Oh Unholy Night versus the Truth

When one observes the tragic events dominating the news and the way humans constantly argue, distort, violate...it does seem one long unholy night...an ocean of darkness.

But there is another way--

Three Sons Fight

Disking the rock strewn
Objected earth near Bet Shean,
Underneath the Middle Eastern sky
Rows of mean earth riven by the blades,
We cut away our anger, hate, and pride,
Stopping to drink, not from the liquor
Of fanatic corruption but from
The precious water welling up,
Our oasis of Jacob'd sharing,
In this Hanukkah season
Of Christ's mass after
Ramadan.

Allah

We three sons of Abraham,
Muslim, Jew, and Christian,
Fight the true battle
Not each other but
To be found worthy
In compassion
Giving,
And purity--
The true
Submission
To God
Over
All.

Selah



First published in
outwardlink.net,
Knot Middle Eastern Magazine,
and the poetry collection of
selah river


In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Finding Hope in the Midst of Tragedy and Evil

I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the 'isness' of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'oughtness' that forever confronts him.

Martin Luther King Jr.

SAVE THE CHILDREN!

SAVE THE CHILDREN!

SAVE THE CHILDREN!



"...we must begin again by trying to imagine our enemies' children who, like our children, are in mortal danger because of enmity that they did not cause.

It is useless to try to adjudicate a long-standing animosity by asking who started it or who is the most wrong. The only sufficient answer is to give up the animosity and try forgiveness, to try to love our enemies and to talk to them and (if we pray) to pray for them."
Wendell Berry

IMAGINE from World Vision

Remember the lyrics from "Imagine" by John Lennon--"Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too

Imagine all the people living life in peace..."

Here's a new version from World Vision:
"Imagine if nations and societies took a more holistic approach that involved the business and educational sectors, as well as governments, leaders of faith communities and international donors.

Imagine Bill and Melinda Gates sitting in same room with Goodluck Jonathan, Ban Ki-moon, Cyrus Mistry, chair of the Tata Group, Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama all to commit to the resources and political will to save the current and future generations of children from being pawns of war, greed, lust and politics.

Imagine the conference’s opening address is delivered by two boys, one from Palestine and one from Israel, friends of the four who were murdered. And they, in turn, reiterated the statement issued by Naftali’s family: “There is no difference between blood and blood. Murder is murder, whatever the nationality and age.”

And finally, imagine if those children, as future young leaders in their communities, could lead us all forward to regain our humanity together."

Alex Snary leads the operations...in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza.
Bill Forbes is the Director of Child Protection for World Vision globally.