“WHAT SHALL WE TELL THE CHILDREN?”
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“And he took the
children in his arms,
put his hands on them, and blessed them”
(Mark 10:16)
So why
did we include such a political play
in the middle of a Church service?
Shouldn’t
we leave politics to the politicians?
Isn’t our
job to deal with individual salvation,
to read the Bible and say our prayers -
not to try to meddle with such matters?
Yes and
No.
Yes of
course we are called to read the Bible - but the Bible is
among many other things an extremely political book..
The OT
prophets never tire of criticising
the leaders of the nations in general and Israel in particular
for their godless and immoral ways.
Remember
Amos chastising the rulers of Israel
for trampling on the poor (5.11).
God, Amos says, wants is a spirituality
linked to the search for justice and peace -
“Let justice roll on like a river” (5.24).
This is a
political as well as a spiritual agenda.
Imagine a dangerous cliff -
people regularly fall over the edge
and injure themselves on the rocks below.
What do you do?
Do you stand at the foot of the cliff,
waiting to comfort and care for the injured who have fallen?
Or do you campaign for a fence at the top of the cliff?
As
followers of Christ we are called to do both.
Today we
·
Welcome
Philip back from Zimbabwe
where he has being buying food for the hungry
·
Raise
money for MAP - Medical Aid to Palestine
·
Offer
to help with Christian Aid Week collecting.
In so doing
we work at the foot of the cliff,
like the Good Samaritan seeking in every way we can
to bind the wounds of those who are victims
of violence, injustice or the abuse of power.
But we
also commit ourselves to change those systems of
political tyranny, military aggression and economic injustice
which cause the problems in the first place.
Or to
take another issue of the moment -
On Wednesday I’ll be involved in local politics -
opposing the lap dancing licence application
from the EX4 club at the Civic Centre.
Part of
caring for vulnerable women
is campaigning for a world in which women
are not degraded or turned into sex objects.
So let’s
not apologize for bringing politics into Church.
But what
about the particular play we heard today?
One of
our actors said to me -
“It’s a powerful play, but it isn’t a balanced play”.
I think that is a fair criticism.
As
Christians we need to stand against all
those
who abuse their power
or seek to put the world right with the weapons of evil.
The play
we saw takes issue with the Government of Israel.
It
doesn’t take issue with the Izz
ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades -
the military wing of Hamas (as it might have done).
As
followers of Christ we are not called
to choose one side and bless the weapons which attack others -
we are not called to bless the rocket launchers of Hamas
any more than the tanks of Israel -
we are called to bless the children who are the victims of violence,
whoever and wherever they come from.
And not
only bless, but stand alongside.
When Bishop (then Father) Trevor Huddlestone
was working under the apartheid regime in South Africa,
he decided to join the ANC - the African National Congress.
Many criticized this as “going too far” in politics.
But he responded that he was following the Christ of Bethlehem -
who did not merely speak about
but identified with the struggle of the poor and the needy.
Some
commentators have accused today’s play of being anti-Semitic.
But to stand alongside the weak
does not mean that we hate the strong.
There is a
huge difference between
opposing a government and hating a people.
Many of
us strongly opposed British involvement in the invasion of Iraq
as incompatible with the way of the cross and the sermon on
the mount -
but that doesn’t mean that we hate British people.
Nor if we oppose Israeli action in Gaza does it imply
hatred of the Israeli nation, let alone the Jewish race.
May I be personal here?
Robin, Tony, Paul and Emma
are all members of the Synagogue around the corner.
I mention them by name because for me
they are not just token representatives of a race or a religion,
they are friends.
When my daughter-in-law was dying,
they made sure that our family was remembered by name
in evening prayer at the Synagogue.
I will never forget that.
What we
do today is nothing about anti-Semitism.
It is about proclaiming the Kingdom of love and peace
and standing up against any group
which seeks to destroy or harm the weak and vulnerable.
So the
question of the play for all of us is this.
What do
we say to the children?
