Saturday, November 3, 2012

Bookends: It's Easier to Reach Heaven, Than the End of the Street by Emma Williams


We all have them. Barriers. No go zones. Barriers never brought me any peace.

Between us and God, is the chasm. The abyss of never ending aloneness. I cross the barrier, the chasm, through the Cross of Christ.

If we believe the Word of God to be infallible and inerrant, what does it say to us today about, “The Situation"? Can I, as a Christian, stand with Israel and still stand with Palestine? I believe, I must. Can I as a believer recognize the covenant role God extended to Israel and still live the words of Jesus in the Gospels, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”

In It's Easier to Reach Heaven, Than the End of the Street, A Jerusalem Memoir by Emma Williams shook me awake to the realities of a conflict I have been largely unaware of and neglectfully ignorant to. A conflict I have little capability to fathom, but a spiritual responsibility to understand. I am woefully ignorant on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, but I also know it is my conflict. A conflict that lies within the heart of every human.

Jesus said, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” I remember a moment many years ago in which the reality of the color scheme of heaven sank in. I got it. I understood. Heaven would not be what I imagined and I would not hold the place in it, I previously imagined I would. Things were going to be radically different. The true reality I see only dimly will one day become reality. What does that mean for how I live today?

Can any one of you think of a nation – or even an individual for that matter – that has ever become more moderate as a result of being starved? Could anyone really imagine that a people who have suffered so much, as we all agree those in Gaza have, will become less angry, or less extreme, after being deliberately made hungry by the same people they attribute their suffering to? (page 363) Jesus said, Love your neighbor as yourself.”  How does this apply to you and I?

Of course everyone wants peace. But before peace can come we need justice. There can be no peace without justice....The Israeli government is not yet willing to recognize that the Palestinians are here to stay. It's carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing, and is unwilling to look within, to realize there's a problem inside Israeli society. As long as the US supports this, it is ironically, giving support for the destruction of Israel – and the Israeli lobby is certainly not to the benefit of Israelis. (page 367) These are really difficult worlds to swallow, but what if Williams is right? What if the very existence of beloved Israel is threatened by US policy that ignores the basic human rights and needs of the Palestinians, also children of God?

It was not until I had children, that I came to appreciate the earth shaking that happens at the playground. Playgrounds are places for powerful healing. Future leaders sift sand, swing, and slide together. Hope can be mined on playgrounds. It is palatable and present. We must not label one child a child of the covenant and another the child of a terrorist. God forgive us. Set us free.

We are to be people of peace. We must fight for peace, not with human hands, but through the Holy Spirit. We are to stand with those who cannot stand for themselves and through Christ we are called to be living bridges bringing people together. Promoting peace. Speaking peace. Voting peace. Praying peace. Giving to peace.

Emma Williams book, first printed in the US in 2010, is a must read for those seeking to understand the “Situation”. She genuinely represents both sides with a perspective towards understanding that seeks to promote peace. I desire to judge neither my Israeli brother, nor my Palestinian brother. I am only now beginning to learn what I need to learn. We are all part of humanity. All are God's children. I am responsible for what I believe.

Looking forward to watching this film when it comes off limited-release. 

The Other Son by Cohen Films

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