I am tired of starving children in wars That we can help in cutting aid in efficiencies that cost humanity
I am angry at blatant misuse abuses of power lies and misleadings with little follow up or repercussions finger wagging and learning from these politicians for what
I am bitter from throwing people under the bus the Trans the Disabled the Women the Poor
I am working to do what I can when I can To remember that it all counts
Probably not int he ways I want Or can see
Dang it
If God could move Things in percievable concrete and faster ways we would Appreciate it quick
And quicker If you please Our minds and hearts and souls are fainting for it
So we wait Impatiently
Together
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta aka “KatyandtheWord”
A reflection on the ongoing violence in Gaza, CW: war, death violence against children
God I hear her in the middle of the night
Sometimes when my children run around the house in their ruckus game of Hide and Seek (which I do not tell them they are too old for) their teenage feet sound like hippos With the hunger to go with it a trail of crumbs going up and down the steps
I do not yell at them for the noise the chaos the mess
I hear Rachel weeping All the way from Gaza it is a whispered choking sound
Her snuffling lament It sounds both angry and full of hurt
And I can hear it all too often echoing across the oceans
Rachel is weeping for her children
She refuses all comfort I see her pacing Unable to eat or sleep because her children are buried under rubble or blown to pieces
Her children who were scrounging for food and licking the rain off of gutters Her children who she packed up in the middle of the night
First to travel to one part of the world and then another In the bitter cold In hats and gloves knitted by an old Auntie, who unrolled all the wool they had Just to cover the children
And then in a blink of violence
Rachel’s children are gone And sometimes her eyes play tricks on her And she thinks that she sees them Out of the corner of her eye or in the line marching towards a border Blocked by soldiers Even as her heart beats
They are gone They are lost I can’t find them
Rachel weeps the tears flow so that she does not notice them any longer she does not notice…
Jeremiah 31:15 Thus says the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.
Picture of the wall written on by these students, which is lovely because it gives a fuller story of the conflict which is complicated by the terrorist group Hamas who wanted this war, the corrupt governance of Netanyahu and the anti-semitism throughout the world that begs for a safe place for Jewish people to exist and be (and this summary does not even do the situation justice, however this poem expresses some of the pain of this moment) https://lisaschirch.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/rachel-is-weeping-at-the-separation-wall/
With thanks to Rev Kyle Delhagan and Presbyterian Women for finding the image
Longest Night Prayer Jesus, Sweet Baby Jesus Born in the midst of a collapsing empire Hidden in plain sight from everything and everyone official
When different factions of the religion were all claiming to be the “truer” one Each saying if you don’t worship our way You don’t belong to God.
You were born when a Messiah Seemed to be around every corner Lamps were left on at night and demagogues and dynamic cult leaders Were followed at whim, because people needed hope
And the gulf between who was poor and who was rich The distinction between who was citizen and who was not The taste in one’s mouth when people called one another Foreigner, Outsider, or Different was sour and full of hate
Violence was everywhere Children, the Poor, The Elderly, The Lonely, the Sex Worker were Ignored or Forgotten Laws were passed against anyone deemed Unclean in any way (oh my Queer siblings!)
Jesus Christ, you were born in a time When no one was receiving proper healthcare So people banged down your door for a bit of healing
And my heart aches With the familiarity, you could be born today Is this why you have to be born into today’s world? Have we forgotten why we need you?
Sometimes I wonder if you haven’t returned Because we haven’t learned enough? Heretic thought I know But I sit in the hate and terror and worry Jesus
Jesus Christ, we need you. A baby A sneak king full of healing and mischevious teachings of Grace Jesus we need someone who will sit in the dirt with the marginal and embody the Peace so much that we will sit in the dirt with you.
Sweet baby Jesus, though I know we picture angels, shepherds, & magi I think that a baby born in the war-torn dark might be the truth Help us to sit with that, in the shortest day and longest night I pray.
Amen.
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta
Jesus Christ, I think it’s much easier to picture you in a stable, cozy among the hay– Then in the cave that they showed me in Palestine, where all the animals are stabled.
I remember, when I toured Bethlehem among the Christians hearing talk of building permits and dirt roads the lack of permits and that a lot of the fighting was really about water access “Is it like Syria?” I asked?
Aware, that Syria was is turning into a desert before our eyes
“Exactly” they answered Like a deer thirsts for water So our soul longs for God “But I never hear that people are fighting over water?” I wondered
Christmas Day Eastern Orthodox Christmas we went to the tomb of Jesus Where seven (the holy number) crowded in
Each with clear ropes labels and signs claiming this piece of the Savior is mine.
“Merry Christmas!” Our Eastern Orthodox Brethren Proclaimed “Here touch the head of the tomb, Normally, it is not allowed, But today is a merry day”
I do not know, if I wanted To feel so closely the desperation Of occupied wartorn Gaza must have felt like at your birth Jesus
But when I visited Lo those 13 years ago
I remember–too The hope of Love among the rubble.
Jesus in a Nativity scene among rocks and rubble in Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem this year
The joy of “Merry Christmas” amongst many faith The sharing of a meal with Muslims, Christians, Jews and Druze
Love among the rubble As real as a Savior born in a cave– as real as a glimpse of peace, in war. As real as hope, in a capitalistic, political scape. As real as joy, in the midst of weariness.
As real as faith, in the midst of doubt.
As real as Christmas, in the midst of the Advent of Life.
That’s my God the one who shows up in the rubble of life. Amen, Alleluia, Amen.
Jesus in. Nativity scene among rocks and rubble in Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem this year. Photos originate from the Church here
Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Katy Stenta “Katyandtheword”
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