This reflection is my attempt to clarify for me what I can do from Fort Wayne, through the YMCA, as a Christian, for my friends, strangers and “enemies” in the Holy Land. If it resonates with you as well, may God take what we offer up in our spirit and make of it what He will for our brothers and sisters in the city where Christ Jesus our Lord loved, was crucified, buried but then resurrected on the third day: “I am the way of resurrection, the truth of love, the life that suffers.”
1 Way: Be for “your people” – be in solidarity with those you know in the Holy Land (realizing everyone there is suffering).
By “your people” I’m also stating the obvious: If you are Jewish, be for all your people who suffer in the Holy Land, if you are Christian, be for all the Christians who suffer in the Holy Land, if you are Muslim, be for all the Muslims who suffer in the Holy Land, if you are Secular, be for all who are Secular and suffering in the Holy Land.
This is not a negation of being for others, but it takes serious being for “one another” in your spiritual family as a necessary step of integrity and credibility to being for neighbors, strangers and “enemies.”
Way 2: Be for a nonviolent resistance to evil as a response to vengeful violence in the Holy Land.
We know scientifically, sociologically, anthropologically, militaristicly, religiously, spiritually, economically, humanly, etc. that retributive violence ALWAYS begets more violence, it ALWAYS foments antagonisms, it ALWAYS breeds revenge.
As we have learned from Jesus of Nazareth and a few other brave historical souls, being “for” your enemy, for their “transformation” unto love, that they might ultimately be saved from the darkness of injustice and brought into the light of peace also rescues your own soul from the corruption of violence.
Way 3. Be for listening to the cries of injustice, to the pleas of mercy, to the begging for peace and let it upset your soul.
Let it disrupt your spirit, let it break your heart, let it stir your mind to seeking understanding, let it motivate you to get wisdom instead of numbing yourself to the horror, instead of tuning it out and turning away indifferently or out of fear.
Hear with your heart. Keep your eyes open to reality, stand firm in the truth, be brave and and strong for those around you who suffer. Let love be your motive for listening, seeing, standing, and understanding.
Be willing to accept and experience the sorrow that comes with knowledge, be willing to keep listening and going forward in wisdom even though the grief becomes heavier.
Way 4: Be for a vision of flourishing for all that takes geography, religion, culture, politics, power, love, the sacred, history, hurts, memories, dignity, honor, hope seriously.
What’s it look like for complicated realities to live in harmony amongst the most holy place on Earth? It’s not for the weak in spirit or faint of heart. Only the most wise and courageous would attempt to lean into this envisioning of an alternate reality that has existed for the briefest of moments in world history.
There are many Jews, Christians, Muslims, Secular and more striving for a vision of flourishing for all. Join one. Or several.
Consider joining the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne as we walk towards a future with the Jerusalem International YMCA, East Jerusalem YMCA, Nazareth YMCA, Gaza YMCA – a flourishing future we can barely see, like through a darkened glass, but a future we yearn for sustained by faith, hope and love.
Way 5: Forgive those who sin against you in Fort Wayne, in Indiana, in the USA.
Without real and raw experiences in the gritty work of forgiveness, what wisdom will you have for global work of truth and reconciliation?
If you are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Secular, look to your wisest of leaders who teach with the most credibility on overcoming evil with good, of atoning for sins with love, for acting justly with compassionate mercy and humility before the Divine.
Within the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament are enduring and searing experiences regarding forgiveness and the pain of humanity, our cries to God, and our caring prayers for one another. The way of forgiveness is radical, it is grounded in fundamental realities of humanity; it is often the stone over which we stumble, but if we look up, and see the Light of Love, He can become a cornerstone with us for building a new way forward.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.”
A Psalm of David, 22:1-2 NIV
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
the Prophet Isaiah, 61:1-3 NIV
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
The Gospel according to the beloved apostle John, 1:1-5 NIV
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
the apostle Paul’s letter to the Christian church of the Colossians, 1:9-14 NIV
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Letter from James, brother of Jesus, and Bishop of the Jerusalem church, 1:22-27 NIV
