Because the young men and women of the Israeli Defense Force are at their positions in the south, we can continue traveling around, showing Tim's mother the places in this country that excite and intrigue us. Not far away, there's an armed conflict concentrated in a small area of land, and we are safe in Jerusalem and able to get in our rental car this morning and take a drive up to the Galilee. Gert and I will be at the airport the day after tomorrow, boarding passes in hand, and fly our way out of this beautiful land that has such a long and complex history. We'll fly our way out of this terrible conflict back to watching from halfway around the world. It is not lost on me that I have a country to go to, a big one, and a passport that says it's my country and that I have a place there. I want everyone here to have that - the Jewish people and the Palestinian people, both of whom have long histories in this place.

I won't be so presumptuous as to pretend I have the answer. I try to listen. I listened to the Arab taxi driver who drove us to pick up Tim's mom from the airport. I followed the direction of his hand as he pointed out the new apartments that had been constructed and listened to him tell of the phone call he received two years ago from his brother telling him to hurry home. There was heavy equipment arriving to take down their apartment building.

I listened to the young Israeli server today at the cafe where I am sipping tea. With head bent low to hide his emotion he told of his friends who are in the Israeli Defense Force near Gaza. It's mandatory for all young men and women to serve in the military so everyone knows someone who is at risk. A friend, a brother, a daughter - defense in Israel is an extremely personal issue for everyone. We see them at checkpoints when we travel or at more sensitive sites such as the Temple Mount. They always strike me as being young. So vibrant with their lives ahead of them. May they have long lives.

I listen to the Jewish people I've struck up conversations with who inevitably have a connection to the Holocaust that wiped out 6 million Jews during World War II. They or their family members escaped the horror and came here with the hope that in coming back to the homeland of their ancestors and making a go of it, their children would not face what their parents or grandparents faced in gas  chambers or firing squads. They need this land. Some proudly tell of being born in this land as countless generations of their family have been.

The conflict is complicated and it's more than headlines. It's people. It hurts.

I listen, hope, and pray.