SABAWI: Where time stood still - December 31, 2009
Gaza one year after operation cast lead
Shadowsmodified
Don’t tell us a year has passed…
We don’t measure our lives by this calendar
Time has stood still for us so long ago
Punctuated only by loss and grief
And the in between moments of quiet reprieve
We don’t count on Christmas, nor Eid for cheer
We don’t fool ourselves with “happy new year”
No occasion is ever taken for granted,
When it comes to tomorrow, there are no certainties
Our yesterday is our today
Time is frozen here
And one calendar year
Will never contain our lives,
Our collective misery,
Our yearning for humanity
Don’t tell us a year has passed
Our clock stopped ticking when justice collapsed
Eclipsed by decades of repression
Hush… don’t speak of time
We have endured the absence of time
We don’t measure our lives by days like you
We measure our lives by the number of embraces
Our worth by a lover’s heartbeat
Our existence by our persistence
So, don’t tell us a year has passed….
Samah Sabawi is a writer playwright and poet. She was born in Gaza and is currently residing in Melbourne Australia.
Thursday 31 December 2009
Tuesday 22 December 2009
Sabbath
Sabbath
Posted on August 15, 2008 in Wine Before Breakfast by Rick VanManen
It might seem a little strange to reflect on Sabbath at the beginning of a new semester. Shouldn’t Sabbath be a topic of discussion at the end of a semester, like it was at the end of creation? It seems to be a nearly inevitable fact of human nature that thoughts of Sabbath, thoughts of rest, only come to our minds when we’re already caught up in the overwhelming busyness of our lives. Then Sabbath only appears as a mirage in the distance, the possibility of a break in our routines if only we could escape them. But such escape becomes impossible when our lives, when our selves, have become trapped in the dehumanizing realities of our culture. These realities create a world of endless growth, in which we see ourselves as self-sufficient, self-made and self-actualized individuals. This perception produces in us an inhuman anxiety that overwhelms us and controls us. What shall we eat? and what shall we wear? become the questions that preoccupy our minds and our hearts as we struggle to maintain our way of life. We become overly busy and overly anxious thinking that one more committee meeting, one more practice, one more phone call, one more hour of studying, one more answered email, one more brick for Pharaoh, one more of anything will make this world a better place and enhance our sense of self.
Sabbath serves not only as a cessation of labour, as a way of stopping our frantic attempts to get ahead and stay ahead. Sabbath calls us to renounce our autonomy and our self-reliance. Sabbath allows us, or, if necessary, forces us to acknowledge a rule other than our own, a reality other than ourselves. It calls us to remember that God is at the centre of life, that life is ordered, blessed and given by a God who commands us to relinquish our control, to release our grip on the world and to desist in trying to secure the world on our own terms. But this command isn’t harsh; it’s not heavy-handed or coercive. Rather the command falls upon our ears and our hearts in gentle and humble tones:
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-29).
Sabbath restores to us our humanity. It becomes for us an occasion in which God intervenes in our lives in new and often unexpected ways and calls us back to a real life, a radical alternative existence in which our freedom is rooted in the abundance of the God who loves us and loves creation.
So as you finalize your fall semester schedules, I encourage you to deliberately include Sabbath. Make it a part of your monthly, weekly and even daily routines. And it’s my hope that you will consider your participation in campus ministry activities as a part of your Sabbath, an opportunity to step away from the busyness of life, to be refreshed and recreated, to rest, to reorient yourself in the midst of our disorienting culture. [ This final paragraph can be easily written by you, the reader in terms of your time and circumstance ]
from - www.seekingwisdom.ca
Posted on August 15, 2008 in Wine Before Breakfast by Rick VanManen
It might seem a little strange to reflect on Sabbath at the beginning of a new semester. Shouldn’t Sabbath be a topic of discussion at the end of a semester, like it was at the end of creation? It seems to be a nearly inevitable fact of human nature that thoughts of Sabbath, thoughts of rest, only come to our minds when we’re already caught up in the overwhelming busyness of our lives. Then Sabbath only appears as a mirage in the distance, the possibility of a break in our routines if only we could escape them. But such escape becomes impossible when our lives, when our selves, have become trapped in the dehumanizing realities of our culture. These realities create a world of endless growth, in which we see ourselves as self-sufficient, self-made and self-actualized individuals. This perception produces in us an inhuman anxiety that overwhelms us and controls us. What shall we eat? and what shall we wear? become the questions that preoccupy our minds and our hearts as we struggle to maintain our way of life. We become overly busy and overly anxious thinking that one more committee meeting, one more practice, one more phone call, one more hour of studying, one more answered email, one more brick for Pharaoh, one more of anything will make this world a better place and enhance our sense of self.
Sabbath serves not only as a cessation of labour, as a way of stopping our frantic attempts to get ahead and stay ahead. Sabbath calls us to renounce our autonomy and our self-reliance. Sabbath allows us, or, if necessary, forces us to acknowledge a rule other than our own, a reality other than ourselves. It calls us to remember that God is at the centre of life, that life is ordered, blessed and given by a God who commands us to relinquish our control, to release our grip on the world and to desist in trying to secure the world on our own terms. But this command isn’t harsh; it’s not heavy-handed or coercive. Rather the command falls upon our ears and our hearts in gentle and humble tones:
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-29).
Sabbath restores to us our humanity. It becomes for us an occasion in which God intervenes in our lives in new and often unexpected ways and calls us back to a real life, a radical alternative existence in which our freedom is rooted in the abundance of the God who loves us and loves creation.
So as you finalize your fall semester schedules, I encourage you to deliberately include Sabbath. Make it a part of your monthly, weekly and even daily routines. And it’s my hope that you will consider your participation in campus ministry activities as a part of your Sabbath, an opportunity to step away from the busyness of life, to be refreshed and recreated, to rest, to reorient yourself in the midst of our disorienting culture. [ This final paragraph can be easily written by you, the reader in terms of your time and circumstance ]
from - www.seekingwisdom.ca
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
