Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada Emerging Spirit @ The United Church of Canada

"At that time the disciples come to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

'If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.  Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling-block comes!'" --Matthew 18.1-6

The last time I wrote a blog was prior to my trip to Israel-Palestine with Christian Peacemaker Teams. To say that it seems a long time ago that I wrote those words or that the intervening days since my return have been full of challenge and reflection would be an understatement. With the recent escalation of violence and political double speak coming out of Israel and Gaza, it would be fair to say that my cynicism with our human institutions and endeavours has been fed well.

My initial reaction to all this, the questions and the back-and-forth ‘it's not us, it's them,' has been to simply punch someone with love! Yes - there you have it - I have been in a frame of mind as of late to simply shake my head in exasperation and put the smackdown on the use of words that lack any culpability or what seems like a disregard that children are dying!

Of course, being somewhat flip aside, I realise that punching someone really only perpetuates our collective addiction to violence as a solution to the problems which we have created ourselves. Let's face it, there is NO way that God, Creator of subatomic particles to shiny sundogs, of children's laughter and the glint of wisdom in an Elder's eye, has ANYTHING to do with our predilection toward self-annihilation. Now it could be glib, but the violence that occurs in Gaza, right now, is not only occurring in a foreign country, but in our homes and streets here in Canada. The oppressed people of Palestine, in my experience, want the same peace that Jewish parents in Tel Aviv, a grandmother in Winnipeg and an Uncle in Iqaluit does. Of course, our systems, our human processes and policies at institutional levels seem, paradoxically, opposed to enabling this desire.

I met with a lot of people during my time in the West Bank, with people from both sides of the apartheid-like system that is in place within Palestine and there were consistent things that I heard and experienced:

1. The first was Hope - obviously not at all satisfactory to my Western assumption of Despair;

2. In turn, there was a Hospitality that was phenomenal. In the midst of demolished homes and tents that would in no way hold back the cooler rainy season, tea flavoured with fresh mint and sugar, hummus and pita were served with joy;

3. I was asked to share what was happening, to tell stories entrusted to me;

4. That regardless of how long, 10, 25, 50 or 500 years there would be peace and all - Jew and Palestinian - could live in harmony as has occurred in the past;

5. No one seemed to trust their elected officials - there was an apathy. Whether it was with the Knesset in Israel, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank or Hamas in Gaza, people seemed not to trust the people who represented the institutions of governance; and

6. The children ... they were everywhere and everyone seemed to place them forward as the reason for peace.

As a Christian struggling with Discipleship one thing is most clear to me from the ministry that Jesus offer as a model - children are the gauge by which we measure the Kingdom to Come. If children suffer, if we block their development into recognising that they are God's Beloved, that we are God's entrusted Stewards, then we are failing. As long as children die, from poverty or violence anywhere in the world, not only do I believe that God weeps, I believe we stand in judgment in the truest sense.

So ... yep likely a wee bit too preachy ... but it is simple ... of course we like and are tempted by nuance and context, the whys and who's to blame ... distractions really, imo. But, as I take a breath, it is not the why or the history that matter, I met children in Israel and Palestine who are just as special and precious as my niece and nephews - children who demand of us care and peace. Our role as leaders in our communities is to recognise when they suffer and to take action to change the systems that cause suffering and not to perpetuate them. Until that radical message is heard, I believe that children will die and we all need to take a moment to reflect on our role in this system ...

And, in moments of darkness, I will remember the light of a Bedouin man, who showed us his demolished home and yet his face glowed as it was framed in a red keffiyeh with gratitude to simply share his story. In the sharing of the story, we were invited to listen and the blood flowed from my knee jerk smackdown reaction into my brain, into the creativity that comes when people pause to hear one another and now I share that moment with you, the Reader. We create the narrative and perhaps we might begin to write one where it is the children who are the plot and not the geo-political manoeuvring of a species always tempted with destruction, as opposed to creation.