World Day of Prayer International
  • Home
  • About
    • International Committee >
      • International Meeting 2017
      • WDPIC History
    • Executive Committee
    • National Committees
    • Staff
    • Contact
  • Program
    • Journals
    • Fund for Tomorrow >
      • Honored Women
    • Guiding Principles
    • How to organize your worship service
    • Themes & Writers
    • WDP at a Glance
  • Taiwan 2023
  • Meeting 2022
  • Latest News
  • Members

Latest News

How will we walk?

11/14/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture1994 artwork for WDP Palestine
​Coming from the land and city where the miracle in John 5 took place, gives me a special responsibility to share my reflection on the Zimbabwe theme “Rise! Take Your Mat and Walk” and what prayerful action really means. How will we walk?

The site of the Bethesda pool still exists today as proof of the belief of people who were healed or hoped to be healed when and if the angel stirred the water. The site is part of the buildings where the church of St. Anne, traditionally the home of the Virgin Mary’s parents, stands. To reach the building, you still have to pass through the Sheep Gate, also known as the gate of the twelve tribes and that of St. Stephen, who was stoned in Jerusalem. This is one of the seven gates that lead into the Old City, the Via Dolorosa, the 14 Stations of the Cross and the Noble Sanctuary, the Dome of the Rock, holy to Muslims. After all Jerusalem is where the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam meet.

Since 1967, this gate is guarded by heavily armed Israeli soldiers who allow or deny entry to both local and pilgrims depending on circumstances or the soldiers’ whims. In Jerusalem where crowds of sick people, blind, lame and paralyzed gathered around the pool awaiting to be healed, people today push and shove trying to flock in to visit holy sites and to praise God.

As women followed Jesus on the same path to the cross, mothers, wives, sisters and daughters walk without losing hope. We, the World Day of Prayer Palestine Committee wrote about this in the 1994 service “Go, See and Act” and invited our sisters around the world to walk with us in prayerful action. Like the lame man afflicted for 38 years, the Palestinian people have been waiting for almost a century for an angel to remove the yoke of oppression imposed upon them, and women are still striving for their equal rights.

In answer to the question posed by Jesus: “Do you want to be well again?” We cry out: “Of course! But how can we when there is injustice, oppression, hatred and killing in your land? The land of Jesus has not known the peace he announced nor lived the message of love and equality among brothers and sisters! Please, Jesus, heal us and walk with us so that humanity can be restored.”

When Jesus tells us: “Get up, pick up your sleeping mat and walk around” we respond: "Even if individually we do try to stand up and bring harmony within our own circles, the work of your peacemakers is not yielding fruits. We need the massive efforts of good people who believe in human beings, who do the will of God and are supported by global moral values and international law."

So, I offer this prayer:

With your help, O Lord, shake off the injustice, remove the occupation, liberate us, as you announced in the synagogue in Nazareth, so that we can walk as your children created in your divine image. We feel that under the oppressive system, we are not allowed to carry our sleeping mat, to walk freely and to have a state of our own.

Dear God, who created us in your divine image and gave us our dignity, help us to resist, nonviolently, against all forms of humiliation and dehumanization imposed upon us. Help us to respect others and to follow the commandment of do not kill, morals which have disappeared in the hearts of leaders in your country and the world.

Heal us, O lord, teach us humility and grant us the gift of reconciliation, so that we can all walk together with love.

We, women of the World Day of Prayer have our differences, but we all care for God’s beautiful creation and want to preserve it. Let us learn from each other, and spread love among all, for we women can be more powerful with compassion.
​
Amen.
- Nora Carmi, WDPIC Regional Rep. of the Middle East
2 Comments
Tutuapp link
7/31/2021 04:39:01 am

Ultimately, you need to make the decision as to whether you want to contact her in a direct way (like calling) or in a more indirect way (like texting or on social media).

Reply
Showbox link
7/31/2021 04:41:22 am

Humor will make a potentially awkward situation funny, and help remind her of your virtues.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016

    Categories

    All
    A Word From WDPIC
    Events
    Global Conversations
    Job Opportunities
    Prayerful Actions
    Thursdays In Black
    WDP Celebrations
    Writer Committee

    RSS Feed

475 Riverside Drive, Room 729
New York, NY 10115 USA
T: +1-212-870-3049
​H: M-F 9am-5pm EST
Home Image: Taipei City, Taiwan
Site powered by Weebly. Managed by Lunarpages
  • Home
  • About
    • International Committee >
      • International Meeting 2017
      • WDPIC History
    • Executive Committee
    • National Committees
    • Staff
    • Contact
  • Program
    • Journals
    • Fund for Tomorrow >
      • Honored Women
    • Guiding Principles
    • How to organize your worship service
    • Themes & Writers
    • WDP at a Glance
  • Taiwan 2023
  • Meeting 2022
  • Latest News
  • Members