Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

September 1, 2010

Beirut was once called the ?Paris of the Mediterranean.? After 35 years of foreign invasions and intermittent civil war, Beirut now conjures images of bloodshed and tragedy.

An Arab-ruled country of about 4 million people living in an area roughly the size of Los Angeles County, Lebanon has a Jewish population of roughly 500 people.

In the summer of 2006, the Israeli military launched an assault on Beirut that was described as retaliation for rocket attacks by the terrorist group Hezbollah. Thousands of Lebanese were killed, and over 1,000,000 displaced.

When Lebanon ? which suffered terribly because of the Israeli invasion -- began to rebuild Beirut two years later, it gave high priority to repairing and renovating the city?s sole synagogue, located right in the middle of its own ?Ground Zero.? The house of worship, ironically, had been bombed by Israeli pilots during the 2006 war.

In times like these, we should take hope wherever we find it.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.