The play
was written about Israelis on the borders of Gaza.
·
It
could have been written about Hamas supporters
on their side of the border, preparing to fire their rockets.
·
It
could have been written about the supporters of Mugabe
attending a feast in the Presidential Palace.
·
It
could have been written about the comfortable inhabitants of Exeter UK,
paying our taxes and watching the world suffer.
We all
have to ask what we say to our children
and what we will say to our children’s children,
and all the generations who inherit the world entrusted to us.
What do
we say to the children about
our abuse of economic and political and environmental power?
Dare we
tell them the truth and look them in the eye?
It has been estimated that the UN economic blockade of
Iraq
in the 1990s cost the lives of half a million children
through lack of food and medical supplies.
The then US Secretary of State Madeline Albright,
when taxed with those figures, said she accepted them -
but, she said, “It was a price we were prepared to pay”.
All too
often we, and other powerful nations,
are prepared to pay for our victories
with the blood of other people’s children.
And maybe, just maybe - God forgive us - we say
(like the character in the play)
“I was glad it was not my child”.
Jesus
took a child in his arms and blessed him.
That is
his way.
And he
calls us to do the same -
to take not just our own children
but every child of every race
And hold
them and bless them
And stand
alongside them in their struggle for peace and justice.
That is
spirituality.
That is
politics
That is a
sign of the Kingdom
That is
the way of the cross
That is
something to tell the children.
Seven Jewish Children: A Play For Gaza
By Caryl Churchill.
Caryl Churchill felt impelled to
write this short play
as a response to the crisis in Gaza at the beginning of the year.
The play is in seven short sections depicting seven periods of Jewish history,
beginning with Nazi persecution, through the post-Holocaust, the migration to
Palestine,
settlement, the Six Day War, the expansion of the state of Israel, and the
recent Gaza conflict.
The characters in each scene are adults –
the parents or other relations of the children.
The play was first performed at the Royal
Court Theatre in London on 6 February 2009.
Royalties have been waived by Ms Churchill,
provided a collection is taken for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
(www.map-uk.org).
The play asks hard questions about the
conflict in the Middle East,
and has provoked considerable controversy.
The play is challenging, but we hope it raises issues
(which we can explore elsewhere in the service)
about all those involved on all sides of the Middle Eastern conflict
- and indeed about every nation involved in war and violent confrontation -
We all have to face the question “What do we tell the children?”
for a review of the play and some
of the issues arising from it, see
Tell Her The Truth: Tony Kushner and Alisa Solomon
on Seven Jewish Children in The Nation
Medical Aid for
Palestinians (MAP)
is a humanitarian aid agency with over 25
years of experience
working on the ground across the Middle East.
MAPs team in Gaza pre-positioned emergency surgical
kits
and responded immediately to save lives when the attacks began in December.
MAP is now taking a leading role in coordinating and delivering
desperately needed aid and medical supplies inside Gaza.
Click on photo for “Seven Jewish
Children” performed by Jennie Stoller -
or see below for full text:
SEVEN JEWISH CHILDREN
a play for Gaza by Caryl Churchill
Introduction by Andrew
Sails:
The play has 7 scenes,
each relating to a different period of Jewish history.
The children of the
title are not portrayed - The characters in each scene are adults – maybe they
are the parents or other relations of the children.
What we see are Jewish
adults discussing what they should say to their children about what is going
on.
Each scene shows
different adults.
The context is not stated explicitly, but evidently:
·
Scene one is set during
Nazi persecution and we imagine soldiers seeking out Jewish families.
·
Scene Two looks back on
those who died in the concentration camps
·
Scene Three is about
the move to Israel in 1948
·
Scene Four is about
settling into the new land
·
Scene Five reflects on
Israeli victory in the Six Day War
·
Scene Six is about the
wall and the checkpoints between Israel and the Palestinian territories
·
Scene Seven is about
the fighting in Gaza in recent months.
