Grieving with God over the Destruction of Gaza
By Rev. Chad Collins
Arise, cry out in the night,
at the beginning of the watches!
Pour out your heart like water
before the presence of the Lord!
Lift your hands to him
for the lives of your children,
who faint for hunger
at the head of every street.
Lamentations 2:19
Last Sunday we (100 or so siblings of God) gathered at a local church to Lament over the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the relentless violent oppression of Palestinians living under Israeli Apartheid in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel. For nearly two hours, guided by select readings of the Psalms, personal stories of Palestinian martyrs, a recreated “Christ Under the Rubble” art exhibit, and detailed lessons showing how the current violence is part of a 75+ year long Nakba, we created space to meditate, to feel deeply, to sit with our collective pain, and weep together.
We wept over the death, destruction, and the utter disregard for human life! We wept over the staggering numbers of children massacred! We wept over the pregnant mothers having C-sections without anesthesia, who are then unable to breastfeed their babies for lack of milk. We wept over the countless fathers searching for their families under the rubble! We wept over the grandparents who are living through the unimaginable and unspeakable, a Second Nakba, a televised Nakba! We wept over the sheer madness of Gaza’s forced, intentional starvation, while Israel is blocking hundreds of trucks of food and aid from reaching the people!
We confronted and confessed to the complicity of our government! We confronted and confessed to the complicity of our churches! We looked in the mirror, confronted ourselves, and confessed to the complicity of our own fears and silence!
We bound ourselves to our siblings in Palestine, and we cried out to God with confused angst! We wrestled with feelings of abandonment and forsakenness! We cried out with the Psalmist, “HOW LONG??!!”
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
—Psalm 13:1-2
Allowing ourselves this time to sit with and feel deeply our pain, we joined with the ONE we follow, as he weeps over the death and destruction of his people. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, for it knew not the ways for PEACE! Jesus wept over the death of LAZARUS, one he loved! Even Jesus cried out in shock and confusion over God’s FORSAKING him on the cross. In our Lament, our anger, our heartache, we have a partner in Jesus, our Palestinian-Jewish brother born in Bethlehem (present-day West Bank) and raised in the Galilee, under the thumb of a genocidal puppet king and a brutal Roman occupation. As the old hymn reminds us, “Jesus knows all about our struggles.”
And, we left, more committed than ever to the cruciform, upside-down reign of the crucified one, to the pursuit of justice, to authentic peace, to liberation, and to a world free of empire, of exploitation, bigotry and discrimination, hunger and disease—wherein the divine image is recognized and respected within each and every one of our human siblings.
At FOSNA we encourage and are here to support you, the local grassroots activists, leaders, organizations and networks, individuals and communities of conscience to continue organizing your own services of lament, vigils, and teach-ins. Partnering with whomever you like, may these “dangerous acts of worship” inspire and galvanize you to ongoing advocacy, direct action, and public, prophetic witness—as salt and light—within your communities and networks of influence.
For instance, two local actions here in my neighborhood I am involved with include:
A solidarity fast together with local Muslims in honor of Gaza
The Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimage taking place on Holy Saturday and Easter Morning.
Shortly, in fact, Sabeel is launching its "Holy Week in Gaza" devotional resource, being used in conjunction with many planned Gaza Ceasefire Pilgrimages.
Details about an accompanying Good Friday event and our annual Holy Saturday service, featuring Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, will be available soon.
It’s amazing to see many such events and actions being organized and taking place in cities and towns across the nation. Keep it up!
None are FREE til all are FREE!!
فلسطين حرة
Free Palestine
Pray-In for a Permanent Ceasefire: A Nonviolent Witness for Gaza (Washington, DC)
When and where: Thursday, March 21, 1-2pm at the Methodist Building, 100 Maryland Avenue NE, Washington, DC, with a nonviolent witness action to follow.
Why: The crisis in Gaza and pending full invasion of Rafah demands immediate public action and witness. In addition to the 31,000 killed in the war, at least 27 Palestinians have died from starvation just recently. For Christians, nonviolent witness includes urging for a just peace, especially now as our Muslim family members enter their holy month of Ramadan.
What: All are welcome to join a public pray-in as part of an ongoing Lenten Ceasefire Campaign. We will offer a prayerful vigil with press invited, and then a nearby nonviolent witness action. We will raise our voices together, asking our Creator for guidance and strength as we urge those in power to do the courageous work of nonviolent peacemaking.
Sign up for campaign updates here.
Watch - A Political Education Primer: Christian Zionism, BDS, and the Pursuit of a Christ-Centered Response to Apartheid, Dispossession, and Genocide in the Holy Land
In case you missed it - Join the Lenten Ceasefire Campaign for an intensive evening of political education, self-examination, and conversation as we explore:
The Immediate Context:
What is the situation on the ground in Gaza and throughout Palestine? How did we get here? Are we bearing witness of Genocide in real time?
Christian Zionism:
What is it? How does it influence both American Christianity and American Policy? How is it impacting the situation on the ground in Gaza and throughout Palestine? And, what is a faithful, Christ-centered response to Christian Zionism?
Palestinian Christians:
How are Palestinian Christians responding to the crisis in Gaza and throughout Palestine? What message do they have for western Christians, and what responsibility does the Western church have for our Palestinian siblings? How might we amplify their message?
Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions:
What is B.D.S.? Why is economic and cultural activism important? Is B.D.S. a proper Christian response to the crisis in Palestine, particularly Gaza, and Israeli apartheid? How might communities of faith mobilize to make an impact for justice and peace?
Featuring: Zeina Ashrawi Hutchison, Mimi Kirk, Daniel Bannoura, and Allison Tanner. Hosted by Eli McCarthy.