Like so many, I have been heartbroken and grieving the news from Palestine and Israel in the last several months. Maybe you have been glued to the news or maybe you have not been able to look at all. It is a hard balance to strike and one I never mastered, even while serving as a Global Mission Fellow in Palestine and Israel from 2013 to 2015.
For almost two years, I lived in Bethlehem in the West Bank, working at the Wi’am Conflict Resolution Center. Every day, I walked to work past the Church of Nativity and past a refugee camp and worked in the shadow of the barrier that separates Palestine and Israel. I learned so much during this time—about the history of Palestine and Israel, mission and relationships, conflict resolution and aid work, and how Christian theology can be manipulated to harmful ends. I also learned that in the 2,000 years since Christ’s birth, not much has changed in that land. It is still under military occupation, but Israeli occupation rather than Roman. People suffer under structural violence that binds their economic opportunities, access to healthcare, and right to movement. The current bombing of and resulting humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip compounds an already existing humanitarian crisis there.
Words fail in response to the violence and inhumanity of Hamas’s attack on Israeli citizens and Israel’s bombing of Gaza.
My experience living in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, deeply shaped my reading of Scripture and understanding of the world. Especially in such times of violence and loss, when words fail, it is essential to remember and name the God that we worship—not only for comfort but to guide our prayers and actions.
We worship a God of peace, who spoke through the prophet Isaiah, “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4). Our God has no use for retaliation and vengeance.
We worship a God of liberation who sets the captives free and breaks down the things that imprison us: from prejudice and bias to concrete walls and military checkpoints.
We worship a God who came to earth as Jesus, a man living under military occupation, and who aligns Godself with the poor and oppressed rather than violent displays of power and might.
In times of turmoil, violence, and oppression, we, as Christians, are called to pray and act. Join Christians around the world in prayer for a lasting ceasefire, return of the hostages, and a sustainable peace, including an end to the military occupation of Palestine. Put your prayers in action by calling on the United States to pursue peace in Palestine and Israel.
As Christians, we must also question how our theology can be manipulated to justify and perpetuate violence. In October, several Palestinian Christian organizations published a statement calling on Christian leaders in the U.S. and Europe to repent of their theological and political complicity in the ongoing violence in Palestine and Israel and the bombing of the Gaza Strip. We must interrogate theology and scriptural interpretations that justify violence and oppression. Our faith in the God of peace, justice, and life calls us to do theology that pursues an end to violence and oppression. Our faith in the God of the incarnated and liberation calls us to put our faith into action, pursuing justice and righteousness in Palestine and Israel and everywhere.
Finally, moments of violence and devastation demand the prophetic task of naming and lamenting what is while simultaneously imagining what can be. One of the most meaningful days of my time in Bethlehem was celebrating International Women’s Day 2015 with the young women’s group at Wi’am. People around the world were encouraged to use the phrase #MakeItHappen on social media, seeking to share and accomplish visions of gender equality in 2015. Together, we made signs with our vision of justice and equality and included #MakeItHappen. The participants photographed one another holding their signs in order to share their dreams on social media outlets. These signs presented a vision of a better future and steps to achieve justice, such as “Peace,” “Freedom,” “Women as peacemakers,” and “Help one another.” Even beyond the celebration of International Women’s Day, I was continually struck by the courage and steadfastness of these young women who often braved tear gas to gather and imagine a better reality together.
Their tenacity often reminded me of Mary, who also imagined a re-ordered world. When told of her role in God’s plan, she sang, “God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” Much like these participants, she was a young woman living in a land under military occupation. She too wrestled with great uncertainty. Yet in the midst of this, she responded with not only obedience to the will of God but also with vision and imagination. Mary embodied the courage necessary to envision a more fully just reality.
I pray that we all have the courage to envision and pursue a reality aligned with God’s vision of peace and justice. One without military occupation, separation barriers, structural violence, kidnappings, bombings, and sieges.
God of peace and liberation, break into our world today. Reveal yourself among the displaced, hungry, wounded, and oppressed. Remind us of your disdain for earthly power. Comfort those overwhelmed by loss and destruction, parents who have lost children, and children who have lost parents and siblings. Move the hearts of the world to action. Save us from our fear and complacency. Open our eyes to the injustices and pain around us as well as to your presence in our midst.
And may the Spirit intercede for us when there are no words even for our prayers.
Amen.
Grace Killian
Grace Killian has a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She is originally from Pittsburgh and is a graduate of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. She was a Global Mission Fellow for the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, serving in Bethlehem. She was ordained an elder in the Western Pennsylvania Conference in 2023. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and loves reading, singing, and baking. Grace currently serves on staff with the Connectional Table of the United Methodist Church.
Yet Alive 