Running to gentleness, charity, and mercy

Friends, 10 years ago now I was blessed to be able to make a life changing trip to Palestine and Israel. Driven by the energy of human sweat and passion, and immersed in the heat and sweetness of the land, I entered the land from Jordan with many Palestinians across the Allenby Bridge/King Hussein Bridge. There I met with the blessings of abundant hospitality and overwhelming compassion, peace, and joy from a diverse cross-section of Palestinians and Israelis who identify as followers of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Humanism. 

Compared with 2024, 2014 was a time of relative peace, despite the daily oppression, fear, and violence that those under occupation lived with, as they have done for countless decades. This is not to mention the anxiety and dread that communities and individuals felt and experienced in those days as a result of religious and cultural extremism. I was, and am, a complete “outsider” in so many ways, yet the hope and unconditional affection showed me those three weeks has meant that every month since I have longed to return. 

Now, as an outsider, my heart continues to ache—and I have no doubt it would bleed if it could—for the living stones who live in the places we variously call Palestine, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and so on. Yet I know, from those on the ground in those lands, that hope is not dead. Hope lives on in the bodies of the living, in the longing of hostages, in the memories of the dead. Hope of peace lives on in us, friends, and in every one who rejects the false religions of war, power, narcissism, greed, and hatred. 

From Jesus to the Buddha, and many in between, there have been those who continue to cry out that “violence isn’t the answer!” Compassion, dialogue, trust, community: these continue to be the keys to everything that the earth cries out for; the hidden—yet always reachable—combination that can unlock a brighter now, a healthier future, for planet earth and all living beings.

One day, hopefully not another 10 years from now (God willing!), I will return to the lands that many call “Holy.” I hope and pray that there will be some semblance of life which I—which we—might recognize as hope-filled, and joy-filled. If you believe in the power of peace, the power of love, the power of dialogue and cooperation, no matter who you are or what your political leanings are: please do all that you can to advocate for an immediate cessation of war and acts of violence. A speedy release of hostages, prisoners, and captives. And an empathetic running to gentleness, charity, and mercy.