From The Restory - Conversations On The Journey (81)

 

Israel/Gaza And Our Image Of God

The Conversation

Elements From The Conversation

If God Would Go On A Sick Leave:

A Prayer For Peace

Nowhere is there more prayer.

The Nuns at the Holy Sepulchre.

The faithful at Al Aqsa Mosque.

The worshippers at the Wall.

The call to prayer at dawn and dusk

Warbling from the citadels.

The church bells,

The Persian trills,

The passion spilled over texts

From every major/minor religious sect.

Nowhere is there more prayer than Jerusalem,

Thanks be to God, Hamdilala, Baruch Hashem.

And yet,

I'm starting to think that it's You and not them,

God, what's the point of prayer?

If there's nowhere where

There's more prayer,

And terror reigns

Then, Who's to blame?

If suddenly, without a whisper goodbye,

Jesus, Allah, Adonai,

The three men they admire most

All took the last train for the coast,

And the Moslems got up from their knees

And the Christians put down their rosaries

And the Jews stayed their hands from kissing

Their mezuzahs,

And everyone looked up,

And realized something's missing...

God is missing.

Stop the praying! No One's there,

They'd arrange a party to search everywhere.

They'd look for God

But there'd be no Presence

In Holy Books or stars and crescents

Or steeples and crosses.

People'd be at a loss,

Is He ever coming back?

They'd be so distraught,

Their searching for naught,

There'd be nothing on high

So they'd turn to on low,

There'd be nothing above

So they'd turn to below,

And they'd finally see there,

In the face of the other,

A semblance of sister,

The eyes of a brother,

They'd turn and they'd lean

Upon one another.

You see, every group can't believe that they're the ones chosen,

Every group can't believe that the Holy Land's owed them,

Sometimes faith in You, God,

Builds insurmountable walls,

And everyone falls.

Everyone falls.

How wise are the secularists for whom the dead aren't martyred

But, quite plainly, murdered...

This might sound like an absurd,

ungodly thing to say,

A truly heretical supplication to pray,

(I say this only out of the deepest respect)

But if for a few days, God, You'd just give it a rest,

If You'd take a sick leave and just go away

And let Israel work this out without You in the way,

God, for that kind of peace,

You're a small price to pay.

- Rabbi Zoë Klein Miles                                

~ ❖ ~

Love Is Bigger Than War

I can’t make the

world be peaceful 

I can’t stall tanks

from roaring down roads

I can’t prevent children 

from having to hide in bunkers 

I can’t keep a madman from 

creating heartbreaking headlines 

I can’t convince the news to 

stop turning war into a video game

I can’t silence the sound of bombs 

tearing neighborhoods apart

I can’t turn a guided missile 

into a bouquet of flowers

I can’t make a warmonger 

have an ounce of empathy 

I can’t convince diplomats  

to quit playing truth or dare

I can’t deflect a sniper’s bullet

from turning a wife into a widow

I can’t stave off a schoolyard being

reduced to ash and rubble 

I can’t do any of that 

   the only thing I can do

is love the next person I encounter

without any conditions or strings 

to love my neighbor 

so fearlessly that

it starts a ripple 

that stretches from

one horizon to the next 

I can’t force peace

on the world 

but I can become a force

of peace in the world 

because 

sometimes all it takes

is a single lit candle 

in the darkness 

to start a movement 

oh, Spirit,

let me be a candle 

of comfort in this world 

let me burn with peace

John Roedel                                          

Music

Another time, another war and a cellist being a candle of comfort in that world.

“And God's peace, which is far beyond human understanding, 

will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭(Good News)‬‬                    

Love.

George & Matilda