Max and Brooke Stoneman are putting me up for the week in their study, with its window overlooking the Old City. They are an amazing young couple. Brooke is one of the most creative and artistic people I have ever met. An artist and writer, she is now learning the skill of book binding from one of the finest old masters in Jerusalem.
Max is one of the most brilliant people I have ever known, but he carries his intellect lightly behind a sunny, gregarious exterior. He has recently passed the Foreign Service exam and will complete his training in Washington D.C. this fall. Then, the adventures just begin for this special young couple.
In the living room of their apartment in Jerusalem I found a framed poem written by my sister, Ruth, who is Max's mother. It expresses a mother's prayer for the safety of her children half a world away:
Prayer
our treasure lives afar
across the world
in the great city
of gate
and wall
and tower
our children there
in youth and beauty live
shining a singular light
on the ancient land
Lord
bless their days
guard their feet
multiply joys
and sustain them
with thy peace
and let our love
be given wings
to cross the world
and hover near them
in the evening breeze
Mom
August 2009
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