I was choked up and tearful as the Sydney hostage crisis unfolded.
I discovered the hashtag #illridewithyou
Rachael Jacobs, riding on a train, noticed a Muslim woman quietly take off her head covering. She posted: “I ran after her at the train station. I said ‘put it back on. I’ll walk with u.” Another woman, @sirtessa, tweeted: “If you reg take the bus b/w Coogee/Martin PL, wear religious attire, &don’t feel safe alone: I’ll ride withyou. @me for schedule.” She started the hashtag #illridewithyou
If Christmas, if the incarnation means anything, at the very least it means God walking with us, God riding with you, with me, with us: black, white, gay, straight, man, woman, Muslim, atheist, Jew, Christian,…
Still reeling from the Sydney siege we awoke yesterday to the heartbreaking horror of the Peshawar school massacre in Pakistan.
The incarnation of the Source, meaning, and heart of the universe, of Reality, is not extraneous to us – it expresses and fulfils humanity at our best, of love’s response to hate, of peace’s response to terror… #illridewithyou
Yes!
Sitting here in Australia during the horror I felt what Bosco felt.
“i’ll ride with you resonates as it has around the world. I was also struck by a comment made by a women around the flowers in Martin Place- an area i know so well- when asked why she was there. Her reply=”I came to feel the pain”.
And now one of our senators has said that with current gunlaws and inability to bear arms we are a nation of victims.
The Anglican Sydney Diocese had an item on its web site “What is God Doing”. Written by one of their ministers- they shear away from priest- it concluded
“Sydney and this world are not paradise. We are longing for heaven for that, I think today more than ever.”
Feeling the painI remembered “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”and was left with the same struggle one could have every day when one regards the world.
#Illridewithyou.
The voice of the courageous to stand up for what is right.
God Bless all the people hurt and damaged by these terrible events.
God Bless us all this Christmas that we may remember our intent as human beings and bring the light of love to our world.
The news tonight is that its a fake. My view on this matter is different in that while I wish no one harm the evidence is pretty clear that my Christian brothers and sisters are being persecuted and murdered by another religion. I admire the Bishop of Baghdad – brave without slogans. God expects me to use my brain. An aquaintance in Turkey says that Christian conversions among displaced Muslims are on the up and up as they despair and see the complete futility of Islam. God is working, as always, even in horrible circumstances.
Yes, Brown. I am planning a post on the “it’s a fake”. I’m not sure what relevance your conversion point has – last I checked, conversion from Christianity to Islam was about twice the rate of conversion from Islam to Christianity. I’m not sure that I would go on to say “as they despair and see the complete futility of Christianity”. Advent blessings.