Stromata

Fresh veg for sale

 The skies remain overcast and it's chilly indoors. We're hoping more rain would fall. It would be more wintry if it does. Still the bedouin women come to sell their vegetables at Damascus Gate. Prices have gone up all round as the shekel becomes stronger over the dollar. In a 20 year low, US$1 is now 3 shekels when usually it's 3.5. It's not worth changing USD to shekels now. And the cost of living keeps going up. The pandemic lockdowns have ruined many people's livelihood and now as the cost of living shoots up, it will drive many to desperation. 

Christ the King
tabernacle in our
chapel

The end of the liturgical year was marked by the feast of Christ the King last Sunday. That's a special feast for us because our chapel commemorates the Crowning of Thorns and the mockery of the soldiers when Christ was made to dress as a king. Historically it took place someone around our monastery compound. So it's very significant for us. While the rest of the world celebrates feastdays in the abstract, here we do it on the actual spots.

Meantime the govt is ramping up aggression against Iran's nuclear programme. Not sure if it'll lead to a major war. The arab states around Israel are already in good terms with Israel, so a war with Iran would be regional. I doubt Iran will want to risk several states attacking it. But it might get its proxies in Lebanon to create trouble. I'm no political analyst but I've lived through several wars ... and I can tell you no one wins. Innocent people will suffer. May Christ the King reign and bring peace to our region.