Truths Undiscovered

Well, this is it — the exact right moment. This is the day to throw off the shackles and walk free! It won’t be our fault if you don’t take this chance — we’re doing everything in our power not to get in anyone’s way. There’s no point in nit-picking over the details of our work. We have endeavored to be faithful servants of God and we’re confident that we’ve got the runs on the board. It’s not as though we’ve had it easy either. We have hung in there through hard times, tough times and horrendous disasters. We’ve been bashed, lynched and locked up. We’ve worked ourselves into the ground when things needed to be done, sometimes even going without sleep and food. And through all this we have maintained our integrity — our intentions have been pure and our heads have been clear. We have managed to hold on to our patience, generosity, and holiness of spirit. Our love has been genuine, our speech truthful, and God has continued to work powerfully through us. We have armed ourselves with nothing but an iron commitment to doing what’s right, and we’ve grasped the work of justice with both hands. Sometimes we’ve been honored and sometimes slandered. We have been true to our word and yet denounced as charlatans. We’ve been treated as nobodies even though everyone knows who we are. We’ve been written off as dead, but here we are, brimming with life. We’ve been flogged to within an inch of our lives but never quite killed. We’ve almost drowned in tears and yet we are still bubbling with joy. They say we are poor, and yet many are enriched by us. They say we have nothing to offer, and yet everything is ours to share.

~2 Corinthians 6:1-10 (Laughingbird.net)

Four years of classes, conversations and chapels at an ELCA Liberal Arts college taught me a lot about the importance of looking at the context of a scripture passage when attempting to gain an understanding of the message it offers.  Throughout my four years at Luther, I was blessed to have the guidance of very wise and knowledgeable professors (both those with whom I had classes and those I never had an actually class but heard preach several times) and pastors (both within Luther College Campus Ministries and in a variety of other settings).  These faith mentors where constantly offering insight into the context of a certain passage, and then encouraging us to explore how these passages continue to speak to us in our current context.  

While this was always challenging, and sometimes frustrating, all of it was preparing me to leave the “Luther bubble” and apply my faith and understanding of scripture in a broken world.   This preparation has been incredibly helpful this year, as I read and hear scripture with new eyes and ears. 

On Sunday mornings, I often find myself listening to the pastor read the readings for the day in Arabic and following along in my beat-up English NRSV.  As I reflect words during the sermon, I often find myself wondering about what the words say to the people I am worshipping with.   There are Sunday mornings when I feel the weight the scripture dropped on me like a ton of bricks, and Sunday mornings when I feel that weight lifted and replaced with hope.

This was no less true this morning as our pastor told us the scripture he would be preaching on would be 2 Corinthians 6:1-10.  As I read the words, I sat in awe of the fact that Paul’s second letter to the community at Corinth, written to a specific people at a specific time in a specific context could hold so much relevance to a completely different people at a completely different in a completely different context. 

From what I can gather, Paul was writing to the community of Corinth at a time when his relationship with them had been deteriorating.  He seems to be addressing a couple of different problems, but none of these are directly identified in the letter, meaning that the readers are most likely aware of the issues Paul is addressing.  

Almost 2,000 years later, we no longer know what these issues were, but there is still meaning and truth in Paul’s words, and the truth that I heard this morning is incredibly impacted by the time I have spent getting to know the stories of the people of Palestine. I read the NRSV translation in church and upon returning home, looked at a couple of different translations, each time seeing more and more of the story of the people of Palestine in this passage.

The talk of now being “the day to throw off the shackles and walk free,” of hanging “in there through hard times, tough times and horrendous disasters,” and of being “bashed, lynched and locked up.”  Yet throughout the challenges “maintaining integrity” and managing “hold on to patience, generosity, and holiness of spirit” while their “love has been genuine, our speech truthful, and God has continued to work powerfully through us.” If I didn’t know that this was a reading from 2 Corinthians, I would easily believe that these words were part of a sermon or message delivered by one of the many Palestinian Christians who I now count among faith mentors. 

While I could relate to the entire passage, it was the power of the last two verses that spoke loudest to me, (switching to NRSV, as that is how I originally read it)

We are treated as impostors, and yet are true…

Throughout the primaries that are going on back home, we have heard a lot about the latest things candidates are saying about Israel/Palestine (again, notice how context impacts what is important and what is paid attention to). Often statements are made minimizing   Several weeks ago, one candidate was bold enough to claim that the Palestinian people are an invented people.  But unless I have recently found myself in a land full of incredibly realistic invisible friends, I can tell you that Palestinian people are a real people, with real stories and real traditions

…as unknown, and yet are well known…

It is a common believe that there are no, or at least very few, Christians in Palestine, or in the Middle East in general.  While the Christian population may be a minority in number, it is not a minority in presence.  You may not know their specific stories or even their names, but the story of the Palestinian Christians, and the Palestinian people in general,  is well known story.  It is the story of all of humanity, of trying to live their lives, in the hopes of creating a better future for the world.

