The YMCA provides a unique lens through which to see the Holy Land.
Since 1878 Christian Y workers have been embodying their mission there, focusing on peace-making work in spirit, mind, and body.
In 1933 a building was finally constructed to give the Jerusalem International YMCA a permanent home from which to extend it’s influence and services to the wider community.
80+ years later, a lot has changed in the Holy Land.
Though James Michener helps put “change” in perspective in this sacred place, what’s transpired in the past couple of generations has its own unique element.
With the devastating tsunami of consequences from the Great War, to the horrific pogroms and holocaust of the Jews, and the shifting tectonic plates of nationalism in the last century, Jerusalem has become epicenter to peace and conflict in the modern world.
The Y has been deeply embedded in this storm and is positioned to strengthen opportunities for truth, justice, and reconciliation non-violently.
There is so much to look at in Jerusalem and the surrounding cities, towns, villages, and countryside. So much to see. Like everything, we get to choose how we see what we look at.
Everything is interpreted, it is given meaning, significance, relevance, value. We in part get to choose how we see what we see.
And because of the sacred nature of Jerusalem and the Holy Land to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, along with many others, there are many perspectives existing alongside each other; there are many ways to see the same sites and circumstances.
What does my Christian faith shape how I see Israel and Palestine?
What kind of lens does Christ make possible for me as I seek to understand what I can see there?
How do I “C” the land where Jesus was born, lived, gospeled, was crucified and raised up? I don’t pretend to have an easy answer – everything it seems is complicated in Jerusalem.
But am I aware of my assumptions, my biases, of what I don’t know that I don’t know, of what I may be a misunderstanding?
Thanks to emerging friendships and conversations, it’s slowly stumbling in that direction. I can be a dense, obtuse learner.
The YMCA offers a unique way to “C” the Holy Land due to its historical and organizational striving to put Christian principles into practice without delving into doctrinal differences.
The Paris Basis of the YMCA is a genius document that emphasizes imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the good news of his kingdom, and harmonious relationship for all who believe.
It allows different kinds of Christians to work together for peace, focusing on what we have in common, and building bridges over what we can’t agree upon.
This is important ecumenical Christian work that the Y offers, especially in light of the historical reality – that Christians are willing to kill each other over doctrinal and cultural divergences.
It matters in a place where people are willing to kill each other over beliefs about who ought to have the right to live and flourish in the Holy Land.
The YMCA is radically committed to non-violent practices that forge friendships in unlikely circumstances, not only among Christians but among those of all faiths or no faith. The Y isn’t the only organization striving to do this, thankfully.
When our OnPRINCIPLE YMCA group had its first tour stop on the Mount of Olives, it was a grey, bitterly cold, wet and windy morning. Miserable.
Shivering we looked over Jerusalem, seeing in the foreground ancient Jewish cemeteries. Our eyes were drawn to the aging walls surrounding the Old City, particularly the blocked up Golden Gate, which faces the east.
Behind it is the temple mount on which sit two sacred mosques. In the far background across the horizon are church steeples representing many different nations and traditions.
What did I see?
I saw a city beloved by three major world religions who all call Abraham father – yet a city whose streets have cruelly run with blood and tears from the children who have yet to found a way to live in peace here.
Like many, I see a city that yearns for peace but is unable to secure it.
I also see an opportunity to join in with my global neighbors to learn to love – in my case inspired and instructed by Jesus – to love not only those who love me back, but strangers and sojourners, and most importantly, our enemies.
On our way from the airport to our lodgings at the Y, we had to pull to the side of the road due to motion sickness from one of our fellow travelers.
We happened to stop at an entrance to a Palestinian village. I stunned by the guard tower, roadblocks, armed soldier, barbed wire, and a foreboding sign warning Israeli’s to avoid entering this dangerous area.
A stark reminder of the violent reality that infects the foundations of society in the Holy Land.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Either we can see those military outposts and accept the status quo, or we can “C” another way to build towers of hope that beckon enemies to reconcile and become friends.
That’s what I want to “C” in the Holy Land via the YMCA.
