What are We Doing?

I mentioned in my previous blog - http://voices-magazine.blogspot.com/2011/09/it-depends-on-who-you-talk-to.html - that my town is packed this week with reporters from all over the world, asking, "What are you doing about the UN vote on Palestinian admission to the UN?" "What will you do if the UN declares a Palestinian State?" "How are you reacting to the current political crisis in the Middle East?"
Well, this morning, I spoke to a few friends that said, "Things are very weird here. Everything is normal."
All the world is debating whether there should be a Palestinian State and things here are normal. Mothers are taking their children to school. Children are going to their extra-curricular activities in the afternoon. Youth groups are having get-togethers about the upcoming holidays. Folks are going to work, and to the mall, and out to dinner.
No, they're not burying their heads in the sand. But we live in a place of crisis. Every day there's another emergency, more hysteria, threats, pronouncements.
Should we stop our lives or go out and demonstrate every time the PA's leader Mahmoud Abbas says that our latest statement is a declaration of war? Should we pull out the children from school and hide at home whenever there's a threat of Arab rioting? We'll never leave the house.
We the Jewish People are people of faith. We realize the danger around us, we take proper precautions but we put out faith in Hashem, the G-d who gave us this blessed land, and we continue on with our regular lives.
As believing Jews we know that nations come and go, in fact, nations rise up again the Jewish nation in every generation. And every nation disappears just like a puff of smoke, but the Jewish people continue on, B"H. The immortal American author Mark Twain put it very well, "The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then . . . passed away. The Greek and the Roman followed. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts. … All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains."
Don't worry. We see the news (as annoying as it is) and we are cautious, but instead of panicking yet again, we prefer to raise our children, tend to our families, put in a serious day's work, and cement our friendships with coffee and charity projects we can do together. We're not "in the game" for the moment, but for eternity.
So, what are we doing? We are doing what we have done for thousands of years. We are living our lives, loving our friends and family, and trying to make a positive contribution to our community and our nation, while waiting for the Messiah to bring true peace to the world and we're praying that day come soon.