help John to open his heart and help me to dis-
cern what he says to me and may the blessing of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit be with us.” As he said this the priest
blessed John then asked, “Please begin.”
“Well Father, first can I ask you what you meant when you said
to me, ‘When you need me … and do not be afraid?’” inquired
John.
“When I first met you I saw in your eyes something special, a
strength, a God-given strength and I knew God was planning
something in your life. I said not to be afraid because some-
times when people do not understand the way God is working
in their lives, it can make them unsure of themselves and afraid
of what might be happening. That is why I said, ‘When you need
me,’ because I knew you would need someone to help explain
God’s actions,” replied the priest with a comforting tone in his
voice.
“But how did you know? How could you see all this? We only met
briefly,” asked John in amazement.
“God gives many gifts to people and this is one He gives to me,”
explained Fr. Emile. “So what has been happening?” he queried.
“Father, it is hard to know if it is real or if I am going mad,” stated
John as he leaned forward and put his head between his hands
with his elbows resting on his knees.

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 Salaam Shalom 42

“My friend, let me help you,” said Fr. Emile, putting his hand on
John’s shoulder.
Over the next thirty minutes John told the priest everything he
had experienced from the vision in Bethlehem to the Garden of
Gethsemane. He told of the man in white and the man in black,
then the said to the priest, “It is good just to speak to someone
about it. I feel better already. What do you think Father?”
The priest sat quietly for a moment then began to speak, “My
friend John, I do not think you are going mad. I think God is
calling you to Him and I think evil is trying to stop you answer-
ing that call.”
“But Father I am not very religious and I have not led the best of
lives. Why would God call me?” cut in John.
“God has always called sinners to repentance and we all are sin-
ners. Sometimes God reaches out to people who have been away
from Him and gives them the opportunity to do great things
in His name, so that not only they, but many others through
them, can find salvation in Jesus, Our Lord. It is a mystery of
God but a mystery that has been repeated many times in the
history of mankind. It is obvious God is calling you in a special
way and that is why the evil one you saw is there. He is trying to
stop you by confusing you and getting you to ignore God’s call,”
explained the priest.
“What shall I do Father?” asked John with uncertainty showing
on his face.
“What would you like to do?” replied the priest with a question.
“I am not sure. When I saw the Holy Family I was at first scared
but then when I saw myself turning away from them, I did not
want to. At Gethsemane I felt so bad at hurting Jesus and I
wanted Him to forgive me. I have a pain inside me, not physical
but worse than that, at the thought of turning away and hurting
Jesus again. It is strange, as I never thought of God much before
but now inside me, not in my mind but somewhere else, I do not
want to stop thinking of Him.”
“Ah, that is your spirit crying out to God. That is the strength I
saw in you, a spiritual one and now your spirit is telling you to

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 43 Chapter 5

set this strength free, for this is what God in His love wants you
to do. Your spirit understands. You now have to let your mind
understand as well,” counseled the priest.
“How?” asked John.
“Have you been to confession recently?” inquired Fr. Emile.
“Not for a very long time,” responded an embarrassed John.
“Well, may I suggest you confess now, for the sins you hold onto
cloud your spiritual vision. They are like a dark fog covering the
light of your soul. If you confess from your heart in truth, then
God in His mercy will forgive you and this fog will be lifted from
you.”
“Father, will you help me to confess because I have forgotten
how to, but from that moment in Gethsemane, I knew I would
have to, as I could not carry my sins anymore,” pleaded John.
“In confession you will find they are lifted from you and the weight
of sin will be replaced by the joy of Our Lord’s forgiving love.”
“Let us begin then,” directed Fr. Emile, putting his stole around
his neck and preparing to help John through his confession and
to a new relationship with God.

John, during the Sacrament, poured out his heart to God. He

was amazed at how much came to mind and how he had the
burning desire to tell God, through the priest, about all the
wrongs he had committed, even the most personal. He also had
an ache within, which seemed so deep and he knew this ache
came from his sins. He now knew that his sins really did hurt
him. He did not know the full extent of that hurt but he knew
it was there.
After what only seemed like ten minutes to John but in fact was
two hours, it came to the moment where Fr. Emile granted, by
the grace of God, absolution. As the priest said the words, John
had the feeling as if something was falling away from him and
for the first time in his life John felt truly free.
When the confession had finished Fr. Emile looked at him in
amazement, “You look so different!” he gasped, “And your face
is glowing.”

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 Salaam Shalom 44

“That is because with your help and by God’s grace, I feel cleansed …
renewed,” suggested John.
“No, no. I mean your face is really glowing. There is a white light
around it,” stated the priest. “Here, I will turn off the light and
we will see what happens.”
As Fr. Emile turned off the light the room remained bright. “See …
you are glowing,” insisted the priest.
John put his hands up near to his face and now he could see
they got brighter as they came closer. “Its true!” he exclaimed.
As he continued to look at his hands, the glow began to fade so
Fr. Emile turned the light back on.
“It’s gone now,” said the priest.
“What do you think it was Father?” asked a stunned John.
“I believe it was God’s grace pouring into your soul. Now that the
barriers of sin have been removed, you are open to God’s grace
and that is what the light was,” suggested the priest.
“How can I stay that way?” asked John.
“It is impossible, for everyone sins and sin stops you staying in
that state. Most have bad thoughts at times, or get angry with
others. Some have lustful thoughts or are filled with pride, with
selfishness, with jealousy, with greed, maybe slip into a little lie
sometimes. It is so easy to place barriers on your soul to stop
that state of grace being achieved. Even the greatest saints had
problems doing so. Only Our Lord, Jesus Christ and His Blessed
Mother Mary by His grace were able to maintain that state of
grace throughout their lives,” explained Fr. Emile.
“It was a beautiful feeling, Father. How can I get it back?” won-
dered John.
“You must try to live for God at all times. It will be hard but you
will find the strength you need in the Sacraments, in Holy Scrip-
ture and in prayer. Constantly ask the Holy Spirit to guide you
and constantly seek ways to please God. If you do these things
you will be on the path that will lead you into God’s eternal
grace,” counseled the priest.
“I don’t know if I can do that, but Father, I am going to try,” con-
firmed a smiling John.

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 45 Chapter 5

“Remember, you will struggle at times but in those moments,

again ask God for the strength to carry on and God will help
you,” assured Fr. Emile.
He continued, “You are obviously called to do God’s work. My
friend, how blessed you are. My prayers will be with you and
remember that if you need me, I am here. God bless you. You
had better go, the others are waiting.”
“Thank you Father, I feel at peace,” stated John with a look of
gratitude on his face.
“May God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit bless and
protect you,” prayed Fr. Emile as he made the sign of the cross
over John. He then opened the door saying, “Go, go,” to him.

As John stepped out of the church he felt a spring in his step, it

was almost as if he was walking on air, it was wonderful.
“John, here you are,” Michael called out from the car that he was
now sitting on.
“Raphael and Anna went for a walk. They will be back soon. You
look happy John, did Fr. Emile do that?” asked Michael.
“No, God did through him,” smiled back John.
“Well, thank God. You look so peaceful. Oh! Here they are,” said
Michael as he pointed to his brother and sister who were only a
few yards away.
“You were in there a long time, it’s almost time to eat,” stated
Raphael.
“Always thinking about food,” Anna said as she slapped him
playfully.
“How was Fr. Emile?” she asked John.
“Extremely helpful,” he replied.
“Well, you can tell us over the meal if you like,” suggested Anna
and then said, “We better go, our parents will be waiting.”
With that, they all got into the car and John laid his head back,
closed his eyes and let the wonderful feeling he was having fill
his mind.

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 47 Chapter 6

THE MAN IN WHITE

AND THE MAN IN BLACK

Entering Anna’s home, a short while later, her father and mother
greeted them with big smiles on their faces.
“Welcome home,” said Yousef happily.
Mariam came to John and embraced him just as she had done to
her three children who had entered before John.
“Did you enjoy your meeting with Fr. Emile?” she asked.
“How did you know I saw him?” inquired John.
“Anna and Raphael telephoned to say you would be home later
than we expected,” explained Mariam.
“Yes, it was good to see him, he helped me a lot,” stated John in
answer to her question.
“He is a very gifted man,” Yousef said, nodding his head.
“Anyway you must be hungry. The food is ready. As soon as you
have settled we can eat,” suggested the mother as she guided
him to the stairs.
“I will only be a few moments,” John said with a smile, then
almost ran up the stairs. He could not believe how excited he
felt within. In all of his life there had never been anything to
compare with what he was feeling now. “Glorious!” he said out
loud without thinking.
“What is it John?” Michael called out from below.
John just smiled to himself and shouted in reply, “I was just say-
ing what a glorious day it was.”
“Oh,” was Michael’s only word.
John then went into his room to change his shirt, which had
been soaked with his perspiration, not only from the heat of the
day but also from the events that happened.
After applying some deodorant and putting on a clean shirt

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 Salaam Shalom 48

John washed his hands and face in the bathroom. As he splashed

the water over his face, he looked into the mirror above the sink
to see before him his own face smiling happily back at him. He
realized he had never looked so happy before and he did not
want this happiness to end. To his surprise he heard a voice say,
“It can be eternal if you want it to be.”
In the mirror he now saw the man in white whom he had seen at
Bethlehem and Gethsemane standing behind him.
“I want it to be,” replied John excitedly.
“Then live for God from now on and it will be,” assured the man
in white.
John spun around to ask another question but now there was no
one there. He looked back into the mirror and he could only see
himself and he was still smiling.
“Are you coming John?” shouted Raphael from below.
“I will be there in a few seconds,” he replied and dried his still
wet face and made his way down stairs for the meal.
John was not that hungry after the meal at Ishmael, Abdoulah
and Fatima’s house and the wonderful feeling inside him was all
he wanted to think about, not food. He knew however it would
hurt his hosts if he did not spend time with them over the meal.
“You must be tired,” said Mariam as he came into the room.
“It has been a long day,” he said in agreement.
“Well, after you have had something to eat you can go and sleep if
you want,” suggested Yousef, then continued. “Let us join hands
as we say a prayer of thanks to God who, in His mercy, has given
us food to eat.”
Mariam took hold of John’s left hand while Anna, who was
on his right, held the other. As Yousef began to pray out loud
John’s feeling of happiness seemed to increase with each word,
so much so that he felt it hard not to burst out in joyful laughter.
When the prayer was finished and they sat down Anna, who still
had hold of John’s hand, squeezed it saying, “It is good to see
you so happy.”
He smiled back at her and said, “I have never felt so good.”
“Ah, God is touching you with His love,” stated Michael out loud.

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 49 Chapter 6

“It is a great gift from God,” called out Yousef, looking upwards
with both hands raised to heaven.
Mariam looked at John and said in the sweetest of voices, “It is
a great blessing to have you here with us.”
“Why, thank you. I was just thinking the same about your family.
What a blessing it is for me to be here with you.”
Raphael passed John a dish of food saying, “You must be hun-
gry.” Obviously Raphael wanted John to start eating so that he
could too.

Over the meal John said little. Instead, he listened to this fam-
ily discussing various subjects and he was amazed at how many
times God was mentioned in their words. Not only that, but
every time they did mention God, his heart would beat faster.
As the meal came to an end, Yousef asked Michael to say a prayer
of thanks to God for what they had just eaten.
Michael began, “Great God in heaven we thank You for supplying
all we need to live. We thank You for loving us so much that You
provide us with the food we have eaten, the love we have shared
and the joy of knowing You through each other. We bless Your
holy name and ask that You continue to pour out Your divine
love to sustain us here on earth and then one day to bring us
home to You in heaven. Thank You Lord. Amen.”
Each of the words Michael had just said seemed like a thing of
beauty to John. He savored each word and found those words
still dancing in his mind after Michael had finished the prayer.
“That was beautiful!” he exclaimed. “How do you come to say
such beautiful words?”
Michael looked at John and replied with a smile, “My father and
mother taught me.”
Mariam asked, “Didn’t your parents teach you to pray when you
were young?”
“Yes, they did but sadly I didn’t listen,” replied John with a sad-
ness in his voice as he realized what he had said was true. “You
should go and rest now,” encouraged Anna.
“Yes, I think I will,” said John yawning as he was now beginning

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 Salaam Shalom 50

to feel tired, even though he still had that exciting happiness

within.
“Will you come with us to Mass in the morning?” asked Yousef.
“Shall we waken you?”
“Yes, please do. Of course I will come,” confirmed John who now
could sense the excitement growing again.
After saying his goodnights to everyone John returned to his
room and lay on the bed, thinking about the day’s events. The
happy feeling was far less now than before and tiredness began
to make his eyelids heavy. John drifted into sleep. Unknown to
him was the big smile he still had on his face, which remained
with him, even as he began to snore.

“John. John,” a voice called rousing him from sleep. “John. John,”
the voice continued.
Struggling to open his heavy eyelids John saw standing in the
corner of his room the man in black. He rubbed his eyes and
now fully opened them.
“John. John,” said the man.
As John looked at him he could see the man was still wearing
those glasses but now the lenses seemed to be shining red.
“What are you doing here? How … how did you get in here?”
stammered John.
“I came to give you some advice. Go home to America, back to
your life there. Leave this land and forget what has happened to
you. It is better for you that you do,” suggested the man.
“What do you mean?” asked John.
“I mean it is not safe for you here, many bad things can happen
to an American in the Middle East,” answered the man in black.
“Who are you?” demanded John.
“Just a friend giving you good advice,” responded the man.
John stood up; he could feel his legs shaking and his heart rac-
ing. He was afraid. John opened his mouth to shout for help but
the man in black reached forward at an incredible speed and
grabbed John by the throat. With no effort he lifted John off
the floor, squeezing his throat as he did.

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 51 Chapter 6

“Leave this country, forget what has happened, or you might not
live to see your parents again,” hissed the man.
There was a foul smell in his breath that John, in the back of his
mind, knew he had smelt before. However, he could not think of
that now, for he was dangling in the air unable to breathe and
he was terrified.
“Take my advice … leave!” insisted the man.
John sensed a strength within him. It was welling up like a vol-
cano and then out of his mouth came the words; “I am staying.”
“You fool!” shrieked the man and threw John across the room
then came towards him saying, “You will regret that.”
In John’s mind he saw the man in white kneeling and praying
and the man turned and looked at John, saying, “There is noth-
ing to fear. He cannot harm you. Call on the name of the Lord
and he will flee.”
Suddenly the man in black had hold of John again and was
beginning to twist his head sideways when John called out
loudly in desperation, “In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you.
In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you. In the name of Jesus
Christ I rebuke you.” As he said these words the fear began to
leave him and he felt stronger and stronger.
“He will not save you!” screamed the man in black, but John
could feel the grip and the twisting becoming weaker. John con-
tinued over and over, “In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you.”
“Aaargh!” screamed the man in black and let go of John.
He shouted with pure hatred in his voice, “I will be back and you
will regret it.”
All of a sudden the door opened, and light from the passage-
way shone in. There were Michael and Raphael looking in and
Raphael asked with concern, “Are you alright John? We heard
you shouting.”
Michael switched on the light and John saw there was no one
else in the room now except the three of them.
“I just had a bad dream, that was all. Sorry to disturb you,” he
apologized.
“Would you like some tea or coffee?” offered Michael.

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 Salaam Shalom 52

“No thank you, I will be fine now.”

The two brothers left John in his room, closing the door behind
them. John sat on the bed and thought, ‘What shall I do now?’
He thought he heard the words, ‘Trust in God,’ then he lay back
on the bed and said quietly, “Thank You Jesus,” after which he
closed his eyes and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

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 53 Chapter 7

A FORGOTTEN PART
OF THE FAMILY

“John. John,” he heard as he woke from his sleep with a start.

“John. John,” he heard again, then looked around the room and
to his relief could see no one there.
“John. John are you awake?”
He now recognized that it was Yousef calling from outside his
bedroom door.
“Yes, I am awake,” he responded.
“It is time to get up if you want to go to Mass,” explained Yousef.
John’s heart began to beat fast again at the thought of Mass.
“I will only be a few minutes,” he called as he rolled back the
cover and jumped up out of the bed.
“We will eat after Mass, I hope you are not too hungry,” said
Yousef through the door.
“No, not at all,” he replied.
All John wanted to do now was get to church. He had a heart
beating fast and a burning desire to be back in the house of God,
a desire that was growing by the second.
After a very quick, cold shower John hurried downstairs where
the whole family was waiting for him.
“I hope I didn’t keep you too long,” John apologized.
“There is plenty of time, do not worry,” said Anna as she came
and kissed his cheek and continued, “Good morning. Did you
sleep well?”
“Oh sorry. Good morning everyone,” John was a little embar-
rassed that he had forgotten to greet them.
The family members all smiled back and Raphael, as he yawned,
said, “You have nothing to be sorry about, you are coming to

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 Salaam Shalom 54

Mass with us and we are grateful for that. Did you get back to
sleep alright?”
“What? Oh, yes I did, thank you,” answered John who then sud-
denly realized that he had slept very well after the episode with
the man in black. He wondered why he had not been more afraid;
he thought he should have been. In his head again he thought he
heard a voice saying, ‘It was your trust in God.’
“You can come in the car with Yousef and I this morning if you
like,” suggested Mariam.
John accepted immediately. Raphael looked a little disappointed
but just smiled at him.
“I’ll come with you,” said Anna as she took hold of John’s arm
and walked out of the door with him.
John thought to himself that it was a little blessing not to have
to travel at breakneck speed with Raphael this morning, it
would give him a chance to get his thoughts together without
having to worry if they would make it to church or not.
He sat down in the back of the car with Anna beside him. ‘This
is a bit more comfortable too; a little more room,’ went through
his mind.
The car he was in was about twice as large as Raphael’s and it did
not give the feeling of being squashed in.
“There is a seat belt in the back for you,” directed Mariam as she
clipped her own one on in the front.
Anna put her hand down the back of the seat and retrieved one
end of John’s seat belt for him.
“You will need this,” she said with a smile as he connected the
straps together.
“It will not take long to get there,” advised Yousef as he turned
the key and began to rev the car’s engine loudly when it started.
“Just need to clear the system,” explained Yousef to no one in
particular. Then, with a crunch, he put the car into first gear but
before pulling away made the sign of the cross and looked to
heaven saying, “God protect us and guide us safely to our des-
tination.”
John found himself saying, “Amen,” and then making the sign

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 55 Chapter 7

of the cross, just as Anna and Mariam did. The next moment
Yousef let out the clutch and with a roar of the engine drove off
with screeching tires.
John soon discovered the father’s driving was scarier than
the son’s was and as he looked out of the rear window he saw
Raphael in his smaller car struggling to keep up with Yousef.
A short while later both cars pulled up outside Fr. Emile’s church.
As Yousef turned the engine off he said to John, “I taught
Raphael to drive but he cannot keep up with me. He still has a
lot to learn about driving.” John smiled back as he wondered to
himself if the rest of the family drove this way. He was consid-
ering whether it would be safer with Raphael or Yousef in a car
and he came to the conclusion it would be about the same.
“Forty five years of driving and by the grace of God, not one acci-
dent,” stated Yousef proudly.
“A miracle!” exclaimed John, then realized what he had said.
Thankfully Anna added, “Yes, a miracle indeed that God would
give you such a gift as to be able to drive so well.”
John just nodded, he did not know what else to do.
“Come, my friend, let’s go to Mass,” suggested Yousef with a
large smile on his face. “God is in His house, let us go and praise,
adore and worship Him.”
Anna looked at John as if to say it is all right, you have not of­
fended him. However, in John’s mind now were only thoughts of
his increasing heartbeats, which seemed to resound throughout
his body and of the sensation of love he felt coming from the
church and surrounding him. It was almost a physical sensation
and yet it was not.
John turned and followed Yousef and Mariam towards the
church and now with each step closer that he took, he felt as if
he would faint. Anna took hold of his arm and steadied him ask-
ing, “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I feel wonderful,” smiled John as he replied.
It was true, he did feel wonderful and excited and loved.
It was amazing and he wanted this to never end and now he
prayed it wouldn’t.

