by Gwendolyn M Plano
Many years ago, I taught at a small Quaker College in the northeast. The curriculum was innovative in that during the four years, students were required to study in multiple countries. Rebecca, an Orthodox Jew, spent a semester in Israel. While there, she visited a Mosque, and the experience was transformative.
When she returned to the United States, she explained that she did not understand why there was so much animosity between Jews and Muslims. “They pray like we do,” she said tearfully. “We bleed like they do,” she continued. “Why the hate?”
Some of us may be able to answer Rebecca’s question, but I doubt any of us can provide the response for which she searches. The centuries of discord between people of different faiths have taken their toll, and for the most part, militants do not even know why they must kill – it defies rationality.
No one is innocent. Christians have killed and been killed, Muslims have killed and been killed, Jews have killed and been killed. And, always, there is a cry to the one God, the one true God.
For any of us who believe in a loving Creator, it is difficult to fathom that this Creator could love one child and not another.
Politics can play games with the innocent, and some religious leaders teach hate; but, I deeply believe that the loving God who created each little child embraces one and all.
Recently, my daughter (a mom to two beautiful little boys) sent me a YouTube clip in which Palestinian mothers and Israeli mothers come together to pray for peace. I invite you to watch this video.
Maybe our collective hope rests with the mothers of the world, for has anyone known more tears than they?
During this time of religious celebration, this time of gift-giving and heart-sharing, could we claim hope as our ultimate stance in life? Can we envision a world of peace, where all children are loved - the brown skinned and the white, the believers and the non-believers, the weathy and the deprived, the inner-city and the suburban. Who is so hardened that they can love one child and not the other?
To the mothers marching and praying for peace, may your tears bear fruit and your hopes materialize. Peace, paz, satta, maluhia, shalom, santi, satta, udo, siochain, pace....with you I sing.
When she returned to the United States, she explained that she did not understand why there was so much animosity between Jews and Muslims. “They pray like we do,” she said tearfully. “We bleed like they do,” she continued. “Why the hate?”
Some of us may be able to answer Rebecca’s question, but I doubt any of us can provide the response for which she searches. The centuries of discord between people of different faiths have taken their toll, and for the most part, militants do not even know why they must kill – it defies rationality.
No one is innocent. Christians have killed and been killed, Muslims have killed and been killed, Jews have killed and been killed. And, always, there is a cry to the one God, the one true God.
For any of us who believe in a loving Creator, it is difficult to fathom that this Creator could love one child and not another.
Politics can play games with the innocent, and some religious leaders teach hate; but, I deeply believe that the loving God who created each little child embraces one and all.
Recently, my daughter (a mom to two beautiful little boys) sent me a YouTube clip in which Palestinian mothers and Israeli mothers come together to pray for peace. I invite you to watch this video.
Maybe our collective hope rests with the mothers of the world, for has anyone known more tears than they?
During this time of religious celebration, this time of gift-giving and heart-sharing, could we claim hope as our ultimate stance in life? Can we envision a world of peace, where all children are loved - the brown skinned and the white, the believers and the non-believers, the weathy and the deprived, the inner-city and the suburban. Who is so hardened that they can love one child and not the other?
To the mothers marching and praying for peace, may your tears bear fruit and your hopes materialize. Peace, paz, satta, maluhia, shalom, santi, satta, udo, siochain, pace....with you I sing.
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