Following President Obama's recent journey to Israel and Palestine, several people have asked about my reaction to his actions and words there.  A few have been surprised by my deep disappointment in our president.  "But didn't you find satisfaction in his words before Israeli college students?" several have asked.

     It's true the president asked Israeli college students to imagine life as it is experienced by Palestinian children.   It's true the president articulated the idea that Palestinians deserve their own country.  It's true he "talked nice" about the need for peace between Israel and Palestine.

     However, this is what he also did:  he vowed eternal (!) support for Israel as a Jewish nation.  This Jewish nation currently includes 20% Palestinian citizens, and this, of course, does not count Palestinians who live under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, or as refugees elsewhere in the world.   A nation which gives significant legal preferences to a single religion or ethnicity is not, in my view, a true democracy. 

     The president also expressed support for the "two state solution" but did so without challenging ongoing construction of illegal Israeli settlements (actually large, permanent and imposing communities) on Palestinian land.

     In fact, the president expressed the idea that Palestinians should no longer demand the cessation of settlement construction as a prerequisite for peace negotiations.   I disagree.   Using a now-classic comparison to describe this option, one could ask:  is it sensible to have a negotiating session over a large, yummy pizza ... all the while watching the other side eat piece after piece of that pizza so that, at the end, there is only one piece left ... and that single piece is full of holes because the other side has picked out all the good stuff and has eaten its fill?   This is the current situation in the Occupied West Bank.  (Although Gaza is intact as a geographical unit, it is actually an open air prison under blockade from land, sea and air.)

     Finally, here is the crowning blow accomplished by the president did during his visit to Israel:  he promised continued, expansive military spending (more to Israel than to any other country; currently $2 billion per year) to support with no restraint or oversight Israel's policies both foreign and domestic.   This means the United States will continue to fund the brutal occupation of Palestine through building the Separation Wall and Bypass Road System which sustain this occupation.  This system turns the lives of Palestinians into a tortuous system of relentless military checkpoints, unbridled military power over daily details of living and travel, and perpetual suffering under the absence of human rights, denial of economic equality, militarily-blocked access to privately-owned agricultural land, and rampant degradation of the environment.

     No, I was not happy with President Obama's journey to Israel and Palestine.  The president has failed to earn his Nobel Peace Prize.   In my view he should give it back.

     As I wrote in a recent entry, I enjoy reading memoirs.  I mentioned that I like my memoirists (is that a word?) to be honest about their real experiences ... the good, the bad and the ugly.

     Something I recently came across made me realize the psalms of the Old Testament are often something very close to memoirs.  Yes, they are also sometimes prayers, hymns, liturgies and poems.  There are many different types of psalms.  But many of them are memoirs in the sense they reveal some rather dark issues in the lives of the writers, often followed by deep reflection upon those issues.

     Would you like a few examples?  Take a look at Psalm 102 (a very personal reflection), Psalm 106 (the recounting of Israel's history of rebellion against God) or Psalm 139 (one of the most beautiful and at the same time one of the most unfortunate of psalms -- at least from a 'love your enemy' perspective) if you read it all the way to the end.

    Take some time with the psalms.  Remember that one of the amazing things about our Bible is its inclusion of negative portraits, words and deeds of our forebears.  In the same way that we learn from the mistakes of others when reading memoirs so, too, our holy scripture can provide a similar opportunity.  

     An interesting discussion took place last week at Readers' Rendezvous.

     This is a group in the church which meets every two months to discuss books we have all been reading.  We read fiction, memoirs and the occasional literary nonfiction selection.    Last week we discussed Cactus Eaters by Dan White.  It is the story of White's journey along the Pacific Crest Trail with his girlfriend.  It is fun and funny to read.  For some in our group it was also off-putting and  irritating.