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 Salaam Shalom 56

As he entered the church the excitement within grew and he

had the feeling of almost being drunk. John walked down the
aisle in the center of the church with Anna, who was still hold-
ing onto his arm and gently guiding him. In the church he saw
there were about one hundred people who seemed all to be of
Arab descent.
“Here John, we will sit here,” said Anna as she directed him into
a pew. After he sat down, she knelt beside him and began to
pray.
John looked at her and thought how beautiful she was, she
looked almost like an angel kneeling there in prayer. He then
heard a bell ring and everyone stood up as Fr. Emile made his
way to the altar with two young male servers in front of him.
The priest began the Mass and now John hung on every word
Fr. Emile said, for each word of the Mass seemed to bring him a
sensation of peace and security. As Fr. Emile said the words at
the consecration John was taken aback, for he could see in front
of the altar the man in white kneeling and bowing his head low.
Not only that but now there were several other men in white
doing the same.
Some minutes later when it was time to go to communion and
John was in the queue waiting his turn, he saw the men in white
still kneeling and bowing low on either side of Fr. Emile as he
gave out the Blessed Sacrament. Now John was in front of the
priest and Fr. Emile said, “The body of Christ.”
John replied, “Amen,” and opened his mouth to receive the Lord.
He could not believe the emotions that were released as he con-
sumed the Blessed Sacrament. Tears now began to stream from
his eyes and he had to fight to control himself because at any
moment he could begin sobbing.
After returning to his pew he could still see the men in white
in front of the altar but as before no one else seemed to notice
them. A short white later the Mass was over and Fr. Emile was
now leaving the altar and it seemed as if he had walked right
through one of the men, after which all the men in white turned
to look directly at John and were smiling at him.

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 57 Chapter 7

John felt a tug on his arm. It was Anna. “Come on, we will go
home for breakfast.”
He followed her out of the church to where Yousef, Mariam,
Michael and Raphael were waiting. With them were several of
the people from the church.
“These are our friends,” explained Yousef and then introduced
each one of them to him.
“You are American,” stated a young man in his twenties named
Yacoub.
“Yes, I am,” smiled John in reply.
“Why do you American Christians ignore us?” asked Yacoub, a
little aggressively.
“Yacoub!” this is not the place or time cut in Michael.
“When is then?” demanded Yacoub, then continued. “If we never
speak to them how will they ever know what is happening here?”
“Not now, my friend,” implored Michael, putting his hand on
Yacoub’s shoulder.
“Does he know most Christians are leaving the Holy Lands, that
soon there may not be many Christians left in the land of Our
Lord’s birth? Why don’t our Christian brothers and sisters help
us?” questioned Yacoub.
“How can we help?” responded John.
“We need work. We have little money, little employment. We
need the west to stand up for us with the Israelis and with some
Arab governments so that we can have a future here. Do you
know how many are leaving? There are thousands and most
want to stay but cannot. Why is it other Christians do not
help us? We are supposed to be brothers and sisters in Christ
but we Arab Christians are like a forgotten part of the family,”
explained Yacoub.
Michael said firmly, “Enough! We have to go.”
Anna gave John a little push to encourage him to follow her par-
ents to the car. As John did so Yacoub called out, “Think of it, no
Christians living in the land of Christ’s birth.”
The words seemed to cut into John like a knife and then he
thought, ‘It’s true, we are letting them down.’ The smile had now

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 Salaam Shalom 58

left his face, as he seemed to hear in his head, ‘Is this what Jesus
would want?’ He had a realization that of course it was not and
this made him feel sad.

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 59 Chapter 8

“WE MUST KEEP

WORKING FOR PEACE”

The return drive to Anna’s house was another high-speed experi-

ence for John. However, he was beginning to get more comfort-
able with the driving techniques shown by Yousef and Raphael,
so he was less concerned than before. During the journey he had
sat quietly and said nothing. His mind kept returning to the
words Yacoub had said, ‘We are like a forgotten part of the fam-
ily,’ and, ‘No Christians living in the land of the Christ’s birth.’
He was woken from his thoughts by Anna who asked softly of
him, as the car came to a stop outside her house, “Are you hun-
gry?”
“A little,” was his short reply.
Mariam then turned to face him as they still sat in the car say-
ing, “We have a couple of dear friends joining us for breakfast.
We hope you do not mind.”
“No, not at all,” stated John who was coming to realize that this
family welcomed many people to share their meals with them, it
seemed to be a tradition.
As he stepped out of the car on the same side as Mariam, she
continued speaking, “Breakfast will not be long, I prepared most
of it before we left.”
John smiled back thinking how Mariam always considered the
needs of others and was always ready to do whatever she could
to make him comfortable.
“John,” she whispered, “if you would like to eat quickly and go to
your room for a rest, we will not be offended.”
“No, I am alright. I would enjoy your company,” he replied. Mar-
iam smiled back as if to say “Thank you.”
A short time later the six of them were in the dining room and

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Mariam and Anna had brought the last dishes and laid them on
the table. Just as they did so the doorbell rang and Yousef said
out loud, “That will be them,” and he went and opened the door
to let the visitors in.
John heard the customary welcomes being exchanged at the
door and then Yousef returned with a man and woman who
looked to be in their mid forties.
“John, this is Rachel,” introduced Yousef as the woman smiled
and said, “Hello, John.”
“And this is her husband, Benjamin.”
He also smiled and said, “Hello,” with a heavy accent. John was
surprised to notice that Benjamin had a Jewish skullcap on his
head when Mariam said, “Benjamin and Rachel are part of our
family; like children to us. Rachel’s mother was a dear friend of
mine.”
Anna added, “Benjamin and Rachel are good people,” as she
went and embraced them both and kissed their cheeks.
“Come. Come, let us eat,” invited Yousef and directed them to sit
down for breakfast. Before the meal Yousef led his family and
friends in prayers. When he had finished Benjamin and Rachel
smiled at each other then sat quietly.
John realized they were a little shy because he was there, so
over the meal he did his best to make them comfortable with
his presence by pouring their coffee for them and offering them
food when he thought they may need it. Soon they were all talk-
ing freely, now feeling completely at ease with each other.
“John, you seemed surprised that we are Jewish,” said Rachel, in
a quiet moment.
“Sorry, was it so obvious?” asked John as his face reddened.
“It is alright,” assured Benjamin.
“I did not expect Jewish people to be in the house of Arab peo-
ple. From what I have seen on television this would be almost
impossible,” explained John.
“As I said John, they are family,” cut in Mariam as she put her
arm around Benjamin’s shoulder, next to whom she was sitting
and gave him a squeeze.

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“We are, aren’t we?” smiled a contented looking Benjamin.

“John, you should understand that there are Jews, who mix with
Arabs and see them as equal,” stated Rachel with a serious look
on her face.
“Not all Jews hate Arabs, just as not all Arabs hate Jews,” agreed
Anna nodding her head as she spoke.
Michael said, “There are many on both sides who want to live
in peace together but then there are others who try to stop that
happening.”
“It’s true!” exclaimed Benjamin. “There are some Jewish people
who think of our Arab brothers and sisters as inferior and some
even say the only good Arab is a dead Arab!”
“That is what the Nazi’s used to say about us Jews and now some
of us say it about the Arabs. I think that some in Israel have
learned little at all from the holocaust,” grieved Rachel.
“And some Arabs say the only good Jew is a dead one. How sad
it is that there is such bad feeling between people, instead of
respect and love,” suggested Raphael.
“You know we have many Jewish friends who think as we do,”
Rachel continued. “They believe as we do, that in God’s eyes all
are equal and all are loved by Him.”
“We may be the chosen people,” added Benjamin, “and that is
true. However, I think some forget that we were chosen to bring
the truth of God to the world and not chosen to believe God’s
truth was just for us. We profess Abraham as our father, but
so too he is the father of the Christians and the Muslims. That
makes us all family and regardless of our differences and our
misunderstandings, we should treat each other as family.”
“We do,” assured Yousef.
“My hope for Israel,” continued Rachel, “is that all the people
who live there, can together in love seek God, and together, find
Him.”
John looked at Benjamin and Rachel, seeing in them the inno-
cence that comes with loving God, an innocence he also saw in
Anna and her family.
Raphael spoke, “What a wonderful thought for the future, peace

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in the Holy Lands with all people living together in God’s love.”
He had a smile on his face and from the look in his eyes, John
knew Raphael was dreaming about how it could be.

All of a sudden gunfire could be heard and Raphael woke from

his thoughts saying, “One day, please God.”
“Let us pray no one is hurt,” suggested Mariam, so everyone
bowed their heads and silently made their own prayers.
After the prayers John saw Rachel had tears running down her
face and so asked, “Are you alright?”
“Yes,” she sobbed. “I am. I was just thinking of how many times I
see on the news or I hear of young people, who have been killed
with the bullets. So many young,” she sobbed and added, “This is
not how I want our army to act.”
Yousef comforted her saying, “It is not only the Israeli Army
that kills, it is also the many extremists who are Arab. They
incite and mislead many of the young to their deaths and as an
Arab I am ashamed of them. That is not how an Arab, whether
Christian or Muslim, should behave. Life is to be treasured and
respected and not to be used as a way of spreading a political or
religious agenda. So many people forget God’s command, ‘Thou
shalt not kill,’ and see the lives of their own people as a com-
modity to be used.”
“It is the extremists on both sides who cause most of the prob-
lems” suggested Benjamin.
“There seem to be many looking for peace, from what you say,”
stated John.
“Yes, there are many, many,” confirmed Yousef with everyone
else nodding in agreement.
“Most people want to live in peace and security,” said Michael,
“but sadly the majority does not get its way.”
“Isn’t it so often the way, that a few can lead the many into situ-
ations they do not want?” commented Anna. “They do it with
clever words that can misconstrue events so as to lead the many
to follow their will.”
“If only the majority would wake up and demand peace, demand

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respect for all people and demand equality for all. Maybe then
life could be lived as it was meant to be lived,” Raphael added.
“It is a nice dream but I wonder will it ever come true?” mused
Rachel.
All of a sudden John felt the words welling up inside him and
now they came out with such force from his mouth that it took
everyone by surprise.
“It will come true one day. People must believe that and people
must work for that. If people trust in God and follow His will,
paradise will be here and this truly will be the land of milk and
honey. People must not be afraid to speak out against the evils
that pervade society in these lands and in all the world. People
must stand up and be counted, counted for God, counted for
love, counted for peace. If people do this, God will pour out His
holy power through them and change the world for the better. It
just takes all of us, all of our friends and all of their friends and
all who seek true peace, to stand firm in the truth of God for
this to happen.”
He stopped speaking and wondered where did those words come
from and the strength in them.
“Well said!” Yousef called out, with the others nodding in agree-
ment.
Anna was looking at John with admiration. John was feeling a
little nervous now and almost wanted to apologize for speaking
that way.
“We are trying to do that but it is hard,” explained Rachel. “Some-
times we wonder if anything will ever change.”
“We must persevere and, as John said, God will pour out His
holy power,” encouraged Mariam.
“Let us keep in prayer today peace and unity in the Holy Lands,”
suggested Michael.
Everyone agreed and then Benjamin and Rachel made ready to
leave. As they made their farewells Rachel said to John, “It has
been interesting talking to you and thank you for your words.”
John smiled, “Words of truth,” he said and thought again, ‘Where
did that come from?’

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“You are right, we must keep working for peace, for if we do not,
what is the alternative?” questioned Benjamin.
As he said this a long burst of gunfire could be heard in the dis-
tance and Anna said, “More of that!”

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 65 Chapter 9

“YOUR FACE IS SHINING !”

“Today we will take you to where Our Lord was crucified, died,
was buried and rose from the death, if you would like to see
that,” inquired Michael.
John was still thinking about Benjamin, Rachel and the conver-
sation they had just had.
“Yes, that would be fine,” he replied without knowing what
Michael had just said.
“They are very holy places,” stated Raphael.
“What are?” asked John.
“The Via Dolorosa – The Way of Sorrows and Calvary,” responded
Raphael, with a disappointed tone in his voice, which was there
because John seemed to be showing little interest.
“Calvary!” gasped John as his heart almost burst from his chest;
it was beating so fast.
“Yes, Calvary,” confirmed Raphael.
“I am longing to see it,” said John with a look of enthusiasm
on his face. Just as John had said the word Calvary, for a brief
moment he thought he saw Jesus on the cross and now he had
an ache within that he knew would not leave until he had seen
where the Lord had been crucified. These interior desires, long-
ings, emotions, were new to him and he wondered how they had
come to him. Never in his life had he felt as in the last couple
of days. He wondered was it the confession or was it the Mass
that had brought these new feelings into him when he had a
realization that of course it was both of them; one sacrament
cleansing his soul and the other filling his soul. It seemed so
obvious now!

Raphael now had a happy look on his face, which was in response

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to the enthusiasm John was showing. “Let’s go then,” encour-

aged Raphael as he made his way to the door.
“Remember to drink plenty of water. It is a hot day,” Mariam
suggested with a motherly tone.
Yousef spoke to Michael, “Make sure that you take time for
lunch and to rest. John is not used to this climate. Remember,
look after him.”
“We will … we will,” answered Michael.
Yousef then said to his children, and John, “God be with you and
watch over you this day.”
“Thank you,” replied John, “and with you.”
Anna again sat in the back of the car next to John and as she
squeezed in she said, “Today will be very special. It always is
when we go to Calvary.”
“This will be an experience you will never forget,” added an
excited sounding Raphael.
John now had that newfound knowledge within that both Anna
and Raphael were speaking the truth.
Michael sat in the seat next to Raphael saying as he did, “Remem-
ber John, if you need to rest, to have a drink or anything at all,
please let us know.”
“If I need anything I will tell you, I promise,” replied John.
“You might need this,” smiled Raphael as he leaned over the seat
to pass John a small Bible.
“You can read about how Our Lord, Jesus, suffered, died, was
buried and rose again. It will prepare you a little so that you can
appreciate today better.”
“Thank you, I will,” replied John as he took the Bible and then
looked through it trying to find the appropriate pages.
Anna reached over and helped, finding the correct page for him.
“Here … read from here,” she directed.
John began to read and each word, each line now seemed to
come alive for him. On the one or two occasions he had read
of the Crucifixion before in his life, it had meant little at all but
now it truly was coming to life in his mind, in his heart and in
his soul.

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When he had finished reading he noticed again that he was per-

spiring profusely and his heart was racing.
Anna wiped his brow with her handkerchief asking, “Is it too
hot for you?”
“No, not at all, I will be alright,” he answered.
“But you are perspiring so much,” she said with concern.
“And I don’t have air conditioning,” apologized Raphael.
John wound the window down and put his head out of it saying,
“Now you do.”
“Be careful John,” implored Anna as she pulled him back in. He
looked at her and smiled thinking how loving she was, a lot like
her mother, Mariam.
“I will be,” he assured her. “Anyway, I’ve stopped perspiring now.”
It was true, his heartbeats had returned to normal and the per-
spiration had stopped but inside him was still an excitement at
what he was about to see and he knew that by God’s grace he
would experience something profound this day too.

After another fast drive through the streets of Jerusalem,

Raphael parked the car in the smallest of parking places between
two other cars on a side road.
“It is about a ten to fifteen minute walk from here,” he said apol-
ogetically.
Michael added, “Then it will take maybe one to two hours to see
all of it. Normally it would take longer but there are no queues
now, as there are few pilgrims.”
John looked around him and saw a few locals walking the road
but it seemed true that there were no tourists.
“Come on, follow us,” said Raphael as he and Michael began to
lead the way.
Anna held John’s hand and walked beside him. Soon they
entered very narrow walkways with shops on either side. The
shopkeepers seemed to be sitting around with little to do. Some
of them looked hopefully at John as he passed by.
Anna explained, “This is the old part of the city. Normally it is a
bustling market place but without the pilgrims little happens here.”

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John could see why, for most of the shops had produce aimed at
the pilgrims to Jerusalem or at tourists looking for Arabic orna-
ments. Even though it was quiet John could still feel some of
the atmosphere of how it would be when busy.
“It is very interesting,” he said, then continued, “I think if you
had a lot of people here it would be hard to move, there is not
much room.”
Anna was about to say something, when three armed Israeli sol-
diers walked between them. The soldiers were looking around,
guns at the ready, as they passed.
“An army patrol,” stated Anna.
“Are there many of those?” asked John.
“Too many,” she said sadly.
John had noticed how young the soldiers looked. They appeared
younger than he was yet he could see in their faces a hardness
that aged not their physical appearance, but their spirit. John
saw this, felt this and was sad that the young were affected in
such a way.

“We will begin where Pilate judged Our Lord and then walk the
Way of the Cross to Calvary,” said Raphael with eagerness in his
voice.
“It’s not far now. Would you like a cool drink, some water maybe
to carry with you? It is hot,” asked Michael.
John nodded and Michael disappeared into one of the shops
to return a few seconds later with some bottles of water. John
drank his bottle in one go. He didn’t realize he had been so
thirsty; it must have been the perspiring, so Michael re-entered
the shop and bought John another bottle that was twice as large
as the first.
As he handed it to John he said, “Imagine Our Lord carried His
cross and was given no water.”
John had not thought about that part of Jesus’ suffering when
he had read the Bible in the car, but now he did and he wondered
what it would be like to suffer in that way. “Maybe you will find
out,” he heard a voice say and with a start said, “What?” as he

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turned to see where the voice had come from. There, to his right,
just for a moment, was the man in black again and then he was
gone.
“I said imagine Our Lord carrying His cross without any water
to drink,” Michael replied, thinking John was speaking to him.
“Yes, it would have been very difficult,” said John as a shiver ran
down his spine.
Anna took hold of his hand again and said, “I am glad we can do
this together, it is a great blessing for us.”
“And for me too,” responded John as he squeezed her hand.
Thoughts of the man in black left him. He now focused on what
was to come and he noticed the more he thought about Jesus’
suffering the more secure he felt and the less afraid. He then
heard in his head the voice he had heard several times before,
“Look to the Lord Jesus and always be safe.”
The words repeated over and over in his head and with each sen-
tence he felt a peace inside that made him know the words were
true.

“This is where Pontius Pilate judged Our Lord,” explained

Michael when they entered a small courtyard and led John into
a small chapel. “It begins here and from here we shall walk the
Way of the Cross to Calvary,” continued Michael.
John now had a strong desire to kneel and pray, so he knelt down
in one of the pews and found he could only say in his mind, “I
am sorry Lord.”
After some minutes of prayer the four of them went out into the
narrow street.
Anna said, “The Lord came out here carrying His cross and went
this way.” She pointed in the direction they were to go.
As they walked along, John saw a road sign that read “Via Dolo-
rosa” in English, with what seemed like Arabic writing above it.
He looked down the pathway and all of a sudden he began to feel
very weak within. He forced himself to keep up with the others
and was grateful when they stopped outside a curved doorway.
Michael was explaining to him that it was one of the Stations of

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the Cross but John was not really listening, for he seemed to be
in a mist and was having flashes before him of crowds of people.
Some who were mocking, some who were crying and all were
dressed in attire from the days of Jesus.
Michael said, “The next Station is not far,” and began to walk
ahead of John.
Raphael and Anna were at his side but were unaware of what he
was experiencing.
“You are sweating again, you should drink some water,” sug-
gested Anna.
John placed the bottle to his mouth and felt the coolness of the
water fill his mouth. The words echoed in his head, “Imagine
Our Lord carrying His cross without any water.”
John again forced himself to keep up, because he did not want
his friends to worry over him.
Now, as they came to each Station the flashes of the people
became longer and longer. Soon they were there continuously
and now many of them seemed to be mocking John. With each
step he felt weaker and weaker and now was calling on all of his
reserves of energy to keep up. Each stop at a Station was a wel-
come relief and at each one he managed to drink a little water
and to muster a little more strength.
“The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is next. It is where Our Lord
was crucified,” John heard Michael say through the noise of the
constant vision he was having but yet through which he could
still see normally as well.
“Can you manage?” asked Raphael, taking John’s arm to support
him as now the three began to notice John was gasping for air.
“We will rest a moment,” suggested Anna.
John leaned against the wall at the side of the road saying, “Yes,
that would be good.”
“I will get you a cool drink,” Raphael said, then ran off to find a
shop.
John closed his eyes and tried to suck in as much air as possible.
A few minutes later Raphael returned with ice-cold cola, which
John drank quickly, after which he said, “I am okay now.”

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“Are you sure?” asked Anna with concern.

He nodded in reply and so at a much slower pace, they continued.
All around now John saw people crowding in, mocking him
and now he noticed the man in black and many more like him
interspersed in the crowd and they were shouting, “Crucify
him!”
Inside, John’s head began to spin and he thought he might faint
when he heard a familiar voice say, “Look to the Lord.” So John
made an enormous effort to focus his mind on Jesus carrying
His cross and the more he focused, the less dizzy he felt and the
stronger he felt too.
“This is it!” stated Raphael. “Calvary!”
John looked at the large doorway before him and took a deep
breath as he said in his mind, ‘God give me the strength.’
“You will need it,” he heard and looked to see the man in black
leaning against the wall. “Give up now and go home.”
“Never!” shouted John. “Never!”
“John, what is it?” asked Michael.
“Never will I turn from God again,” said John.
Anna smiled at him and said, “I am happy to hear that. It is a
great promise and I pray you will keep it.”
“I will,” insisted John as he looked past Anna to the man in black
who now hissed at John and then disappeared.

