Reading the news about Syria is heartbreaking.  A great civilisation in ruins as people are indiscriminately killed because of internal power struggles.  And now the supposed great powers of America and Britain are thinking of intervening, not to get involved in the struggle but to stop the use of chemical weapons. How they will do that is hard to imagine.

What started as  a resistance against a  brutal regime and a movement to  replace a corrupt, one-party dictatorship has deteriorated into a war among rebel groups preying on the people they are  supposed to be defending. The country is torn apart by sectarian groups - alawites, sunnis, shia, secularists,  jihadis, extremists, moderate, all seemingly intent on power even if it means the destruction of their country and the slaughter of their fellow citizens.  And there is real fear that this sectarianism will spread to other parts of the Middle East. One report on the BBC said "If the conflict in Syria is going to go on longer, Lebanon is going to be in a worse state than Syria is in today. If there's a car accident on the street, people run to ask, are you Sunni or Shia… Sectarian divisions have become very, very deep, and it's going to get worse."

Sectarianism just doesn't make sense, no matter what the religion is, as it simply spreads hate and violence. But why do people identify so closely with a particular sect or even a particular religion?  Where does that identity come from? Identity is important. It is the point, the place from which we view the world and relate to others, the characteristics by which we know ourselves and are known by others. It is connected to community, to a sense of belonging.  We are known and know ourselves by the family we are born into, the culture we are brought up in, the religion we follow, the stories we are told about ourselves, the world and others. These separate us from those whose experience, whose stories are different from ours. Identity thrives on difference.  I am me because you are you, I am woman because you are man, I am Christian because you are Muslim, I am religious because you are non-religious. But identities can be open or closed.

A closed identity is  one that cannot see beyond its own very limited horizons, that sees anyone and anything beyond  its own self understanding as wrong or even evil, something to be suspicious of, ignored, feared, hated, rejected and sometimes even destroyed.  A closed identity might bring with it a sense of security in believing that one is right and everyone else wrong but it can also be a prison.  It can be a place in which we shut out the rest of the world, turn in on ourselves. An open identity, however, can be a place from which we go out to enjoy the world, savour the  wisdom and beauty of others' stories, recognise our common shared humanity and grow in compassion and love. This is an identity which leads us to help others and respond to their needs simply because they are our brothers and sisters. Then there would be no question of asking whether they were sunni or shia, christian or muslim, believer or non-believer. We would help simply because they are human.

I ended my last blog wishing more was heard about the initiatives for peace in Israel/ Palestine.  Since then I have heard about initiatives such as the Emek Medical Centre in Israel where Israeli and Arab doctors work side by side to heal people because they are people worthy of respect with no regard to national or religious affiliations, Save  A Child's Heart, an Israeli charity committed to saving children from all backgrounds, the Barkan Industrial Site where Jews and Arabs work side by side as fellow workers,  a seminar on agricultural cultivation for Gaza farmers organised by the Israel Gaza Coordination and Liaison Headquarters.  

Then there is the village Oasis of Peace which is the English translation of the name of Neve Shalom (Hebrew) / Wahat al-Salam (Arabic).  This  is a community where Jewish and Palestinian Arab Israeli citizens have lived together in peace for the past 40 years and together have a unique way of educating their children, teaching them in both languages about each other’s cultures, religions and traditions.  These are not isolated initiatives but, in a paraphrase of  someone working for the Emek Medical Centre, are shining examples of  sanity in a world going mad -- literally a beacon of light and hope for anybody who cares to focus on something sane.

And there is the film " Within the Eye of the Storm" which I was privileged to see yesterday. This is  the story of
Bassam and Rami, a Palestinian and Israeli, who both lost daughters in the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict. The film tells in a very moving way how each of them coped with the pain of bereavement by committing themselves to the work for peace.  They were determined to break the cycle of violence by dialoguing with the other side, sharing their story, working for justice, and refusing to let violence have the last word.  As friends they are honest about their pain but together a witness to the strength and transforming effect of friendship.  They have a radio programme ( in a radio station now closed) in which they converse about their life and concerns and their humour and affection for one another is both  moving and inspiring.  Their conversations contain much wisdom which is powerful because it comes out of  pain and suffering.  Bassam admits that he had never met a Palestinian even though he lived in Israel all his life and Rami had not understand the pain of the Jewish people. But in listening to one another's story they come to realise that "people are people" and "there is more than one truth."   Together they are committed to justice and to breaking "down the wall with the power of their pain which is also the power of love.  This is an inspiring film which has now been shown throughout the world as a contribution to understanding, forgiveness and reconciliation. 

