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Happy Easter & Passover to my Christian & Jewish Friends
You can listen to me read this here:
I’ve been off of Substack for the past week, spending time with my children and grandchildren. But today, I wanted to share these thoughts.
This is so beautiful. Despite persecution, Christians across the East celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. Their voices cannot be silenced. The bells continue to ring.
On Palm Sunday in Nigeria, at least twelve people were killed by Muslim fighters in this mostly Christian city. There are numerous examples of the targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria, yet the New York Times claims the genocide of Christians in Nigeria is false. By 2023, 50,000 Christians had been killed in Nigeria since 2009, but of course, we must believe the New York Times. This is the battle of words that we wage.
Despite intensifying persecution of Jews, not only in the East but across the West, my Jewish friends continue to celebrate. In Israel, this has meant celebrating Passover in a parking garage turned into a bomb shelter.
In Europe, Jews must pass walls that say:
Yet, we are supposed to close our hearts and minds to this horrific reality and look the other way.
WE WILL NOT.
For the past year, I have been rereading J. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings epic saga. There are many parallels to what we face today.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Each of us must make a choice every day of what we will do with our limited time and how we will fight this battle. Jews and Christians must stand together as one, even as outside forces do everything they can to tear us apart.
Some of us are warriors on the battlefield. I think of the two US pilots who were rescued deep inside Iran. One was rescued immediately. We could not have rescued the other without the help of our greatest ally, Israel, which provided intelligence to help locate him. Then there were the Iranians who blocked the road leading to the area where the airman hid. We all have a part to play.
Most of us are not taking up a sword to fight. But we can fight with our words. The Bible says:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
Now, more than any time in history, that battle of words is sweeping across the world, hatred magnified a billion times by algorithms, replacing truth with lies.
The most important battle in history had nothing to do with armies. It was a spiritual battle between spiritual forces beyond anything we can comprehend. Jesus did not enter Jerusalem on a fighting steed, with an army. He entered on a donkey, humble, willingly going to his death, knowing that his resurrection was the only way to save humanity.
As C. S. Lewis said in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, “There is a deeper magic.”
The White Witch didn’t know or had forgotten that deeper magic. She thought by killing Aslan she would be victorious. But all she did was ignite the deeper magic, the magic of ultimate love and self-sacrifice and thus the salvation of Narnia and her own downfall.
We don’t know the whole story because we are in the middle of it. We must trust God’s wisdom. As Bilbo Baggins advises:
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
We don’t know what awaits us, but we must go out anyway because as Galadriel says:
“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”
I am a small person, but that doesn’t stop me from doing all I can to change the course of the future. To whomever that sounds silly or pretentious, I can only say again, we all make our choices of what we will do with our time.
The world is dark, indeed, and it will grow darker. I pray along with my Jewish friends that we stand firm, knowing that true victory is not of the world.
If you have not yet subscribed to BREAK FREE MEDIA, please do! I especially appreciate my paid subscribers without whom I could not continue this war of words.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit khmezek.substack.com/subscribe
View all episodes
By Karen Hunt aka KH MezekYou can listen to me read this here:
I’ve been off of Substack for the past week, spending time with my children and grandchildren. But today, I wanted to share these thoughts.
This is so beautiful. Despite persecution, Christians across the East celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. Their voices cannot be silenced. The bells continue to ring.
On Palm Sunday in Nigeria, at least twelve people were killed by Muslim fighters in this mostly Christian city. There are numerous examples of the targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria, yet the New York Times claims the genocide of Christians in Nigeria is false. By 2023, 50,000 Christians had been killed in Nigeria since 2009, but of course, we must believe the New York Times. This is the battle of words that we wage.
Despite intensifying persecution of Jews, not only in the East but across the West, my Jewish friends continue to celebrate. In Israel, this has meant celebrating Passover in a parking garage turned into a bomb shelter.
In Europe, Jews must pass walls that say:
Yet, we are supposed to close our hearts and minds to this horrific reality and look the other way.
WE WILL NOT.
For the past year, I have been rereading J. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings epic saga. There are many parallels to what we face today.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Each of us must make a choice every day of what we will do with our limited time and how we will fight this battle. Jews and Christians must stand together as one, even as outside forces do everything they can to tear us apart.
Some of us are warriors on the battlefield. I think of the two US pilots who were rescued deep inside Iran. One was rescued immediately. We could not have rescued the other without the help of our greatest ally, Israel, which provided intelligence to help locate him. Then there were the Iranians who blocked the road leading to the area where the airman hid. We all have a part to play.
Most of us are not taking up a sword to fight. But we can fight with our words. The Bible says:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
Now, more than any time in history, that battle of words is sweeping across the world, hatred magnified a billion times by algorithms, replacing truth with lies.
The most important battle in history had nothing to do with armies. It was a spiritual battle between spiritual forces beyond anything we can comprehend. Jesus did not enter Jerusalem on a fighting steed, with an army. He entered on a donkey, humble, willingly going to his death, knowing that his resurrection was the only way to save humanity.
As C. S. Lewis said in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, “There is a deeper magic.”
The White Witch didn’t know or had forgotten that deeper magic. She thought by killing Aslan she would be victorious. But all she did was ignite the deeper magic, the magic of ultimate love and self-sacrifice and thus the salvation of Narnia and her own downfall.
We don’t know the whole story because we are in the middle of it. We must trust God’s wisdom. As Bilbo Baggins advises:
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
We don’t know what awaits us, but we must go out anyway because as Galadriel says:
“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”
I am a small person, but that doesn’t stop me from doing all I can to change the course of the future. To whomever that sounds silly or pretentious, I can only say again, we all make our choices of what we will do with our time.
The world is dark, indeed, and it will grow darker. I pray along with my Jewish friends that we stand firm, knowing that true victory is not of the world.
If you have not yet subscribed to BREAK FREE MEDIA, please do! I especially appreciate my paid subscribers without whom I could not continue this war of words.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit khmezek.substack.com/subscribe