Two Terrifying Recent Texts From Gaza City

My friend J. Daryl Byler, a Washington, DC. based attorney who spent years in the Middle East, just received the following texts from a Palestinian friend. Wikipedia photo

4/21/2025

I am Amjad, a Palestinian from Gaza living in the shadow of a horrendous war, a war that has lasted 19 months. This war has already killed my father, brother and sister, and wounded my wife and our two sons. 

I have had to run with them from place to place to try to protect and feed them. We have had to flee 17 times during this war, from home to home, from school to school, from tent to tent. During the ceasefire, we returned to our home in Gaza City, where we have been living in the ruins of our destroyed home.  

On March 2nd, the Israelis began a total siege of Gaza, closing the border crossings to all humanitarian aid and commercial trade, blocking all food, water, fuel, electricity and other supplies from entering Gaza. Then on March 16, the Israelis ended the ceasefire with Hamas, resumed military attacks against all of Gaza. Each day our life has become more difficult. 

As for food, everything is very, very expensive. Flour is no longer available in the market and the black market is extremely expensive. Even vegetables are very expensive. If the border crossing is not opened In a few days, we will completely run out of food.  During the siege my children are becoming malnourished.  

My wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl the day before the Israelis ended the ceasefire, and a few days ago, the Israelis bombed the last hospital in Gaza City.  Now my wife and my new daughter need medical and nutritional assistance that is no longer available, and I am powerless to help them.

My brother, the Israelis are bombing everywhere. There is no fighting with Hamas, but the Israelis are bombing everywhere, including the hospitals which have now all been destroyed. If anyone is injured, there are no medical equipment or supplies to deal with the wounds, so their arm or leg must be amputated to save their lives. 

We are all under constant threat and fear.  I worry that I will have a heart attack just from the anxiety.  My children are terrified and wet themselves when the bombing gets close. They are afraid to sleep at night. We all sleep together, and when the bombing is too close to one side of the house, I gather them all up and carry them to the other side of our destroyed house. 

Gaza is now unlivable.  If the world powers cannot break the siege of food and water, and stop the Israeli genocide in Gaza, then they have a responsibility to get the people of Gaza get out so that we can receive the medical and nutritional assistance that we need.  We have learned that the Red Cross and the World Health Organization have helped some Gazans leave for medical assistance.  

My wife and two sons are all suffering from shrapnel wounds from an Israeli tank shell that hit the school room in which we were sheltering in November 2023, and now, we are all now malnourished because of the 36 day siege.  Please stop this war and end the occupation, but if you cannot, at least help my family and all Gazan people to leave and find safety.

4/22/2025

Yesterday there was a huge explosion that shook the whole area.  The children were terrified, started screaming and ran to hid in my arms as the shrapnel fell on our house. The situation is terrifying. I can’t breathe. . .  I discovered that the World Health Organization will try to get my family out of Gaza. I hope to escape death in Gaza.

And now they are bombing again!!  Huge bombing.

A Mother Laments Poor Jail and Prison Food

June Wells writes the following rerport of food served in
the jails and prisons in which her daughter served a
three-year sentence.

This is the complete version of a column published in a condensed form in today's Daily-News-Record. It is the fourth of the Valley Justice Coalition's monthly Justice Matters columns, posted here with the actual names of the jails and prisons the author refers to.

Food is such an important part of everyone’s life, something that is certainly true of the millions in  our country who spend endless years in our jails and prisons. I became especially concerned about jail and prison food when my daughter was sentenced to time in our local jail and in each of Virginia’s three state prisons for women,

What I am writing here is simply based on what she shared with me during that time and in the years since she has been released. I don’t claim to be an authority on this subject, and I hope many of the problems I am describing have been remedied. But what I hear from many who have loved ones behind bars I know there are still a lot of food issues that need to be addressed. Examples are meals with too many carbs, too few vegetables and fruits, and inferior kinds of meat products.

I’m told food served at our local jail has improved over the past years, but when my daughter was there they were often served a soy product with little actual meat and with an unappetizing smell. A kool aid type drink, served from a large canister, seemed to give the inmates UTI’s. 

She also spent some time at the Middle River Regional Jail before being transferred to the Department of Corrections (DOC) for the remainder of her time. There they served a chicken based product she said smelled and looked horrible and sat on the plates in a pool of fat. The hot dogs they served frequently were of an unappetizing color, taste and texture. Dry beans, also served regularly, were seldom thoroughly cooked, and occasionally contained foreign objects. Starches were consistently overcooked, and vegetables improperly prepared. The one decent item on the menu was a boiled egg. 

