Taming the Hosanna

We have tamed the word Hosanna more than a little in our churches also. 

It is a word of revolution. The word "Hosanna," like the words 

"Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani" is an Aramaic word--a reminder of our Jewish roots, 

our Jewish Jesus, our Jewish Messiah. 

But "Hosanna" is the prayer of Palm Sunday's triumphant (and triumphalist) Church, 

where "Eloi, Eloi" is the prayer of Jesus' rejection and despair. 

These are the old words of our story, words which are too freighted with meaning 

to be translated into any language, and so are left in Jesus' own tongue.  

We begin the liturgy today with Hosanna on our lips—our modern equivalent 

might be "Jesus saves!" except that does not sound very revolutionary.  

"Hosanna!" was a nationalist and revolutionary cry on the lips of an oppressed people.  

It was more like "Allah Akbar!" as shouted in the Israeli-occupied territories 

of Palestine today. It was inflammatory, not suitable for Sunday school.  

Roman occupation soldiers would have heard it as provocation, 

as a rock thrown by an Arab youth at Israeli occupation troops in the West Bank or Gaza.  

We sing it gladly as a triumphalist ditty, unaware of its political power. 

Perhaps the Church does not yet realize its own plight in the 21st century, 

or "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtahni" would be a more frequent prayer than once a year. 

We don't yet know the depth of our daily abandonment. 
Lucy Bregman

I will not dance with Miriam

I will not dance with Miriam,

nor sing her triumph song.

The winners have written

their history; victorious

but confronting.

Scrape away its many layers:

racism, nationalism, vengeance,

religious superiority, triumphalism,

indiscriminate killing,

no thought for the bereaved.

Not much grace,

even less forgiveness;

and the Almighty is conscripted

to justify the hatred.

It could be set in Palestine,

twenty-fourteen.

No.

I will not dance with Miriam,

nor sing her triumph song.

© Ken Rookes 2014

Ruth and Naomi, Israel and Palestine?

Reading this quote from Nathan Nettleton, i could not help but reflect on the modern state of Israel and her relationship to Palestine.
"The whole vision of Israelite faith in that era was welcoming and inclusive and called for a radical responsibility by the whole community to ensure the welfare of those who might otherwise be pushed to the margins of the community. Unfortunately there is a tendency in human beings to always want to narrow down the in-group and write off those who don’t fit, and to narrow the view of God’s concerns accordingly. This was somewhat understandable in Israel’s history. They were a small nation in a strategic location surrounded by big powerful nations. Their existence was always under threat and they were taken off into exile more than once. When you are a persecuted minority group, drawing more and more clearly the boundary lines of who is and isn’t part of your group is a basic survival strategy. By the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, after periods of exile in Assyria and Babylon and now under Persian domination, the focus of Israelite faith and self-understanding has narrowed down to the pure “holy seed” of Judah. The holy seed is to be protected at all costs from any danger of contamination because God’s covenant is only with the holy seed. The idea that God even cared about the fate of those outside the holy community had all but vanished from the dominant ideology. Israelite was no longer seen as a light to the nations, but a pure light to be protected from the nations. The generous inclusivity of the early faith was a suppressed memory. Instead of their faith and law having a clear focus on protecting the welfare of those on the margins of the community, the focus is now on protecting the identity of those at the core of the community, even if that must be done at the expense of those on the margins."
http://www.laughingbird.net/ComingWeeks.html