Explosion

Somewhere around 3 o'clock this afternoon, we heard a loud boom. To be honest, neither of us mentioned it to the other, though we noticed it. We live in a noisy area and, although it was a little out of the ordinary, we did not know what it was. We went to the store to get a couple of things. On our way back to the apartment, we noticed an emergency vehicle trying to get through the congested traffic. Again, this was nothing particularly unusual.

A short time later we found out that something out of the ordinary was going on after all. A U.S. embassy friend called us and told us that a bomb had exploded near a convention center and the central bus station, about two miles from where we live. It hit two buses and injured about 20 people. One of the buses is thought to be #74, one of the buses we frequently ride. Also, we see God's protective hand at work since we'd planned to go the Israel Museum this afternoon to purchase some items for Bill's mom and also go to the post office in Talpiot. The museum is rather near the site of the explosion. Bill kept putting off running the errands, doing things here at the school instead. This reminds me of my Purim post, in which we discovered that God's hand is not always visible. But. later, we can clearly see how He has been at work. We cannot say with certainty, but perhaps we would not have been in or near Bus #74. Either way, we are enormously grateful that God kept us here in a safe place during the explosion.

Now, the streets here are quieter than usual. Some shops are closed and traffic is light. People are no doubt staying at home, as we have been advised to do.