Just a word before we go...Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time...October 15, 2023
Just a word before we go...Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time...October 15, 2023
There is a large berry bush in our backyard, immediately next to the neighbor’s garage. The bush attracts birds all day long, flying in and out and chirping loudly. Several of the birds found a more sheltered home in the roof and eaves of that garage. We would watch them burrow in and fly out, bringing bits of food for what was presumably their nest inside.
Our neighbors had a new roof installed, repairing the eaves and thereby blocking access for the birds. Recently, I‘ve noticed that several birds gather on the garage at the spot where they used to enter the eave; this happens every day; they have finally given up trying to enter the eave, but they resolutely rest on the spots where they used to enter. It occurred to me that they were sitting shiva for the home and nestlings they have lost.
Our Jewish friends sit shiva when a close relative dies. They often cover mirrors and practice other rituals while remaining at home for seven days, refraining from the ordinary business of life. This time apart provides a space for healing, both emotional and spiritual.
Perhaps we also are sitting shiva, here in this sacred place, and in our ordinary lives, as we try to comprehend the atrocities unfolding across the globe. We aren’t covering mirrors or staying home, but we are trying to come to grips with the hate and disregard for human life that feeds the barbarism being unleashed on the Israeli and the Palestinian people. Their history is complex and gives rise to varied explanations for the current crisis; but whatever version of events one subscribes to, the loss of life and sheer terror of trying to survive in that section of the Middle East is mind and heart-numbing.
Many have written this week, offering prayers for the people directly affected and for us all. Among them is Rose Marie Berger, a Catholic peace activist and poet, who wrote:
O God … “Send your Spirit to encompass all those whose lives are torn apart by the violence and death in Israel and Palestine...Guide religious leaders to model unity and reconciliation across lines of division. Guide political leaders to listen with their hearts as they seek peace and pursue it. Help all people choose the rigorous path of just peace and disavow violence...Let arms reach out in healing, rather than aggression. Let hearts mourn rather than militarize...Teach all of us to resolve injustices with righteousness, not rockets. Guard our hearts against retaliation, and give us hearts for love alone.”
Let us pray, and let us sit shiva for the tremendous loss of life.
Amen.