Remember the Bible story (a dream version of which I shared yesterday) about King Herod sending soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the babies two years of age and under so that the promised Messiah could not unseat him as king? Today is the day that story is remembered.
For myself, I am remembering the names of some of the Palestinian children that I added to a long banner of names one afternoon in November. In particular, I am thinking of Lotus, who was only 10, and Rita and Bilal, her little sisters, who were 9 and 7, and their family, cousins with similar surnames, and friends. Wise men did not save them.
So today I am sharing a very powerful Christmas Eve reflection that was offered by a Palestinian Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem instead of the usual Christmas celebrations. An Anglican pastor friend of mine tossed out her Christmas Eve sermon and read his words instead, and truthfully, all our church leaders should be doing the same.
The world's leadership is taking the lazy way out in supporting or ignoring this ongoing war that has led to over 20,000 civilian casualties to date. If we really want to celebrate the season of Christmas, we can do it best by signing petitions, writing our MPs, standing in solidarity at rallies against genocide, demanding complete ceasefire before any more Holy Innocents are lost, and seeking out those among us who are in need to offer them hope through our support...
I pray that it can be so.
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