Check Points and Prayers—Part Two
The Fourth Friday of Ramadan and Beyond
After the third Friday of Ramadan and the problems that the pilgrims going to al Aqsa encountered, there were many questions about what the last Friday would bring. Would the rules be changed again at the last minute? Would the soldiers stop the women again and make their crossing difficult? Would the men who had gone to the time, trouble and expense of getting special permits to go to the Mosque be allowed to pass through the check point or would they all, without exception, be denied entry? Or, would some be allowed to pass through and others, for no apparent reason, be denied entry to pray on the most holy day of Ramadan?
The crowds approaching the check point at 3am had no idea what reception they would receive, but all came prepared to spend the day and the night at the Mosque in prayer and meditation. And, when they got there at 3am the checkpoint was almost deserted. The pilgrims, at this time mostly women, streamed up the vacant lanes and through the terminal.
About 3:30am Israeli soldiers started arriving, and they came through the check point and searched the area very thoroughly—just to be sure there were no surprises that would cause harm to the pilgrims, or to them. Then the Palestinian Authority arrived and set up the temporary barricades in a pattern to help keep order when the crowds of people began arriving.
And the crowds did arrive and order was kept and people were allowed through the check point with a minimum of trouble and delays. Instead of an Israeli Army Officer standing at the turnstile holding it shut while the women were crowded into a crush in the humanitarian lane, the turnstile was not turning because the gate beside it was standing open and a single, young solder was crying out, “Hurry, come through” and the women were quickly clearing the check point to continue on their way to Jerusalem where all the gates to the city were open. And, some of the festive mood of the first two weeks returned.
While everyone was there watching the pilgrims stream through the checkpoint. I was summoned by one of the Red Crescent Ambulance drivers. He wanted to know exactly what it was that I was doing there. He patiently listened to my explanation and finally said, “I do not want to insult you,” and he hesitated before going on, “but you are wasting your time!”
Well there have been many a moment when I have agreed with him. But, after some discussion, he said, “Okay you pray to your God and I will pray to my God and maybe…” his voice sort of trailed off. Then he said, “Okay, sister, you better get back to work.”
And maybe….one day ….. it will be as Isaiah says…
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them. (11:6)
They will not hurt or destroy
On all my holy mountain;
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea. (11:9)
and when we are reading about the Peaceable Kingdom Isaiah describes in chapter 11, we need also to look at how Isaiah begins with warnings about ceasing to do evil, learning to do good, seeking justice, and rescuing the oppressed. (1:16-17ff)
which leads us right to:
…they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more. (2:4)
Saturday morning, about 5:30am when I decided to look to see what all the honking of car horns was about on the street that is in front of the house and leads to the car check point, I saw a sign of the peaceable kingdom.
Men, women and children filled the street, the honking was of taxis picking some up and then trying to get though the people. When the wide stream of people began, I don’t know, but it continued for another hour or more. All the people who had rushed and crowded through the check point and past all the soldiers and guns and searches and turnstiles to get to the mosque for prayer the morning before were quietly returning from a day and night of prayer.
As they streamed silently through the huge gaping car gate, some carried prayer rugs, some had bags with things they would need or that the children would need, one man had a pillow. And one small, little boy lead a tiger by a thin string tied around its neck.
...and a child shall lead them.
Okay, so maybe it was just a Mylar balloon that a grandmother had bought for her grandson. But maybe it was also a sign. Which gets us back to what the ambulance driver said: “Okay sister [and brother], you better get back to work.”
And a place to start might be:
The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel;
The Lord our God is one Lord:
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:
this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:28-31
(useful link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Commandment )
As the month long fasting and prayer of Ramadan comes to an end and the Jewish people around the world begin to prepare for Rosh Hashanah and the Ten Days of Awe, perhaps we too should contemplate these words of Jesus.
How can we love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, our souls, our minds and our strength and our neighbors as ourselves? And when we do, how can we turn our swords, guns, tear gas, check points, sound bombs into plowshares, fertilizer, open doors and sounds of welcome?
Sharon Wiggins, EA
Grandmother and Pastor
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