At Fluvanna Correctional Center, the intake facility for women, she never felt they were given enough calories to feel satisfied. The meat they served, called “meatrock,” was laden with fat and so bad they couldn’t tell from day to day exactly what was being served. There were days when there was no breakfast or often only a small pancake, with security guards walking by the tables with small doses of syrup dispensed from a jug. 

My daughter’s best food experience was at Goochland Correctional Center, where she worked in the kitchen. There she had access to the food served to the correctional officers and administration, and where she had the rare opportunity to eat a cube of cheese or a piece of raw carrot or celery. Mashed potatoes were served with skins on, and with some kitchen staff washing them and cutting them in half without checking for bad spots. Peanut butter came in 20 lb. bags stored in cardboard boxes, and was called “moon sand” because it was dry, gritty and sticky. It was at Goochland where she saw boxes of chicken bulk labeled “not for human consumption—not fully processed.”  The smell was horrible, and after being cooked the broth was green or yellow in color. 

My daughter was moved to State Farm Correctional Center when she was accepted for work release. While waiting for her job assignment, she had to eat regular prison food again. Sometimes grasshoppers, worms and beetles were in the vegetables grown on the State Farm property, and the kitchen was known to be infested with roaches and mice. It was not uncommon to have weevils in the flour and cornmeal, and fish was served that smelled of bleach and chemicals. 

My daughter and the women with whom she was incarcerated constantly reported having digestive problems, and there were cases of heartburn, nausea, indigestion, constipation, gas and diarrhea on a regular basis, along with reports of high blood pressure, ulcers, and UTI’s. 

She also noted that the contract with DOC’s vendors, the Keefe Company, which supplies inmate commissary items, allows everyone to win except the inmate. The Keefe Company charges exorbitant prices for highly salted, oily or sugary items inmates buy to supplement meals they often see as “unfit for human consumption.”

I know this is just one person’s story, but I felt it needed to be told. And while I agree people should be held responsible for their offenses, feeding bad food should not be a part of the punishment.

June Wells

Rockingham, Virginia

Warning And Evangelizing The Nations

Some of the 195 national flags displayed at the UN headquarters.

Why the big noise, nations?

Why the mean plots, peoples?

Earth-leaders push for position,

Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks,

The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers:

“Let’s get free of God!

Cast loose from Messiah!”

Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing.

At first he’s amused at their presumption;

Then he gets good and angry.

Furiously, he shuts them up:

“Don’t you know there’s a King in Zion? A coronation banquet

Is spread for him on the holy summit.”

Psalm 2:1-6 (the Message)

To the Lord, all nations

are merely a drop in a bucket

    or dust on balance scales;

all of the islands

    are but a handful of sand...

God thinks of the nations

    as far less than nothing.

Isaiah 40:15, 16 (CEV)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may declare the goodness of the One who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

I Peter 2:9 (MEV)

The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.

from Handel's Messiah, Part Three, Scene 7, "God's Ultimate Victory" 

The Bible contains a surprising number of references to nations. The Hebrew Bible is primarily about, and is addressed to, the nations of Israel and Judah, and has much to say to other kingdoms as well. And in Jesus's first recorded words in Matthew's gospel, he urges his hearers to become transformed citizens of the international and eternal reign of God. This supreme kingdom, one without borders, is to be a living demonstration of God's rule "on earth as it is in heaven." 

In his final words in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus commissions his followers to go to all nations and to baptize people of all kinds, including rich, poor, upper class, lower class, those in power and ordinary citizens alike, and to teach those recruited all of the "all things" Jesus taught. This would surely include his commands to love enemies, welcome strangers and foreigners, heal the sick, feed the hungry, and invest treasure in the "Company of Heaven" by generously sharing our wealth with the poor.

Our scriptures also make it clear there is only one Judge of every human on earth, of whatever rank, title or status. And that the fate of each person will be determined by one and the same standard, the reign of God as demonstrated, taught, and lived by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  

Then in the end, when God calls all the nations together (note the use of that word in Matthew 25), all will be judged by how they have responded to the needs of the "least of these," Jesus's family of brothers and sisters all around the globe. There is no support whatsoever in the Bible for there being one judgment for rulers of the worlds' nations and another for ordinary citizens like ourselves. 

