Lent 2 - Mark - Like Peter

Lent 2 – Mark
Mark 8.31-38

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders….and be killed….and Peter….began to rebuke him.(Mk 8.3)

We Westerners have a tendency to intellectualize and reshape Jesus’ suffering, rejection, and death, preferring to focus on the resurrection—hence our empty crosses and our over-the-top Easter celebrations. We create vast bureaucracies (police, prisons, armed forces, hospitals, nursing facilities) that insulate us from suffering. Like Peter, we don’t want to hear about suffering and death.

The political world of Jesus and his followers, however, was very different—mass crucifixions, beatings, imprisonment and torture by Rome’s soldiers, were common. While we can hardly relate to these conditions, millions of people around the world endure this suffering daily.

In a May, 2011 speech President Obama talked about the Arab Spring and the young Tunisian who began a revolution by setting himself on fire. The president honored Mohamed Bouazizi for his desperate act. Listen to a 2-minute clip of the speech.

When I heard the president say this, I was appalled—I wondered, What does it take? Must Palestinians torch themselves to get the world’s attention?

The president went on to make the connection between the freedom movements of the Arab Spring and our own Civil Rights movement: “There are times in the course of history when the actions of ordinary citizens spark movements for change because they speak to a longing for freedom that has been building up for years,” the president said, comparing Bouazizi’s actions to “the defiance of those patriots in Boston who refused to pay taxes to a king, or the dignity of Rosa Parks as she sat courageously in her seat." [source: ABC News]

I was reminded of the President’s words again a couple of weeks ago when I heard about Khadar Adnan’s hunger strike in Israeli prison. This Palestinian’s own “longing for freedom” has compelled him to say NO in the only way he can—refusing to eat. Adnan was arrested on December 17 and has been held in “administrative detention” ever since. He has no right to see the accusations against him; his lawyer is not permitted to see the evidence; he has no right to see his family, or to speak with his lawyer. He can be held indefinitely and resentenced without trial. (see a report of his arrest and detention in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper)

Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Amnesty International, and the Carter Center appealed to Israeli officials for his release.

In his speech, the president also said, “And you can't have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail.” He was talking about Bahrain, but the statement describes Israel too. Twenty-one elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council are among the more than 300 Palestinians also being held in administrative detention by Israel. These men are labeled terrorists because they advocate for and end the Israel’s occupation of Palestine. They have not been charged or convicted for any crime.

Adnan has written from prison, "I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on.” He ended his hunger strike on February 21, after reaching an agreement for his release in April. [photo: Reuters]

Gracious God, you know so well the suffering of your people. Even the birth of your son was met with violence and death, as empire fought to maintain its power. Give us courage to witness the suffering in our world. Help us to understand our own role in our twenty-first century empires and strengthen us to resist oppression. Amen.

Lent 1 - Mark - The Kingdom of God has Come Near

Lent 1 - Mark

Mark 1.9-15

...the kingdom of God has come near…. (Mk 1.15)

Jesus stands in the water in the Jordan River; John baptizes him. It is a turning point in Jesus’ life—no longer a child traveling with his parents to worship in the temple. This scene marks the beginning of his ministry, a public act of commitment to what God has planned for him.

And a public affirmation by God: “You are my Son, the Beloved.” Publicly claiming Jesus and bestowing a blessing, “With you I am well pleased.”

Every time I witness a baby in white at the baptismal font, family gathered around, I imagine God responding in the same manner, saying to the baby, “With you I am well pleased.”

God has created each of us in God’s own image and we know of God’s pleasure in creation….pleasure in each creature, not just those who are brought to a baptismal font….pleasure in the baby born in the African desert, pleasure in the baby born in Cairo’s slums and pleasure in the baby brought to my own congregations’s font.

Khader Adnan (for background, see Ash Wednesday post below) has been much in my thoughts this week:

—I am frustrated that the only way this Palestinian prisoner could

make his story known was to engage in a hunger strike;

— am angry that 308 other Palestinians are also being held without charges;

—I am curious about what made Khader Adnan decide to give up his life with his wife and two small girls, knowing he will never even see his third unborn child;

—and I am distraught that my tax dollars support the Israeli military, knocking on doors in the middle of the night, arresting Palestinians every day.

