My mother wrote a new entry in her blog (an infrequent, yet inevitably exciting event!), and it is a keeper. Check out her entry at: Halfway Down the Stairs

She has written a manuscript about feminism in the face of a new millenium — and her blog entry speaks about it:

“If we persist in thinking of God as “he,” then God is described in terms of what men think is important: strength and steadfastness. Yet what we have learned in the last year is that when tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes hit, it is the bendable buildings that survive. Women know how to bend, how to accomodate, how to love.

I wrote a long comment on her blog, I was so moved by her entry… I can’t wait to read her book.

And her writing triggered a memory for me — meeting an Israeli Holocaust survivor back in 1999. She was a wonderful woman — kind, gentle, and she fed me to no end:)… After hearing about my work with Seeds of Peace, in conflict resolution between Israeli and Arab Children, she really opened up to me:

She and her husband had both been Holocaust survivors. They had one son. He was healthy and strong, and they were proud of him. Then he went to fight the war in Egypt in 1967, and was killed.

She was crushed, believably, and had not stopped mourning, 32 years later.

And the first thing that she said about her son’s death was not angry. She said that she wished that people would learn from what happened in the Holocaust. She wished that ALL people stopped killing one another. Not just Germans, not just Arabs, but Israelis, too.

I was surprised by her comment, and when I sat, trying to find something to say, she continued, and she said, “I understand the Arab mother, you know…”

I said, “What do you mean?”

She said, “I understand what it means to lose a son…”

That is truly understanding, to me, and that is truly peace. I believe in reconciliation, and I believe in peace, but it grows out of the terrible pain that follows it around…

God is the Creator, not the killer. God is the Lover, not the hater. God is ruach, wind, breath, spirit, not dominant and oppressive.

My mother hit the nail on the head for me: I believe that God is with George Bush, as God is with me, but I do not believe that George Bush is God’s messenger on earth, and I do not believe that war, death, and poverty are on God’s to-do list.

Maybe George Bush should let his wife do the praying for this country. Maybe George Bush should let his wife make some decisions. Wouldn’t that be a Christmas miracle.

God is the lover, not the hater…

Amen.

Check out my mother’s blog: Halfway Up the Stairs at poetrant.blogspot.com!

If anyone has connections to a publisher for an ‘inclusive’ theological manuscript, please contact her or me! She’s working hard to find one now!