Entering the building, John felt the coolness of the air and it
was welcome after the heat outside. He also felt a strange sad-
ness touch his heart, it was very deep and almost physical. In
the air there seemed to be a stillness, almost as if time had stood
still. John looked around and saw there were several priests and
religious but few other people.
“Come this way,” guided Michael in a low, respectful voice and
proceeded to lead them up some steps. At the top they entered
a very ornate chapel with arched ceilings. At the far end of the
chapel was an altar with an illustration above it of the Lord
Jesus laid out on the cross.
“This is where Jesus was nailed to the cross,” explained Anna as

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she and her brothers made the sign of the cross and knelt before
the altar. John did the same.
“Let us say some silent prayers,” suggested Michael.
John closed his eyes to pray and found all he wanted to say over
and over was, “Jesus, I am sorry.”
Each time the words came to mind the sadness he was feeling
seemed to increase and he seemed to be drawn deeper into that
sadness. Just for a moment a vision of a Roman soldier ham-
mering a thick nail into the foot of Jesus appeared in his mind
and as it left him John wanted to call out at the top of his voice,
“Jesus, I am sorry,” but he managed to control himself.
“Are you alright my son?” asked a gentle voice.
John opened his eyes to see a priest dressed in the brown robes
of a Franciscan standing before him. “You were trembling,” ex-
plained the priest.
“I am just a little sad,” replied John.
“He is with us, Father,” cut in Michael.
“Look after him then,” said the priest with a smile, “and may
God bless you,” he said as he gave them his blessing.
“This way, John,” Raphael said, pointing to another chapel next
to this one.
“This is where Our Lord was crucified. Look, there is the rock
and in there is where the cross is supposed to have stood.”
John saw the rock encased in a glass cabinet and had a longing
to touch it but could not. He then saw that next to it was a hole
in the ground where Raphael had said the cross stood. His heart
felt so heavy now, he thought it would break open. Again Anna
and her brothers, one at a time, knelt down and made the sign
of the cross, kissed the ground and then each of them put their
hands into the hole. Anna looked at John just before it was her
turn to do so and said, “You can touch the rock here”.
John’s heart began to race again, even though it felt so heavy.
He knelt down, kissed the floor and as he began to put his hand
into the hole, all of his body was beating in time with his heart.
As he touched the rock it was once more like the electricity in
Gethsemane flowing through every part of his body.

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Before him now he saw the Lord Jesus hanging on the cross.
Blood was flowing from his wounded hands and feet and from
the thorns that pierced his head. John could see that the Lord’s
face was covered in streams of blood from the wounds the
thorns made and blood was running down the arms of the Lord
from the wounds in his hands. The blood was so red, a red John
had never seen before. At that moment the crucified Jesus lifted
His head and looked at John; He looked right into John’s soul.
John could feel it happening and at the same time he felt the
strongest of loves filling him.
Through the blood, the Lord Jesus smiled softly at John but said
nothing, then Jesus lowered his head and the vision was gone.
John removed his hand from the hole and stood up, staring at
the altar behind the hole. There was a large crucifix and he kept
looking at it hoping for the vision to return but it did not. Now,
in his head, he said over and over, ‘Forgive me Lord, I am sorry.’
“John, shall we go and see Our Lord’s tomb?” asked Anna, softly.
“Can we stay here a little longer?” pleaded John.
“But you have been standing here for over an hour,” Raphael said.
“Shush, Raphael. If he wants to stay longer, he can,” scolded
Anna.
“An hour! It only seemed like minutes,” exclaimed John then
said, “Yes, let us go to the tomb.”
As he turned to follow Michael and Raphael, who had already
begun to leave the chapel, John noticed the man in white he had
seen before. Now he was kneeling with head bowed in front of
the crucifix and in the next moment the chapel was full of men
of similar appearance kneeling and bowing before the crucifix.
Anna walked through them, unaware they were there but John
took care to walk around each one as he followed her. She looked
back and saw him walking in awkward movements and asked,
“Are you alright?”
John just smiled and nodded at her realizing she did not know
why he would be walking in such a way. “Just being careful,” he
said. She looked at him with a puzzled expression but said noth-
ing. John turned to look back at the place of the Lord’s death

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 Salaam Shalom 74

when the man in white turned to look at him saying, “This is

where the victory was won.”
John nodded to him in agreement then turned to follow the
waiting Anna.
“It is in here,” said Anna as they entered a large room which in it,
and off to the right, had a smaller ornate chamber where at the
entrance stood an orthodox priest dressed in black.
“That is the tomb,” whispered Michael to John, pointing to the
chamber. Raphael was ahead of them and was about to enter the
tomb but before he did, he stopped, made the sign of the cross
and seemed to be saying a silent prayer. Michael and Anna did
the same as they too stood at the entrance to the tomb; John
did likewise.

When John stepped inside the tomb he noticed there were two
rooms. Anna turned and whispered to him with her hand over
her mouth, “Our Lord was laid in the next room.” John had the
urge to rush in there but controlled himself. He felt as if he was
being pulled towards the smaller room while inside his head all
he could think of was Jesus dying for him and then being placed
in the tomb. He bent down to enter the smaller chamber where
Raphael and Michael were kissing a marble slab.
“This is where Our Lord was laid to rest,” explained Raphael
and made the sign of the cross again before leaving the smaller
room, followed by Michael, so that Anna and John could have
time there.
John noticed that at either end of the marble slab was a man in
white kneeling with his head bowed. Obviously once again his
friends could not see them. Anna kissed the slab and closed her
eyes. John knelt down beside her and he too then kissed the slab
but did not take his lips from it. He wanted to stay there forever,
as now he was feeling the deepest love he had ever known filling
him. He heard in his head that voice again, “This is also where
Our Lord rose from the dead.”
‘It’s true,’ thought John excitedly. ‘This is where death was
defeated.’ As he lifted his head from the slab he saw before him

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the brightest of lights; so bright he had to squint his eyes. In the

center of the light he now saw the face that he knew to be Jesus’
and then the face spoke, saying, “Arise now to your new life in
Me.”
John was frozen on the spot. He could not move any part of his
body; it was as if he had been stunned.
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and it made him jump
within. “John, we must go. There are some other people who
want to come in,” said Anna.
John stood up and made his way out of the tomb seeing as he
did that there were several nuns waiting to enter.
“Sorry for being so long,” he apologized to the nuns.
They smiled back at him and one of them said something to him
in what seemed to be Polish and which he did not understand.
Anna spoke, “She said that you look as if you have been blessed
in a special way.”
“You understood her?” asked John.
“Yes, I speak a little Polish. I learned it when I spent a few months
there three years ago,” explained Anna.
John followed her to where Raphael and Michael were waiting.
Raphael smiled at John, saying, “Your face looks like it is shin-
ing.”
“Yes, it does,” confirmed Michael. While Anna stood there star-
ing at him saying, “Now I know why that nun said that, for your
face is aglow.”
John knew he was smiling and that he was feeling extremely
happy and he thought it was that which his friends were talking
about. He did not understand that his face was shining again, as
it had done in the church with Fr. Emile.
“It is because I am so happy,” explained John.
“I told you it would be an experience you would never forget,”
reminded Raphael.
“Until the day I die, this day will always be with me and so will
you be, my friends,” said John happily, embracing each of them
and kissing them on the cheeks in the Arabic way.

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A few moments later they were stepping out of the church of the
Holy Sepulchre where John saw the man in black still leaning
against the wall, just as when they had entered.
“Do you have an embrace for me?” sneered the man in black.
John ignored him and turned to follow his friends when all of
a sudden an extremely beautiful woman, who was also dressed
in black stood in front of him asking, “Do you have an embrace
for me?”
John focused in his mind on the face of Jesus he had seen in the
tomb and replied, “May God bless you.”
“I don’t need God’s blessing, all I need is you,” she said provoca-
tively.
“God bless you,” repeated John.
“Can we help you?” It was Anna who had come to John and to his
surprise could see the woman in black.
The woman looked at Anna and answered, “No, I was just talk-
ing to my friend John.”
As she said this, the woman reached out and stroked John’s face
sensually.
“Is this a friend of yours?” Anna asked John.
“No, I have never seen her before,” he responded.
“Come on, let’s leave,” suggested John.
The woman in black said with an enticement in her voice, “You
are not afraid of me are you? I will not hurt you, I would only
make you happy John.”
“Come on Anna, let us join Michael and Raphael,” suggested
John as he began to walk away from the woman in black.
“Whatever you want John, I will give you,” called the woman.
“Ignore her Anna,” said John as they joined Anna’s brothers.
“Who is that?” asked Michael as he looked to the woman in black.
“She is no one I know, nor want to know,” replied John.
“She seemed to know you,” said a confused Anna.
“I think she is a distraction put there to spoil the day for you,”
mused Raphael.
“I think you are right,” agreed John.
Anna was still looking at the woman who was returning her gaze.

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“I will pray that God protects you from her evil,” said Anna as
she brought her Rosary from her pocket.
“I too feel her evil,” said Michael.
“It is best to ignore evil and to think of God,” suggested John,
then continued. “Let us think of the grace God has given us
today and not of the confusion evil tries to bring to us.”
Anna smiled at John saying, “You have grown a lot in a short
time. Thank God.”
“I still have a lot more growing to do,” added John. Then he heard
that voice inside him again saying, “You will grow in God’s good-
ness.” Following this came a shriek from the man in black by the
wall, “And you can die in me!”
John looked directly at him unafraid and said out loud, “In God
always.”
John noticed his friends looking at him waiting for him to finish
his sentence.
“In God always I want to grow,” he said, then added. “Let us go
home and rest now, I feel a little tired.”
Together they began their walk back to the car. Little was said
and John spent most of the walk thinking of what he had gone
through today and the words that he had heard Jesus say in the
tomb, “Arise now to your new life in Me.”
John knew this is what he wanted to do. He had never been so
certain of anything in his life before and he had never felt so
strong and unafraid. He knew now that in his life, by the grace
of God, anything was possible.

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WHERE THE BULLET HIT

As they neared the car Anna asked John, “It is not far to the
Wailing Wall. Would you like to see it?”
John smiled back at her and replied, “If it will not take too long.”
“No, it is just a five minute detour and it is worth seeing,” encour-
aged Michael.
“Yes, you would not want to miss it!” exclaimed Raphael, adding.
“It is the holiest shrine of the Jewish people.”
Anna continued as they changed direction to go to the wall, “It
is the only part of the temple that remains.”
A few minutes later, after walking down several sets of steps,
John saw in front of them a small queue of people waiting to be
checked through what looked like the metal detectors that are
at airports. Also, there were several armed soldiers scrutinizing
those who went through.
“They are checking for weapons,” explained Michael.
John was saddened that in the Holy City life had to be like this.
When John came to the checkpoint he got through with relative
ease but his three companions were held up and treated with
suspicion by the soldiers.
Eventually, when the soldiers found nothing dangerous upon
them, they let the three go through.
“What was all that about?” asked John.
“We are Arabs,” replied Anna with a shrug of the shoulders.
“Would you like another cool drink?” asked Raphael who, as
soon as John nodded, ran off to find a vendor selling drinks.
John looked around the large square he was now standing in. To
one side he saw the entrance to those narrow roads of the Arab
section, while to his right was a large wall which was sectioned
off with a small wall and some wire fencing.

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At one part of the wall he saw there were a lot of Jewish men
dressed in black hats, coats and trousers. Most of them had
prayer books in their hands and were facing the wall. The men
were rocking back and forth and seemed to be praying.
“That is the Wailing Wall,” stated Michael.
“It is impressive,” answered John as he looked at the large slabs
that formed the wall.
“It must have been very hard work lifting those up,” he said.
“They were given the strength by God,” advised Anna.
“Just think,” gasped Raphael, who had returned with the drinks,
“Our Lord would have seen this wall and He may have even stood
on this spot we are standing on!”
“It is holy ground then,” suggested Michael.
John thought on what Raphael had just said and looked at the
wall again. “Maybe one of those Jewish men is touching a part
of the wall Our Lord touched,” continued Raphael.
“It is truly a holy place,” said John, continuing, “How sad it is
that such a place has to be guarded.”
His three friends nodded in agreement. Then, to his surprise
from his mouth came the words, “Let us say a prayer that a holy
peace can return to these holy places.”
The four of them joined hands, bowed their heads and prayed
quietly to themselves.
As John prayed he heard a voice saying, “Peace here? Never!”
John opened his eyes and looked up to see the man in black
standing behind Michael and spitting on the ground. “There is
nothing holy about this land,” the man said venomously.
John looked back at the wall again and then said to his com-
panions, “This is Holy Land and it always will be, nothing can
change that.”
“It is God’s will,” confirmed Anna and now John noticed the man
in black had gone.
“Just like evil always does when confronted with God’s truth,”
John heard in his head and nodded as he said out loud, “That is
the truth.”

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“Here, John. We got this for you,” said Raphael as he handed

John a box, which he had taken from his pocket.
John looked at the white box he had been given and wondered
how Raphael had fitted it in his pocket, for the box was bigger
than John’s hand.
“Thank you. You shouldn’t have,” he said gratefully as he lifted
the lid to see inside a beautiful crucifix.
“It is wonderful. I will always treasure it!” stated John truthfully.
“We thought it would remind you of today,” explained Anna with
a smile.
“And we had it blessed by that Franciscan priest we met at the
Holy Sepulchre,” added Michael.
John wondered how they did that without him noticing but
then realized he had been standing looking at the place of the
Lord’s crucifixion for more than an hour when he was lost in the
vision he had been graced with.
John raised the crucifix to his lips and kissed it, saying after-
wards, “My life has been changed in these few days and today
my heart has been touched by Our Lord’s death, in a way that
has brought me to see how I must live from now on. I thank God
for that. I thank Him for you, my friends, who brought me to
meet Him in this special way.”
Michael looked at John and said with a smile, “You truly are our
brother now, our brother in Christ.”
John nodded in agreement and said, “It is the best family to be
part of.”
Together then the four of them made their way back to the car.
As they walked, many people looked at them because the four
of them had big smiles on their faces and seemed to be almost
dancing in their steps. In the car John held his crucifix on his lap
and just stared at it saying nothing. He felt peace and security
emanating from the crucifix and filling the air around him.
His thoughts went back to the vision of Jesus on the cross, but
now he saw in the background the man and woman in black.
They were cowering down and trying to cover themselves with
their hands so that they could not see the cross, or so that the

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 Salaam Shalom 82

white and golden rays from it would not touch them. He then
heard that voice in his head again saying, “Evil is defeated, never
doubt that.”
Now, behind the cowering man and woman in the shadows, he
saw millions of others cowering in the same way and squirming
as if they were in agony.
“The cross, the sign of victory,” he heard again.
He lifted the crucifix he was holding up to his chest and placed
it near his heart saying, “I will never let go of it again, I promise.”
Raphael turned and said, “You do not have to take it everywhere
with you if you do not want to,” misunderstanding what John
meant in his words and thinking he was talking about the gift
they had given to him.
“Oh I do. I do,” insisted John. “I will keep my promise.”
Raphael looked to Anna who shook her head side to side and
put her finger to her lips, indicating to Raphael that he should
be quiet. She knew John was experiencing something special,
which, even though she did not know what it was, did not want
her brother to disturb him from it.
Raphael turned and drove on.

“It looks like trouble!” called out Michael as Raphael brought the
car to a stop behind several other cars.
In front of them was a large crowd of people shouting and throw-
ing stones at several army vehicles that were blocking the road.
“What is it?” asked John.
“I think it is a demonstration over the death of a young Arab
boy yesterday. The Israeli army shot him and now the people are
venting their anger,” explained Michael.
“We are stuck here for while,” stated Raphael who had looked back
down the road to see many cars coming to a stop behind them.
“Shall we stay in the car?” asked Anna.
“No, it is too hot. Let us go to a café and get a cool drink. Maybe
John would like to eat a little,” suggested Michael.
“I am not that hungry but a drink would be welcome,” replied
John.

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“Good. It is settled then. Let’s go,” urged Raphael who was

already half way out of the car.
As John got out of the car he asked, “Will it be safe here?”
“The car is not going anywhere for a while,” answered Raphael,
pointing to the crowd in front and then the cars behind.
John looked at the crowd and most people in it seemed to be
so young, just teenagers. Many of them were shouting and rais-
ing their fists at the Israeli soldiers who were standing protected
behind their armored vehicles. Some of the crowd was throwing
stones at the soldiers but the stones just bounced off the vehi-
cles, not harming the soldiers.
All of a sudden John heard a couple of dull thumps and then saw
white smoke coming from canisters among the now dispersing
crowd.
“Tear gas!” exclaimed Michael.
“Let us get out of here!” cried Anna.
“This way,” directed, Raphael pointing to a side alleyway.
Just as he said those words the crack of rifles firing could be
heard and now in the dispersing crowd many were ducking for
cover. John felt a heavy thud in his upper stomach and heard
the noise of metal on metal. His head began to spin and he
wanted to be sick as he doubled over in excruciating pain. Dark-
ness then enveloped him.
“John! John! Are you alright?” he heard as his eyes flickered
open. He saw above him the face of Anna with concern etched in
it. Above her was a white ceiling with a fan on it turning round
and round and he could feel its cool breeze, then it was dark
again.
John felt a coldness on his face and his eyes opened with a start.
He saw above him Anna again but now she was wiping his face
with a cold, wet cloth.
“John, how are you?” she asked gently as she continued to wipe
his face.
It was hard to reply as John’s stomach felt like a mule had kicked
it. He forced a smile and the words; “I’m okay. Thank God.” His
eyelids felt heavy and he slipped back into the darkness again.

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Several hours later John woke again and there was Anna, her
brothers, her father and mother and Fr. Emile standing over him.
“Has it been long?” asked John.
“You have been asleep nearly ten hours,” replied Anna gently and
leaned down to kiss his forehead.
“What happened?” he asked as he tried to sit up but stopped
when he felt a sharp pain his body.
Fr. Emile smiled, saying, “You were in the wrong place at the
wrong time but God took care of you.”
“What do you mean?” asked John, not knowing what the priest
was talking about.
Raphael inquired, “Do you remember us stopping for the crowd?”
John nodded a yes in reply.
“And the soldiers firing their guns?” continued Raphael.
Again John nodded in the affirmative.
“One of their bullets would have struck you in the stomach but,
by the grace of God, you were holding the crucifix we gave you.
It deflected the bullet but the force of the bullet knocked the
crucifix into you and caused severe bruising but no serious dam-
age, thank God,” added Anna as she gave his face a stroke.
“God is certainly looking after you,” said Yousef with a smile on
his face that did not hide the concern he had for John.
“My church is not far from here and we have decided, if you
agree, that you should spend a day or two with me,” suggested
Fr. Emile.
John looked at Anna and she gave a little nod, adding, “I will be
staying there too, so I can look after you.”
Michael asked, “Do you think you can stand?”
John, with great difficulty, sat up. He forced himself to despite
the pain. For a moment he saw in his mind the Lord Jesus on
the cross and asked in his head, “Lord, give me the strength.”
Raphael and Michael took hold of each of his arms and helped
John to stand. Apart from the deep ache in his stomach and
lower chest area, John did not feel too bad standing there, until
he tried to walk. With the first step the dizziness was coming
back but the brothers held him firm and he was okay.

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Mariam came and stroked his face, just as her daughter had
done, saying, “Thank God and His blessed Mother for protect-
ing you.”
As they then were about to leave the room, Yousef said to John
as he quickly introduced a man who looked very similar to him-
self, “This is my brother Boutros. This is his office.”
John smiled weakly at Boutros and said, “Thank you,” in a low
voice.
John then remembered the crowd again and asked no one in
particular, “Was anyone else hurt?”
Anna answered, “Several young men were wounded and two
were killed. Lord, have mercy on them.” As she spoke the whole
family and Fr. Emile made the sign of the cross.
“Oh no!” exclaimed John as he thought about some of the faces he
had seen and wondered if it had been any of those who were killed.
“They were only throwing stones,” he said sadly. “That is no rea-
son to kill them.”
“We know that,” agreed Fr. Emile, “but sadly the Israeli Army
does not.”
John closed his eyes and thought for a moment about his own
pain then said to himself, “Lord, I offer you this suffering for
the families of the two dead. Please comfort them.”
“The church is not far and we have a comfortable room for you
there,” stated Fr. Emile.
“Will I need a doctor?” asked John, wondering within if he
needed medical attention.
“Boutros, my brother, is a doctor. He has examined you,” ex-
plained Yousef.
Boutros spoke, “You just have severe bruising, a few days rest
and you will be fine.”
“Here is your crucifix,” said Anna as she placed it in his hand.
John looked at it saying, “It truly is a lifesaver.”
“It is for everyone who will hold onto it and believe in it,” stated
Fr. Emile.
John ran his finger over a large indentation in the bottom part
of the crucifix.

