Re-Entry

It is finished.

My colleagues in the initiative have (for the most part) all returned to their home countries, families and jobs. We have begun the task of unpacking, giving gifts to loved ones and appreciating the many blessings of our lives. We are putting together advocacy plans even as we take a deep breath and try to get the knots out of our backs from all the stress.

We were told during training that these people we spent so much time with would become good friends. Thanks to social media, goodbye doesn't have to mean what it once did. As long as we continue to stay connected by the tether of electronics we will be able to keep in touch over the miles. For this, I am most grateful.

We did it. I say "we" because the past three months of sabbatical have definitely been a team effort.

My family stood by my decision to live in a conflict zone and accompany people who don't really have a choice in the matter when it comes to security. Yes, there were dangerous moments, which is a burden I'd rather my loved ones not have to carry. On the hard days (and the easy ones) staying connected to family and friends helped me turn from despair towards hope.

I owe my husband Clark a deep debt of gratitude. He supported my decision to live in Israel/Palestine and reminded me that what I was doing was important. I appreciate my mom for listening and letting me authentically be who I am. She let me name my fears and reminded me that I am called to be brave.  My children, Cady and Zack, thrived beyond my wildest expectations - despite the occasional stresses in their lives.

And finally, the church. What can be said about a community that commits to wrapping me in prayer AND feeds my loved ones fresh, delicious homemade dinners a couple of times a week? If food is love, it is crystal clear that we are cared for and I am most grateful.

Sabbatical is supposed to be a time when lay leadership of the church is "handed back the reins", and I hope to find out more soon about how that all went for them. And I hope that the deep joy I have seen from our teens and their advisers on creating Youth Sunday this year without me will be a lasting reminder of their strength and spirituality. You did it, too!

My focus in the next month or so will be to reconnect with our elders, our lay leaders and those in crisis. Relationships are so important, and separation is really hard. Give a hug to someone close to you today. Remember the people of Israel and Palestine who are working towards a just peace and end to conflict. Commit to non-violence today in word and action, Refuse to be enemies.

Palestinian Christians - A minority among the minority

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10
There has been a lot of rain in Jerusalem these past few days, but our team has been keeping busy with visits to communities, making appointments with NGO's, standing at checkpoints, responding to demolitions, doing schools runs and walks around the Old City. As I expected, my time here holds moments of joy (like when a Palestinian child smiles and asks where I'm from) and deep sorrow (like seeing the rubble of a family home destroyed with a demotion order).

Not a picture of the coffee I was given,
but it was made with as much care as this one

This morning, as my Norwegian friend and I walked through the old city doing our best to dodge raindrops, we were invited in to a small cafe'. Since I craved a cup of American (filtered) coffee, we accepted. The shopkeeper spoke excellent English as he asked me what my views were on Donald Trump, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just yesterday. We had a lively political discussion, on the whole, Palestinians are quite well informed about the American political scene.

I noticed a large poster of the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, and we got to talking about faith. My new friend claims to be the only Palestinian (Arab) shopkeeper in the Muslim Quarter. When we finished, the shopkeeper said "God bless you", and it warmed my heart as much as his coffee had.

Today, Christians make up just 1% of the population of the Palestinian territories; in 1920 (the beginning of the British Mandate), they were at 10%. In the land where Jesus lived, there is a strong concern that a dwindling Christian population is turning churches from places of worship into museums. Furthermore, when international Christian pilgrims visit the places of Christ's birth, death and resurrection, they find the Holy Land and its people divided by a concrete wall.

Christians kissing the anointing stone
at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

In the United States, many Christians are reticent to criticize the Israeli government for fear of being labelled an anti-Semite. Others see support for Israeli security policies as the only way to defend against the incursion of a regional Islamic State. What they may not know, unless they spent time here, is that there is a shared Arab identity and solidarity between many (if not most) Muslims and Christians living in the Occupied Territories. As our director has said, "Sure we can live together in peace, why not?"

I believe that these preconceptions often obscure the reality that Muslims, Christians and other religious minorities in Israel/Palestine have valid concerns and legitimate human rights grievances. By ignoring the plight of their Palestinian coreligionists, American Christians both misunderstand the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and miss out on an opportunity to live out the message of peace that Jesus gave to this world.

I am very interested in learning how the Christians who remain in the Holy Land deal with the stresses of occupation, and I hope that I will be able to spend some time visiting churches and Christian organizations. What is the wider Christian Church’s responsibility to help our brothers and sisters achieve a just peace in Palestine? Where can hope be found?

The Elephant and the Blind Men

Once upon a time, there were six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today!" Blind since birth, they had no idea what an elephant was. They decided that even if they couldn't see it with their own eyes, they would go and touch the animal. So all of them went, and all of them touched.

"Hey, the elephant is a pillar!" said the first man, who touched the leg.
"Oh, no! It is like a rope." said the second man, who touched the tail.
"You are wrong! It is like the thick branch of a tree!" said the third man, who touched the trunk.
"It is like a big hand fan!" said the fourth man, who touched the ear.
"You are wrong! It is like a huge wall!" said the fifth man, who touched the side.
"No, no, it is like a solid pipe!" said the sixth man, who touched the tusk of the elephant.

And so, they continued to argue and became quite agitated with each other. Eventually, each one stormed off in another direction, unwilling to speak about it any further. Ultimately, none of the men were able to understand the bigger picture, they all approached the animal from their own perspective and became stuck thinking that their story was the only true one.

I'm not here to arbitrate who is right and who is wrong in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. My role is to listen and learn from the people directly affected. I'll try to see the big picture, and not get stuck on what I believe to be true. There are grievances on every side. As I'm walking alongside these people in this "Holy Land full of holes" I'll do my best to avoid generalizations, remembering there are many perspectives within the dysfunctional family of Abraham. At this moment, we are all blind. So let's continue down this less traveled road of non-violence together, helping one another along the way. The situation may not be easy, but it's not impossible.

Peace - Shalom - Salaam