My wife Pam and I spent Christmas of 2022 in Jerusalem, riding on the coattails of retired bishop of Wyoming, The Rt Rev’d Bob Jones, and his wife Mary Page. I say “coattails” because Bob had been the Dean of St. George’s College, an Anglican study center located in East Jerusalem.

We were all staying at the guest house of the college. Bob and his wife were invited to ride the chartered bus to Bethlehem for Christmas Eve services at Church of the Manger and then to attend the next day Christmas banquet hosted by the Archbishop of Jerusalem, The Rt Rev’d Hosam Naoum.

Those “coattails” got Pam and me included in both of those. Lucky us, and we did truly feel blessed.

Bob and Mary Page also introduced me to Daoud Nassar, owner of Tent of Nations, located in the Jerusalem Hills, Southwest of Bethlehem. Tent of Nations is a study and work center for people of all ages to experience what it’s like to be Palestinian living under siege and harassment.

The Israeli army covets the Nassar’s land, which has been in that family for over a hundred years. The army once cut down its olive trees, and a synagogue in England paid for the replanting. Mr. Nassar, a Palestinian Methodist, lives by the mottos, “We refuse to be enemies,” and “We make no one an enemy.”

I share this in the midst of ongoing brutality against Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian. Today, I watched an interview with The Rev’d Fadi Diab, Rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ramallah. Though the Episcopal Church has not used the word “genocide,” Fr Diab does.

He describes the deliberate withholding of water, food, and medicine in the face of starvation. He describes the experience of hearing bombs exploding while celebrating the Eucharist.

He and others refuse to abandon their holy places even when ordered by the Israeli military. He laments the hesitation of the wider church in calling this horror for what it is.

In the interview, Fr Diab testifies to a faith tested by unimaginable suffering. He speaks of the ministry of presence and resilience. He and others find their rootedness in the faith strengthened, as they are willing to be arrested or beaten up for speaking truth to power. They follow in the steps of disciples who keep focused on Jesus and his way of love.

When asked about reconciliation, Fr Diab said that people in his church are more focused on grieving and lamentation. So many have seen loved ones killed and maimed, their homes and means of making a living, destroyed.

Through it all, people like Daoud Nassar and Fadi Diab hold steadfastly to Sermon on the Mount living. They refuse to make anyone an enemy.

—Richard