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 Salaam Shalom 86

“That is where the bullet hit,” explained Michael.

“Thank God. Thank God,” said John with the sound in his voice
that showed he really meant it and as he was escorted out to
Yousef’s car, he held firmly onto the crucifix saying, “I will
always hold on to you, Lord. I promise.”

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THE POWER OF GOD’S LOVE

The ride to the church was very painful for John, as every bump
in the road reverberated throughout his body, sending a shock
wave of pain through it.
Anna held him firmly in her arms and frequently wiped the per-
spiration from his face that was there, not from the heat, but
from the suffering John was enduring.
Yousef called from the front of the car, “It is not far, we will soon
be there.”
John, in his mind was thanking God that he was being driven in
Yousef’s car and imagining how much worse it would have been
in Raphael’s smaller one.
“We are here!” stated Mariam as Yousef pulled the car up out-
side the familiar building that was Fr. Emile’s church. John
wanted to open the car door and step out but was unable to do
so because he felt so weak. He wondered if he felt this bad from
bruising imagine how it would be if the bullet had wounded him.
Two large hands reached inside and gently but firmly took hold
of him. He looked directly at Raphael’s concerned face that was
now in front of his.
“Be careful,” suggested Anna as Raphael lifted John from the car.
“Here, lean on me,” invited Raphael once John was on his feet,
then, with John holding onto him, the two of them walked very
slowly into the church with Anna nervously walking beside
them.
When they entered, Anna blessed herself and then blessed John
and her brother with holy water. Each step for John was still full
of pain but inexplicably it did not seem to be of such a concern
to him now. All John could do was look at the crucifix on the
altar and think how his own crucifix had saved his life.

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‘Truly my Savior,’ he thought as he looked at the figure of Christ

on the cross.
“This way.” It was Fr. Emile speaking. “His room is at the back. It
has been prepared.”
Fr. Emile guided them out of the side of the main church into a
passageway that led to the living quarters.
“Here,” he directed as he opened a dark brown door which was
the entrance to a room with a single bed, one cupboard, one chair
and another small room with washing and toilet facilities.
“It is not much but the bed is comfortable,” the priest apologized.
John did not care what was in the room, he just wanted to lie
down and sleep. “It is fine,” croaked John and forced a smile
upon his face. Raphael lowered him gently on the bed and then
helped John to lay back. “Why do I feel so tired?” asked John, in
a feeble voice.
“Uncle Boutros said that he gave you something to help you sleep
and to ease the pain,” explained Anna.
John closed his eyes as he could not keep them open any longer,
then he heard Fr. Emile saying, “Let us leave him in peace. Come
and eat something with me, you must be hungry.”
Raphael replied, “Yes Father, we have not eaten since John was
hurt.”
John remembered he had been at Boutros’ for more than ten
hours and thought how hungry his friends must be and with
that thought on his mind he drifted into the arms of sleep once
again.

It was early in the morning when John awoke and darkness still
filled his room. As he struggled to sit up in bed he noticed two
men in white at the foot of his bed. At first they startled him
but then he felt a peace, a calmness in the air. One of the men
smiled at him and began to speak, “We are here to watch over
you and protect you. God has placed us by your side and know,
even when you cannot see us, we are still here.”
John looked at both of them and felt a security in his heart that
confirmed the words just spoken.

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“Who are you?” he asked.

“We are angels of God,” replied the one who had not spoken and
continued. “God has angels protecting all people and we are two
of those, known as guardian angels.”
“Who then are the others I have been seeing that are in black?”
inquired John, even though he was sure now that he knew what
the answer would be.
“They are evil angels, servants of Satan sent to stop you doing
God’s work,” explained the angel.
“What is it God wants me to do and why me?” asked John, hop-
ing that at last what was happening would become clearer to
him.
“God wants you to walk in faith from now on, fearing no evil
and standing firm in His truth. God has gifted you so that His
all powerful love can flow through you to overcome evil in the
world today and to remind people that it is God who has been
victorious over evil through His Son and Our Lord, Jesus Christ,”
replied the angel.
“But why me?” asked John.
“God has chosen you because your spirit is strong. Even though
you may not understand this, it is true. Your spirit has a God
given strength that has been dormant for a long time but now,
walking in the steps of Our Lord, your spirit has been woken
from its slumber and now is yearning to serve God,” explained
the angel. “And that spiritual strength you have is what evil
fears and tries to stop developing into the gift for the world it
was meant to be.”
John sat silently for a few minutes trying to absorb what the
angels had been saying to him. As he thought on their words
he had knowledge that it was true. Within him he could feel a
power he had never known before, a power to love. Now he was
thinking of all the people in the world and knew he just wanted
to love each one of them. He saw good people and bad people
but his desire was to love them all regardless and to try and help
them all by the power of God’s love. He had an awareness of
Lord Jesus’ teachings about loving your enemies and he seemed

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 Salaam Shalom 90

to see the Lord speaking to him saying, “Love your enemies, do

good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, pray for
those who mistreat you.”
As these words came to him his heart seemed to be on fire and
he wanted to call out to the Lord, “I will, I will.”
“Remember,” said the angel of God, “we are always here,” and
then they both disappeared.
John now had the strongest of urges to pray and so he almost fell
out of his bed onto his knees, joined his hands and kept saying
over and over, “Help me Lord Jesus to love, as You want me to.”
After nearly thirty minutes of praying in this way, John saw
what was like a cloud in his room. In the center of the cloud he
began again to see people of all races, all colors and all religions.
In the cloud now was the Lord Jesus opening His arms to each
person, reaching out to embrace them.
“I love them all and so must you. In My love I ask you to work
for Me in bringing all people together in love, in peace and in
mutual respect,” said the Lord Jesus as He turned to look at
John. “This is My way and it must be yours, too.” The vision was
gone yet John remained there kneeling in prayer not wanting to
move and hoping the experience would continue.
“John. John are you awake?” he heard as Fr. Emile knocked
lightly on the door.
“Yes, I am Father. Come in please,” he responded.
The priest opened the door and came in to see John still on his
knees.
“Are you alright?” asked Fr. Emile.
“I am just praying, Father,” replied John.
“Shall I join you?” asked the priest.
“Please do,” invited John and so Fr. Emile knelt beside him and
joined John in prayer. Some minutes later the priest reached out
and touched John saying, “Remember, it is the power of love
you must use.”
John was taken aback for a moment thinking how could the
priest know that. Then he heard in his head the words, “Because
I told him.”

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“Thank you Father, I will try to remember,” he responded.

Fr. Emile looked at him and smiled saying, “When I first became
a priest I was in this room praying, asking God for guidance on
how to deal with the many problems we have in the Holy Lands.
I have told no one this but I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Remem-
ber it is the power of love you must use.’ I think of those words
every day and try to live them.”
John smiled saying, “Father, today I too heard those words.”
“Thank God! Thank God!” exclaimed the priest and then closed
his eyes and continued to pray.
“I will be celebrating Mass in thirty minutes, are you well enough
to join us in the chapel?” asked Fr. Emile a few minutes later.
“Of course,” replied John with excitement filling him at the
thought of the Mass.
“Anna, Michael and Raphael are already there, praying. I will see
you soon then,” stated the priest as he rose and left the room.
John got slowly to his feet. The pain seemed much less now but
it was still hard to move, he felt so stiff.

After a quick wash John opened the door of his room to make
his way to the chapel. He was surprised by the man in black who
was blocking his way.
“You think you are able to stand against me,” the man said with
an evil grin on his face.
John tried to ignore him and walk past him but the man in black
hit John very hard in the stomach. The pain was so intense John
thought his body would burst open. He staggered back, holding
his stomach and gasping for air.
“See, you cannot and there is no one here to help you,” laughed
the evil angel.
John felt blood running from his mouth and knew he must be
bleeding within. In a very weak voice, John said, “God will help
me.”
“What did you say? I couldn’t hear you,” laughed the man in black.
“God will help me,” groaned John through the pain.
“God! Ha! Where is He then?” shrieked the evil one.

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John closed his eyes and thought of what Jesus the Lord had
said to him, then with a great effort he began to say over and
over, “Unto death, Lord Jesus, I love You.” As he said this the
evil one kicked him in the stomach and John felt he was not
far now from taking his last breath but still over and over he
strained to say, “Unto death, Lord Jesus, I love You.”
The evil one let out a horrific roar and looked as if he was about to
attack John again when all of a sudden the two guardian angels
appeared standing between John and the evil angel. The two
angels now began to shine brighter and brighter which made
the man in black cover his eyes with his hands and he seemed to
be writhing in agony. Eventually the light became so bright the
dark one could stand it no longer and fled from the room.
John now had collapsed into unconsciousness and there was
a pool of blood on the ground in front of his mouth. One of
the angels reached down and touched John and the light of the
angel now began to shine all over John’s body. His eyes flick-
ered open and he rose to his feet, as he stood there alone in the
room.
“Did I dream that?” he asked out loud but as he stepped forward
his foot stood in the blood on the ground and he looked down at
it, now aware that the blood was there.
“No, I didn’t, did I!” he exclaimed.
John also realized that he was no longer feeling any pain at all.
In fact, he had never felt so good. He smiled and looked upwards
saying, “Thank You Jesus,” and then he looked behind him into
the room saying, “And thank you my guardian angels.”
He heard words that just seemed to be in the air that said, “It is
our pleasure.” He turned and left the room to make his way to
Mass, and wanted to run down the corridor but had to contain
himself.

As he entered the chapel Anna, Michael and Raphael came over

to assist him.
“Do you need help? Are you feeling okay?” whispered Anna as
both Michael and Raphael took an arm each to help him.

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“I have never felt better. Thanks be to God,” answered John with

a big smile across his face. “The pain has all gone,” he continued.
Anna looked at him uncertain until John patted his own stom-
ach and was still smiling, as Anna and her brothers, as if on cue,
made the sign of the cross together and said, “Thank God,” in
chorus.
Just then the bell rang as Fr. Emile entered to say Mass and so
the four friends made their way to the pews ready to join in the
celebration ahead.
Throughout the Mass John sensed a strength growing inside
him. He felt as if he could face anything now and defeat it, for he
knew God was with him. When the Mass had finished the four
went and joined Fr. Emile for breakfast.
“John, you look so different,” stated the priest as he smiled, look-
ing at John in amazement. “What has happened to you?” he
asked.
“God has healed me. I feel as if nothing has hurt me,” said John
as he once more patted his stomach area with some force.
“Well, thank God for that,” responded the priest making the
sign of the cross. “Come, come let us eat,” he continued, guiding
each one of them to a seat at the table.
After saying a prayer of thanks for the food before them, they
sat and began to eat. John was ravenous and could hardly stop
himself from stuffing his mouth with food. When he realized
how he was eating he looked around with embarrassment.
Fr. Emile just smiled and said, “Eat up, there is plenty. Do not be
embarrassed, you need food after your ordeal.”
Raphael looked at John amazed at how quickly he was eating.
Even he could not eat that quickly.
“I enjoyed that,” stated John, leaning back in his chair with a
look of contentment on his face.
Anna, who was sitting next to him, patted his stomach gently,
saying, “If you keep eating like that you will get fat.”
“I am glad you could eat so much. It shows you are okay,” said
Michael.
“I was only joking,” cut in Anna, thinking she might have offended

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John, “and I do not care what you look like, you have a good heart,”
she added and kissed him gently and lovingly on the cheek.
“He looks alright,” said Raphael, teasing his sister.
“Yes. Yes, he does. I didn’t mean he looked bad,” said a rapidly
reddening Anna.
“Children, children,” interrupted the priest with arms open wide.
“Stop playing games with each other.”
Michael and Raphael in one voice apologized to Anna who now
was bright red in the face.
John looked at her saying, “I know what you meant, you did not
offend me.”
“John, will you walk with me in the garden?” asked Fr. Emile.
John nodded in agreement and the two of them rose from the
table but stood there for a few moments as the priest said a
prayer of thanks out loud for what they had just eaten.

In the garden as they walked amongst the flowers which looked

like they were carefully taken care of, John turned to the priest
saying, “It is glorious here. I can see God’s love in every flower,
in every blade of grass; everywhere!” John breathed in deeply
and smiled as he continued, “Even in the air!”
Fr. Emile directed John to sit down on a bench in the garden.
“So God has healed you!” stated the priest.
“Yes, Father. It’s true,” answered John.
“When I saw you this morning you were still very sore and obvi-
ously not recovered from the injury you sustained. Yet, here you
are a short time later looking the picture of health. Please tell
me what happened,” asked the priest.
John told Fr. Emile what had just occurred in his room with the
evil angel and the guardian angels and of the visions before that.
When he had finished, the priest sat nodding and saying, “Yes, it
is the power of God’s love you must use, for it is all powerful and
nothing can defeat it. God has chosen you to show His power
and what I encourage you to do is to walk on in faith, knowing
He is with you and see where God takes you.”
“Father, I never had much faith before but now I totally believe

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in the Lord Jesus and I know I am safe in His hands. Whatever

happens from now on I pray I have the strength of faith to keep
trusting in Him. Father, will you please pray for me that I will be
strong enough in God?” asked John.
“My friend, you will be. You will be. Of course I will pray for you.
I will pray that you always hold onto Jesus, Our Lord,” encour-
aged the priest. “Do you want to remain here for a while or
return to Yousef’s?” asked the priest.
“I think it is time to go back to Yousef’s, if you do not mind
Father,” he responded.
“No, not at all. Just remember I am always here for you,” said Fr.
Emile, and continued, “Come, let us go and tell the others.”
Both men stood up and then John breathed in deeply again after
which he said out loud, “I never knew life could be so good.”
The priest patted him on the back saying, “In God, life is always
good.”
“I didn’t know that until I came here Father,” said a very happy-
sounding John. “I am so glad I came.” John then had thoughts
of his father and mother in America who were so worried when
he was leaving.
“Before we go Father, would you have a telephone I could use? I
need to ring my parents to tell them I am okay. They were very
nervous about my visit here,” asked John.
“There is one in my office, which will give you some privacy,”
directed the priest and then led John to the room to make his
call.

“Dad, it is me, John,” he said down the phone to his father, who
had picked up the receiver at the other end.
“John!” he could hear his father say out loud, with a voice full of
relief. “It’s John!” shouted the father.
John then heard his mother’s voice in the background, “John!
John! Oh thank God.”
“Dad, I am fine; everything is okay,” reassured John.
“Son, we were worried. We have not heard from you for so long
and we keep seeing on the news the problems there,” explained

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his father in a voice quavering with excitement at hearing his

son again.
“Here, let me speak to him,” John heard his mother say and then
heard a grunt from his father as the telephone was obviously
pulled from his hand.
“John, I thought you were hurt. I had this strong feeling you had
been injured,” wailed his mother down the phone.
“Mum, I am alright, thank God. I promise you I am.”
“I prayed and prayed for God to protect you and for His angels to
watch over you,” said the mother. John’s breath was taken away
with these words.
“I miss you John. Will you be coming home soon?” asked his mother.
“Mum, you keep up those prayers, for God answers them. I don’t
know when I will be home, it is in God’s hands,” he replied.
“I’ll put your father back on. Bye John. We love you,” the mother
sobbed.
“Son, take care of yourself. If you need anything we are only a
phone call away,” assured the father.
“Dad, I am fine and I am having a very interesting time. Don’t
worry about me. I will call you again soon. Give mum a kiss for
me. God bless you both,” replied John.
“God bless you too, son. Call soon,” suggested the father. “Your
mother likes to hear from you and so do I.”
“I will, I promise. Bye dad,” confirmed John as he hung up the
phone. He sat there in the priest’s office for some minutes think-
ing of his parents and thinking how his mother had prayed for
him and the events that had happened with the angels.
“God always listens to prayers and when it is for the best,
answers them.”
It was one of the guardian angels from before who was now
standing in the corner of the room. After saying these words
he smiled at John and then just faded away. At that moment
both of John’s parents had finished saying a prayer together for
John’s guardian angels to protect him.
“He asked us for more prayers,” stated the mother with a smile.
“And he spoke of God.”

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“Yes, he said, ‘God bless you,’” said John’s amazed father. They
embraced each other with tears rolling down their cheeks as
they said in unison, “Thank God!”

Anna, Michael and Raphael were smiling happily as John re-

entered the room. “Fr. Emile said you would be coming home
with us today,” stated Anna.
“Do you feel well enough?” asked Raphael.
“Yes, I feel great and I am looking forward to seeing your parents
again,” confirmed John.
“They too will be happy to see you,” added Michael.
“Now, do not forget John, I am always here for you and remember
always to rely on the power of God’s love,” reminded Fr. Emile
who then blessed the four of them before they left his church.

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 99 Chapter 12

SUSPECTED OF
BEING A TERRORIST

Outside Raphael said, with concern in his voice, “If you want me
to drive a little slower for you, if it will make you more comfort-
able, I will.”
Both Michael and Anna looked at their brother in disbelief.
“Yes, that would be good,” replied John.
The journey home to Yousef and Mariam’s house was incredible
for Anna, John and Michael as Raphael kept to the speed limit
all the way and not once did he cut in and out of traffic.
During the drive there was total silence while Anna and Michael
watched their brother driving with amazement, for never had
he driven so slowly. John had just closed his eyes, focusing on
the wonderful feelings he was experiencing within.
Once, when he opened his eyes for a moment, he saw Raphael
with a strained look on his face as obviously he was struggling
to control his desire to drive much faster.
Now, as the car pulled gently to a stop outside the family home,
John leaned forward and put his hand on Raphael’s shoulder
squeezing it a little.
“Thank you for being so considerate,” his said with a smile as
Raphael turned to look back over his shoulder at him.
Raphael nodded but said nothing until his brother Michael said,
“Well done brother, you drove without breaking the speed limit.
I am impressed.”
Raphael looked hurt as he thought his brother was making fun
of him and responded defensively.
“I did it for John. He has been injured, you know.”
Michael reached across the seat and embraced his brother say-

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ing, “I know you did and truly I am impressed with your com-
passion and self control.”
“Me too,” agreed Anna as she reached out and stroked Raphael’s
face.
The big man now had a smile of embarrassment on his face and
said sheepishly, “It was nothing.”

The four got out of the car, making their way to the house.
“That is unusual, normally one of our parents has the door open
by now,” stated a worried Michael as he reached for the keys in
his pocket. John saw the worried looks now on the face of his
friends and hoped that nothing was wrong.
“Daddy, Mamma,” called out Anna as her brother opened the
door.
“We are in here,” replied Yousef, calling his children to him in
the main room. When they entered the room John saw Yousef
and Anna with a man and woman whom they seemed to be
comforting.
“John!” exclaimed Yousef as he jumped to his feet with his arms
open wide ready to embrace him.
“We did not expect you back so soon. Are you alright?” asked
Mariam who was on her feet also and now stroking John’s hair
as her husband held him tight.
“I am fine. Really, I am okay,” insisted John.
“Welcome home,” said Yousef, genuinely. Anna went over to the
two visitors saying hello as she kissed them in the usual manner,
as did both of her brothers.
“John, this is Tanus and Christine; the parents of Yacoub. Remem-
ber, you met him outside the church,” introduced Michael with a
look of remembrance at that meeting.
John kissed both of them in the same way as the others. It now
just seemed a natural way to greet people.
Yousef explained, “They were telling that Yacoub is being held
in detention by the security forces. They suspect him of being a
terrorist!”
Both Tanus and Christine nodded in agreement, and then Chris-

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tine said with desperation in her voice, “My Yacoub is not a ter-
rorist. He is a loving boy, he would not harm anyone.”
Tanus added, “He is a little hot headed and does complain about
the injustices that occur, but a terrorist … Never!”
John thought on the conversation he had with Yacoub and won-
dered had Yacoub’s frustration and anger led him to do some-
thing he should not have done.
“What can we do?” asked Tanus in desperation.
“We must go and see the authorities and explain he is a good
boy,” insisted Christine.
“I think first of all we must all join together in prayer,” suggested
Yousef, with everyone else nodding in agreement.
As they all joined hands to pray, John looked at Christine who
had tears streaming down her face and then at Tanus who
looked as if he was about to cry also.
John felt so sorry for them and hoped deep in his heart that
Yacoub had not done anything stupid. Together they prayed for
almost thirty minutes, then remained silent at the request of
Mariam for another five minutes.
Tanus then spoke, “We must go back to the detention center and
talk to the police. Surely once they know he is not a terrorist
they will let him go.”
“What about a lawyer?” asked John.
“In these situations when Israel believes its security is at stake
lawyers can do little,” explained Yousef.
“But there must be a law and there is a person’s rights,” contin-
ued John.
“Arabs in the Holy Land have few, if any rights and the law is
whatever the security forces want to implement at the time,”
responded Yousef, with a sadness in his voice.
“All we can do,” cut in Michael, “is to go and plead with the com-
mander at the detention center and hope he is a reasonable
man.”
“Let’s go then,” said John as he stood up ready to leave.
“You do not need to come with us. It is our problem,” insisted
Yousef.

