What do you know about the daily circumstances of Palestinian women in the Palestinian territories? Their circumstances are very different from most of us in the U.S. – even those of us living in cities plagued with violence. What makes them weep?
I want to extend an invitation to you, your congregation,
and your friends to attend an upcoming justice-oriented event, at which you
will find out some of those things that make Palestinian women weep. On Good
Friday (April 18th), the Metropolitan Chicago Synod's Working Group on the
Middle East will join other social justice organizations in a Walk for Justice
sponsored by 8th Day Center for Justice. This Working Group is affiliated with
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination
in the U.S. At this Good Friday justice prayer walk, the Working Group on the
Middle East will present the prayers at the 5th Station, inspired by the
Weeping Women from Luke 23:27-28. What makes today's Palestinian women weep?
Come and find out. If you want to read more about the 8th Day walk in general
(including the walk route and other organizations sponsoring prayer stations),
go to http://www.8thdaycenter.org/good-friday
There is also a Facebook event called "WGME at the 8th
Day Good Friday Walk for Justice" if you would like to see more
information about our contribution to the event: https://www.facebook.com/events/367723646699116
Please put the Good Friday prayer justice walk in your
calendar. It is April 18th, beginning at noon, starting at Congress
& Michigan. We will wind our way through downtown (ending at the Thompson
Center by 3:00pm). This justice prayer walk is inspiring and impactful – hope you
can join us!
As a part of our preparation for this prayer justice walk on
Good Friday, we created some sign boards that replicate art found on the Wall
(also known as the Separation Barrier) in Israel. Palestinians and visitors
from throughout the world have added their own street art, graffiti, and public
art to the Wall, as a sign of protest, an invitation to peace, and a critique
of the lack of global intervention. We are posting pictures of our recreations
of some of these sign boards in honor of those amazing artists (some known and others
anonymous). These signs should help each of us consider what our own role could
be in ending the injustice in the Middle East – whether gaining further
personal awareness about the Wall, writing to a legislator, reading more about
the plight of Palestinian people, or supporting a justice organization working
in the Middle East. (Keep watching for more posts with the full cadre of images from the Wall sign boards.)
See the Working Group on the Middle East website to discover
other upcoming events and/or links for more information in general: http://www.mcselca.org/what/ministry/middle_east/
-Pastor Carla Thompson Powell
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