A Walk in Jerusalem. John Peterson

      “I thank God for Jewish friends who boldly tell their fellow Jews that the Palestinians deserve the same identity, security, dignity, and homeland that they themselves deserve; and for Palestinian friends who recognize the horrors of the Holocaust and steadfastly seek a balance of the two kinds of justice the two peoples each need, knowing perfectly well that this will mean real sacrifices on their part.”

      The longer Gilbert stayed in Jerusalem, during those ten years at St. George's College, the more difficult he found it to pray. “This is difficult to describe because it was so unexpected, but I have come to think that it has much to do with the history of Jerusalem, and not least with the fact that it was here that Jesus was crucified: the cosmic conflict that raged around the cross seems to have raged in this city throughout all generations, and no less so today. Those who try to pray here find themselves caught up in that conflict: ‘I thirst;’ ‘My God, why have you abandoned me?,’ ‘Father, forgive…’”

      I dedicate this book to Gilbert in part because he wrote its liturgies, which we used every time we did the Stations of the Cross during my whole tenure as Dean of St. George's College from 1983 through 1994. I also dedicate it to him because it was Gilbert who instilled in me a deep love for the Stations of the Cross and a passion for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.