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“You are family and what is your problem is my problem,” replied

John firmly.
Anna smiled at John, for now she saw the strength of love she
always knew John had coming to the surface.
“John and Michael, you can go in Raphael’s car while the rest of
us will go in mine,” suggested Yousef.
Raphael leaned in John’s ear and whispered, “I will not be able
to go very slow … sorry.”
John smiled as he looked at Raphael and just mouthed the
words, “That’s okay.”
“Now, when we get there please let Tanus and myself do the talk-
ing otherwise it may get very confusing,” pleaded Yousef.
The others agreed and they all made their way to the cars.

The drive to the detention center was like a high-speed chase

with Raphael doing his best to keep up with his father’s bigger
and faster car. John, however, was not taking much notice of
the driving instead he was lost in thoughts of Yacoub, the young
frustrated man who had set John to thinking about a Holy Land
without any or very few Christians in it.
It was only a short ride to the security center that was a large
building with barbed wire atop the walls surrounding it. On
top of the building flew the Israeli flag that, as it blew in the
slight breeze, had a calming effect on John as he looked at it. He
thought how sad it was that calmness did not pervade society in
these lands.
“Now remember,” instructed Yousef, “let Tanus and myself do
the talking. You are here only to show support for our words.”
Everyone nodded in agreement then Anna leaned into John’s
ear and whispered, “I do not think they will take any notice of
us, they never do. To them we are just Arabs … potential terror-
ists.”
John thought on how could it have developed this way, the
deep distrust among people. Just because someone is an Arab it
should not mean they are looked on with suspicion. Yet he knew
this is what he had done himself before but his attitude had

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changed because he had met some very gentle, good and kind
Arabs just as he had met some very gentle, good and kind Jews.
In John’s eyes now Arab or Jew, or any person of any nationality
deserved to be shown love, respect and understanding.
‘Thank You God, You have opened my eyes Lord,’ John said in
his mind and hear the soft reply, “Now help others to see.”
Yousef and Tanus were talking to the guards at the entrance
to the detention center explaining why they were there. After
nearly 15 minutes of often-heated discussion Yousef called over
to the others.
“They are taking us to meet an officer. You will have to wait here.”
The guard then led Yousef and Tanus into the building while
three other guards stood holding their weapons as they watched
over those who remained. The guards had a steely look in their
eyes and John sensed that they would be prepared to open fire
on the people before them, if they were ordered to do so.
“It’s no use,” Tanus said out loud in despair as they appeared
from the doorway some time later. “They will not listen and
they will not let us see Yacoub,” he said, embracing his crying
wife.
Yousef added, “They treated us with contempt and threatened
us with being arrested if we did not leave quietly. There is little
we can do.”
“Let us all join hands and pray together for Yacoub’s release,”
called out Fr. Emile as he joined the group.
“I came as soon as I heard. Why didn’t you call me?” he asked
Tanus and Christine.
“Sorry Father, we did not think,” apologized Tanus.
“It’s alright,” responded the priest, putting his arms around both
of Yacoub’s parents. “Why did they arrest him?”
“Because of his openly criticizing the policies of the Israelis
and they say he is a terrorist and an agitator inciting violence,”
Replied Tanus.
“Never!” insisted” the priest. “Yacoub may be outspoken but he
would never incite violence. He rejects all violence. I know this
as he had spoken to me often and always says that Our Lord

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did not call us to kill but to be gentle and respect all life. Yes, he
would speak out against what is wrong but he would never agree
to violence of any form for any reason. This is nonsense what
the security people say.”
The priest opened the small Bible he was carrying and began to
read the Psalm 146, (Lauda Anima) ‘Trust in God, the Creator
and Redeemer.’
Reading the Psalm out loud his words seemed to fill the air and
to John the words seemed to be echoing over and over.
“Come, let us join hands and pray for Yacoub and for those who
hold him captive.”
In unison they prayed and prayed and none looked as if they
wanted to stop praying. In fact the reverse was true, for the
more they prayed the stronger they all felt and the more each of
them wanted to pray.
After almost an hour of prayer the door opened and a voice
called to one of the guards, “Stop that noise! Disperse them!
They are causing a disturbance!”
The guard saluted and went to his colleagues to pass the order
on. Several guards came over to the people who were praying
and stood around them.
“You will have to stop and go home!” ordered one of the soldiers
out loud. No one took any notice and they all continued with
their prayers.
“Move away now!” barked the soldier.
Fr. Emile turned to the guard saying, “But we are only praying
to God. What harm is that doing?”
“I have my orders and you will move!” snapped the guard in
reply, “or we will move you,” he continued threateningly as he
raised his rifle high, showing he was prepared to hit the priest
with the butt of it.
“There is no need for that. We shall move but we will be back
tomorrow and tonight we will continue our prayers elsewhere.”
“Get out of here, now!” barked the guard who looked now as if he
was bringing the rifle down to strike the priest.
Michael grabbed Fr. Emile and pulled him out of the way of the

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descending firearm as John stepped between the guard and the

priest.
“You would hit a defenseless priest?” enquired John of the guard.
“I would and if you do not move, I will hit you too,” replied the
guard in an angry voice.
John looked into the soldier’s eyes and could see only hatred. He
knew this soldier would hurt him and the others if he was given
the slightest provocation.
“As Father said, we are going so there is no need to act in this
way my friend,” said John with a gentle smile.
The guard stared at John and then gave him a push. “Go before
you cannot.” John was surprised at how hard the rifle felt as it
was pushed against him. He thanked God in his mind that Fr.
Emile had not been struck with it.
“You Americans should mind your own business,” called out one
of the guards.
“Go home to your mother,” John heard being shouted from the
side and turned to see the man in black standing by the door-
way looking at him with hatred.

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THERE ARE GOOD AND BAD

IN ALL RACES

Through the doorway stepped out a familiar looking figure in a

dark suit that called out to the guards in a voice John knew he
had heard before. “Wait a minute.”
John strained his eyes to see who this man was and finally rec-
ognized him as he walked over to them. It was the man from the
plane who had smelt of cigarettes.
“Ah! The holy man. I thought it was you!” he exclaimed. The
stench of his breath nearly knocked John over as the man
brought his face close to John’s.
“And you are praying again. Ha! What a waste of time!”
John felt a shiver run down his back as the man spoke, “What
are you doing here with these Arabs?”
The venom in the word ‘Arab’ was so strong it left no one there
in doubt of this man’s feelings towards them.
“I am here supporting my friends in seeking to find out what
happened to their son, Yacoub,” replied John with an emphasis
on the words ‘my friends.’
“These are your friends!” exclaimed the man.
“Yes, they are and they are good friends,” responded John defi-
antly.
“I think you had better come with me,” said the man as he sig-
naled to the guards to take hold of John.
As the guards moved forward Raphael stepped between them
and John.
“Get out of the way!” snapped one of the guards as another
raised his weapon and pointed it directly at Raphael.
The big man remained where he was and was joined by his
brother, Michael and his sister, Anna. Several more guards

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 Salaam Shalom 108

rushed forward to assist their fellow soldiers. John, realizing

the situation was becoming very dangerous, said out loud, “It is
alright, I will go with him,” and stepped towards the open door
of the building.
“We will be praying for you,” called out Fr. Emile.
“Your prayers will not be of any use,” said the man from the air-
plane.
John turned and looked at the priest saying, “Oh yes they will
Father,” as he followed the man into the building escorted by a
guard on either side of him.
When the door closed behind them Fr. Emile said out loud,
“Come on, let us pray.”

Inside the building was a long corridor with several doors on

both sides. Passing the first door, which was open, John saw
two young Arabs in handcuffs sitting opposite a man with his
head bowed as he wrote on a desk before him. Both the young
men had very frightened looks on their faces.
“In here,” directed the man from the aeroplane, as he opened a
door and guided John inside.
The room was small and windowless and it contained only a sin-
gle chair within it.
“Sit down!” commanded the man. He then turned to leave say-
ing; “I will be back,” slamming the door behind him as he left
the room.
John sat and looked around the room seeing there was absolutely
nothing in it apart from him, the chair and the light fitting. The
walls were just plain white with no outstanding feature. ‘What
a lifeless room,’ thought John. After a while John noticed that
there was no noise in the room. He could hear nothing from out-
side the room and realized it must be soundproof.
Suddenly the light went out and John was sitting there in total
darkness. At first he was a little afraid until he heard a familiar
voice in his head saying, “Do not be afraid I am with you,” and
he knew it was the voice of the Lord, Jesus. Now his fear left
him to be replaced by a feeling of security and certainty.

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John had never been in a room so dark before and even as his
eyes acclimatized to the dark he could still virtually see noth-
ing. ‘It will not be long,’ he thought to himself and decided he
should say some prayers. At first he said them quietly but as
time dragged on he said them louder and louder just so he could
hear his own voice.
“That will not help,” hissed a voice from the dark.
“Who is there?” asked John.
“Have you forgotten me already and I have visited you so often,”
answered the voice from the dark and then John recognized it
was the voice of the evil angel that had been trying to frighten
and hurt him.
“We are all alone with no one to disturb us. I have you all to
myself,” said the evil angel, threateningly.
Those words to John’s surprise held no fear for him, instead he
felt strong inside and unafraid of anything the evil angel could do.
The voice of the Lord was in his head again suggesting, “Pray for
your love of Me to remain strong,” so he closed his eyes, which
made hardly any difference to when they were open and contin-
ued to pray out loud.
“I will tear you apart!” shrieked the evil angel and John felt what
seemed like a claw grab his shoulder.
He prayed louder and louder, “Lord Jesus, help me to love You
more.”
The claw quickly pulled back from his shoulder and through his
eyelids John could see a light shining so he opened them to see
where it was coming from. There, next to him in the room were
the two angels he had seen when he stayed in the room at Fr.
Emile’s church. Most of the room was now lit up and John could
see in one of the corners the man in black standing in the dark-
ness that remained there.
“It is not over!” he shrieked as he raised both his hands to show
long talons protruding from them.
“No, it is not,” joined another evil-sounding voice as John turned
and saw the woman, who had approached him at the Holy Sep-
ulchre, standing in the darkness of the opposite corner. She too

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 Salaam Shalom 110

had long talons protruding from her hands. Her mouth was
open and her lips drawn back to show large, sharply pointed
teeth.
From a third corner came another voice, “You will die and it will
not be pleasant.”
Here now was a much larger evil angel that almost looked like a
dragon with wings.
“We are here to see to that,” came from the remaining corner
that made John turn quickly to look there. Again in this corner
was a large, dark, dragon-like evil angel. John heard inside his
head again, ‘Do not be afraid, pray,’ so he continued the prayers
he had stopped saying for a minute or so while these evil ones
appeared.
As John prayed he looked at the two angels of God who remained
in a peaceful, prayerful pose showing no interest at all at the evil
ones around them. Seeing this encouraged John in his prayers
and soon he too now had this peaceful appearance. Even though
he could not see it he knew he had it because he felt completely
at peace.
The evil ones intensified their threats but did not leave the cor-
ners they were standing in. John just ignored them as he saw the
angels of God do and continued reciting his prayers. Within a
short time the evil ones had left and then a little later the angels
of God faded from sight and the room returned to darkness.

The hours passed and John began to wonder how long he would
be kept here in the darkness. It was getting quite warm in the
room and he was beginning to feel thirsty, also he needed des-
perately to visit the men’s room. No one came and John began
to feel worse. His head felt like it was spinning and from the pit
of his stomach he wanted to be sick. The gentle voice in his head
encouraged, ‘Pray and think of what I endured as I carried the
cross.’
John tried to focus his mind on the Lord Jesus carrying His
cross as he prayed over and over. “Lord Jesus help me to love
You more.” Now it was as if John was inside Jesus as He carried

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His cross and it seemed the suffering Jesus had experienced, the
dizziness, the sick feelings, the thirst and the disorientation
was similar to that which John was now going through, but to a
much greater extent.
John heard inside his head, “As I persevered, so must you.”
He tried to pray faster and louder but his voice was weak and
crackly and his throat was ever so dry.
The hours dragged on and still no one came. Now John could
hardly speak and each word of his prayers was a long time apart.
Still he focused in his mind on Jesus carrying His cross and the
words, “As I persevered, so must you.”
‘Was it night or day?’ he wondered. It seemed as if he had been
in this room forever.
All of a sudden, the door burst open and bright light shone into
the room almost blinding him.
In the doorway stood the man from the plane, “Ah, I see you
are still praying, holy man,” laughed the man. “What a fool!”
The light came on in the room and as John squinted his eyes to
adjust to this he could see a glass of water in the man’s hand.
“Here. You must be thirsty,” he said, reaching out to offer the
water to John then dropped it to the floor just before John’s
shaking hand could take it. “Oops! Sorry. How clumsy of me. I
will get you another one in a minute but first tell me, holy man,
why are you mixing with terrorists?” he asked.
“They are not terrorists, they are good, ordinary people,” replied
John weakly, still hardly able to speak.
“They threaten the state of Israel! They are terrorists!” shouted
the man.
“They threaten no one, they only seek their rights peacefully,”
explained John, hoping the man would listen.
“I will be back soon with your water, maybe by then you will
change your mind and help me,” suggested the man and now
John saw the familiar face of the evil angel looking over the
man’s shoulder.
“I want to see someone from the American Embassy,” croaked
John. The man pretended he did not hear those words and

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left the room with the evil angel following him. The door was
slammed shut and again, out went the light. John felt deflated;
he wondered how much more of this he would have to endure
and how would he be able to endure it. He knew he did not have
the strength.
‘Pray and I will give it to you,’ he heard that soft voice say inside
his head, so he closed his eyes and just thought the words of his
prayer over and over.

John remained lost in his prayers until he felt a hand slap his
face and the voice of the man from the plane calling out, “Are
you sleeping my friend?”
John’s eyes flickered open to look directly into the man’s eyes
whose face was directly in front of his.
“Have you had a change of heart?” asked the man.
John shook his head slowly from side to side. “I want to see
someone from the Embassy,” he insisted in his weak voice.
“Why would you want to see them? You agreed to come here
freely. No one has harmed you. You have been sitting here
peacefully, undisturbed and you have asked for nothing, so we
have denied you nothing. You are free to go anytime,” stated the
man, smugly.
John struggled to his feet and whispered, “Well then, I am leav-
ing,” and made for the door.
“Go. No one is stopping you,” encouraged the man.
As he made his way into the corridor John could hardly stand
and had to use one hand against the wall to support himself.
“We will meet again,” called out the man from behind him and
then John heard the voice of the evil angel which said in unison
with the man, “Be sure of that.”

“Here, let me help you,” said a young woman in an Israeli Army

uniform as she came out of one of the doors John stumbled past.
“Leave him be!” snapped the man from the plane but the young
woman took no notice of him and put her arm around John to
hold him up.

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“That is an order!” shouted the man furiously but still the woman
took no notice. John looked into her face and saw she was beau-
tiful with a softness in her face.
“Thank you,” he croaked.
“Not all Israeli’s are animals,” she said out loud so that the man
from the plane could hear.
“You will be in trouble,” whispered John but the woman ignored
him and continued to help him out of the building.
The door opened and John saw it was still night time yet he
thought he had been in there a long time. ‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘it
should be daytime?’
“John. John,” Anna called out from the other side of the barrier
to the compound. He looked across at her and those around her.
All of them had faces filled with concern.
The Israeli woman said, “You will be with your friends in a min-
ute. Just a few more steps.”
He wondered if he could make it, whether he had the strength
but now he was there and the Israeli woman was handing him
to his friends. The powerful hands of Michael and Raphael took
hold of him and held him up.
“You should give him some water. He has not had a drink for
thirty hours,” explained the beautiful Israeli girl.
Quickly Anna put a flask to John’s mouth and poured out cool,
fresh water which tasted so sweet to him. He was so eager to
swallow the water that some went down the wrong way and he
began to cough and splutter.
“Take your time,” suggested Anna, lovingly.
John took one more small mouthful and then looked at the
Israeli girl, saying, “Thank you.”
She just smiled back and turned to return to her office. John
thought to himself, ‘There are good people and bad people in all
races and that woman is a good woman.’

When the woman re-entered the security building the man

from the airplane was standing in the hallway waiting for her.
She could see by his facial expression that he was very angry.

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“In my office now!” he barked and turned on his heels to lead the
way down and around the corridor into his office. As the Israeli
woman followed him into his plush office he shouted without
turning to face her, “Shut the door!” She followed his command
and then as she turned around found the man’s face in front of
hers. It was bright red with anger and looked as if it was about
to burst open.
“Why do you do it?” questioned the man at the top of his voice.
“What?” asked the woman, pretending she did not understand
what he was talking about.
“Disobey my orders!” snapped the man.
“Uncle Shlomo, quieten down or you will have a heart attack,”
suggested the woman in a calming voice.
“I may be your uncle but that does not mean you can disobey my
orders. I am your superior.”
“When your orders or anyone else’s are wrong I will not obey
them,” stated the woman stubbornly.
“A bleeding heart, just like your mother,” said the man, shaking
his head from side to side.
“Judith, you must get this nonsense from your head and you
must obey orders or you will be in trouble,” he continued in a
more subdued tone.
“I don’t care if I get into trouble but I will not obey orders that
are wrong,” the niece replied, defiantly.
“What was wrong in my order?” asked Shlomo.
“That man had been treated badly by you and needed help and
as part of humanity, it is my duty to help another in need,” she
explained.
“But he is involved with terrorists, those who would destroy
Israel, those who would kill you and your family,” the uncle
replied in justification.
“Do you really know that? Why then were you letting him go?
And just because someone may behave badly towards you, it
does not give you the right to behave badly towards them. In
doing so you are no better than those you condemn,” Judith
stated accusingly.

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“I do this to protect my country, my family, my people and what-

ever I have to do, I will do,” insisted the uncle.
“So you will do what is wrong then?” asked his niece.
“If necessary, for the greater good, yes I would,” answered
Shlomo.
“Isn’t that the argument many Germans used to treat us badly
during the holocaust?” suggested Judith.
The man from the plane remained silent as his niece continued,
“And isn’t that the same argument the Arab extremists use?”
“You have your head in the clouds and do not understand the
reality of our existence. If we do not keep the Arab threat down,
there will be no Israel!” exclaimed the man.
“How do you know, uncle? I have met many good Arab people
who, like us, just want to live in peace and equality. I think if
peace was really given a change it would succeed,” suggested
Judith.
“Judith, my child, that is an ideal that in this land is not pos-
sible today. To continue to exist, Israel must be strong and ruth-
less,” the uncle insisted as he grabbed his niece’s shoulders and
squeezed them, saying, “We must be strong and ruthless.”
“Then were are no more than thugs and criminals. Remember
uncle, God has created all life, not only the Jewish lives and if
we destroy other lives or treat them with contempt then we are
doing this to gifts of God,” said Judith that in the hope of the
mention of God her uncle would listen.
“If God does exist, we are His chosen and we have the right to
this land and the right to treat others how we want,” countered
the uncle.
“Uncle, don’t you understand that Abraham, our father, is the
father of the Arabs too, that Abraham originally came from
what is now Iraq. We are family. Is it right to treat your family so
badly?” responded Judith.
“That is enough!” shouted the uncle. “Get out and obey my orders
in future.”
“Uncle …” said Judith.
“Out! I don’t want to see you. Out!” he snapped.

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She left the office with sadness on her heart that her uncle
would not listen; would not see sense.
Just then two guards pushed past her leading a young man out
of the center to an awaiting prison vehicle. She could see the
man had been beaten severely by the bruises on his face. A tear
rolled down her cheek as she said to herself, “What has Israel
become?”

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THE GREATEST GIFT

ANYONE HAS GIVEN ME

Outside Fr. Emile was saying a prayer over John for his healing.
When the prayer was finished he said, “You are certainly suffer-
ing a lot on your visit here.”
John looked at him and smiled back weakly, saying, “But I have
been given so much.”
“We should take him home,” Mariam said, with concern sound-
ing in her voice.
“He needs to recover from his ordeal,” added Yousef, in agree-
ment.
Michael and Raphael assisted John to Yousef’s car and laid
him gently down on the back seat. As John closed his eyes and
began to drift into sleep he felt two hands gently lift his head
and then Anna slipping onto the seat laying his head upon her
lap. “Poor John,” he heard her say as she began to stroke his
hair and he felt the wetness of her tears dripping onto his face.
John wanted to lift his head and say, “I am the richest man in
the world, for I know God,” but he did not have the strength
and so just lay there enjoying her touch until the peace of sleep
enveloped him.
John opened his eyes to see it was daytime and he was in the
bed in his room at Anna’s family home. He pulled back the cov-
ers and rose slowly from the bed expecting still to feel weak but
to his surprise he was not. However, he did feel the ache of hun-
ger in his stomach. He dressed quickly and had a wash in the
bathroom before walking downstairs. The house was unusually
quiet and he wondered why.

