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Take heart and be not afraid |
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Written by Kathy Platt
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Friday, 11 June 2010 11:04 |
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Every 6 weeks or so I meet with my spiritual director to talk about matters of the heart and soul. It has been an incredibly rich experience for both of us. His name is Jeremy Parnes and he is the Rabbi at Beth Jacob Synagogue here in Regina. The conversation that we had yesterday led me to re-read a book entitled Postcards from the Valley, by David Guiliano. The book is a series of reflections he wrote while he was Moderator of the United Church of Canada, and he has a section in there from when he visited Israel in 2007. I don't profess to understand what is happening in the Middle East. The conflicts between the Israelis and the Palestinians are deep-rooted and convoluted and incredibly messy. But as Jeremy and I spoke yesterday, we both agreed that rather than talking about the violence which begets more violence, it would be helpful for us to be pro-active in talking about working towards Peace. There are many stories of individuals and groups that are doing all that they can to find ways to build peace and to foster community - but those are not the stories that are making the news these days. At one point I looked Jeremy in the eye and asked him what our community could do to supoort his community. He got rather choked up for a moment, and then looked right back at me and said that the simple fact that I had asked that question was the support that he needed for this day. David writes in his book: "courage" shares its root with the French word "coeur", which means heart. So to find my courage is to find my heart...when we encourage one another we en-hearten one another. In community we lift up one another's hearts, so that we can go forward together." And so I encourage all of us, regardless of where we stand politically or religiously, to find our heart as we listen to the stories coming out of the Middle-East, and to reach out our trembling hands to be companions on the journey with all those who are yearning for peace in our day.
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Last Updated on Friday, 11 June 2010 14:51 |
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