True, God has instituted governments as a means by which those who are not citizens of God's kingdom will govern themselves and maintain some level of stability and social order. But no one outside the reign of God on earth can expect a "Well done, good and faithful servant" for having done so. 

Thus we will be judged as either having loved God and served our neighbors as Jesus did, or condemned for primarily furthering our own interests. And on whether we pledged our allegiance to the Beast of empire or  to the King of kings and Lord of lords who reigns forever.

So our urgent invitation to all nations and all people is that of Jesus in Matthew 4:17, "Repent, (change your direction, mend your ways, make a radical about face) for the Kingdom of God (the reign of Heaven) is at hand."

And He shall reign forever and ever. And ever.

Hallelujah!

It's Palm Sunday. The Crowds Are Celebrating. The Man Riding On The Donkey is Weeping.

Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, Pietro Lorenzetti, Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi

Every year there is a reenactment of a story that appears in each of the four gospels, that of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The annual commemoration begins in the church of Bethphage, which has a mural inside of Jesus on a donkey parading into town. From there the procession travels to the Mount of Olives, then toward the Dome of the Rock in east Jerusalem and by the Golden Gate, now closed. After going by Gethsemane they enter the city through the Lion’s Gate (or Sheep Gate, next to the market selling sheep for sacrifice) and by the Pool of Bethsaida.  

As in John’s gospel the participants are waving palm branches like welcome flags, reminiscent of a scene less than two centuries before when the revolutionary Judas Maccabees entered the city in triumph, also with crowds waving palm branches welcoming him as their deliverer. This was followed by Judas cleansing the temple, something Jesus is also about to do, their pagan conquerers having defiled this holy place by sacrificing a pig on the altar.  

During their brief period of independence under the Maccabeans Jews had produced their own currency, with one of their coins engraved with a palm tree and the words “for the redemption of Zion.” Before that there had been the coronation of King Jehu, with people taking off their cloaks and laying them down for the new king to walk over as he was crowned to replace King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. And before that a young Solomon was welcomed into Jerusalem to take the throne of his father David, riding on a royal donkey as a sign of peace rather than riding into town on a war horse. 

Now Jesus is entering Jerusalem, having set his face toward Jerusalem during a time of his growing popularity as a teacher and miracle worker, and as the one who had just raised his friend Lazarus from the dead. It was clearly a most dangerous and volatile time for the Son of Man to visit the capital city, joining the throngs of other pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. And Jesus wasn’t just met by people as he entered the city, but was surrounded by crowds of followers who were choosing to travel with him to the Passover celebration of deliverance from Egyptian oppression. 

Earlier that same day, Governor Pontius Pilate had led an impressive parade of troops into the city from his headquarters in Caesarea as a show of force and as a warning to any who might dare create any kind of disturbance.

Jesus planned ahead for a different show of kingly power, arranging for borrowing someone’s young donkey to ride into the city. A crowd of followers welcome him with hosannas, literally “hosiah na,” "Lord save us, please” a part of a song of victory familiar to them all, based on Psalm 118:25-26:

Lord, save us!
    

Lord, grant us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
    

From the house of the Lord we bless you.

So why, in light of this enthusiastic welcome, is Jesus crying, according to Luke’s account, and why doesn’t Luke even mention the hosannas? Rather, he quotes the people as proclaiming “Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven.”

Luke explains it was because Jesus, then as now, is deploring the violence of empire as well as of those who opposed it, “If only you knew the things that would bring you shalom, ” he laments, and adds, “indeed the days will come when …you and your children will be crushed to the ground and they will not leave one stone on another among you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

Jesus, as Prince of Peace, has the words of the prophet Zechariah:9:9-10 in mind, who announced a reign of peace and the destruction of weapons of war:

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion 
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
    and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
    and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
    His rule will extend from sea to sea
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.

As Steve Thomason writes:

“The final thing I observe from Luke’s version of this story is that this is not a celebration for Jesus. The crowds don’t understand. Jesus weeps over the city because he knows that, very soon, their violent attitude toward Rome, and their need to bring in the kingdom of God through military revolution, would lead to their destruction. And that broke his heart.”

Another author, Jason Porterfield, in the book Fight Like Jesus, draws three fundamental lessons from the Palm Sunday story:

1. Christlike peacemakers move toward conflict rather than running away from it. “We must seek out those places where God’s shalom is painfully absent. Or to use imagery Jesus used elsewhere, we must become like salt rubbed into the moral decay of society. We must become like light shining in the darkness.”