Entering the main room below he saw Anna asleep in a chair

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with the Bible open on her lap. John tried to be as silent as pos-
sible, slipping into the kitchen to find some food.
“Ah John!” bellowed Raphael at the top of his voice, which woke
the sleeping Anna. “Are you hungry?” asked Raphael. “I will
make you some food. Here, sit at the table.”
Anna came into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and asking, “How
are you John?”
“I am fine, just a little hungry but Raphael is seeing to that,” he
replied, with a smile looking at the big man who was making a
lot of noise in the kitchen while he prepared the food.
“John I am sorry for what has happened to you. It is my fault, I
should take better care of you,” apologized Anna as she reached
out and stroked his face. “I promise I will from now on.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” said John. “You and your
family have brought me to understand life in a way I never could
have imagined … the way of Jesus. This is the greatest gift any-
one has ever given me and I thank you for it.”
Anna, still with her hand on his face, said, “I love you John and
I do not like to see you hurt. I will do whatever I can in future to
prevent that.”
“Me too,” added Raphael.
John looked at Anna and all of a sudden it dawned on him how
deep her feelings were for him. He took hold of her hand and
replied, “You do not have to worry about me. Thanks to you and
your family, I have the security of having God with me.”
Anna looked into his eyes waiting to hear John say more and to
her delight he raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it saying,
“I love you too, Anna.”
Raphael cut in saying, “Here John, eat this,” as he placed a plate
of food on the kitchen table. “What can I get you to drink?” he
asked, unaware of what had been the true meaning of Anna’s
words and John’s response.
“Oh, coffee will be fine,” replied John as he sat down to eat.
“Where are your parents and Michael?” he inquired.
“They went with Tanus and Christine to see if they could find out
what had happened to Yacoub,” explained Raphael.

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At that moment the door to the house opened and Raphael said,
“Here they are now.”
Yousef, Mariam, and Michael had sad faces as they entered but
the instant they saw that John was up and eating, all three of
them began to smile brightly.
“How are you feeling?” all three asked in unison.
“I feel good, just a little hungry but no worse for wear. Did you
find anything out about Yacoub?” he asked.
“Fr. Emile spent a long time with a friend of his in the police
force and discovered Yacoub has been transferred to a prison
with other so-called terrorists and activists,” Yousef replied.
“His parents cannot get to see him. How cruel that is,” said Mar-
iam with sadness in her voice.
“The friend of Fr. Emile found out Yacoub is okay. He has been
beaten badly but no serious injuries,” explained Michael.
The injured Yacoub was the man Judith had seen in the security
center and had felt so sorry for and disgusted with her country-
men over the bad way they had treated him.
“John, what would you like to do today?” asked Michael.
“Rest and take it easy but if I have not missed Mass I would like
to go if possible,” he replied.
“Of course, of course,” agreed Michael and continued, “There is
a Mass in two hours time but it is not at Fr. Emile’s, just a little
further away with the Franciscans.”
“That will give me time to finish my food then,” joked John.
“Sorry, we did not mean to interrupt your meal,” said Yousef
concerned in case they had offended their guest.
“You did not,” smiled John, aware now that he may have caused
embarrassment for Yousef and his family.
“I was joking … honestly,” he insisted.
A look of relief came on Yousef’s face in the realization he had
not offended. John thought to himself that he would have to be
more careful in what he said so as not to create anymore embar-
rassment for these good people.
“Your son Raphael cooked this for me and it is delicious,” he
stated.

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“Yes, Raphael has a talent in the kitchen but sadly he does not
use it too often. He lets his mother and sister do most of the
cooking,” Mariam said, in the way mothers do when they are
reminding their children to help more.
Raphael looked like a little boy who had been scolded and blurted
out, “Michael can cook too.”
“But I am not as good as you,” insisted Michael.
“Yes you are and if I should cook more, so should you,” argued
Raphael.
“Boys, stop it,” said Mariam sharply. “We have more important
things to think about than which of you can cook.”
John thought he had better not say anymore in case he inadver-
tently created another little disagreement.
“I will go and rest for a while before Mass,” he said and rose to
go upstairs.
“Do you want anymore to eat?” asked Anna but John, who was
still a little hungry, thought it best to say, “No not just yet thank
you. Maybe before we leave, a cup of coffee and a biscuit.”
“I will call you in an hour then,” suggested Anna as John climbed
the stairs to his room.
‘This family,’ thought John, ‘is like many families,’ remembering
the way he used to avoid doing work at home when he lived with
his parents.

An hour later John was woken from his sleep with Michael
knocking on his door, saying, “John, it is time to get up. Your
coffee is waiting.”
“Thank you, I will be down in a minute,” he replied.
Rising, he straightened his clothes and combed his hair before
making his way down stairs. Set out on the table were several
plates of assorted biscuits, cakes and small sandwiches.
“In case you were still hungry,” said the waiting Mariam.
“I can’t eat all that!” he exclaimed.
“No, no, we will join you,” explained Yousef and then smiled say-
ing, “Ah…you are joking.”
John sat down and Anna, who had been in the kitchen, came

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and sat next to him while Yousef and Mariam sat down also. No
one said a word until both Michael and Raphael brought the cof-
fee in from the kitchen.
“My brothers both decided it was time they helped a little,” said
Anna as Raphael handed John a cup.
Michael and Raphael both nodded and then Michael said, “It is
our pleasure.”
Raphael’s eyes were fixed on the cakes on the table. Obviously
he wanted some and found it hard to wait.
“Raphael, my son, you should serve our guest some cake,” sug-
gested Mariam. By the glint in her eyes John could see she was
teasing Raphael by making him serve the cake before he could
have any himself. “And your family also,” insisted Mariam as
her son was about to take a piece of cake for himself after serv-
ing John.
“Maybe you should have a little sandwich first,” Anna added,
trying to keep a straight face.
“Cake is usually served after the sandwiches.”
Raphael looked at his sister pleadingly as if to say, ‘Stop it so I
can eat.’
“Let us pray a little first,” directed Yousef as he closed his eyes
and then said a brief prayer over the food.
“Now we can eat,” said Raphael gleefully as he picked up a piece
of cake in his large hand. It then disappeared very quickly into
his mouth. “Delicious!” he said.
John, who had taken a couple of sandwiches and not touched
the cake Raphael had given him, could not believe how fast the
cake had been consumed.
Anna explained, “It is his favorite.”
“One more piece, that is all,” Mariam ordered as she looked at
her son.
Raphael now realized how he must have looked whilst stuffing
the cake into his mouth and so made a great effort to sit back
and appear to be uninterested in any more of the cake. How-
ever, when John now ate his piece and made noises that he
was enjoying it, Raphael could contain himself no longer and

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 Salaam Shalom 122

grabbed another piece himself, which this time he ate a little

more slowly.
Anna nudged John in the side playfully whispering, “Don’t
encourage him.”
Mariam looked at John and smiled, as did Yousef.
“The three of you had better leave soon if you want to be in time
for Mass,” Michael said as he looked at his watch.
“Aren’t you coming with us?” asked John.
“No, I have been already and I wanted to go and see Yacoub’s
parents again. Raphael and Anna will take you, for they did not
get to Mass today.”
John was disappointed that Michael would not be coming with
them but he realized that he wanted to be with Tanus and Chris-
tine to support them.
“I’ll get you there and back safely,” assured Raphael who had
noticed the look of disappointment that had been on John’s face
for a moment.
“Of course you will,” agreed John, rising from the chair and join-
ing the now standing Raphael and Anna saying, “Let us go then.”

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THE POWER OF VICTORY

Once again John found himself in Raphael’s car and had the
unexpected and unwanted invitation to sit in the front with
the driver. Not wanting to hurt Raphael’s feelings, John agreed
while Anna sat in the back by herself. Every time he glanced at
Anna she turned away shyly. John was thinking on the words
she had said earlier and on his own reply and feelings to them.
“You are quiet,” stated Raphael to both of them as neither one
had said a word since entering the car.
“There is nothing to say,” answered Anna and slid her hand over
the front seat to softly touch John’s shoulder. John smiled at
Anna and said, “Yes, all that needed saying has been said and it
makes me very happy.”
Raphael had no idea what they were talking about and just
looked ahead to concentrate on his high speed driving.
“Look out!” called Raphael as he screeched to a halt, just miss-
ing a van that had driven out of a side street in front of them
and now straddled the road. As Raphael opened the car door to
get out and ask if the occupant of the other car was all right,
another van screeched to a stop behind them, blocking the road.
Anna squeezed John’s shoulder as she said, “Get down on the
floor so they don’t see you,” then she stepped out of the car to
join her brother.
Out of both vehicles jumped men holding automatic rifles. All
had their faces covered so they could not be identified. Three of
the men from the van in front ran towards Raphael and Anna,
with one shouting, “Do not move or we will shoot you.”
Raphael asked, “What do you want? We have nothing.”
“We want the American. Where is he?”
“American? What American?” replied the big man trying to

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convince the attackers he did not know what they were talk-
ing about. With that, the one who had spoken struck Raphael
across the face with the butt of his weapon and was about to hit
him again as Raphael fell to the ground.
“There is no need for that,” John said as he stepped out of the car.
“Here I am, leave him alone.”
Now the two other attackers came running forward and pushed
John with their weapons.
“Take him!” ordered the one who had struck Raphael.
Anna stood between the kidnappers and John, just as one of
them reached out to take hold of him.
“Take me instead,” she implored. “He is a good man and my
friend.”
“Get out of the way, whore of the American!” snapped one of the
men and slapped Anna across the face.
“I will come with you willingly but do not hurt them,” pleaded
John.
Before anything else could be said, Anna had pushed her way
between the attackers and John. She was beating one on the
chest with her closed fists screaming at the top of her voice,
“Police! Help! Police!”
Suddenly a shot rang out and Anna stopped shouting and stood
there silently for a moment with her mouth open. She then
slumped to the ground with her eyes fixed on John as she did.
As she hit the ground her body went limp and her head turned
sideways with her eyes still open.
“Anna! Anna!” cried John, reaching out to hold her but could not
as a rifle butt pushed him forward.
“Into the van now, or we will kill him too,” said the attacker who
had just shot and killed Anna, with a look toward Raphael.
As John was pushed forward he kept looking at Anna unable to
believe what had just happened. He saw Raphael stagger over
to his sister and sit beside her. Holding her head in his lap, he
rocked back and forth crying out, “Oh God! Why? Why?”
A moment before John was forced into the back of the van he
noticed the man in black and several other dark ones with him

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standing around Raphael and Anna. All were laughing hideously

as they pointed at the dead body of the young woman. The man
in black looked directly at John and said, “You’re next!”

“Get in!” snapped one of the kidnappers as he forced John’s head

down and pushed him into the van.
Once inside, a cloth bag was placed over his head and his hands
and feet were tied together.
“Go! Go! Let’s get out of here!” shouted the man who had shoved
John into the van.
With a squeal of the tires and a sharp jerk the van sped off and
John fell sideways onto the floor in the back.
The van weaved at high speed around the corners and bends
in the road causing John to be thrown from side to side. There
was nothing he could do to stop this and he just rolled back and
forth with the erratic movement of the vehicle. However, John
was not really thinking about his predicament. Instead, over
and over in his mind was the scene of the horrifying events that
had just occurred. He kept seeing Anna falling to the ground
and looking at him as she did. In that look he could see the love
she had for him and then he saw her lying on her brother’s lap
still with her eyes open with the stare of death. Tears were roll-
ing down John’s face and he began to sob out loud because he
could not control his emotions and did not want to.
A heavy boot stamped into the side of his head pinning him to
the floor of the van.
“Stop your crying!” It was the voice of the man who had shot
Anna. The man pushed his boot harder and harder into John’s
head saying, “You Americans are so weak.”
Even though John’s head was pinned to the floor his body kept
rolling with the movements of the van and with the really sharp
turns it felt as if his neck would break. Still in his mind’s eye was
the sight of the dead Anna and his sobbing continued regardless
of the pain he felt.
“Shut him up. I can’t stand it.” came from a voice in the front.
John then felt a heavy blow on the side of his head before he

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slipped into the darkness of unconsciousness. The next thing he

knew there were voices arguing and the softness of what seemed
to be a mattress under him.
“I didn’t mean you should kill anyone, you fool! This will make
us many enemies. She was well liked!” shouted a voice John had
not heard before.
“But she was a traitor, a friend of Americans and a Christian,”
replied the voice that John recognized as belonging to the man
who had shot Anna.
“It was the American we wanted, not killing our own people!”
shouted back the first voice.
“Well, you have him,” responded the killer, defiantly.
“Get out of my sight before I do something I will regret!” yelled
the first voice.
There followed the sound of a door slamming as the killer obvi-
ously left the room.
“What shall we do now?” asked another male voice.
“Continue as we planned,” directed the first voice.
Two hands took hold of John and sat him upright on the mattress.
“We want you to tell us all about your spying activities and what
you have been doing for the Israeli’s!” demanded the first voice.
John felt sore all over but especially at the side of his head where
he could feel a large amount of dried blood that had matted his
hair together.
“I…I am not a spy. I am visiting friends,” answered John in a
weak voice.
“You are a spy. We saw you go into the security center with your
Israeli friend that you flew here with. We know all about it so
don’t lie or it will go worse for you!” snapped the man.
“I am not a spy. I was there to try and help a friend, Yacoub,”
insisted John as a fist struck his face.
“You Americans think you can get away with anything. Well,
your lies and deceit won’t work here. You have been spying for
your Israeli friends and we want to know what you have told
them and what they are going to do!” ordered the man.
“I am visiting friends and finding out about the Lord Jesus. I

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know nothing about spying. I don’t know what you are talking
about,” he replied.
“You have no one to protect you now, so you had better speak the
truth!” the man shouted in anger.
“I have God to protect me,” John said firmly.
“He didn’t protect your friend, did He?” asked the other voice in
the room. “And God will not protect you now,” it continued. “We
will leave you to think for a while and if you value your life I sug-
gest you be prepared to tell us what we want to know,” advised
the first voice.

John heard them leave and close the door behind them. He sat
there with his hands and feet still tied together and the cloth
bag remaining on his head.
“They will kill you. I told you it was best to leave. You should
have listened.” It was the voice of the evil angel. John began to
pray out loud trying to ignore the voice.
“They won’t like your Christian prayers. You should stop before
they come and hurt you,” suggested the evil angel but to no avail
as John kept on praying.
“Don’t you understand yet?” asked the evil one. “We control kill-
ers on both sides of this conflict. We can have you killed when-
ever we want. God cannot protect you, can He? He didn’t protect
your little friend Anna, did He?”
John focused his mind on Jesus suffering and dying on the
cross and kept up his prayers.
“We can get you weak humans to do anything. Create a little bit
of anger, resentment and seeking of revenge in people and soon
it is easy to lead people into doing what we want. Can’t you see
that John? We are working everywhere and winning. Come on
John, give up and I will make sure you will get home safely to
America,” enticed the evil angel.
John ignored him and continued to pray.
“You will suffer terribly if you do not listen to me,” snarled the
evil one. “I have the power to do so.”
John focused on Jesus and saw the victory on the cross with

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Jesus speaking to him from the cross saying, “My friend, in My

cross is the power of victory.”
This gave John the encouragement to pray even more fervently.
“Don’t say I did not warn you!” shrieked the evil angel and then
there was silence apart from John’s own voice, praying.
He continued focusing on the crucifixion and as he did so Anna
appeared in the vision he was having. She was kneeling before
the cross praying and she looked at peace and happy.
“She is united in prayer with you,” John heard. The thought of
this made John more determined to pray without ceasing, for
now he felt as if he was with the woman who had professed her
love for him and had given her life for him. He did not want this
feeling to end, as it seemed to overcome the pain he felt within
at the death of Anna.

“Have you decided to answer our questions?” asked the threat-

ening voice of the man who had spoken to John before and had
now returned to the room.
John kept praying and focusing on the vision before him.
“Stop that praying and answer me!” bellowed the man but John
ignored him and continued his prayers.
“I am speaking to you. Answer me!” shouted the man.
Still John recited his prayers.
The man struck John across the face. “Stop it and answer me.
Don’t you know your life is in my hands,” he said.
The prayers continued even as more blows rained upon John. The
man seemed now to be in a frenzy and beat John at first with
his fists but then as John fell to the ground, he began to kick
him as well. However, the prayers did not stop. John, through
all the pain he was enduring was at peace and happy to be at the
foot of the cross in prayer with Anna.
“Incredible!” exclaimed the man as he came to his senses and
stopped kicking the body on the floor before him. He then left
the room with the American still praying as he did.
Over the words of his prayers John heard the man, who was
now outside the room, talking to a colleague.

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“He has not said anything, all he does is pray.”

“What shall we do then?” asked the colleague.
“Leave him without food and water for a while. That might
loosen his tongue.”
The words faded as the men seemed to be walking away from
the room. John refocused on the cross and Anna whom he saw
before him. The happiness and peace remained with John and
the desire to continue praying remained strong.
Some time later the door creaked open and then there were
soft footsteps of someone trying to hide their presence. John
had now managed to get himself back onto the bed and was
lying there still praying. The vision had gone now, so instead he
focused on the words he was saying over and over, “Jesus, I love
you, give me the strength to love You more.”
His body was racked with pain but somehow he seemed to be
able to lift himself beyond the pain through his prayers. Now,
back into his mind crept the scene of Anna being shot and dying
before him. As thoughts of the men who had blocked the road in
front and behind them and had then beaten Raphael and killed
Anna came to mind, John found he had no anger towards them,
only pity.
The words of his prayers changed to become, “Jesus I love You
and in Your name I forgive them.” Saying these prayers seemed
now to increase the pity and the sadness he felt that these men
had, by circumstance, been brought to lives of violence and
anger.
The hours dragged on but the prayers did not cease. Inside now
John was feeling a euphoria, which was getting stronger and
stronger. In the darkness of his mind a white dove appeared and
he watched as it flew back and forth. He noticed that beneath
the dove the last few days of his life were unfolding as if on a
movie screen. He saw at every moment the white dove was fly-
ing back and forth over his head and the heads of the family and
friends he had met and stayed with in the Holy Lands. At every
encounter with the evil angels white light shone down from the
dove and covered John in a protective blanket. When this was

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happening the evil ones cowered and disappeared. There was a

noise that distracted him from the vision which sounded like
one person leaving the room, then there were muffled voices
outside but he understood three words,
“Still praying. Amazing!” The door creaked open again and some-
one very quietly entered and seemed to be sitting down. John
could hear the breathing of the person in the room with him.
Soon, however, these distractions were gone as he re-entered
the euphoric state that he had been in before and his prayers
continued.
The hours passed but instead of feeling discomfort, John was
continuing to feel joy, love and peace. At times he wondered
was this how it was for the saints and martyrs that his parents
had tried to tell him about when he was young. When his par-
ents, or the priest at the Masses John was forced to go to when
he was a child, spoke of the suffering of the martyrs, he had
doubted those people could have endured so much. However, he
now knew that it was possible to endure anything for God. The
grace poured out by God that John was now feeling gave him
the knowledge that in this grace he feared nothing and would
endure anything in the love of God…even death.

The door to the room opened and someone entered and spoke
to the person already in the room. “Has he been asking for any-
thing?” It was the voice of the man who had beaten John.
“No, all he has done is pray,” answered the other.
The two men came over to John and sat him upright on the
bed, still bound and covered with the cloth bag which had been
secured over his head.
“Are you prepared to answer our questions now?” asked the man.
The prayers continued as John recited over and over, “Jesus, I
love You and in Your name I forgive them.”
“Stop that!” snapped the man as he hit John across the face but
the prayers still came from the prisoner. “Stop it and answer our
questions!” demanded the man as he hit John again.
There was no change in the words or intensity of prayer coming

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from the American’s mouth. Inside John the joy was strong and
the blows had no effect on him, other than the fact he could feel
a little blood trickling from his mouth.
“I do not think you will get anything out of him. He has been
here two days now with nothing to eat or drink and he has not
asked for anything. All he does is pray, saying he forgives us,”
stated the other man.
“We must break him. He is being reported on all the major
news stations. We must get him to say publicly what we want,”
insisted the man who seemed to be the leader.
“Do you think he understands what we are saying?” asked the
other.
“How can he? We know he does not speak Arabic,” replied the
first man.
At that moment John realized he could understand their lan-
guage. He did not know how and he did not care, he just thanked
God for this gift and in doing so, the joy within increased.
“Be careful not to say anything in English that might let him
know what we are doing,” said the leader.
“If you stop praying and speak to us, we can discuss how we can
come to an agreement on your release,” he cajoled.
John was relentless in his prayer, “Jesus, I love You and in Your
name I forgive them.”
The leader was becoming very frustrated and asked his colleague
in Arabic how they could get John to answer them. “Shall we
torture him?”
“If you do that it might show when we present him to the cam-
eras then anything he says will be of little use,” replied the other
and suggested, “Keep him without food and water for a little
longer. He will give in eventually. The heat will get to him and
soon he will be desperate for water.”
“Yes, I think we will continue with that,” agreed the leader as he
looked out of the room’s window at the blazing sun above.
“Bring his bed over here. Let the sun shine on him. That will
make him break sooner but we will tie him to the bed so he can-
not make signs out of the window.”

