Season of Advent

Sometimes it is very difficult to rejoice here. It seems like there is almost nothing to rejoice about. My host family and friends live under an occupation. Money is tight. Restrictions are everywhere. My easy jaunt into Jerusalem is not one that can be shared with the majority of my community in Beit Jala. I carry a sense of guilt every time I join my English-speaking community on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem precisely because when my coworkers ask what I did over the weekend, I will once again show that I have a privilege to enter a city that is holy to all of us while they remain behind a concrete wall.
 
But this passage promises that God is at hand; there is hope. I see this when my coworkers are excited that I got to see a beautiful region or spent time in a special church. My host family celebrates that I can buy them bread that is best made in Jerusalem and can reminisce with them about places they were once able to visit on a daily basis. It is still hard and bittersweet, but we can rejoice together about what God has provided us in our lives.
 
During Christmas, many Palestinians will apply for permission to enter Jerusalem for the holidays. It is a time of waiting and anticipation, and of uncertainty. Some people will receive permission and can spend part of their holiday in Jerusalem. Others will be denied, and will spend yet another day looking at a city they cannot enter. But rejoicing will occur no matter what. Families will celebrate. Churches will pray together. God will be thanked for the food on the table and roof overhead.
 
I often struggle with seeing God in what is happening here. It is not just, it is not loving. But then I see the people, and I find God in quiet actions. In the daily act of living and praising in a place where it seems difficult to give thanks. God does move here. He is in the greetings and the sense of community. He is in the Muslim calls to prayer and the ringing of church bells. I find peace in the persistent rejoicing throughout this difficult place. I continue to learn how to rejoice in the steady act of daily life.

 

-Kaitlyn