Go tell a story.

So every few weeks I have an ambitious plan to write an article for my university's newspaper.  I go to King's University College in Edmonton Alberta, and I am kinda sorta a student during this year even though I am an ocean away.  Here is the first article.  It is along the line of my last post, but reframed a bit.  

Here it goes..  

From Sunday September 25 until October 2, the BBC has published two stories about a suicide bombing in a nearby church, in the city of Solo.  The first story describes the event in the most basic and stereotypical details and the next explains how someone was arrested.  The lack of any violence in the past week in the city of Solo surely has shocked the news companies, analysts and ordinary people like you, and me, whom predicted and awaited a wave of violence.  For many, this expectation fits within a paradigm of the world that they hold.

If I never talked to those whom are working with the church that was bombed, I would be like many others.  I would have heard about the event, and then filed this event into the “Violent Muslims” section of my mind.  I file this story into that section because, that is where the world tells me it should go.  Although I am a Christian, this labeling becomes satisfying so quickly.  It is black and white view of how people get along.  It’s simple and  it is can be largely congruent with how many others in North America view Islam.  When I am asleep to Christ’s work in the world, then news flashes about the violent acts this past Sunday go unexamined and feed fear.  Fear that I ,along with an entire world, feed upon. 

However, some questions need to be asked.

Why was there no news about this incident for a week?  In other words, why was there no violence or retribution?  If there was, you would have heard about it.  But since there was not any, the news has better things to live off of.  Like this here.  I just checked the BBC, the latest story is about a Taliban man whom killed a Afghan negotiator. I’ll file that right now. 

But wait.

I heard a different story this weekend, and my close examination of my faith tells me that the file needs a name change.

How about, “From the rumble of violence, Christ is pulling His kingdom into reality.”

As I.S. speaker Scott-Bader-Saye said last year, living in God’s providence means after every evil we have the “ability to say AND….” For the Christian, “if the story hasn’t ended well then the story hasn’t ended yet.”

Let me tell you a story, that finds its home within the much bigger story that my faith is in.  It is stunning. 

In the city of Solo, what has been nurtured over the past 10 years has been a collective goal between Muslims and Christians of every denomination to seek peace through dialogue, eating meals together, and common projects like disaster relief.  Barriers have been broken down by the vulnerability of all those whom are taking part in this community building.  They have had the humility to set aside stereotypes and fears and to open the door to the other.

When the bombing event occurred, the city leadership, religious leaders and their congregations gathered together in unity towards responding in the only way they knew how—peace.

I sounds good and it manifestation is even better.  It was not just a lack of violence. There was purposeful action towards peace and love.

The largest Muslim organization in Indonesia had some of its local members pray for the church which was bombed. Muslims came to the church building itself and prayed for the congregation.  Think about that.  It is beautiful.

They have taught me that when one shapes their lives by peace in the little things, when something “big” happens, one has no other way to respond, but in peace.

As someone said to me this weekend, “we do not predict the end result of a relationship”—for the Spirit is at work in the world, going ahead of us.  The fruits of the Spirit are relationships that lead to peace like this.  They lead to a world where violence and fear is not the last word.  But that is where the BBC left it.  That is where many others leave it.  At every opportunity we must strive to proclaim that the fear and violence are not the last word.  Not just because the Bible tells us so, but because we experience it.  From September 25 to October 2 there should have been many more BBC stories about this. There will be many more stories that refuse to end with violence and fear.

Here is mine.

Tell me yours.   

Soon and very soon, pictures, stories will be for you to see and hear.  But you will need to wait  a few days.