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 Salaam Shalom 132

A minute later John was forced to stand and then he heard the
bed being moved across the room but he kept praying. Four
hands grabbed hold of him roughly and dragged him across
the room and lay him back on the bed. His hands and feet were
untied then retied to the four-corners of the bed. It was uncom-
fortable but within a moment John was beyond that and back
into the euphoria he was experiencing in his prayers.
“How can we stop him saying those infernal Christian prayers?”
asked the one who had been with John in the room for several
hours. “It’s driving me crazy.”
“Let’s gag him,” suggested the leader.
John had the cloth bag removed from his head and was blinded
by the light, which he had grown unaccustomed to. A cloth was
wrapped around his head and in his mouth so that he could
not speak. Just before the bag was replaced over his head his
eyes were clearing and he caught a glimpse of one of his captors.
It was a young man about the same age as John, if not a little
younger but unlike John, this man had a beard. The bag was
replaced and the darkness John had become used to returned.
In his mind the prayers carried on but now as he was praying his
forgiving words, he thought of the young man he had just seen.
The euphoria had now subsided and John was aware of his arms
and legs stretched out, aware of the sun beating down on him
and aware of the pain from the treatment he had received at the
hands of his captors. His whole body seemed to hurt in one way
or another.
“Focus on Me,” came from the voice in his head and John real-
ized he had let his thoughts of the crucified Lord slip. With a
great effort he tried to refocus his thoughts but the pain kept
distracting him. Now he realized how thirsty he was and the
gag was drying his mouth even more as it absorbed what saliva
he had.
“Focus on Me,” repeated the voice. It seemed impossible, ‘How
could he get past this pain?’ thought John. Then it came to him
in a female voice inside his head.
“Thank God for your pain and being allowed to suffer for Him.”

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“Thank You Lord. Thank You Lord,” John repeated over and over
in his mind. Every time he thought these words the pain seemed
less and the peace and joy seemed to be returning.
“That is the way, my child,” encouraged the female voice and just
for a moment John caught a glimpse of a gentle looking woman
dressed in a long robe of white with a blue veil and shawl.
“Thank You Lord. Thank You Lord,” he repeated again and again.
The pain was almost gone and the euphoria was returning. As
it did, he heard, “Mary, My mother,” and realized it was Jesus’
mother, Mary that had come to him in his suffering and helped
him through it to return into the grace of God. If he could have
shouted thank you at the top of his voice he would have done
but instead he had to be content with saying, “Thank You Lord,”
in his mind.
Time now seemed to float past John; it was as if he was outside
of it and outside of his physical environment. This for John was
now one of the greatest experiences of his young life, an experi-
ence he did not want to end, for he felt he was existing totally
in the presence of God. Vision after vision appeared to him and
now it was as if he was part of those visions and he did not want
to leave them. Echoing in his mind throughout this was the
prayer, “Thank You Lord.”

All of a sudden he was taken from this by shouting occurring in

the room.
“Look! Look…under the cover. His face is glowing!” It was the
familiar voice of the man in the room with him.
“It is! It is!” exclaimed another voice. “What do you think it
means?” asked another nervously.
“It is an American spy trick,” explained the leader, uncertainly.
“But how? he had nothing with him. We searched him,” won-
dered one of the men.
“He must have had some sort of tablet in his mouth,” suggested
one of the others and continued, “Maybe it is a tracking device…
the Israelis will know where we are.”
“Stay calm,” ordered the leader. John heard a metallic click,

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 Salaam Shalom 134

which sounded like a gun being armed. “We will shoot him and
go,” stated the leader calmly.
John felt the hard metal of the gun on the side of his head and
knew this was the moment he was going to die.
“Thank You Lord. I forgive them, please forgive them too,” he
prayed.
“Wait a minute. Don’t shoot him,” called the man John had seen
for a moment and who John had prayed for. “Wouldn’t it look
much better for our cause if we released him to show how merci-
ful we are.”
“I think it is best we kill him,” answered the leader as John felt a
slight tilt of the gun.
“No…no. If we kill him and he is a spy, the Americans may seek
revenge on us. If we let him go they will have no reason to and
the world media will be saying how merciful we are. It would
be bad publicity for the Jews or Americans to seek revenge. Put
a letter in his pocket about our mercy and call the media. Tell
them to come here. They will find him and it will be a big story
for them and good for us,” explained the young man.
“Yes… yes. It might work out looking good for us,” agreed the
leader as he lowered the gun.
‘Thank You Lord,’ continued in John’s mind.
“Take off his gag, give him some water. Quickly, so we can get
away!” ordered the leader.
The kidnapper spoke to John in English as the gag was being
removed. “Because we are merciful people and do not want to
cause you anymore suffering, we are going to free you. I sug-
gest when the television stations interview you that you say we
treated you with respect, otherwise we may come for you or your
friends again.”
A bottle was put to John’s mouth and the cool water within it
was poured into it. The water tasted so sweet to John it was like
nectar. “Thank You Lord,” said John out loud for the first time.
“You should thank us for being so merciful,” said the leader. How-
ever, John continued his prayer between mouthfuls of water.
“A strange man,” said one of the captors to his friends.

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“He has a lot of courage,” replied the young man who had saved
John’s life. “He has been here five days without food or water
and all he says are prayers; prayers of forgiveness for us and of
thanks to God. Maybe he is a holy man.”
“No, he is an American spy and his prayers are just a technique
to avoid giving out information,” suggested the leader. “Come
on, let’s get out of here.”
“His face is still glowing,” said one of the men as they were leav-
ing the room.
Another responded, “American technology.”
A few minutes later John heard someone re-enter the room
and felt them putting a note into his shirt pocket before leav-
ing again. Laying there still tied to the bed and with the bag
over his head, John started to think of the similarities of the
treatment he received from both the Israeli’s and the Arabs then
he realized evil worked in similar ways in whomsoever it influ-
enced.

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MANY WANT TO
LIVE IN PEACE

A short time later John heard a door being forced open and sev-
eral people running up some stairs, followed by voices outside
the door of his room. “I think this is it,” said an English sound-
ing voice with another one saying, “Is the camera running? We
must get this as it happens.”
A voice of someone who obviously was the cameraman replied,
“Of course it is, I know my job.”
There was a rattle of a door handle and the squeaking of the door
as it opened.
“My God! There he is,” said the English voice. “I think it is John
King, the American who has been kidnapped in Jerusalem,” was
said in a reporter’s voice. “Let’s free him.”
John felt hands untying him and removing the cloth bag from
his head. The brightness of the daylight and a light attached to
the camera completely blinded John and he had to put his hands
over his eyes to protect them.
“Mr. King, are you all right?” questioned the English reporter.
“Is there anything we can get for you?”
“I…I…” he could hardly speak for now the pain was taking hold
again and he felt completely exhausted.
“There is an ambulance on its way,” said the reporter as another
man helped sit John up and put the flask of water to his mouth.
“Here, drink this. It will help,” encouraged the man who was
holding him upright. “I think the ambulance is here,” he said as
vehicles with sirens could be heard screeching to a halt outside.
“Look, there is a note in his pocket,” the English reporter pointed
out as he took it from John’s shirt pocket. Vision was returning
now to the American’s eyes and he saw a medium sized balding

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 Salaam Shalom 138

man standing in front of the camera, holding the note in his

hand. The reporter began to read from the note out loud:

‘We, the rightful owners of this land who are being ­oppressed
by the Zionist occupiers, have decided in the mercy of God to
set this man free. We do this to show that in our hearts is com-
passion and that we are not the crazy killers that the murder-
ous Israelis claim us to be. All we are seeking is freedom for our
people and the rightful return of our land. When the Zionists
stop ­k illing us, stop taking what is ours and show us the respect
we deserve, then we, in our compassion and in the mercy of God,
will stop our war of survival and stop seeking revenge for what
the Jews do to us. Until then we shall continue our struggle
and we will not give in.

May God be praised in all the world.’

When the reporter finished reading the note, as if on cue, in

rushed the paramedics, followed by several police officers and
more television cameras, which filled the room to overflowing.
“Get them out!” snapped the familiar voice of the security officer,
Shlomo, “And I will take that,” he said as he grabbed the note
from the British newsman.
Within a couple of minutes the police had emptied the room of
news crews and all that remained with John were the paramed-
ics and the police. “How is he?” asked Shlomo.
“He will need to go to hospital. He has gone through a lot,”
replied one of the paramedics as the other opened up a stretcher
to lay John on.
Shlomo called two police to him, “Go with them. No one is to
speak to him apart from the doctors and nurses. No one, do you
understand?”
“Yes sir,” the two replied simultaneously.
The two policemen forced the news crews out of the way so the
stretcher with John on it could be carried out of the house. Com-
ing from the house, John, for the first time in days, felt the fresh

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air touching him. It was a sensation he had never known before,

for it was as if his exposed skin was delighting in being out in
the daylight and the normal daily atmosphere. John thought to
himself how amazing it was that deprivation could heighten the
senses. Within a short few minutes he was lifted into the await-
ing ambulance with a paramedic attending to him and the two
policemen sitting there watching over him. He closed his eyes
and drifted into sleep, even though the ambulance sirens were
blaring out their sound and the ambulance was being driven at
high speed.

The next thing he was aware of was a prick in his arm and open-
ing his eyes to see a female doctor placing a drip into his arm.
“How are you feeling, Mr. King?” she asked as she saw him waking.
He smiled back at her and replied in a croaky voice, “Fine.”
“We are giving you some fluids because you are very dehydrated.
I am surprised you are not sicker than this. We will dress your
injuries and then you can rest and recover. I think three or four
days and you can leave,” explained the doctor.
John closed his eyes again and began to say over in his mind,
‘Thank You Lord.’
Through the prayers he could hear the doctor and a nurse talking
and he could feel them attending to his injuries. He felt a needle
entering his skin. No pain, just the sensation of the work the
doctor was doing as she stitched closed a couple of his wounds
from the beatings.
John drifted in and out of sleep. One moment he was in a lift
with a nurse and the two policemen, the next he was lying in
bed looking up at a white ceiling. Between the moments of con-
sciousness he was having a dream of lying in the embrace of the
Lord Jesus with the feeling of complete happiness.
Suddenly in his mind before him was the sight of the slain Anna
staring at him. On her face was a smile and her lips moved to
say, ‘I love you.’
“Anna! Anna!” John shouted as he woke from his dream. A nurse
came rushing into the room and over to his bed.

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 Salaam Shalom 140

“Are you alright?” she asked as she looked into his face.
“What happened to Anna and Raphael?” he responded.
“Who?” replied the nurse, not sure who he was talking about.
“My friends who were with me when I was kidnapped,” explained
John.
“I don’t know but I can try and find out for you,” suggested the
nurse as she stroked his face.
One of the policemen came and whispered in the nurse’s ear and
she said, “Oh,” with a sad tone in her voice.
“What is it?” asked John. The nurse did not reply.
“Anna is dead, isn’t she?” he questioned and the nurse nodded
in agreement. John knew already in his heart she was dead and
from the vision felt she was at peace with God but that did not
stop tears streaming down from his eyes. “And Raphael?” he
asked.
“Just a few minor injuries. He is okay,” replied the nurse.
“Thank God,” said John and continued to say it as he drifted
back to sleep.

When he awoke some hours later, John noticed that two more
had replaced the two policemen. One was sitting reading a
newspaper, which John could see had his photograph on the
front page. The other was looking out of the window and seemed
to be lost in his thoughts. As John lay there quietly thinking
about the events that had happened, he realized he did not feel
any grief over Anna, for he was sure she was with God. When
the kidnappers had spoken of Anna being killed again there had
not really been any grief and this was not from the shock of see-
ing her murdered, instead it came from the certainty that God
was taking care of her. Yes, initially he had felt pain at her death
and he had shed many tears for her but since the vision of her
praying at the foot of the cross there had been a certainty deep
inside him that she was at peace and happy.
“He is awake,” said the policeman who had been looking out of
the window.
“I will go and get them,” replied the other as he folded his news-

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paper then rose from the chair and left the room. He returned a
few minutes later with Fr. Emile, Michael and Raphael following
him.
“You will have to be quick. No-one is supposed to speak to him,”
the one who had remained in the room said as they entered.
“Thank you, my friends. It is a good thing you do,” said Fr. Emile
in an appreciative tone and joined Michael and Raphael at
John’s bedside.
“John, how are you?” asked Fr. Emile.
“A bit sore but otherwise okay,” he replied.
Raphael, looking very embarrassed, leaned over the bed. John
could see a very large bruise on the side of the big man’s head.
“I am sorry. Can you ever forgive me?” he pleaded as tears
streamed down his face.
“I let both you and Anna down. Now she is dead and you are in
hospital. God forgive me for not protecting you both.”
John looked at the big man who seemed at this moment like a
lost little child who did not know where to turn next.
“Raphael, of course I forgive you but truly there is nothing to
forgive. It was not your fault and you did try to protect us, didn’t
you?” said John as he reached out and touched the bruised face.
“But I let Anna be killed and I let them take you away. I should
have done more to stop them,” insisted the big man.
“There was nothing more you could have done, except give your
life too and that would not have prevented them taking me or
killing Anna. You did what you could and I am grateful for that.”
“Brother,” added Michael as he put his arms around Raphael, “it
was not your fault.” Then Michael took both John’s and Rapha-
el’s hands in his, saying, “We are brothers and let nothing come
between us.”
John smiled and added, “Raphael, you and Michael are my broth-
ers and I love you as brothers.” The three of them embraced and
as they did, John said out loud, “Thank You Lord for my broth-
ers.”
Fr. Emile cut in, “John, I have brought you communion. Would
you like to receive the Lord before we have to leave?”

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 Salaam Shalom 142

John smiled and agreed saying, “Yes please Father, and I would
like to offer this communion for Anna who is with the Lord and
for my two brothers here with me.”
Together the four of them prayed and then John received the
Lord in communion. As he consumed the body and the blood
John was overwhelmed with the deepest of peace and he knew
God was with him. Afterwards, as he lay there smiling, Fr. Emile
said, “John I will return tomorrow. These two good men here are
friends of mine and will let me in to see you.”
“Thank you,” John said as he looked to both of the policemen
and smiled at them.
“There are good men everywhere,” added Michael.
John looked at Raphael who still had tears in his eyes and said,
“It is alright my brother, it is alright.”
Raphael smiled back replying, “Rest and get well and we will see
you tomorrow.”
One of the policemen then advised, “Father, you had better go
now before we get in trouble.”
“See you tomorrow,” added Michael, before the three of them left
the room.

When they had gone and it was only John and the two police-
men in the room he said out loud to both of them, “Thank you
for that. It is very kind of you.”
“It is nothing,” replied the one who had been reading the news-
paper. “They are friends of ours.”
John closed his eyes once more and focused on the wonder-
ful feeling of peace that was engulfing him. With this feeling
seemed to come a refreshing of not only his body but his very
soul and his spirit seemed to be strengthened beyond anything
he could comprehend.
“You can only spend a short time with him, he is still very tired,”
insisted the doctor as the man from the plane, Shlomo, entered
the room.
“There are questions of security I must ask him!” demanded
Shlomo.

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“Well, only five minutes then; no longer,” conceded the doctor.

“Has anyone else been in here?” Shlomo asked of the two police-
men.
“No, only his priest to give him some comfort and prayers,”
answered the one who had been by the window.
“Who said his priest could visit him?” demanded Shlomo.
John sat up and said firmly, “I wanted him here and you have no
right to stop him coming.”
“You’re sounding much better,” said Shlomo changing the subject.
“Yes, I am feeling stronger,” confirmed John.
“Then you will not mind answering a few of my questions,” asked
Shlomo, with a voice that implied how can you refuse.
“There is not much I can tell you,” replied John. “Everything over
the last few days has been a bit of a blur.”
“Well never mind. We will see what you do remember,” insisted
Shlomo as he pulled a chair to the side of the bed and continued.
“Now, where shall we begin? Ah, yes let’s start with how your
activist friend was killed, shall we?”
There was a wicked look on his face as he said the words. It was
as if he was plunging a knife into John and twisting it and
enjoying doing so. Behind Shlomo John could see the evil man
in black laughing and laughing.
“She was a good woman, a woman of God,” stated John in reply.
“Was she? Well now she is a dead woman of God isn’t she!”
snapped Shlomo. “Tell me, how did it happen?”
John went through all that had happened from the moment
that the van had blocked the road in front of them. He told of
Anna dying, he told of how he was treated by his captors and he
told what he had heard them say.
When he had finished, Shlomo asked, “Can you identify any of
them?” John thought for a moment and realized that the only
one he had seen was the one who had saved his life by persuad-
ing his leader not to shoot him. He had only seen him for a
second or two and from that brief glimpse how could he truly
recognize the man again? Anyway, he did not want the man to
suffer at the hands of the security forces.

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 Salaam Shalom 144

“No, not really. I never really saw them. Either their faces were
covered or mine was,” he answered.
Shlomo was suspicious. “You are not trying to protect them are
you? They killed your girlfriend.”
“I know and I have forgiven them,” replied John.
“They are filthy terrorists who kill the innocent. How can you
forgive them? I mean they killed your activist friend; one of
their own!” the security man said incredulously.
“I forgive because that is what God calls us to do,” John said gently.
“God! An eye for an eye, that is what God says!” snapped Shlomo
impatiently.
“No, the Lord calls us to forgive, just as He did when He went to
the cross,” explained John.
“Bah! You Christians are crazy.” As Shlomo said this the evil
angel behind him made the same sign for craziness he had made
to John outside the Garden of Gethsemane.
“Now listen to me. When you speak to the press be careful what
you say. I know you are a friend of the Arabs so I do not want
you saying bad things about Israel,” warned the security man.
“I will only speak the truth,” insisted John.
“And what is that?” asked Shlomo.
“I shall tell how I have seen the way the Palestinians, whether
Christian or Muslim, are treated by many in Israel. How their
lives mean nothing or very little. How they are denied basic
human rights. How Israel oppresses them and how often,
because of this, some in Palestine turn to violence seeking
revenge.
“I shall tell how this would change if other countries stopped
supporting Israel blindly. It seems no matter how bad Israel
behaves, some countries are there supporting it and indirectly
supporting its behavior.
“I shall say that the Palestinians are also to blame for the prob-
lems in the Holy Lands for some of them think that the only
good Jew is a dead Jew. Some of them think that there should
be no Israel. Some of them think it is justifiable to kill men,
women and children. I shall ask the Arab people to demand this

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stops. I shall ask that all people demand their governments and
their leaders change attitudes to the Middle East and see that
Arab and Israeli lives are of equal value and that both should be
treasured and respected.
“I shall ask that all people insist that their governments do not
give support to Israel in its oppressive tactics or support to those
Arabs who kill and maim. Instead, that they support both Arab
and Israeli equally, seeking a just and fair peace. I shall ask that
the good people in Israel and amongst the Arab people rise up
together in love and call for a stop to the killing; call for peace.
“I shall ask all this because I know in the will of God this is pos-
sible. If mankind takes on that will then peace can come to
these lands and all people can live together as neighbors of love,”
explained John, with a sparkle in his eye as the truth shone
through them.
The two policemen were nodding in agreement and smiling but
because they were behind Shlomo, he could not see them.
“I don’t think you should say that. It would not be safe for you to
do so,” Shlomo said threateningly.
“I shall speak the truth,” insisted John.
Shlomo stood up and began to leave the room but before he did,
he turned to John saying, “If you speak like that, you put your
life at risk.” He then left the room with the evil one following
him.
One of the policemen came over and said, “Well said. It is about
time someone spoke up for peace. There are many in Israel
who are fed up with the way we live, constantly fighting, never
secure and not at peace. Many of us want to live in peace with
our Arab brothers and sisters. You will find a lot of support for
your words in Israel.”