And in each scene, the
adults try to decide what to tell the children.
Andrew Sails
Playtext by Caryl Churchill:
1
Tell
her it’s a game
Tell
her it’s serious
But
don’t frighten her
Don’t
tell her they’ll kill her
Tell
her it’s important to be quiet
Tell
her she’ll have cake if she’s good
Tell
her to curl up as if she’s in bed
But not to sing.
Tell
her not to come out
Tell
her not to come out even if she hears shouting
Don’t
frighten her
Tell
her not to come out even if she hears nothing for a long time
Tell
her we’ll come and find her
Tell
her we’ll be here all the time.
Tell
her something about the men
Tell
her they’re bad in the game
Tell
her it’s a story
Tell
her they’ll go away
Tell
her she can make them go away if she keeps still
By
magic
But not to sing.
2
Tell
her this is a photograph of her grandmother, her uncles and me
Tell
her her uncles died
Don’t
tell her they were killed
Tell
her they were killed
Don’t
frighten her.
Tell
her her grandmother was clever
Don’t
tell her what they did
Tell
her she was brave
Tell
her she taught me how to make cakes
Don’t
tell her what they did
Tell
her something
Tell
her more when she’s older.
Tell
her there were people who hated Jews
Don’t
tell her
Tell
her it’s over now
Tell
her there are still people who hate Jews
Tell
her there are people who love Jews
Don’t
tell her to think Jews or not Jews
Tell
her more when she’s older
Tell
her how many when she’s older
Tell
her it was before she was born and she’s not in danger
Don’t
tell her there’s any question of danger.
Tell
her we love her
Tell
her dead or alive her family all love her
Tell
her her grandmother would be proud of her.
3
Don’t
tell her we’re going for ever
Tell
her she can write to her friends, tell her her
friends can maybe come and visit
Tell
her it’s sunny there
Tell
her we’re going home
Tell
her it’s the land God gave us
Don’t
tell her religion
Tell
her her great great great great lots of greats grandad lived there
Don’t
tell her he was driven out
Tell
her, of course tell her, tell her everyone was driven out and the country is
waiting for us to come home
Don’t
tell her she doesn’t belong here
Tell
her of course she likes it here but she’ll like it there even more.
Tell
her it’s an adventure
Tell
her no one will tease her
Tell
her she’ll have new friends
Tell
her she can take her toys
Don’t
tell her she can take all her toys
Tell
her she’s a special girl
Tell
her about Jerusalem.
4
Don’t
tell her who they are
Tell
her something
Tell
her they’re Bedouin, they travel about
Tell
her about camels in the desert and dates
Tell
her they live in tents
Tell
her this wasn’t their home
Don’t
tell her home, not home, tell her they’re going away
Don’t
tell her they don’t like her
Tell
her to be careful.
Don’t
tell her who used to live in this house
No
but don’t tell her her great great
grandfather used to live in this house
No
but don’t tell her Arabs used to sleep in her bedroom.
Tell
her not to be rude to them
Tell
her not to be frightened
Don’t
tell her she can’t play with the children
Don’t
tell her she can have them in the house.
Tell
her they have plenty of friends and family
Tell
her for miles and miles all round they have lands of their own
Tell
her again this is our promised land.
Don’t
tell her they said it was a land without people
Don’t
tell her I wouldn’t have come if I’d known.
Tell
her maybe we can share.
Don’t
tell her that.
5
Tell
her we won
Tell
her her brother’s a hero
Tell
her how big their armies are
Tell
her we turned them back
Tell
her we’re fighters
Tell
her we’ve got new land.
6
Don’t
tell her
Don’t
tell her the trouble about the swimming pool
Tell
her it’s our water, we have the right
Tell
her it’s not the water for their fields
Don’t
tell her anything about water.
Don’t
tell her about the bulldozer
Don’t
tell her not to look at the bulldozer
Don’t
tell her it was knocking the house down
Tell
her it’s a building site
Don’t
tell her anything about bulldozers.
