THE VIOLET ROSE

(Or... On loving your neighbor as yourself...)

Once upon a time in a land not so far away there lived a little girl named Rose who had a beautiful rose garden. The little girl loved her garden and all the roses in it. Whenever she needed to get away from the trouble that little girls sometimes have, Rose would walk through her garden, fondly touch the roses and blissfully breathe in their fragrance.

A few years back, I had the opportunity to deliver my standard presentation on Jihad to a Greek Orthodox Sunday school class. Towards the end of the presentation, I started fielding questions. A few of the ladies in the class were really interested in the role of the Middle East in fulfilling Biblical prophecy. I was taken aback by the questions. I knew the ladies were cradle Orthodox, but the tone and content of the questions betrayed both a knowledge of, and a belief in, the Dispensationalist view of the ‘End Times.'