"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Children of God

Last Thursday, as the Lutheran Church here and around the world was preparing for Reformation celebrations, and as people at home were preparing for the exciting holiday of Halloween, I attended a candlelight peace march to the Wall in Bethlehem. Preceding the march was a 2 hour long service, mostly in Arabic and German, commemmorating the 125th Anniversary of Reformation Lutheran Church in Beit Jala. This service was attended by many, including the first woman bishop of Germany, the President of the ELCJHL (Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Jordan and the Holy Land), a Jewish Rabbi, and pastors and priests of many different Christian churches around the area. Although I could not understand much of what was said, the overall atmosphere of the room was exciting. Everyone was wearing their Palestine scarves and everyone was there for the same purpose...to celebrate the work of this church and to celebrate Palestine and come together to pray for peace. One of the speakers mentioned the Be-Attitudes in Matthew, and the part that particularly struck me was the one that I used for the title of this post. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Children of God." Peace is a word that is used often here, usually in a longing manner. What does peace in this area of the world look like? I imagine that the majority of people living here would not be able to answer that question. But services like this, where Christians and Jews alike felt free to voice their hopes for peace, give me hope for a better future for Palestine and Israel.
The church service was followed by a candlelight march to the wall, a nonviolent means of resistance and a way to show our accompaniment with the Palestinians. It was an emotional experience for me, to see thousands of people walking together peacefully, all hoping for a new day to come. It reminded me of Psalm 18:29, which had been mentioned in the service: "...with my God I can scale a wall."As I watched three young boys climb onto eachother's shoulders and place the Palestinian flag in the crevices of the Wall, I was reminded of the fact that God is way bigger than this will.
Unfortunately, after I returned home, I received a call from a friend asking me if I had gotten home safely, as Israeli soldiers had come to the area and started shooting. This definitely put an ironic twist to the peace march. I would have liked to end this blog on a completely positive and hopeful note, but the truth is that many nonviolent forms of resistance end in a violent reaction by the Israeli soldiers. It is unfair and doesn't make any sense, but this gives us more reason to pray for peace, in this area and also in other parts of the world that need hope.