From the Heart of a Mother Under Seige …
Want to highly recommend this article printed in the online version of Christianity Today. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/130/12.0.html. (All the articles were very thoughtful and reflective concerning the Lebanon/Israel conflict. One could not but be moved by the perspective of many broken-hearted Lebanese Christians.) Maybe these articles will generate some conversation between us.
July 28th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
I read the article, and I feel really politically dumb. It compells me to really open up to these things. I think in the comfort of “my world” it is so easy to watch the news or see these things and be so disconnected. I can’t even imagine this situation. I have young children, and the fears I have for them in “my world” seem to not come close. Thanks for bringing it to the table, the more I am exposed, and challenged, especially in this conversation, the more I want to learn and help.
July 28th, 2006 at 1:27 pm
Sitting right down front in worship every Sunday is a couple from Lebanon whose nephew was killed in the assasination of the Prime Minister last year. He was the only Christian in the cabinet.
This is a terrible situation for Christians and for all the Lebanese people.
I’m glad you’ve connected us to this and that people are beginning to pay attention. These are our brothers and sisters and our government has made choices that have made things worse I’m afraid.
July 28th, 2006 at 7:01 pm
we so often forget that there are christian groups in these places where horror and war have usurped daily life. All too often it is easy to see people not like us as the enemy that its okay to bomb or ignore. of course we should have compassion for all, but just knowing that christian families are losing their children so the big boys can satisfy their pride makes it more real and harder to ignore…
July 29th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
PS: I thought this article was written by a mother … it’s a father actually. No Matter.
I noticed that his closing plea was for us to join him in prayer. I will start the prayer here and then will continue it with my faith community, Generations Quest, tomorrow as we all will read this article.
“Lord, You hear the prayers of all, so hear now the parents in Israel and Lebanon crying out for peace, for the safety of their children. I imagine these agonizing cries are much like the ones You heard from mothers/fathers in Bethlehem 2000 years ago when the slaughter of their innocent infant sons must have ripped their hearts out. I join their cries … Lord, hear our cries for peace!
I grieve with You, Divine Wisdom, over the shallowness of our own human wisdom that results in us valuing human beings unequally, and sometimes, not at all. Forgive us, Lord.
I join my brother in Christ, Riad Kassis, in praying for an awakening of the human conscience … starting with me.”