Grieving in Gaza

Hello to anyone who’s still reading this blog after so long a silence. Since we returned from Baton Rouge, almost all of the blogging has been from me, Karen, as one way to let a bit of the writer in me seep out. But writing teachers get writer’s block too, though I’m not sure if “writer’s block” is the right phrase. Maybe “what-do-I-tell-people block” is more like it.

Personal blogs are usually about what’s happening in our own lives . . . so, yes, our community did get some flooding and, yes, I did do some work with the Red Cross on that, and, yes, I could blog about that. I could blog about Chris’s band, newly re-named “Blue Café,” and how they are really going places – probably even to Jazz in the Valley (congrats guys!! ). I could blog about how much Melanie loves her dance class and how she’s already reading or about Andrew’s amazing creativity or about our attempts to get Melanie not to irritate Andrew and Andrew not to hit her when she does. Or, by contrast, I could blog about how much they absolutely adore one another and work together to build palaces with blocks, make joint books, or put on shows for us.

But my heart, soul, and mind are not in the same place as my body. My body teaches, leads a Bible study, raises my children, and volunteers a bit. Thankfully, all of these help my body to get closer to where my heart, soul and mind are. I guess the goal is to connect the body – what everybody sees and misperceives as the “real” person – to the true person, which people can’t see. So I’m glad I’m not working a desk job where the mind-body disconnect would be so severe it would cast me into craziness. But that dissonance is still there – as it is, of course, for all of us living on earth, whether or not we are aware of it.

Lately, my heart, soul and mind have been in a place both too complex and too far from my body to blog – grieving in Gaza. Better than a post of my own is a link to another blog that truly can and does describe Gaza grief in a deeply personal manner:

http://www.a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/

I commented to it and here is the central part:

“I'm a Christian who has been praying for peace for quite some time and who has been torn up over the present crisis. Your blog definitely deepens that, but gives me clarity and motivation to keep on praying. May God do His miracles to set the Gazan people free! May Israel "remember" from the Torah and "care for the foreigners" in her land. Of course this is much easier said than done, but God is a big God and He can do great miracles. The greatest miracle of all is a transformation of our heart. May the Lord transform all of us -- to transcend violence, to love our neighbors, and even to love our enemies. Deep prayers are going up for your people.”

The above comment truly over-simplifies both my thoughts and the reality, but it’s a start for a prayer and a post. For now, deep groanings go up to the Lord; may the Holy Spirit interpret them and bring them forth. Amen.