The Journey from Education to Action
I won’t be at church on Sunday, but I want to welcome my friend and local Jericho resident Maeve McBride to Good Shepherd’s pulpit. I met Maeve through Christians for a Free Palestine. A longtime member of Burlington Unitarian Universalist Society, Maeve currently worships online with Collegiate Church in New York with the Rev. Jacqui Lewis and sings in several gospel choirs. This Advent, Maeve and I shared a prayer journey of spiritually accompanying our friends during their trip to Palestine with a Catholic Worker delegation. I was so impressed and moved by Maeve’s Advent reflections, and know you are in for a treat to hear her preach for this first Sunday in Lent.
After worship, all are invited to attend an Adult Forum report-back from our friends Carmela Ormando of Burlington UU and Bethany Moose Nolan, about the “slow genocide” they witnessed firsthand in the West Bank. My friend John Heermans from St. James Episcopal Church will also be present to talk about the genocide in Gaza. While I have made no secret of my support for Palestinian freedom, I have not pressed for Good Shepherd to get actively involved in solidarity activities alongside our sister synod in the West Bank. With the Apartheid Free Communities pledge up for a vote in Underhill and many local faith communities adopting the pledge, I would love to see us consider moving from education to action.
Palestine is one of the more controversial issues we can be involved in, especially as Christians who deeply value our interfaith relationships with the many facets of the Jewish community. The friends I have mentioned above have been invaluable in helping me move from confused paralysis into thoughtful, peaceful action on behalf of all humanity, even when I don’t have the answers sorted out in my mind. Middle East peace is not a topic that will make us popular; but with the lives of millions of people in the Holy Land being slowly ground to dust, Palestinian as well as Jewish, this is not a conflict we get to sit out. Freedom for Palestine means freedom for everyone, a grand statement that I have felt in my soul but which bears thoughtful exploration in a safe community. I hope you stay for Adult Forum and engage with these deeply committed and loving allies.
with love, Pr. Chelsea