2. Christlike peacemakers extend peace to all people, friend and foe, ally and enemy. :As Zechariah predicted, Jesus rode into Jerusalem intent on removing the weapons of war. He would take away the battle bow, chariot and warhorse. And in their stead, he modeled a new way of making peace.” 

3. Christlike peacemakers follow the way of the Lamb, and reject the way of the hammer. “Though they were enemies, Jesus’s admirers and Pilate’s army both believed in the power of the hammer to construct peace… Both embraced the world’s approach to peacemaking, and Jesus was confronting it head-on.”

Heartbreaking And Hopeful Words From Inside

HARDTIME VIRGINIA Spring 2025 Vol. 10 No. 1 

(an occasional newsletter by and for the incarcerated) 

Excerpts From The Editor’s Mailbox (edited for brevity and clarity)

“I have been suffering from Long Covid and recently from congestive heart failure due to being taken off the Lasix my pulmonary doctor had ordered. I was at the hospital for a week and was feeling good when I came back to the facility. Then the Lasix that the hospital sent with me was kept from me for two days and I filled back up with fluid. The Nurse Practitioner ordered that I be given 40 mg of Lasix, but when she saw me the next day and I was still filled with fluid, she sent me to another hospital. They gave me a Lasix injection but not my KOP Lasix.     

“Meanwhile my aging friend, who is blind, is lying in the infirmary here waiting to die, along with others. Very sad. And my aging mother really needs me to help take of her, so I’m praying for a long awaited parole release after decades in prison.”  - Charles Zellers, Sr., Deerfield C.C.

“Instead of wasting millions on hired labor for unnecessary, oppressive ‘security measures’ the VADOC should be using the willing skilled labor available to create a campus community with adult literacy programs, music and art programs, and critical thinking and leadership classes, all of which are proven to help break the cycle.  Adding 21st century based vocational training like IT and coding would likewise be wise to supplement the existing HVAC and electrician classes which are the only real blue collar job training options.” - David Annarelli, Lawrenceville C. C.

“What got me in prison initially was one count of armed robbery, one count of attempted armed robbery and two counts of use of a gun, for which I was given a sentence of 13 years. This was in 1980. What  Virginia is using to keep me in solitary confinement is that in my early years of imprisonment my response to the corruption and barbarity of the Virginia prison officers was to get physical with them, as in a 1996 incident when I and a couple of guys took a number of prison guards hostage and a couple of nurses as a statement against conditions at the prison, all of which has added a total of 80 years to my time.  Yes, criminal convictions are criminal convictions, but I can say I never physically harmed anyone. All of my convictions are as a black man against a savage and dehumanizing system.”       

- William Thorpe, now in solitary confinement in Texas

“On the day before my birthday two officers came to my pod and told me to pack up for a transfer. I was told that my DOC time was over and I was being sent to a jail. My mind was blown. Did the courts release me? Did some kind of good time bill cut my time? I quickly picked up the property I would need at the jail.  We had just received canteen items, but I figured my friends could celebrate my good fortune so I blessed them with it. That night I hardly slept. At around 9 am on my birthday the transportation officer picked me up. The jail was less than an hour away, but then I was told I was going to a different prison. “No, I am not,” I protested. My DOC time is over and I’m to go to a local jail.” “Not according to this,” the officer said, as she looked at the paper work. I was numb. I asked why they would do this to me and she said, “I have no idea.” About a month later my counselor sent an email admitting she had made a mistake. No apology, No accountability. No excuse. The problem of getting an ombudsman involved is that if you write stuff up using a grievance process you will likely face retaliation.”    

 - anonymous prisoner                                                                                                            

One Parole Release in January, None In February or March

In a recent visit to Lawrenceville Correctional Center Parole Board Chair Patricia West made it clear that she will never agree to grant parole in cases where individuals have committed serious violent crimes. Period. This in spite of its mission to do for “those whose release is compatible with public safety.” This also assumes that the Department of Corrections is incapable of “correcting” the individuals it incarcerates, and that the DOC is primarily a “Department of Punishment.”

