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And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.
Matthew 2:6
Christian hearts travel to the Holy Land as we tell each other the old story. The place names roll off our tongues in a familiar way: Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea. We feel as if we knew these places. We've seen enough Christmas cards to imagine the landscape: a dark night, a cluster of little houses, an enormous star.
But most Christmas cards have little to do with reality. They must be beautiful, or we won't buy them. And so they romanticize our holy places. They make them look like we wish they were.
Very little in the Holy Land is as we wish it were these days. Once again, an outbreak of the violence that is never really stilled has shattered the silent nights of which we sing. Once again people have concluded that making war will somehow bring peace, and once again they have been proven wrong. Where does it end, we ask each other, shaking our heads. Maybe it doesn't end, a fearful voice inside whispers.
Through Episcopal Relief and Development, Episcopalians support emergency hospital care for anyone who needs it at Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. It is probably safe to say that none of the people being treated are Episcopalians; out of more than a million souls, only 3,000 in that densely populated strip are Christian. But bullets and bombs don't care who they strike -- Christian, Jew and Muslim: all alike bleed red. The current sudden need is overwhelming, but the physicians and hospital staff are safe at this moment and continue to work around the clock to handle the wounded and ease the suffering of the dying. More than 300 people have been killed in just the past week.
Will the land three faiths call holy ever look like our Christmas cards paint it for us? Perhaps not. But it will be at peace one day. No human situation goes on forever -- not the good ones and not the bad ones, either. In the meantime, there is much to be done, and the God who loves us all has given some of us the means to help.
