DAY 142: “We Are All Humans”

DAY 142

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-one Monday 3 August 2020

“We Are All Humans”

Tailors in Gaza Make Protective Equipment for Israel

“Ziad Qassem’s 25 years as a tailor seemed worthless in the cruel economy of the blockaded Gaza Strip: Unemployed for eight months, piling up debt, he sat idle in his apartment, worried how he would provide for his wife and five children. The coronavirus came to his rescue. Gaza garment factories have been bombarded with new orders since early March by merchants from – of all places – Israel, ordinarily seen by much of Gaza’s Palestinian population as the enemy…Several tailors interviewed said they had no compunctions making masks to protect people in Israel…’At the end of the day, we are all humans,’ said Raed Dahman, 42, at Hassanco in Gaza City. ‘We should try to make sure everyone is safe, without exceptions.’” - From a recent newspaper article by the same title

My paternal grandfather was born in England the year after the American Civil War ended, in 1866 – it’s not that far behind us in the collective memory of our country. And now we are experiencing a social civil war in which Americans are overtly being pitted against each other depending on their political party, and people of color and immigrants are portrayed in subtle ways as being of less value than ‘the rest of us.’ Over all this is a horrible pandemic that we share with the rest of the world, yet we are withdrawing from that larger world at a time when it is critical that we stick together to pursue common solutions for the sake of all.   

When God looks at the planet He only sees people – no political persuasions, no skin color – well, actually He does see skin color because He created it and delights in it. “God so loved the world” John 3:16 cries out, and therefore those who would demonize and divide people for any reason stand under God’s judgment.  Perhaps a humble unknown tailor in another culture has something to say we need to hear: “At the end of the day we are all humans. We should try to make sure everyone’s safe, without exceptions.” May God watch over Raed Dahman and his family.     

Reflective question: Where do you need to ask the Lord to open your eyes to someone you don’t like for whatever reason, and see that you are both human?

Reflective Scripture: Psalm 145:9 – “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”

Reflective hymn:

“Help us Accept Each Other” – Fred Kaan (1929-2009)

Teach us, O Lord, your lessons, as in our daily life

We struggle to be human and search for hope and faith.

Teach us to care for people, for all, not just some,

To love them as we find them or as they may become.