Khadar was arrested at his home in Arabeh, about 20 miles from Nazareth. And, although Muslims do not baptize, Khadar has also assumed adult responsibilities—as husband, father, graduate student, and his choice to support the struggle for Palestinian freedom.

“Immediately,” Mark’s writer tells us, Jesus was sent into the wilderness—where he ate no food—40 days of discipline, preparing himself for the work ahead. And the writer reminds us that the authorities were arresting those, like John, who proclaimed the “good news of God.”

If we look carefully, we still witness glimpses of the kingdom of God coming near—kindnesses done, or a new baby welcomed into the community. But Mark’s gospel reminds me that the well-being—the shalom—God desires for us sometimes comes with great suffering and tragedy. The text reminds us that the end of the old world and the beginning of the new are birthed only violently, with the heavens torn apart, the veil of the Temple torn in two. Will Khadar Adnan’s fast birth such shalom?

Read his wife’s story of why Khadar Adnan engaged in the hunger strike. Randa Musa writes in The Guardian. [Photo shows his daughter Maali holdig a poster calling for his release.]

God of all creation, you have shown that you desire only goodness for us and for all of your creation. Show us how we can protect and nurture what you have given us. Show us how we can bring in your good news-announced reign of shalom. Amen.

Ash Wednesday - No Palestinian Gandhi?

Ash Wednesday - the Fast that I choose
Isaiah 58.1-12

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice
to undo the thongs of the yoke
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke. (Is 58.6)

OK, I know that Ash Wednesday is NEXT week, but by then it may be too late.

Westerners often lament that there is no Palestinian Gandhi. I wonder if they know about Khader Adnan, who has been held in an Israeli prison without being charged with any crime, since December 17. During that time he has been beaten, forced to sit shackled to a chair in painful positions, humiliated by his guards, his religion insulted. But still there are no charges against him.

Incarceration without trial is called “Administrative Detention.” Other countries also practice this, including the United States, but human rights groups protest the practice--being held without charges and trial is a denial of human rights. International law allows for administrative detention only in the most extreme cases, for people who pose a threat, when there is no other way to prevent danger. Over the years Israel has held thousands of Palestinians in Administrative Detention, for periods of several months, to several years. At the end of 2011, there were more than 300 Palestinians being held in Administrative Detention, including 21 elected members of the Palestinian legislative council and one child (age 16-18) (B’Tselem).

Adnan has been on a hunger strike--now for more than 58 days--to protest the violence he is experiencing in detention and the failure of the Israelis to charge him and other detainees. Doctors from Physicians for Human Rights have examined him and warned him and the Israeli prison system of the risk of death. They explained in graphic terms that the body cannot survive without water and that a hunger strike lasting more than 45 days causes damage to the body’s organs.

Anat Litvin, director of PHR Israel’s Prisoners & Detainees Department, states: “The fact that a person does not know when his detention will end nor the nature of the accusations brought against him, makes administrative detention unbearable, and similar to torture. Adnan’s hunger strike is clearly endangering his life, but should be also seen as a legitimate protest of a man trying to keep his dignity in face of gross abuse of his basic rights as a human being.”

Amnesty International has called on the Israeli government to charge him or release him.

Adnan has written, "I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on.” More….

Read more about Adnan’s struggle for his human rights...

Is not this the fast that I choose…..to loose the bonds of injustice…..?

Gracious God, as we reflect on our mortality this Ash Wednesday, we remember Khader Adnan. You have given us abundant riches of freedom and opportunity. Help us use these gifts to loose the bonds of injustice for those who live in bondage.. Amen.

Email President Obama to protest his imprisonment: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Email Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu: http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Public+Applications/PublicApplications/
Email Secretary of State HIllary Rodham Clinton: http://contact-us.state.gov/app/ask/session/L3RpbWUvMTMyOTMyMDI0MC9zaWQvbnQzZGlNUWs%3D

A sample message: Please release Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, or charge him with a crime. He is protesting his imprisonment with a hunger strike and he is near death. Torturing Palestinians will not bring peace.