On this starry night I bring you a story from Beit
Sephor, the Shepherds Fields, a little village on the outskirts of Bethlehem.
This Palestinian village in the West Bank is home
to thousands of Christian and Muslim men and women. Thirty years ago the leaders of the village
were talking and thinking and planning for freedom. They were imagining how they might join in
the resistance movement against the Israeli military occupying their
homeland. They read the reflections of
Martin Luther King. They knew of Gandhi,
of Tutu and Jesus. They knew that
peaceful resistance against violence is a powerful weapon.
The people of Beit Sephor had also heard about a
tea party organized in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They determined to engage in a tax revolt,
refusing to pay the taxes and fees assessed by the Israeli occupation for
property, electricity, water and all the other high cost, second rate services
provided by the government.[i]
In preparing their strategy they knew they had to
find ways to feed their children. They
planted Victory Gardens. They built
chicken coops. But providing milk was a
problem. They were dependent on Israeli
suppliers for their children’s milk and that could be cut off in a heartbeat if
the Israeli Army decided to do so. They
needed milk independence.
Beit Sephor is a village made of stone, in a
country made of stone. The people who
live there are city dwellers. Its been a
long time since anyone grazed herds. A
group of intellectuals did some research, bought 18 cows from a kibbutz, hired
a consultant and started a dairy cooperative.[ii] The milk was very good. Their children were happy.
One day, one of the cows did something
strange. She started jumping around, and
then she lay down in the hay. They were
perplexed and concerned. A crowd
gathered, and someone called the village physician. They realized she was about to give
birth. The modern people of this village
had never seen a live birth – they were awed. There was great joy, “As if a childless family had their
firstborn child.” Something unexpected, powerful and mysterious
had happened among them. They were
filled with love for their newborn calf.
Now they had 19 beautiful cows in their herd.
As the resistance movement took root, some
Palestinian people resisted with weapons.
The Boston Tea Party was not the only path to independence. The Israeli government responded to the armed
uprising with enormous force. As the
fighting started Bethlehem was surrounded by the army, invaded by tanks. Manger Square became a battle ground. People were trapped in the Church of the
Nativity. People were shot going to
church.
Nearby, Beit Sephor was put under curfew by the
Israeli Army. The military arrested people, seized property, threatened
children to try to break them, to get them to pay taxes. Many many people suffered while holding on to
their peaceful resistance.
It didn’t take long for the Army to hear about the
cows. A band of green helmeted soldiers
accompanied by the Miltary commander entered the farm with cameras and took a
mug shot of every cow. The commander issued
the order: You have 24 hours to shut
down the farm or I will send in bulldozers and knock it down. “Why?” demanded their caretaker. “Those cows are a direct threat to National
Security of the State of Israel.” Well
really! Why would 19 cows be a threat to
the most powerful military in the Middle East?
The people of Beit Sephor were not about to surrender their cows. They divided the herd, and began moving them
in the night from place to place.
The army began to search. And Search.
They sent jeep loads of soldiers.
They sent helicopters. They paid
informants. They used every high tech
surveillance device they had. The more
the defiance and the resistance of the people of Beit Sephor succeeded, the
more determined the Israeli Army became to hunt down the fugitive bovines. Operation Cow went on for months.
In the end, the Army got the cows, but not before
the ordinary people of Beit Sephor had been reminded of the power of hope in
the darkness, the power of loving, fearless non-violent action in the face of
overwhelming force. They were indeed transformed by the possibility that the
Rulers of this World might not be invincible.
***
Two thousand years ago Beit Sephor was not yet a
village. It was simply a rocky hillside
on the outskirts of the tiny collection of buildings called Bethlehem. Two thousand years ago Beit Sephor was a
place where shepherds kept sheep and goats.
Then as now, people lived in the town and went out to their fields and
orchards to plant, and prune and harvest, returning at night to their families
and their warm safe stone homes. But its never been safe to leave animals on
their own in the night so a few men have the job of living rough, and staying
out in the cold all night, obliged by their bosses to beat off both wolves and
robbers.
Two thousand years ago the cities were occupied by
a foreign army and controlled by a corrupt collaborationist king, and religious
authorities who didn’t want to make trouble for anyone, least of all
themselves. Two thousand years ago a tax
census was ordered so that the occupying government could squeeze more out of
the local population. All of the people
suffered under the occupation. Some of
them resisted with swords, some resisted with words.
Two thousand years ago a small group of nobodies were huddled on the
cold ground, on a cold desert night, and they heard something like
singing. They saw something like
seraphim and cherubim. They heard
something like a great announcement. They
were awed. Two thousand years ago, a
small group of nobodies were astonished that they were the first to hear that Something
Unexpected, powerful and mysterious, had happened among them.
Two thousand years ago a small group of rough men
did the unthinkable. They left the job
and went to see for themselves if this announcement was true. They found what they were looking for, what
they were hoping for, and their lives were transformed.
***
Two thousand years later, on this cold dark night,
here we are on the edge of world, in a place where not much unexpected, or
powerful or mysterious happens. Or does
it? If we have eyes to see, perhaps we
can see that tender vulnerability of a new life can stir up in us the courage
to give everything we have to protect that child. If we have ears to hear, perhaps we can hear
the stories of our ancestors that we do not have to settle for the world the
way it is. A better life for all people
is possible.
This starry night you and I are invited again to
see with the eyes of our heart that the Rulers of this World are not
invincible. This starry night families
who grieve, parents who struggle to feed their kids, people who work in lonely
and dangerous places are reminded that we are not alone in our yearning for
real peace, real justice, real joy. God
is with us, in vulnerability and yearning for liberation. God is with us in courageous acts of love.
This cold starry night we gather together, and
hold up our lights in the darkness because we have seen, we have heard that the
Reign God’s Righteousness is arrived.
God’s power to renew and redeem of the world is moving among us. We who have waited in the darkness have seen
the birth of God’s Shalom. Come let us
rejoice. AMEN.
[i] Popular
Resistance in Palestine: A Story of Hope
and Empowerment , Mazin
B. Quimsiyeh (Pluto Press 2011)
[ii] http://mondoweiss.net/2011/05/a-story-of-the-most-powerful-army-in-the-middle-east-chasing-18-cows.html
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