     Why the negative reactions?  Because Dan White describes his own behavior and it is often not very nice.  He fails badly in offering compassion toward his girlfriend ... who sometimes  was the one who saved both of their skins, but who developed some physical problems along the way which kept her from completing the entire trail.  Dan showed himself lacking in sympathy and sometimes sense, while oversupplied with selfishness and preoccupation and a few other "me first" attributes as well.  

     Our group discussion centered around the question:  Do you enjoy reading the story of someone you don't like very much?  Would you read another book by the same author because he is interesting or funny ... despite the fact he sometimes fails the Decent Guy Test?   Some of us will never read another book by Dan White.  Others of us would do so for sure.  

     I fall in the second category.  In fact, I favor both memoirs and works of fiction which portray far-less-than-perfect people that I end up liking anyway.  I admit:  if they get TOO irritating I will put the book aside.  But I consider the "clay feet" of main characters a positive attribute in the literature I read.  That's why I believe anyone who works with people should read lots of fiction --- it's a good way to learn about people in all their complexity, imperfection and lovableness.  It's also a good way to spend time getting to know someone with whom you don't have to be in a relationship in real life!

    The same goes for the people in the Bible, after all.  Many of the figures we revere and from whom we are still learning valuable lessons are shown in the pages of our scripture to have been flawed and at times infuriating.  Even Jesus got mad once and knocked over other peoples' tables!  He occasionally called names ("Brood of Vipers" comes to mind) and he wasn't always sweetness and light to his mom.   

     Connecting with the experience of negative behavior and learning to understand people who make mistakes or persist with genuine flaws --- these are factors in all the enduring relationships of our lives.    This is literature's gift to us:  to let us know people we will never meet ... and might choose not to meet even if we could.  

     That's my question of the day.  Could this be the season of the American Spring? 

     The "Arab Spring" has brought successful toppling of dictators and greater freedom for millions in the Middle East.   While political and military developments have not been without turmoil and the final result is still much in the making, it's obvious a pent-up desire for freedom from dictators recently unleashed momentous change in Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere.  Surprising results have produced previously unthinkable freedom of speech, popular elections, and genuine hope for a better future.

     Here in the United States, I sense a similar unleashing of hope born of repressed despair following recent gun massacres in shopping malls, movie theaters, college campuses and  classrooms.  We read the newspaper differently now when learning about domestic violence which is all too simple to accomplish when vast stores of weapons are tucked into closets and cupboards of normal households.  We are discussing types of guns and rifles and bullet capacities in ways which reveal significant distinctions and necessary judgments.   

     Suddenly the news of gun violence in its many forms is 'sticking' again.  We are noticing patterns to which we have long turned a blind eye.  The president has proposed overturning a rule which had prohibited the Centers for Disease Control from studying the effects of gun violence.   How could a law like that even get passed?  I believe today it would not pass.  Its cancelation will provide helpful, horrifying, difficult and necessary information.

     Now we are beginning to fit pieces of reality together into an uncomfortable portrait of our society. This is painful but it is essential.  Ultimately it is a sign of hope.  

     Are we finally able to claim responsibility for what our culture has become?  Are we ready to stop capitulating to economic and political bullying by the gun lobby?  Can we affirm both a constitutional right to gun ownership and the necessity for laws against placing weapons of war (too often silently and secretly) into the hands of perpetrators of monstrosities?    Yes. We can do this now.

     I hope the American Spring will summon from rank and file Americans a similar courage,     yearning for change, and hope for the future which drove much of the Arab Spring.   As with the people of the Middle East, it won't be a simple process or a straight line to fulfillment of all our goals.  But it is a sign of hope that we are gathering in various locales, media outlets and community settings to discuss the problem of gun violence in our cities, towns, media and families.

     If you would like to join people from our church who are involved in this conversation, I invite you to gather for this purpose Sunday, February 10, 12:15 in Mayflower Room.     It will be a safe place to examine our American epidemic of violence.  It will be an opportunity respectfully to strategize ways of stemming its tide.