Amidst the Ruins

Amidst the Ruins

Yesterday the city fell. The siege had been going on for months. Three weeks ago the enemy breached the walls. A lone voice here and there, an occasional street preacher, tried to warn the people, but to no avail. Prophets may be honored but not in their own country. Life in the teeming city continued as always. People ate and slept, bought and sold, and quarreled as usual, blaming each other as the enemy's grip tightened.

But defeat, destruction, captivity, exile? It couldn't happen here. Yesterday it did. Before the sunset, the city was a ruin, the Temple aflame....