Jonathan White and a friend at Lawrenceville are proposing legislation that would require the board to base their decisions on clearly defined criteria as outlined in a 14-point “Inmate Parole Criteria Score Sheet.” The following is from their introduction to the proposed legislation:

In Virginia parole has always been recognized as a societal good by all political parties for prisoners who have demonstrated rehabilitation and pro-social positive behavior. The parole system is a reflection of the penal system functioning as an institution of reform and transformation of individuals.

However the current board’s decision making has resulted in the lowest parole grant in the history of Virginia, not a mark of distinction. For the year 2024 the grant rate was a scant .5%, a mere 16 people… In total, approximately 3,200 of 24,000 women and men are parole eligible under existing law.

 The main reason for the abysmal parole rate, contrary to most people’s beliefs, is that the Board has no standard criteria for parole. Each member has their own voting concept. So for the five members there are five unknown criteria each prisoner has to overcome.

So how can the General Assembly fix the current parole voting system and ensure public safety? The answer is to release individuals who have demonstrated rehabilitation and have transformed their lives and that they will be successful returning citizens.

We need elected officials to radically change the Board’s decision-making process by passing a law that establishes a viable Static voting Criteria the Board must adhere to, one that establishes justice with fairness. The current board’s modus operandi was established in the 1940’s and is akin to boilerplate language, “Not Grant,” “Seriousness of the Crime,” etc. 

All crimes are serious but these continuous decisions undermine the idea of true criminal justice reform, rehabilitation and fairness.

The common sense attached amended C.O.V. 53.1-134.2 establishes a Compulsory Parole Criteria the Board must follow:

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

That the code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 53.1-134.2 as follows: 

53.1-134.2 Parole Board compulsory voting requirements: parole criteria.

(this is followed by a four-page text of the bill and a 14 item score sheet) 

Feel free to contact Jonathan White 1161021 at LCC, 1607 Planters Road, Lawrenceville, VA 23868 with your comments or questions. ********************************************************

Harvey Yoder, editor, Valley Justice Coalition, P.O. Box 434, Harrisonburg, VA 22803

Guest Post: How Do We Offer Hope Amid Fear?

These numbers were published in an era of misinformation in which we were told that the U.S. was being invaded by thousands of criminals and gang members crossing our borders. 

Focusing on our local immigrants, the following is the third of a monthly Justice Matters column published by the Valley Justice Coalition, this one by guest writer Chris Hoover, interim executive director at NewBridges Immigrant Resource Center in Harrisonburg.

On March 6, I was simultaneously noting the news of the SpaceX Starship rocket launch alongside the reality that our organization’s immigrant resource navigation program could not get bucket garden kits to families in our community due to fear of drawing unwanted attention to individuals and families. 

“We can send a rocket into space, but we can’t get buckets on people’s doorsteps in the United States right now,” I thought while doing the dishes that evening.

The level of fear within immigrant communities is devastating, and it’s putting the health, safety and basic needs of our immigrant neighbors at risk. People are basically in survival mode, just trying to stay safe and with their families, making sure their children will be taken care of in the event of sudden arrest, detention, and/or deportation.

As Interim Executive Director of NewBridges Immigrant Resource Center, I am learning a great deal as I work to strengthen the work of this Shenandoah Valley nonprofit. I am witnessing our program leaders diving in to navigate extremely complex situations amid rapidly changing laws, systems, and reactions.

One essential awareness I’m conveying to other concerned community members is that an incredible amount of nuance is needed as those of us who are not at risk seek to be supportive neighbors in our communities right now.

One important resource being offered is the Know Your Right (“KYR”) workshops and webinars. We also see certain rights listed on the bilingual “Red Cards.” One such right is to remain silent if questioned by an ICE agent. The information is essential, and the intention is good. However, we must also understand that one’s legal status, and even where one is physically present if an encounter with ICE occurs, may determine whether or not to exercise the right to remain silent. At a minimum, this right must be verbally articulated, if articulated at all.

NewBridges Immigration Attorney Steve Smith knows these nuances well and said, for example, “A 60-year-old El Salvadoran, with little or no education, who experienced that country’s civil war, and forces of an oppressive government, may not readily be able to remain silent. They would understand that when someone pounds on the door, you must answer.”

Practicing immigration law means that each client consultation must include its own individually tailored Know Your Rights review and that caution and nuance must be exercised when presenting a KYR workshop, which may include individuals whose immigration history and legal status may differ.