Larry Rich, the Director of Development & International Public Relations for the Emek Medical Centre, has written, “people have a choice: to focus on real-life positive examples of Jewish / Arab relationships and coexistence, OR they have the choice to focus on media-generated divisiveness, hate and violence. People will perpetuate what they focus upon … either the positive or the negative (we create our own reality). Bombs are louder than the handshakes and the hugs I am talking about. But if we pay attention to those handshakes and hugs, we have an opportunity to change the entire perspective of this conflict.”
Is not this a challenge to all of us?.

The phrase used in the title of this blog is taken from a German Lutheran theologian called Oscar Cullman and is quoted by Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, in the book he co-authored with Rabbi Skorka of Buenos Aires, "On Heaven and Earth". The chapter in which the quote occurs deals  with conflict.  While the media likes to paint pictures in black and white, putting different sides in opposition to one another, seeking out sensational animosities, favouring conflict rather then reconciliation, the situation is always more complex. Each side brings to the situation its own history, its own understanding of itself and the other, its own story through which it interprets  events.   Achieving peace and reconciliation is a long and hard process and there are many parts of the world where  it almost seems impossible. This weekend the press was full of stories of people of different faiths fighting one another, of different factions within faiths competing for dominance.  How is the world and religion to resolve conflict and animosity? It is in trying to answer this question that the Pope refers to Oscar Cullman. " He ( ie. Cullman) says we should not seek that everyone from the outset affirm the same thing, but instead he proposes that we walk together in reconciled diversity... .. he asks that we not throw rocks at one another but rather that we continue walking together ........ It is the way of advancing the resolution of a conflict with the virtues of all, without nullifying the diverse traditions or falling into syncretism.  Each one from their identity, in reconciliation, seeking the unity of truth"(On Heaven and Earth p.217).

 Two things had made this statement stand out for me when I read it. One was a friend talking about receptive ecumenism which encourages different Christian denominations to listen to one another, to learn from one another's wisdom, to be open to the gifts that the other has to offer, to recognise a unity that already exists without demanding agreed statements on church governance or order - all approaches used in interreligious dialogue.

The other  was watching a film on the Israeli - Palestinian conflict.  ' 5 Broken Cameras' told the story of the resistance of a Palestinian village Bilin to the building of the separation wall. It is stark in its realism and it is not possible to watch it without feeling the pain of the Palestinian people.  While it is right that Palestinians should tell their story the conflict was seen in black and white terms with no account of the complexities of the situation.  It was hard to see how reconciliation will ever be possible.  And yet there are people working for peace in that troubled land which is so sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims.  How I wish we could hear more about that.

For those of us who are not Muslims this month of Ramadan seems to have been a tough one. It cannot have been easy to fast from food and drink during day light hours when temperatures were soaring.

This week Ramadan comes to an end with the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, an opportunity for family feasts and celebrations.  For the past number of years the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Vatican has written to Muslims throughout the world, sending them greetings for the festival and reflecting on  a common theme.  There is a letter for this year but this one is significantly different in that it comes directly from Pope Francis himself as " an expression of esteem and friendship for all Muslims, especially those who are religious leaders". The theme of the letter is promoting mutual respect through education.  Warmth, respect, kindness shine through - all attitudes which we have come to know and love in this new Pope.

The letter states how important it is to bring young people up to "think and speak respectfully of other religions and their followers, and to avoid ridiculing or denigrating their convictions and practices". And this respect is to be shown, not only in the presence of someone from another faith "but always and everywhere, avoiding unfair criticism or defamation", says the Pope.  "Families, schools, religious teaching and all forms of media have a role to play in achieving this goal".  Diana Eck once said that people of every religious tradition depend upon one another to interpret one another fairly and accurately. "We are the keepers of one another’s image …. This is a sacred trust".   Religious people have not always done this and there is plenty to criticise in religion but it is important to avoid comparing the best in one's own religion with the worst in another. This would also be the case for non-religious people who sometimes only see the bad in religion but only the good in their particular secular stance and vice versa, of course, for religious people who see no good in secular views. There is wisdom to be found everywhere if we but look for it.  But no matter how sinful the followers of religion are, no matter how much religion is abused and misused it has been a genuine path towards meaning, well-being, holiness, service and even heroism for many many people. It is to be respected and the world would be a better place if those of us who are religious truly saw ourselves as the keepers of one another's image, if we took seriously this as a sacred trust  and at all times and in all places spoke kindly of one another's faith.  I am heartened by the letter from Pope Francis and his call to do just that.