Kenya

Here's the blog of an MCCer in Kenya, definitely read it:
http://debbyscott.blogspot.com/

Everyone loves Boston!

Needless to say, the numbers are bigger now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lU8FmBVoyA

If you need a laugh...

It's still funny the third time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM

right here, right now

For years now I've used the same prayer book, Soul Weavings: A Gathering of Women's Prayers, edited by Lyn Klug. Thanks to Kristen for bringing it into my life. I've often thought I'd like to share prayers from it with you all (heck, maybe I already have and I've forgotten!) But I'd want to write out most of the book, and I'm pretty sure that would break copyright. Anyway, here's one for today, for the endless comings and goings and endings and beginnings. I'm thinking right now of my home here, as well as all my past homes:

"Bless our home, Father,
that we cherish the bread before there is none,
discover each other before we leave,
and enjoy each other for what we are,
while we have time."

Apparently this prayer is from Hawaii.

she wrote this herself

Chances are this won't be as beautiful to you as it is to me, but I want to share it anyway:

"Mrs. Elizabeth Heise's Obituary

HEISE, Elizabeth Hoffman Engle. Gone to her eternal reward at Townsend, Ontario, on her 100th birthday, January 20, 2008, Elizabeth Heise was the daughter of the late Daniel E. and Emma K. Good Engle, wife of the late Clarence Heise, step mother of Naomi and Merlin Marr and the late Clarence and late Ardys Heise, step grandmother of Lucille Marr, Connie and Tom Harper, the late Phyllis Harrison and Lloyd Harrison, Ron and Aggie Marr, Sherilin Heise, Clarence Heise III, Steven Heise, great grandmother of 15 great grandchildren and 4 great great grandchildren, sister of Esther Steinbrecker, and the late Mary Richardson, Emma, Jacob, Daniel and Ivan Engle, and many nieces and nephews.

Born January 20, 1908 near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, she grew up in that area, received her basic education, early work experiences and secretarial training there. Her parents were members of the Lancaster Brethren in Christ Mission Church. There she came to the Lord, joined the church, taught a Sunday School class, was ordained as a missionary, and years later married.

She attended Messiah Bible College in Pennsylvania, Wheaton College in Illinois from which she was graduated in 1934, and later the Biblical Seminary in New York. Interested in missions from childhood, she felt called to Christian service when nearly twenty while a student at Messiah. Appointed to service in Africa, she left home December 21, 1934, arriving at Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), January 16, 1935. She was assigned to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) to help in the Sikalongo Boys' School. She would spend six years at Matopo in Southern Rhodesia helping in teacher training, then back to Sikalongo and Macha in North Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

After a year's furlough, a second term began in September 1946. Along with some teaching, she would serve in Matopo as secretary to the general superintendent as well as a year as superintendent of Matopo District outstations.

She returned home to Pennsylvania in 1955, where she would teach until her retirement in 1970. Meanwhile, in 1964 she married Clarence Heise, Sr. In 1970 – 71, they were blessed to have the opportunity to visit Brethren in Christ missions in Japan and their old respective fields of Africa and India. In 1981, they came to live in Hagersville and became members of the Springvale Brethren in Christ congregation where they developed a close relationship with Naomi and Merlin and their family.

Mrs. Heise testifies that God's hand in and on her life has been most gracious. Serving Him leaves no regrets."

the same questions

http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2008/01/19/colombia-reflection-groceries-peacemakers-and-war

These are the same questions I've both asked, and avoided asking myself in turn over the last year and a half.

I don't have the answer, clearly, but for myself when I go home, I think I'll turn more towards groceries than plane fares in my attempts to be a peacemaker.

I hope though, that there is a lot of room for grace in mistakes we make trying to do good.

Of course, the trick is to maintain the drive to do the peacemaking at home, when you don't experience the results of the injustice...hm...

My great-grandmother

Today was my Great-grandma's 100th brithday. She died this morning. I'm relieved that she's died because it was so bad for her at the end, but I'm happy she made it to today, because I know that was one of her goals. She was a determined woman.

She was an incredibly admirable woman. Intelligent, with strong faith, a great story teller, and with a wealth of experience on two continents. An ability to say it like it is, and able to thrive with the many changes life throws at us.

I'm deeply proud of her, and thankful that she married into our family all those years ago.

"Loose Lips" by Kimya Dawson

So I've thought a lot the last few months about how music these days sucks, and that no one is every actually trying to say anything deeper than expressing physical lust. And then the other day I was introduced to Kimya Dawson. I like the simplicity of what she's expressing, and the cute way she sings it. That said, even at this point in my life I find myself uncomfortable with the f***ing line, but it raises some interesting questions about anger. And when it is appropriate to be angry about things, and what are appropriate ways of expressing anger? Anyway, no conclusions here, just thought I'd share the song:

"Loose lips might sink ships but loose gooses take trips
To San Francisco, double dutch disco
Tech TV hottie, do it for Scotty
Do it for the living and do it for the dead
Do it for the monsters under your bed
Do it for the teenagers and do it for your mom
Broken hearts hurt but they make us strong, and

We won't stop until somebody calls the cops
And even then we'll start again and just pretend
That nothing ever happened
We won't stop until somebody calls the cops
And even then we'll start again and just pretend
That nothing ever happened

We're just dancing, we're just hugging
Singing, screaming, kissing, tugging
On the sleeve of how it used to be
How's it gonna be?