Currently, for many, pursuing any process involves putting sensitive information into a system that feels dangerous. Silence has long been considered golden when it comes to not putting yourself in legal jeopardy, but it can also be problematic. If anything, people should be encouraged to say that they would like to speak with an attorney first, especially upon being asked to sign anything. Finding trustworthy attorneys is also a challenge, as many predatory actors exist.

These systems also have global implications. Church World Service (CWS) Director Susannah Lepley has stated her concerns that we are seeing the end of refugee resettlement in the U.S. She has shared that, given that federal aid was frozen and the resettlement system was dismantled in about a month’s time, it’s unreasonable to think that it could be reconstructed quickly or easily. And the years of process that would be required would mean that the people who are most familiar with the work will likely have been lost to other jobs.

One thing we need to hold alongside the intense fear within the immigrant community is our ability to respond in ways that are most helpful and are practiced with great care. I am encouraged by the response of our local community, organizing to show up in prudent ways that address the needs of this moment, which are rapidly changing

SpaceX Starship exploded during its eighth and most recent launch. Interestingly, Elon Musk had this to say in response to the failure: “As always, success comes from what we learn…”

I ask us to seriously reflect on what we have learned from our history, both the successes and the failures. What are we learning at this moment in time? How are we using that knowledge to empower citizens to help make our community a place that offers hope amid so much fear?

An Alternative To Two Heresies, Christian Individualism And Christian Nationalism

Christians have largely embraced the
 individualism of American culture.

In keeping with the ego-centered mindset and world view of the times, many Christians see the Bible as primarily an inspired book of wisdom and inspiration addressing our personal stresses and problems. 

Many of our favorite hymns reflect this kind of "God and I" theology, such as in the chorus of the well known "I Come to the Garden Alone":

... he walks with me and he talks with me

and he tells me I am his own,

and the joy we share as we tarry there

none other has ever known.

Or this one, "My God and I":

My God and I go through the fields together,

We walk and talk as good friends should and do,

We clasp our hands, our voices ring with laughter

My God and I go though the meadow's hue.

Then there is this men's quartet favorite, "On the Jericho Road":

On the Jericho Road, there is room for just two,

No more and no less, just Jesus and you.

Each burden he'll bear, each sorrow he'll share,

There's never a care when Jesus is there.

And we likewise tend to do our Bible reading that way, in spite of it being primarily addressed to whole nations and groups of people rather than to individuals. The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) represents the mission, vision and values of the nation of Israel, a people through whom God aims to bless all nations of the earth. The New Testament represents instructions to whole congregations of believers, who in turn are a part of a worldwide community of Jesus followers. 

But we are inclined to read a text like "Be still and know that I am God" as an invitation to experience our own inner peace, when in its Psalm 46 context it is clearly a call for God's people to end their reliance on war making and to trust God for their defense and security.  

Likewise the oft quoted Jeremiah 29 passage with the words, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you..." is one we take as a personal promise rather than God's assurance that the people who have been exiled in Babylon will be able to return to their homeland.

Even the prophet Isaiah's familiar invitation, "Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow," though certainly applicable to individuals in need of repentance, is addressed to a "sinful nation" that is urged to "seek justice," "defend the oppressed," "take up the cause of the fatherless," and "plead the case of the widow."

Most would agree that we're all created with strong needs to identify with, and belong to, larger communities of people--families, neighborhoods, congregations, and nations. Often Christians, like others, have bought into forms of patriotism and nationalism as a way of meeting that need.

But "Christian nationalism," like "Christian individualism," represents a vision far too small. The alternative to each of these half truths or heresies is for followers of Jesus to identify as "Christian internationalists," becoming a part of what the apostle Peter refers to as a "chosen people, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation," one ruled by God, encompasses the globe and knows no boundaries.

This would mean needing to declare every human of whatever race, color or creed as being our neighbor, and as deserving as many privileges as we claim for ourselves. No one would claim the right to greater share of the world's goods than any other man, woman or child on earth.

This would represent a revolutionary paradigm shift and call for a radical lifestyle change for most of us. 

But what are the alternatives? To consider those who don't look like us, don't believe like us and/or who live at a distance from us as not being a part of God's one worldwide neighborhood? And to continue to see ourselves as a part of privileged class of people who deserve more of everything than our fellow humans around the globe?

I'd love to know what you think, but I'm drawn to seeing congregations as being "Experimental Prototype Communities of Tomorrow" (EPCOT), as local embassies of the worldwide reign of God's shalom, where "nothing is marred and nothing is missing."