Dear Muslim & Christian friends,
The pictures in this post are from a trip I took to Palestine and Jordan in March of 2014 – almost 2 years ago. They are on “the wall” which is famous (or infamous) that can be seen all around Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
Of course, the physical wall saddens me. While it has helped greatly to stop suicide attacks in Jerusalem, this wall has also caused tremendous hardship and suffering for the Palestinian people – both Muslim and Christian. (I have written about this before in my blog: http://markv63.sg-host.com/2012/01/how-do-walls-come-down-the-walls-have-the-answer/).
But today I write about another kind of “wall” that often stands between Muslims and Christians – the wall of stereotypes, prejudice, misunderstanding, fear, and even. . .hatred.
As most of you know, hummus is an Arabic word (حمّص ḥummuṣ) meaning “chickpeas” and refers to one of the most delightful Middle Eastern foods. “Yallah” means “come on, let’s get going, hurry up!”
My dear Muslim and Christian friends, I say to each of you:
“Yallah!
Let’s get going in building bridges of friendship, trust, and understanding.
Let’s get going in tearing down the walls of suspicion and fear and misunderstanding.
Let us hurry to eat together, to go to one anothers homes, to visit each others places of worship.
Come on!
Let’s talk. Really talk.
Let’s share our hearts. About life. About faith.”
Yallah, my friends! Make hummus, not walls!
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