Today's blog is a repost from three years ago. Today is the yartzeit of a dear Sister~ Kristine Luken. We want to honor her memory and not forget her life of love for God and the Jewish people.
As
I sit here at the computer, making my 5th attempt to write today's
blog, I realize that sometimes there just are no words. There is no
precise way to express the deluge of thought and emotion. I will try,
with the understanding that all will be a feeble effort at best.
There
is a 'Honey' in the Land of Milk and Honey that is not always seen or
known to those who walk the streets. There is a sweetness that flavors
the atmosphere that is tasted and ingested but those who savor it may
not even know they have been a partaker of this hidden nourishment. As
in cooking, where the sweetner added is not the dominate taste but that
which takes the bitterness out of the finished result, so is this
'Honey' in the Land. Not known, seen or even fully appreciated, but ever
present none-the-less and doing its job to take some of the bitterness
away.
Now, hopefully, you are asking yourselves what is this 'Hidden Honey'.
The
'Hidden Honey' is the Righteous Gentile. There are those precious
Gentiles who have a love for Israel that defies logic. They pray for
Israel, not just because it is commanded in the Bible, but because they
are committed to the Land and its people. They spend most of their
waking hours working on behalf of the welfare of Israel. They invest
their time, finances, strength, lives for the betterment of the Jewish
people in the Land. They encourage others to love Israel. They speak to
their governments to support Israel. They make countless trips to visit
and if it were possible, they would give up everything to live here.
Their zeal over Zion could put many of we Jewish people to shame. They
are spoken of in Isaiah 49:
This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
To labor, without reward, on behalf of Israel. This is their call. This is their work. This is their joy.
Kristine
Luken was just such a Righteous Gentile. Her heart was alive with
passion for the Land and for the Jewish people. Her prayers and labors
have been a Honey that have sweetened this country in ways that we enjoy
but are not aware of. This past Shabbat, while hiking the hills
outside Jerusalem with an Israeli friend, Kristine's life was taken from
her. She was brutally attacked and murdered. Her crime? The terrorists
thought she was Jewish. Her friend barely survived. Dear Kristine, who
identified with Israel in life, ended up identifying with Israel in
death. She will be greatly missed by all her family and friends. But we
believe that the sweetness of the Honey of her life will continue to
flow in this Land of Milk and Honey.
