“They ask their mothers,
‘Where is the cereal?’ In vain,
As they faint away like the wounded
In the streets of the city,
And breathe their last
In their mothers’ arms.” (Lamentations 2:12)
The other morning, I woke to the news reported from a decimated hospital in Gaza. The doctor being interviewed in Gaza, Dr. Nicholas Maynard, is a British surgeon. His voice was mottled with anger and pain; he was witnessing a brutality in his words, “unconscionable.” Maynard volunteers in Nasser Hospital ravaged by war; it is his third trip to the area. When asked what he sees on a daily basis, he offered that boys from ages 12 through 19 are often asked to grab the food as it is distributed for families. Young boys can jump, reach the food, and run with it causing violence with competitors. Many are shot, even by other starving people. Maynard says that “the bombing is very precise…beyond coincidence.” Each day brings wounds concentrated mostly in one part of the body. One day victims, mostly young men, are brought in with head wounds. Another day it is abdominal wounds. Another only legs or arms wounds. The system of ethnic cleansing is no more apparent than in the days when young men are shot in their genitals. “This is all calculated,” says Maynard indicating that all the doctors working with him have noticed the same patterns.
Maynard has been volunteering in Gaza for fifteen years, mentoring doctors and training surgeons along with providing his own skills in the operating room. He has seen major changes during this time, changes that have moved from one strategy to the next: bombing, shooting, and now starvation. People are “walking corpses” while Israel continues its inhumane blockage of food. Al Jazeera reports that “hunger has become as deadly as the bombs; families are no longer asking for enough; they are asking for anything.”
From the time before Christ, Gaza was considered part of Palestine and part of the Holy Land. Samson, one of the Judges of Israel, died there. Palestine was called Philistine and Gaza was one of its chief cities; it provided an important stop for caravans to Egypt for commerce. It is mentioned only once in the New Testament in the story of the apostle Philip being directed by an angel to meet an Ethiopian eunuch there whom Philip instructs in the new faith. (Acts 8:26) During the time of Christ, Gaza was part of the Land of Canaan.
Reflection
It helps to learn the part that Gaza plays in the history of Palestine and Israel. I have heard that the present tragedy demands that we inform ourselves of this history so we can understand better the animosity that is thrusting the evil of war in such a tiny part of the earth but which will lead inevitably to greater involvement with other countries widening the chasm of hatred rather than the security of peace.
So, what can we do?
I have thought long and hard about this. I believe no human being deserves to be harmed in any way by another human being. No human being should be shot at, bombed, nor kidnapped by another. Every child in this world who is starving is on my conscience as well as those actively starving the child. I am convinced that my prayer confronts the Evil Force at work here. I will pray at a certain time each day simply for peace in Gaza. I’ll set my phone alarm to remind me. I will call my congressional leaders as often as possible; in fact, I will disturb them so much to do something about this that they will be forced to send me reports or summaries that show the efforts they are making to stop this brutality against God’s beloved people. If the reports are not enough, I will demand more authentic and honest statements. I will challenge my representatives by telling them I withhold my vote when they come up for re-election unless I learn they are fully into helping end this brutality.
Most important, I will fast. If innocent children and their parents are victims of systematic starvation, I can exercise empathy and feel at least a small part of their pain. A major lesson of the Christian approach to the crucifixion of Christ is that I do not wallow in the romantic view of a Jesus who died for my sins, but that I accompany him by uniting with his suffering and going through it in my small way by fasting for others. Fasting is a powerful prayer in itself. Perhaps I can choose a different fast each week to be practiced every day. One week might be to skip one meal per day. Perhaps I could fast from certain favorite delicacies, or even a form of entertainment.
I really believe that prayer and fasting are the most effective means to confront evil even that which is so far away. Arguments have been made that no evil is far away. In the universe of life and love, evil, as much as good, can be summoned and confronted as if it is in the room with you. There are no boundaries to such forces. The Evil One is able to envelop your spirit as easily as it can the spirit of someone armed with a weapon of destruction.
When the apostles were frustrated that they could not dispel an evil spirit from a possessed boy, Jesus told them, “This kind of evil cannot leave but by prayer and fasting.” (Matt:17-21)
I think we are seeing this immense evil possession now in Gaza and we must pray and fast to overcome it.
To all my readers and Anonymous Angels, let’s join together to pray and fast for those suffering because of the war in Gaza. These are our brothers and sisters; these are beloved of God.
In All Things Charity 
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