I'll drop kick Russell Stover
Move into the starting over house
And know Matt Rouse and Jest
Are watching me achieve my dreams

And we'll pray all damn day, every day
That all this shit our president has got us in will go away
While we strive to figure out a way we can survive
These trying times without losing our minds

So if you wanna burn yourself
Remember that I LOVE YOU
And if you wanna cut yourself
Remember that I LOVE YOU
And if you wanna kill yourself
Remember that I LOVE YOU
Call me up before you're dead
We can make some plans instead
Send me an IM, I'll be your friend

Shysters live from scheme to scheme
And my 3/4 pipe dreams
Are seeming more and more worth fighting for
So I'll curate some situations, make my job a big vacation
And I'll say fuck Bush and fuck this war
My war paint is sharpie ink
And I'll show you how much my shit stinks
And ask you what you think
Because your thoughts and words are powerful
They think we're disposable
Well both my thumbs opposable
Are spelled out on a double word
And triple letter score

We won't stop until somebody calls the cops
And even then we'll start again and just pretend
That nothing ever happened
We won't stop until somebody calls the cops
And even then we'll start again and just pretend
That nothing ever happened

We're just dancing, we're just hugging
Singing, screaming, kissing, tugging
On the sleeve of how it used to be"

CPTnet -- IRAQ REFLECTION: The Christmas story—then and now

"12 January 2007
by Michele Naar-Obed


Back home, we sometimes followed a tradition of creating a living Advent scenario. We would set up the manger, dust off all the key figures, and move them along their path towards Jesus’ birth over the season of Advent. Our team decided to try that here in Suleimaniya and as we did, we found distinct parallels with the current reality in which we live.

Since we couldn’t find a crafted stable for sale or rent, we constructed one out of a used cardboard box. Coincidentally, these efforts happened around the same time the people from border villages inside Kurdistan were seeking shelter in caves because the Turkish military had begun to attack what were supposed to be PKK (a Kurdish militia) strongholds.

Next, we hunted through the local bazaar to find figurines of the Holy Family, the animals, shepherds, and the wise men. We managed to find baby Jesus in a used household goods store. He was dirty and had chipped paint spots, but recognizable. We could not find Mary and Joseph, so I held up baby Jesus and in my best Kurdish asked, “Where are his parents?” The proprietor shook his head, indicating they weren’t there.

We managed to find two pink wax sheep, a wooden shepherd and three undercover wise men made out of pinecones and dressed in felt clothes. We ended up making surrogate parents for Jesus out of cardboard. Although they appeared two-dimensional, they really had a lot of depth.

Each day we moved our figurines in the direction of Bethlehem, identified by the cardboard star that hung from the ceiling over the makeshift manger.

As a result of the Turkish attacks, civilians died and approximately 800 families are now refugees. Hospitals, schools, mosques, and homes have been turned into rubble. Carcasses of hundreds of dead sheep smoldered for two days in one wrecked village. I wondered if the children of one dead woman asked in their best Kurdish, “Where is our mother?”

One family told us they fled by riding on the back of one of their farm animals. They arrived at a relative’s house only to find that they were not on the government census list and were unable to receive emergency aid.

Back in Bethlehem, Herod summoned the wise men to find out where this baby Jesus was so he could do away with him. Back at the Pentagon, Mr. Bush’s “wise guys” have received orders to share military intelligence with the Turkish military so its troops can attack more accurately. Joseph gets wind of the impending danger in a dream through an angel and moves his family to safety. The Kurdish villagers got word through the mayors of their respective villages.

Back in our apartment, the stable is now abandoned and a sign hangs from the roof: “Gone to Egypt.” The refugees from the abandoned Kurdish Border villages still wait for the message that it is safe to return home. CPT is making plans to accompany them."

HEBRON REFLECTION: "Tae see wirselves as ithers see us"* (From a CPTnet reflection by Jan Benvie)

"On 28 December 2007, two armed, off-duty Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian gunmen killed each other. (See 30 December 2007 CPTnet release, "Israeli army, in search of injured gunmen, lays siege to Hebron hospital.") The Israelis were from the settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron, the Palestinians from Hebron.

