HOPE IS WHAT YOU DO

Mitri Raheb is a Palestinian Christian pastor living in Bethlehem under the restrictive reality of Israeli occupation. Mitri says he’s a purveyor of hope, but he is quick to distinguish that hope is very different from optimism. “Optimism is this sentiment that everything’s gonna turn out okay, which is very disconnected from the reality that most of us experience,” he says. “Hope is not a feeling. Hope is what you do.”

Another person who works in this same circle is Robi Damelin, an Israeli mother who lost a son to a Palestinian sniper bullet. She is now a peace advocate for Israeli/Palestinian issues. She says: “You ask me what people can do, and I tell you, just get off your ass and do something. Everybody can do something. You don’t have to be some great Martin Luther King. You can just be a human being that treats other human beings with respect. You can just do something in your own community.” She also said: “But I don’t see a time now to give up. This is a time where we have to stand up.”

There are some brave people doing brave things in many corners of our world. Bless you brave ones as you bravely press forward.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” Jesus