“Peace on Earth” rings out from Christmas carols and greeting cards at this time of year. It echoes the good news of the angels long ago; it expresses the hope for shalom as a result of God coming down into our world. We cherish the serenity of a crèche and singing Silent Night by candle…
Radical minorities In both Islam and Christianity, the mainstream has understood the core teachings of their founding prophets as proclamations of the Peace of God on earth. In each, the “way” has been characterized by peaceful interaction in societies that welcomed coexistence with religious minorities. While both have had their historic “bad moments,” the operative…
Dixon Chibanda is a psychiatrist in Zimbabwe, one of only 12 such doctors for a population of more than 14 million people. Mental health problems in that destitute country are rampant, and a significant percentage of them can be summed up in one word: kufungisisa. In Shona, Zimbabwe’s official language, the word covers brooding, anxiety, depression and panic attacks, and its literal meaning is “thinking too much.”
While many churches around the world have temporarily closed their doors due to COVID-19, Cape Town’s Central Methodist Mission has not had a regular service since last Christmas. Normal church operations were interrupted in late October of 2019 when a few hundred refugees sought refuge in the sanctuary. They remained in the building for five months until they were evicted during South Africa’s coronavirus lockdown.
While living in Jordan, my wife Sally and I fell in love with Syria and its people through many visits stretched over four decades. Our last adventure in 2006 was to Aleppo, when we stayed in a converted khan in the middle of its souq (market), which sold traditional hand-crafted goods, inlaid wood, beaten copper, loom-woven silks and braided gold. We saw Syria through the eyes of besotted tourists and barely noticed the unrest roiling under the surface.
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