Both communities have their narratives of why their young men are dead.
Their narratives are similar, although I doubt either would agree with me, such is their enmity towards each other. Part of the narrative goes like
this: both believe the other wants to kill them and steal their land; neither thinks the other wants peace. In 1967, Isaac Deutscher, a Polish Jew, wrote an analogy about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He told the story of a man who jumps from a burning building in which many members of his family have already died. In jumping, he saves his life, but he lands on a passerby, breaking the man's limbs. "If both behaved rationally, they would not become enemies," Deutscher wrote. "The injured man blames the other for his misery and swears to make him pay for it. The other, afraid of the crippled man's revenge, insults him, kicks him and beats him up whenever they meet. -- look what happens when these people behave irrationally. The bitter enmity -- hardens and comes to overshadow the whole existence of both men and to poison their minds" (from "The Non-Jewish Jew"
Oxford University Press, 1968).

Forty years after Deutscher's words, the enmity has indeed hardened and casts a dark shadow over the lives of both communities. I think of the bereaved families in both Kiryat Arba and Hebron. As a mother, I feel particularly for the parents mourning their dead sons. The loss of a child, even when they are adults, is a heavy burden to bear. I read the angry words expressed by both communities and wonder how many more sons or daughters will be slain in the vengeful aftermath of this particular incident.

Our team meets every morning for worship. The morning after the killings we prayed for all the young men killed and for their families. We also prayed for a peace and healing for the peoples of this divided land.

* from "To a Louse," by Scottish poet, Robert Burns: "o' wid thy power the gift tae gie us, Tae see wirselves as ithers see us." ("tae see wirselves"= "to see ourselves," "ithers"= "others")."

worth a read

If anyone you love is in the armed forces, or considering joining up, this is worth a read (or at least a skim!):
www.informedchoice.org.uk

It's UK based, but I suspect much can be carried over between countries.

An interesting comparison

"CPTnet
26 December 2007
AT-TUWANI REFLECTION: Clearing the land

by Jan Benvie

The landscapes of the Southern Hebron Hills remind me of my own Scottish Highlands. They both share the same poignant, barren beauty. Here the ragged, rocky hillsides are more sparsely covered, but the sad ruins of forsaken homes and villages litter both landscapes

The Scottish ruins date from a period of history (over 200 years ago) known as the "Highland Clearances." In the civil wars of 1715 and 1745, the Highlanders supported the defeated Jacobites (those who wanted James Stewart as King) and the victorious government wanted to get rid of these rebellious citizens. Some land was sold in shady deals, some taken by the government and given to their supporters. Few Highlanders had legal papers proving land ownership, so the victors stole the land "legally." The new owners forcibly evicted between 150 and 250 thousand people. Many Highlanders, deprived of their homes and livelihoods, lived and died in broken-hearted poverty in far away towns and foreign lands.

The "Palestinian Clearances," here in the West Bank, began when Israel occupied the land during the 1967 war. Many Palestinians, like the Scottish Highlanders, have no papers proving land ownership. Some ownership papers are in the name of great-great grandfathers, and the Israeli courts do not accept their legality. The Israeli government has simply taken Palestinian land for Israeli settlements and roads. As in the Highlands, the victors have used pseudo-legal means to steal land. An ancient law from the period of Ottoman rule (1516-1918), allows the state to claim ownership of land that is uncultivated for three years or more. Israel uses military and other means, including the separation barrier, to block Palestinians from their land. The land then "legally" becomes state land; Israeli settlers build new housing and harass neighbouring Palestinians, forcing more to leave.
Settler violence forced villagers from nearby Saroura, Humra and Khoruba (the ruins I pass every day) to abandon their homes in 1997.

Israeli governments also use the guise of security to evict Palestinians from their land. Many Israeli settlements, illegal under international law, began as trailers/caravans in military bases. The Israeli government has declared most of the Jordan valley (Palestinian land west of the River
Jordan) a closed military area, evicting the Palestinian residents. In the 1970s, the Israeli military requested an area from south of At-Tuwani to the Green Line (the armistice line of 1949) as a military firing zone. Soldiers evicted villagers and demolished homes. Although the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary ruling that the families could return, but those who returned live in constant fear of eviction.

The Highland Clearances are a historical fact. Attempts at land reform in the Highlands have returned some land to the few remaining communities, but such reforms cannot undo the pain and suffering inflicted 200 years ago.
The Palestinian clearances are current and ongoing. We can, and must, work to undo the injustice happening in Palestine now.

For photos of ruined homes & villages in the Southern Hebron Hills go to:
http://tinyurl.com/2cmrmo"

On the 10th day of Christmas...

I received this season's greeting from a friend on the CPT team in Hebron: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMyjywN-8Ac

I can't say the song speaks to me in a musical or poetic sense, but the issues it is trying to bring to light need to be heard, despite the packaging. I have felt increasingly desensitized to these issues over the last months, but I hope you can find a little space in your heart to care about the complex and painful struggles people live with every day in that broken land.

In peace,
dm