…as dying, and see­- we are alive, as punished, and yet not killed…

It is all too common for Palestinians to be able to share stories of the time they, or a loved spent in jail.  Palestinians can be arrested and held on administrative detention, without being charged or sentenced for 3 months at a time; however, due to a loophole in the law that 3-month administrative detention can be renewed indefinitely. This means that many people live in constant fear of being arrested. If somebody is arrested, it means they live in constant wonder of when they will see their loved ones again.  For statistics on administrative detention, detention ofminors and the number of Palestinians in Israeli Custody.

…as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing…

When people gather here, there always seems to be much rejoicing. Whether the gathering be a celebratory event or simply every morning in the teachers lounge, the joy and energy, while sometime overwhelming, is contagious.  Big celebrations are often accompanied with much food and dancing as the community comes together to rejoice with their friend. 

…as poor, yet making many rich…

Like the much of the rest of the world, Palestine has not escaped unscathed from the recent economic downturn plus here there is the added economic stress that comes from being an occupied country Yet in the 6 months I have called this place home, I have learned about the incredible riches that cannot be purchased with money: the riches of traditional knowledge, of time, of friendship of welcoming people into your house.   I know that as time passes I will learn to appreciate the gift of these riches more and more, but for now I stand in awe of all that people here are willing to offer to complete strangers and 

the ease at which I was welcomed into a community here. 

…as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

This is the land of hospitality and some of the most generous and welcoming people I have met.  My family is coming in a few short weeks (insert happy dance here), and I am finding myself struggling to schedule their time, not because there is so much to see and do (which there is) but because when people find out they are coming, invitations to homes for dinner are immediately extended.  While the number of physical possessions may be smaller in number, the courage, patience and love for others which people here possess is everything.

I know that this change in the way I hear and read scripture will be a continuous journey. For that reason, I am incredibly grateful for the way that my faith mentors at Luther prepared me to wrestle with the message that scripture can have.  In doing so, they demonstrated the importance of being open to having that message be influenced by not only the context in which the words were written but also the context in which the words are being read.  

I leave you with the words of a Bishop Butler (don’t ask me which one, apparently there where several):

It is not at all incredible,
that a book which has been so long in the possession of mankind
should contain many truths as yet undiscovered.

Let God Be With You

I have a picture I carry in my Bible.  For four years, it got taped in my planner at the beginning of each school year and now it gets carried around in my Bible.  For six years, I have carried this picture around with me and time has taken its toil on this picture.  It is tattered and ragged but I continue to carry it with me because of the reminder that it holds.

Taken with a disposable camera and really blurry, at first the picture may not look like much.  I took the picture my freshmen year of college during a spring break trip with Habitat for Humanity to Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  During the trip we stayed at CampVictor, which housed a variety of volunteers and coordinated relief work for these volunteers to do.  In the dining hall, there were several banners with words of encouragement that had been sent shortly after Hurricane Katrina.  One of the banners was covered in messages written mostly in the hand-writing of small children with the messages generally being something to the effect of “May God be with you."   However, one message on the board stood out to me.  Rather than writing "May God be with you", one child had written "Let God be with you":

At the time I took a picture because what I thought was a child’s misprint struck me as cute; however, as time has passed that “misprint” has come to hold a much deeper meaning.  And whether or not it was a “misprint” or not, I think there is incredible wisdom in the child’s words.

During my summers working at Camp EWALU, we would start every worship service with an invocation.  Before doing our invocation, we asked the campers to tell us what an invocation was and the standard response was “the time when we invite God into our worship.”  We would then go on to talk a bit about the fact that even though God is always with us we need to take the time to be intentional about welcoming God into our lives and recognizing God’s presence in our every day moment.

There are moments when I struggle to remember these lessons.  When I am faced with a 403 mile long, 25 foot high “security fence.”  When I am faced with one of the approximately 144 checkpoints that are generally guarded by soldiers younger than me.   When I hear about the 10 Palestinian children killed in a bus accident and read comments of celebration bysome Israelis.  In these moments it is hard to remember to look for God.

However, the picture in my bible serves as my reminder of my need to do my own invocations in my daily life.  God may not always be obvious, but if I am willing to invite God and “let God be with me,” I remember that God is actually around me all the time.  

While I may have to be a bit more intentional about looking, I remember that I can see God in so many different aspects of my everyday life here.  I can see God in:

In the people who come to visit and are willing to listen to a different narrative and the people who have the courage tell their stories and the sharing of these stories across generations.

In 50 volunteers who are willing to travel to Palestine, not only to visit the sites but also to make a positive change by spending a week planting olive trees through a program with Alternative Tourism Group

In the genuine joy and love of children and their ability to look past differences and see people as people

 In the joys of friendship and the ways in which new friendships form and old friendships grow despite change and distance. 

In the beautiful and incredible women that I now get to call friends and family and the ways that we have grown through the joys and challenges of being YAGM's

In the incredible number of rainbows I have seen during this rainy season and the promise of God's love that they hold

In the incredible natural beauty that I am surround by and the incredible place that I get to call home this year.