Praying for peace, justice, and healing in the Middle East can seem like a drop in a bucket. This opening of a prayer for healing come to mind: "Sometimes, heavenly Father, the answer has to be 'I don't know.'" I don't know why such unjust systems persist. I don't know why peaceful demonstrations end in violence.
I do know there is HOPE. Each person who prays, who stands for justice, who works for peace, is another ripple that can grow into a wave. Again and again I'm inspired by stories of people who have chosen to take a peaceful stand against injustice, by sitting in a city square or by refusing to use force. I want to join my prayers to these ripples widening in the Middle East.
Sometimes creativity helps me find a different space in which to reflect and pray - this is a quilt created several years ago as God grew the reality of hope within me, helping me to continue to pray and work, even in the midst of a challenging situation.
Is there a country or person or mission in the Middle East that God has laid upon your heart? How do you find the space to pray even when overwhelmed? Can we pray in hope?
3 comments:
An Arab from Gaza and a self-confessed member of Hamas once asked me, “How can we have peace?” I though it was a strange question coming from a terrorist. When I asked him if he was ready to recognize Israel's right to exist, he answered, “There is no such country as 'Israel'; there is only Palestine, my country.” That's why negotiating peace with Hamas is a fool's errand. In this man’s mind, Israel’s right to exist is not an issue because there is no Israel; there is just a large, well-armed group of space-occupying Jewish squatters, who deserve death. Furthermore, every U.S. president keeps saying the same mantra, “They [Palestinian Authority] must recognize Israel’s right to exist.” Correction; they must first recognize that Israel exists. Actually, somebody forgot to tell all of the politicians that we Jews don’t need their permission to exist as a nation; G-d gave that to us at Mount Sinai.
Jonah thought going to Nineveh was a fool's errand too.
Peace is always worth looking foolish for.
How do we begin to see people around us not by labels, but as human? And what can happen when we can start seeing the image of God even in unlikely places? This has given me food for thought.....
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