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 147 Chapter 17

GOD HAS SOMETHING ELSE

FOR YOU TO DO

When he had finished speaking a nurse came in the room asking,

“Would you like to see someone from the American Embassy?”
“Yes, of course,” answered John, pleased at the thought of hear-
ing another American voice.
“Hello Mr. King. My name is Andrews,” said the smiling man
aged about thirty years old, who entered the room just as John
had finished his last words. “I am from the Embassy. Is there
anything I can do for you?” he asked.
“You could contact my parents and tell them I am okay,” sug-
gested John.
“No need, they arrive at Tel Aviv Airport today. They were anx-
ious to be with you so we arranged a special flight for them,”
explained Andrews.
John smiled as he thought how good it would be to see his parents.
“The doctor says you will be able to leave tomorrow or the day
after so we are arranging for you to be flown straight back to
the States. I imagine you will want to leave as soon as possible,”
continued the Embassy man.
John sat up and pulled the blankets from on top of him then
stood beside the bed with the drip still attached. “Careful Mr.
King,” said the nurse, worried he might fall.
“I am okay,” he insisted then said, “Leave? That is not what I
intend to do.”
“But Mr. King…can I call you John?” asked Andrews and contin-
ued without waiting for an answer. “You have been through so
much and there still may be people here who want to hurt you. It
is not safe to stay. We cannot protect you if you do. My advice is
you get on that plane.”

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 Salaam Shalom 148

“I am going to stay for a while. There is Anna’s funeral.”

“She has been buried already,” cut in Andrews.
“And I have to visit her family…my family and friends,” said
John and finished by saying, “I intend to stay for quite a while
and work for peace here.”
“John, you will be getting a lot of media attention and what you
say and do will reflect upon your country. As an American it is
your duty to say or do nothing that will cause America harm.
That is why it is best you leave, for you may mistakenly say some-
thing or be influenced to do something that looks bad. Imagine
if you are kidnapped again, how bad that would look. People
would say America couldn’t protect its own. Be sensible John,
catch that plane,” pleaded Andrews.
“No, I am staying,” confirmed John, looking directly into
Andrews’ eyes. The man from the Embassy saw the determina-
tion John had and knew it was pointless arguing.
“If that is your decision then,” he said and left the room.

A few seconds later John heard the voice of Shlomo asking, “Did
he listen to you?”
“Not at all,” replied Andrews.
“So be it,” said Shlomo.
“Mr. King, you should get back in bed,” directed the nurse.
“But I feel fine now,” replied John.
“You should stay there until doctor sees you and removes your
drip,” ordered the nurse.
“When will that be?” he asked.
“I think she will be here in about an hour to see you,” answered
the nurse as she guided John back into the bed saying, “Be a
good boy and stay here until then.”
John lay back and closed his eyes melting into the darkness of
sleep. Sometime later he woke to see the young female doctor
beside him. She looked into his eyes shining a light into them
and then took his wrist to feel his pulse.
“Well Mr. King I think you can leave tomorrow. You have no
major problems, just a little dehydration but that is under con-

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trol now. I am going to take the drip out and after that you
might like to eat something.”
The thought of food brought an immediate response from John’s
stomach and he realized it had been days since he had eaten.
“Thank you. I am very hungry,” he agreed. The doctor removed
the drip saying, “It is quite remarkable how you have borne your
ordeal. I would have expected you to have been a lot sicker.”
John heard in his mind, “God looks after his own,” so he smiled
at the doctor replying, “It is only by the grace of God.”
With that, the doctor looked at him suggesting, “God must have
given you a lot of grace then,” after which she turned and left
the room.
About 20 minutes later a meal was brought to him. For a few sec-
onds he just smelt the aroma, savoring it. He had not realized
how good food had smelt before. After saying a prayer he began
to eat, enjoying every mouthful and thanking God in his mind
for such a gift.
“John! John! Are you alright?” It was his mother who rushed
into the room, followed by his father. She came over to the bed
before he could answer and put her arms around him tightly. As
she did so she knocked what was left of the plate of food on the
floor.
“Mum, I am okay. I am,” he insisted, with his mother continuing
to squeeze him.
“Son, thank God you are alright,” said his father adding, “When
we saw on the news you were kidnapped we thought they would
kill you.”
His mother said, “We were so worried but thank God you are
safe.”
His father ruffled John’s hair with his hand saying, “It is good
to see you, son.”
“And you,” replied John.
“The doctor said I can leave hospital tomorrow,” he explained.
“We will have seats booked on a plane home tomorrow night
then,” said the father, half as a statement and half as a question.
“No dad, I am staying. I have some things to do.”

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 Salaam Shalom 150

His mother looked at him and said in a trembling voice, “It is too
dangerous here for you. Please come home with us.”
“Mum, I can’t. I don’t want to. I must stay here for a while and
speak out against the injustices, the unnecessary violence and
I must speak out for peace. I have seen a dear friend killed in
front of me. I have seen how badly both sides think of each other
in these lands; the hatred that fills so many hearts, the wasted
lives and futures. These are lands full of pain and suffering, all
of which is unnecessary. I cannot ignore this. I cannot turn my
back upon the peoples here. I cannot, because in Christ, Our
Lord, I love them all and I want each person to have a secure
and peace-filled life so I am going to stay and work for that,”
explained John.
Both his parents looked at him in silence until the father spoke,
“Son, you have never made me so proud.”
“Me too,” agreed his mother as she kissed his cheek. “Anyway I
don’t think anyone would harm you now, you are famous,” she
said, reassuringly.
“What do you mean…famous?” asked John
“Son, you have been the headline news for almost a week now,
all over the world,” answered his father.
“It’s true John,” confirmed his mother.
John had not given the media too much thought but now it
dawned on him that he could use them to spread the message of
peace God was giving to him. In his head he heard that familiar,
gentle voice saying, “Use them to speak of love and forgiveness.”
“Dad will you let the media know I am leaving hospital tomor-
row and that I would like to make a statement?” he asked of his
father.
“Of course son, if you think you are up to it,” agreed the father.
“Will you come back tomorrow morning? I would like you both
to be there when I speak to them. I want the world to see my
parents,” asked John.
“You can’t keep us away,” replied his mother who kissed him
again. “Come on dad, we will let him rest until tomorrow.”
“Good night son and God bless,” said the father.

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John asked, “Can we pray together before you go?”

The surprise and delight on the face of his parents when he said
these words made John very happy.
“Shall we pray a decade of the Rosary?” asked the father as he
took from his pocket the Rosary beads John had seen his father
use many times when John was a child.
“That would be wonderful,” agreed John and together with his
parents he recited the Rosary decade.
When they had finished, his mother said, with tears rolling
down her cheek, “It has been a long time since we did that.”
“We will have to do it more often in the future,” suggested John,
which again delighted his parents.
After his parents had left John was smiling as he thought of
how his parents loved him and as he thought about that, out of
his mouth came the words, “Thank You Lord.”

When he awoke it was the next morning and a hospital atten-

dant was bringing breakfast into his room. John noticed the
policemen were no longer in his room; they had left during the
night.
Before he ate John said a prayer over his food and thought after-
wards how prayer before eating had become so natural now. The
voice in his head said, “That is how prayer is meant to be.”
With the meal over, John got out of bed and knelt at the side
of it to continue praying. Every word he said softly to himself
seemed to fill his body, seemed to resound within it, lifting him
into a deep joy. When he opened his eyes for a moment he saw
the two angels of God he had seen at Fr. Emile’s kneeling either
side of him, joining in his prayers. Within his mind he now saw
Anna also kneeling in prayer with him and he wanted this to go
on forever.
At that moment the door to his room opened and in walked Fr.
Emile, Michael and Raphael.
“Good morning John. Oh, sorry to disturb your prayers. Shall we
come back later?” asked the priest.
“No, no, please come in. It is good to see you,” insisted John.

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 Salaam Shalom 152

“You are looking much better,” Raphael said, smiling at John and
happy to see him out of bed.
“Yes, I am feeling a lot better and today I can leave the hospital,”
replied John.
Michael asked, “Would you like to celebrate the Eucharist? Fr.
Emile has all that is needed.”
Michael held up a small case, which obviously contained every-
thing required.
“I can say the Mass in here for you as it is special circumstances,”
explained the priest.
John readily agreed and within a few minutes everything was
ready for the Mass.
“John.” It was his mother speaking as she opened the door and
led her husband into the room.
“Mum, dad. It is perfect timing we are about to have Mass. Will
you join us?” asked John.
His parents both looked at him and with big smiles and said
simultaneously, “Of course.” John introduced them to Fr. Emile,
Michael and Raphael.
When he came to the two big men he said, “These are my broth-
ers,” and Raphael responded by saying to John’s parents, “And
that makes us family.”
Both of John’s parents embraced the brothers with his father
saying, “My, how our family has grown.”
“Come, let us begin,” suggested Fr. Emile and so together as fam-
ily, they united in the Eucharist.

When the Mass was over and John was in a state of deep joy from
receiving the Lord Jesus’ body and blood, his mother said to his
father, “What a blessing! Look how much he loves the Lord.”
“This is what we have prayed for and God has answered our
prayers,” he agreed with a smile.
“John, there are a lot of people waiting outside for you. Lots of
media and a big crowd of others also,” his mother told him.
“The whole world will be watching and listening to you,” advised
Fr. Emile.

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 153 Chapter 17

John smiled and just said, “Good.”

“Our family is there. They have come to see you,” said Michael.
“And many of the people you have met with us have come also
to show you their support and that they care for you,” added
Raphael.
“Will you all stand with me as I speak?” asked John.
All of them nodded in agreement.
“I will get dressed and then we can go,” suggested John.
They all left the room so that John could wash, put on his clothes
and prepare to leave. A few minutes later Raphael stuck his head
through the door, which he had opened slightly.
“John when you are dressed can Michael and I have a moment
with you?” he asked.
“You can come in now, I am almost ready,” replied John.
Michael entered first, followed by Raphael.
“John, we have something to tell you,” said the older brother.
“What is it?” inquired John; concerned that something was
wrong.
“Before Anna died,” continued Michael, “both Raphael and I had
discussed entering the Franciscan seminary to become priests.
Anna was very happy about it and was always encouraging us
to do so. When she died both of us decided we would become
priests and dedicate our priesthood to Anna. She was so holy; a
wonderful example to us.”
The brothers both had tears running down their cheeks.
“We would have entered the seminary anyway but with Anna’s
death we thought that dedicating our lives to God would please
her and so it was an extra incentive to do so,” explained Raphael.
John put his arms around both of them and joined in their tears
as he thought of Anna.
“Yes, she would be pleased,” he agreed. “And I think you will
make good priests.”
“Fr. Emile said that too and he has helped arrange for us to enter
the seminary,” confirmed Michael.
The thought of these two men becoming priests for a moment
made John think that maybe he would become one too.

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 Salaam Shalom 154

After all he now loved God deeply and only wanted to please
God in all he did.
“God has something else for you to do.” It was one of the angels
who had appeared before but had disappeared when his friends
came into the room as he prayed.
The American looked past his two friends towards the angel as
the words continued from his mouth, “Your two brothers are giv-
ing their lives to God in one way and you are called to give your
life for God in another way.” The angel then faded from sight.
“The others are waiting,” said John and guided his two friends
from the room, following them outside.
“Are you ready to face them, son?” asked John’s father. “You can
always do it some other time,” he suggested with a concerned
tone in his voice.
“Now is as good a time as any,” insisted John.
“I will give you a blessing first,” offered Fr. Emile.
“Thank you Father, that would be welcomed.”
They all bowed their heads as the priest blessed them saying,
“God, give us the strength to show Your love and Your forgive-
ness in all we say and do. I ask this in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
They all made the sign of the cross as the priest said the bless-
ing. As he made the sign of the cross, John felt a peace growing
within and at the same time he felt stronger than he had ever
before in his life.
“I am ready,” smiled John and gave his mother a kiss on the
cheek while he squeezed his father’s hand at the same time. As
they walked down the long corridor that led to the glass doors
at the front of the hospital, John could see the figures of the
people outside. There seemed to be a lot of them. Coming closer
to the doors, angels of God began to appear on either side of the
corridor. Each one was deep in prayer and so John joined them
by saying over and over in his mind, “God guide me and give me
all I need to do your will.” He noticed between two angels was a
door, which said ‘Chapel.’ “Would you mind if I went and prayed
by myself for a minute?” asked John.

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 155 Chapter 17

When everyone agreed he entered the chapel and knelt down to

pray silently. As he did, all the recent events passed through his
mind in just a few minutes, after which he was back in the pres-
ent ready to face the cameras. “God give me strength,” he prayed
and he rose to join the others who were waiting for him. Coming
out of the chapel he said, “I am ready,” and followed the others
down the corridor.

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 157 Chapter 18

GOOD FRUIT …
THE FRUIT OF PEACE

Now they were at the doors and John could see several televi-
sion cameras outside and also newspaper people who already
had started taking photographs with their cameras flashing
almost continuously, trying to photograph John through the
doors.
“Mr. King, where would you like to speak from?” asked a man
who was wearing a media badge.
“Where is best?” responded John.
“We have set some microphones outside and to the right but if
you would be more comfortable somewhere else, we can move
them,” suggested the media representative.
“It will be fine there. However, I want my parents and friends
standing next to me or behind me, if possible,” insisted John.
“Sure, that will be okay,” agreed the media man then said, “Fol-
low me,” and led them outside to the microphones.
As John looked around he saw in the crowd some familiar faces.
There was Yousef and Mariam waving at him and around them
some of the family he remembered from the first night. There
too were Ishmael, Abdoulah and Fatima. Next to them were Ben-
jamin and Rachel; behind them, Tanus and Christine. Boutros
was there, holding on to a woman who looked as if she was his
wife. There were faces of some of those he had seen in church,
plus many others he did not know. Judith from the security cen-
ter was also there.
Several in the crowd were holding up signs that had the word,
‘Peace’ written on them.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please be quiet for Mr. John King,” said

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 Salaam Shalom 158

the media man from behind the microphones and stood aside to
make way for John, his family and friends.
As John came to the microphones the cameras were flashing in
a frenzy, almost blinding him. Before him were five or six tele-
vision cameras from the major news stations. John recognized
some of their logos and smiled as he thought how the whole
world would hear his words.
“I have a statement I would like to make, after which I will
answer some of your questions,” he explained nervously.
“I have been in the Holy Lands only for a short time but in that
time I have seen and experienced a great deal. When I first came
here I was like many people around the world who see the Arabs
as terrorists and the Israeli’s as being in the right. I have come
to realize this is not quite the truth.
“During my time here I have seen both Arabs and Israelis behav-
ing very badly and yet I have seen both Arabs and Israelis acting
very kindly. I see now that both sides in this conflict have good
people and not so good people. I have seen and experienced the
heavy and oppressive hand of the Israeli security forces, where
they treat their Arab neighbors with contempt, as if they are
less than the Israelis are. I have been there when unarmed Arab
protestors have been shot by the security forces and they even
shot me, an innocent bystander. I now understand that some in
Israel believe an Arab life is not of any worth, sometimes saying
the only good Arab is a dead Arab. How some in Israel believe
Arab land and property is theirs for the taking. Sadly, I know
that his behavior continues because in part of the support some
countries give to Israel, a support that often accepts or tolerates
the bad treatment of the Arab people.
“However, in Israel I have also met good people. I know, like
some of the people here in the crowd today, that many in Israel
want peace with their neighbors. Many see Arab and Jew as
equal and as deserving the same treatment and rights. That
many are willing to share the land fairly and justly so that all
can live secure and at peace. I have met many Arab people and
have discovered that yes, some of them are violent, some are

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 159 Chapter 18

terrorists, some are anti-Israel. Often these are reactions to

family and friends being killed, land being taken or rights being
denied. Whatever the reason, it is no good reason for respond-
ing in violence. I have been treated badly by my kidnappers who
were Arab and I have felt the wrath of their anger. I have heard
their contempt and hatred for the Jewish people. How they say
the only good Jew is a dead Jew. Some believe that all the Jew-
ish people should be driven from this land. I have met many
Arab people who do not believe in violence, who want to live in
peace with their Jewish neighbors, accept that there must be a
state of Israel and agree to share this land. These people try to
love and respect their Jewish neighbors and hope for the same
love and respect in return. Like many in Israel they too want
peace and security and hope for the future, so I have discovered
the evil in some Israelis is similar to the evil amongst some
Arabs. It brings the same results of suffering, pain and a seeking
of revenge, which only perpetuates the evil. Today I am asking
all involved to change, for if they do not, then surely only worse
disasters lay ahead.

“To those in Israel I ask you to think about the future. How it
will be impossible in the long run for you to continue to subdue
your Arab neighbors. One day they will have weapons of mass
destruction, which, if used, will cause another holocaust. I ask
all Arabs to think how you want the future to be for your chil-
dren and their children. If this path of violence is not ended,
one day, yes, you may have the power to destroy Israel but they
too will have the power to destroy you. There will be no winners;
all will lose. It may be your children losing their lives and isn’t
that too high a price to pay?
“I implore those people on both sides and those who support
both sides, to think of peace, a just peace, an equal peace and
a true peace. Now is the time for the good people to make their
voices heard. Voices demanding peace, not war, voices demand-
ing equality not oppression, voices demanding love, not hate.
Today the future of this region is in your hands. Let us try to

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 Salaam Shalom 160

make it a good future where Christian, Jew and Muslim can live
together, secure in the peaceful love of God.”
He finished speaking and remained silent for a moment looking
directly into the cameras and then said, “Let us pray that God’s
will be done.”

There was silence from the crowd and the reporters until some-
one began to clap and then the whole crowd joined in. One of
the news reporters held her hand up to ask a question so with a
few hand signals John asked the crowd to be quiet.
“You have a question?” he asked.
“Yes, I would like to know how you were treated badly by the
security forces when you were shot and how bad the injury was?”
asked the woman in an American accent.
“First, let me say I forgive, by the grace of God, anyone whether
Arab or Jew who has treated me badly. I also encourage all peo-
ple to do the same, for without forgiveness there is little hope
for the future.”
As he said the last word he felt a thud on the left side of his chest.
It felt like a horse had kicked him. He looked down to see blood
coming from a small hole in his shirt, then as if in slow motion,
he looked up and saw a rifle and a man on the roof of a building
opposite. Now it was as if John was there on that roof and he
could see it was Shlomo looking down the telescopic sights and
behind him was the evil angel shrieking, “Kill him! Kill him!”
Suddenly John was back in front of the hospital looking up
at the rifleman. He knew Shlomo was looking down the sight
directly at him and with the strength of the love he felt inside,
John called out loud, “I forgive you in the name of Jesus Christ.”
On the roof Shlomo said out loud to himself, “Goodbye holy
man,” and pulled the trigger.
The bullet hit John in the middle of his chest and knocked him
back into the arms of his father and mother. Both were in shock
as their son fell into their arms.
“Son! Son!” called the father, while the mother screamed, “Get a
doctor!”

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 161 Chapter 18

Fr. Emile knelt down beside them and began to bless John while
Michael and Raphael kept the reporters back.
As John looked at those around him his vision began to fade so
he squeezed his father and mother’s arms.
She was sobbing, “Oh John, oh John.”
“Fr. Emile, please hear my confession,” whispered the dying man,
so the priest put his ear to John’s mouth and listened to his
words, then gave him absolution.
The doctor arrived and as he did, John said weakly, “It’s too late.
Oh Lord Jesus, forgive him,” he prayed for Shlomo with his last
words.
Now for John it was complete darkness until he saw a bright
light getting brighter and brighter. He was then with the Lord
Jesus in His arms being loved and being embraced. All around
were angels. He had seen many of them before and there too
was Anna smiling at him with her arms open wide. The Lord
Jesus said, “Welcome home, My friend.”
Outside the hospital John’s blood was pouring on the ground
from his wounds and from his open mouth. The cameras were
again flashing, hoping to catch a picture of the dead man. Upon
the roof Shlomo had gone but he had left behind him a green
headband which he hoped would throw the blame elsewhere.
The evil angel was smiling saying; “It is finished.”
Unknown to the evil one was the effect the killing of John was
having on the millions who had watched it. Around the world
many people were crying and their hearts were opening in sor-
row, an opening through which the Holy Spirit entered. Many
made vows to God to stand up and demand peace. This was the
beginning of many movements that would demand peace and
would not give in until they achieved it.
At the hospital, as the attendants came to remove John’s body,
Fr. Emile looked down at the blood on the ground and said,
“The blood of a martyr. It will bring good fruit…the fruit of
peace!”

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 Books available from:

USA Alan Ames Ministry

P.O. Box 200
Kellogg
Minnesotta 55945

Phone: 507 767 3027

www.alanames.org

Australia Touch of Heaven

(Alan Ames Ministry)
P.O. Box 85
Wembley, 6014
West Australia

Phone: 61 89 275 6608

Fax: 61 89 382 4392
www.alanames.ws
toheaven@iinet.net.au

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