A peaceful neighborhood

Isaiah 32:17-18 And where there’s right, there’ll be peace and the progeny of Right: quiet lives and endless trust. My people will live in a peaceful neighborhood—in safe houses, in quiet gardens.

There are few less peaceful neighborhoods than in the Palestinian villages and Israeli settlements of the West Bank. I recently saw a documentary called Encounter Point that follows the work of Israelis and Palestinians who have lost family members in the conflict; out of their shared grief, they have begun not only talking to each other, but also working in their own communities to change the conversation about the conflict. They try to convey the futility of the current situation, where violence begets more violence, and argue for at least a change of tactics to a nonviolent approach. Both sides run up against suspicion and dehumanization of the other in their own communities, fully justified by the opposing sides historic acts. It is a tough sell. Yet here, in these verses of Isaiah, is what seems to be the best argument: you cannot build security on oppression and injustice, and peace is the only path to peace, as violence only engenders more violence. Each of these participants could be poster children for the violent movements in their communities, but they choose instead to put aside revenge, create their own meaning for their loss and engage in the difficult path of nonviolence, hoping to spare other families, even those on the other side, the painful loss they live with every day. This is true courage, and even though few, if any, of them are ”Christian” it seems to me that they are living Christ’s message nonetheless.

Prayer: Dear God, You have given me an example of fortitude and courage in the lives of these men and women who suffer every day from the effects of violence and historic hatred. Give me the same courage to stand up for justice not just with those who agree with me, but also with those who may challenge my views, that I may be an effective witness to the world’s suffering. Amen.