20 june 09 – bethlehem (church of the nativity, the international centre of bethlehem, kando)
a stone for a pillow…as hard as my head.
awakening abruptly to the thoughts still swirling around in my mind, wondering how it is possible to follow a day like the day before.
full of coffee and croissants, boarding the bus for the five mile drive south…to bethlehem.
o little town of bethlehem.
the birthplace of our Lord.
an occupied city…on the west bank.
the separation wall almost complete…concrete blinders to and from the outside world.
security check points on our way in.
first stop…the church of the nativity…to touch the stone upon which Jesus was born…to see the stone manger where he was laid…to see the veneration of generations, and the ravages of time and war…the imprints of centuries of worship and days of destruction, as recently as the siege of bethlehem by israel in 2002.
stones of history…stones of honour…stones of hatred.
walking through the heart of bethlehem…signs for the bethlehem peace centre, and graffiti calling young men to take up arms to fight for justice…tradition in tension with today…hope seems to sink deeper and deeper as we climb higher and higher.
next stop…the international centre of bethlehem (http://www.annadwa.org/en/)…part of the multi-faceted work of the diyar consortium (http://www.diyar-consortium.org/), a lutheran umbrella group that seeks to provide palestinians of all ages with opportunities to learn and grow more into people who embody hope rather than despair, who choose peace over violence and life over death…
angie saba, communications coordinator for diyar, breezes into a dark room like a blinding ray of sunshine, breathing new life into our weary and troubled spirits like a cool, healing breeze…
she shows us a college started in an old church building for aspiring artists and documentary filmmakers, two creative tools that can be used for positive communication and change…an authentic tourism program, training young people to be tour guides and embody a vision of palestinian life and culture more true to its source, rather than merely perpetuating the images of violence and hatred portrayed in the media…an art exhibit by nagham, a young palestinian woman, featuring photographs like these with the following captions…
writing love poems...
...by the grace of the Wind
a pottery studio where another young artist has taken shards of broken glass from buildings bombed during the siege (including one of the buildings at the centre) and used them to create stained glass angels, crosses, doves…beautiful icons of peace arising out of the horrors of violent conflict.
the vision of the centre is to creatively, honestly and peacefully incarnate the reality of Christ, the One who came to give life to all…life in abundance…so that ALL people might be reconciled…to God, and one to another…in peace.
stones of honesty…stones of help…stones of hope.
living stones.
making our way through the city…and out of the city.
the separation wall once again…
expressions of rage and frustration...
pleas for peace and reconciliation...
stones of rumination…stones of repression…stones of ruin.
and yet…within that stone wall…there are also stones of remorse…stones of renewal…stones of rebirth…reformation…reconciliation.
living stones.
security check points on the way out.
emotional check points ever since…
- in what ways is my faith simply a cognitive exercise, remembering all the ‘right’ things to believe and holding onto my way of understanding God as the only ‘right’ way?
- how has my connection with Christ been more straightjacketed by rituals as a religion rather than nourished by life experiences as a relationship?
- to what extent do i live my life oblivious to the pain and suffering of sisters and brothers half way around the world in war-torn regions, or right around the corner in my own neighborhood?
- and how much longer will i live deafened to the cries of those living under the weight of injustice, blinded to the sights of children, women, men, families driven from their homes and forced to survive in sub-human conditions, desensitized by my own comfort, distracted by meaningless trivia, deadened by my own conviction that these may be tragic problems…but they’re not my problem?
reflecting at the end of the day, there’s only one place to go…
back to the wailing wall.
back to the stones.
and i cry out once again for Salaam Shalom for all the world.
but i also cry tears of joy and thankfulness for the hope i’ve witnessed in the midst of despair…the light i have seen shining in the darkness…the life i have seen and felt in places that more often than not emanate the presence of death.
i pray into the stones.
and i thank the just and merciful, righteous and loving Stone of salvation…
for living stones.
salaam shalom of Christ to you all,
brian