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Christmas light for Gaza

Christian leaders in Jerusalem set a message of light in a region seeking its way out of war.

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REUTERS
Pastor Munther Isaac lights a candle near an installation with a figure of baby Jesus lying amidst rubble at the Evangelical Lutheran Church, in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Nov. 25.
  • By the Monitor's Editorial Board

Earlier this week, various Christian denominations in Jerusalem joined in an appeal for their congregations to “testify to the sacred light of Christ” during this Christmas season. At a time of violent conflict in the Holy Land, their shared message marks something of a course correction.

Last year, these church leaders urged a muted celebration of Christmas in support of “the multitudes suffering from the newly erupted war” in Gaza. The message of Christmas – one of a light coming to the world – was “diminished,” they stated, especially among people in the region where Jesus was born.

This year’s call for illumined thought has several echoes. In a Christmas message from the White House, President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, called on Americans to observe a “Season of Peace and Light.” Pope Francis, in an address on St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 1, said “the quest for peace” requires “a light heart, a wakeful heart, a free heart.” Perhaps he also meant a heart alighted.

In September, photographers and artists in Iraq gathered works that depicted the word “peace” in various forms of light. The Peace Against War project was meant to express a “desire for a society free from conflict – one where everyone enjoys equal rights and opportunities,” the United Nations reported.

In March, the annual Women’s World Day of Prayer focused on forgiveness and forbearance toward others. That theme resonated deeply among Palestinian women, according to the Rev. Sally Azar, the first female Palestinian pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

“They were asking, Is it now our Christian brothers and sisters here in this land? Is it our literal neighbor? Is it the Israelis? Is it the Jews? Is it the Muslims? So all these questions arose when talking about bearing one another in love,” she told Deutsche Welle.

In their message, the clergy in Jerusalem evoked the full healing import of the Christian message that culminated in the “holy light of Christ’s resurrection.”

“This ancient path of redemption,” they wrote, “sparked a spiritual revolution that continues to transform countless hearts and minds towards the ways of justice, mercy, and peace.”

The war in Gaza continues, now into its second year. Some see a faint light for peace in the latest talks between Israel and Hamas. Others, meanwhile, find peace already lit in their hearts, a testimony to the Christmas message.

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