Yesterday our topic was What Not to Do in Response to the Attacks on Paris and Beirut. Reading that blog first, will make this one more meaningful. As yesterday, my ideas are organized as a list.
1.Stop talking
Sit down, take several deep breaths, drink a cup of coffee or tea, whatever makes you feel warm and thankful. Drink it while listening to God, who really might have something to say. Then…
- Get some perspective
According to the Global Terrorism Index, during the last 15 years only half of one percent of the world’s terrorism deaths have occurred in the West, including the U.S., Canada, Australia and European countries, and deaths from homicide in the same area are 13 times the number of terrorism victims.
Also, The British paper, The Guardian reported recently that 68 people have been indicted in American courts for links to ISIS. 44 of them were American born, and the others are from Uzbekistan, Somalia and the Sudan. Notice please: no Syrians.
- Think about the refugees
Recall the pictures of hordes of people running away from their own homes to escape the threat of violence and religious extremism. Remember Alan, the little boy washed up on a beach and Facebook pictures of weeping fathers. Realize that thousands of families have survived but have no country, much less a home. Think. Think hard about what you can do for these people. Here are some suggestions:
Speak out. Defend the refugees in conversation. Call your governor. Sign a petition.
Reach out to any refugee families you hear of who actually have arrived at a place near you. Say, “Welcome.” Let them teach you to say that in Arabic. (Their beautiful expression means, “You are among family and everything is easy.”) Invite them to your home for tea and cookies. (That’s what they would do, if you were new in their country.) Introduce them to your friends. Find out what practical problems they are having so you will know how to help.
Call your local refugee settlement organizations and ask what you can do. Probably they need blankets, clothing, and furniture. Maybe you can volunteer to help someone learn English, little things about our culture or how to apply for a job.
Give to an organization that is helping refugees abroad. They need the help badly. And you need to give. It will make you feel useful and hopeful. (For your consideration and convenience I have added a list of possibilities at the bottom of this article.)
- Learn from experience
You know what happened before. America believed a lie, terrorized Iraqis (called it “shock and awe”) invaded the country, destroyed a bad dictator, tortured his army officers, created chaos, and occupied the streets until asked to leave. Accept the fact that by doing all of this we helped to create ISIS and the refugee problem, then you will understand that what we do now will set the stage for the next period of history, either peace or war.
- Get to know some Muslims
They are in your community, people who are already Americans. They are feeling a great deal of stress. In New York a young Muslim cab driver cried because no one wanted to ride with him. A mosque in Florida received a hateful phone call, full of curses and threats. Take the initiative. With your church or a church group, reach out to Muslim leaders and discuss ways that you, Muslims and Christians, can get to know one another. Encourage your children to mingle with theirs. Knowledge will create trust. Trust will create peace.
- Take lessons on living together
Maybe we can learn from the Lebanese, a country with a government based on balancing power between people with great differences. This arrangement may sound good, but it automatically creates divisions and occasionally paralysis. Because of a stalemate in the Parliament, Lebanon has been unable to elect a president for more than a year and the government has been unable to make decisions for the good of the people, but the day after the attack on a Muslim community the splintered lawmakers pulled together and approved legislation for the health of the country. Though there have been unrest and many demonstrations in recent months, no group took advantage of the recent attack to harm or criticize the others. On Nov. 19 the prime minister praised the Parliament and the people for refusing to let the terrorist attack exploit their divisions. (And let me point out that Lebanon has more refugees per capita than any other country in the world.)
Unity is a weapon more powerful than guns against a threat like ISIS.
- Teach your children a way of peace
We have the example of the young French father who used the heartbreak in Paris to instruct his child. In front of the impromptu shrine where people were leaving flowers and lighting candles, the little boy told a reporter that there were lots of bad people, very mean people and they had guns. The father said, “But we have flowers.” The practical child objected that flowers could not fight guns, but the father insisted that they could. The child then asked what the candles were for, and the father said, “to remind us of the people who are gone.” “So the candles and the flowers protect us?” “Yes, they protect us.”
I keep thinking about this. In the material world, as the child said, “Flowers cannot fight guns.” But in our spiritual and emotional worlds they do protect us. Without candles and flowers we are more vulnerable. So bring home flowers, light some candles and teach your children peace.
- Write a poem
Whether you are a poet or not, write something about how candles and flowers protect us. Find some truth that we may have missed.
- Look for books that will help you see the human face of the Middle East
In Borrowed Houses is an option. Read it and share it. Giving someone a book could be a small, easy way to open a heart to strangers, promoting peace and healing in our wounded world.
I know there must be other wonderful things we can do, small practical steps we can take toward health and harmony in our world. Click the contact button on my homepage and share your ideas.
A list of agencies involved in ministry to refugees in the Middle East
1.The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, www.donate.unrefugees.org
2.World Vision, www.worldvision.org
Very active in Lebanon
3.Global Initiatives, GlobalInitiatives@lenrodgers.com
This organization was founded by my friend Leonard Rodgers who has been director of Youth for Christ in Beirut and then director of Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding. Gifts may be sent to this address:
#404, 1928 E. Highland Ave., Suite F104
Phoenix, Az 85016-4226
4.Witness as Ministry, www.wamcares.org
This humanitarian organization was founded by Jean Bouchebl, who is a character in my book
Gifts may be sent directly to: WAM Inc.
2271 Lake Ave, Suite F104
Altadena, CA 91003
5.Episcopal Migration Ministries
6.Church World Service, a ministry of the United Methodist Church
7.Middle East Bible Outreach, www.mebo.org
Based in the U.S., supporting all ministries of the Lebanese Society for Educational and Social Development.