Don’t
tell her about the queues at the checkpoint
Tell
her we’ll be there in no time
Don’t
tell her anything she doesn’t ask
Don’t
tell her the boy was shot
Don’t
tell her anything.
Tell
her we’re making new farms in the desert
Don’t
tell her about the olive trees
Tell
her we’re building new towns in the wilderness.
Don’t
tell her they throw stones
Tell
her they’re not much good against tanks
Don’t
tell her that.
Don’t
tell her they set off bombs in cafés
Tell
her, tell her they set off bombs in cafés
Tell
her to be careful
Don’t
frighten her.
Tell
her we need the wall to keep us safe
Tell
her they want to drive us into the sea
Tell
her they don’t
Tell
her they want to drive us into the sea.
Tell
her we kill far more of them
Don’t
tell her that
Tell
her that
Tell
her we’re stronger
Tell
her we’re entitled
Tell
her they don’t understand anything except violence
Tell
her we want peace
Tell
her we’re going swimming.
7
Tell
her she can’t watch the news
Tell
her she can watch cartoons
Tell
her she can stay up late and watch Friends.
Tell
her they’re attacking with rockets
Don’t
frighten her
Tell
her only a few of us have been killed
Tell
her the army has come to our defence
Don’t
tell her her cousin refused to serve in the army.
Don’t
tell her how many of them have been killed
Tell
her the Hamas fighters have been killed
Tell
her they’re terrorists
Tell
her they’re filth
Don’t
Don’t
tell her about the family of dead girls
Tell
her you can’t believe what you see on television
Tell
her we killed the babies by mistake
Don’t
tell her anything about the army
Tell
her, tell her about the army, tell her to be proud of
the army.
Tell
her about the family of dead girls, tell her their
names why not,
tell her
the whole world knows why shouldn’t she know?
Tell
her there’s dead babies, did she see babies? tell her she’s got
nothing
to be ashamed of. Tell her they did it to themselves.
Tell
her they want their children killed to make people sorry for them,
tell her
I’m not sorry for them, tell her not to be sorry for them,
tell her
we’re the ones to be sorry for, tell her they can’t talk
suffering
to us. Tell her we’re the iron fist now, tell her it’s
the fog
of war,
tell her we won’t stop killing them till we’re safe, tell her I
laughed
when I saw the dead policemen, tell her they’re animals
living in
rubble now, tell her I wouldn’t care if we wiped them out,
the world
would hate us is the only thing, tell her I don’t care if
the world
hates us, tell her we’re better haters, tell her we’re
chosen
people, tell her I look at one of their children covered in
blood and
what do I feel? tell her all I feel is happy it’s not
her.
Don’t
tell her that.
Tell
her we love her.
Don’t
frighten her.
Seven Jewish Children is Caryl Churchill’s
response to the situation in Gaza in January
2009, when the play was written.
Seven Jewish Children first published in Great Britain
in 2009 by
Nick Hern Books Limited, 14 Larden Road, London, W3 7ST,
in association with the Royal Court
Theatre, London
Seven Jewish Children copyright © 2009 Caryl Churchill Limited
Caryl Churchill has asserted her moral right
to be identified as
the author of this work
Typeset by Nick Hern Books,
London
ISBN 978 1 84842 047 2
Performing Rights
Seven Jewish Children was first performed at the Royal
Court
Theatre, London, on 6 February 2009.
The play can be read or performed anywhere, by any
number
of people. Anyone who wishes to do it
should contact the
author’s agent (details below), who will license
performances
free of charge provided that no admission
fee is charged and
that a collection is taken at each
performance for Medical Aid
for Palestinians (MAP), 33a Islington Park
Street, London
N1 1QB, tel +44 (0)20 7226
4114, e-mail info@map-uk.org,
web www.map-uk.org
Author’s agent: Casarotto
Ramsay and Associates Ltd,
Waverley House, 7-12 Noel Street, London W1F 8GQ,
fax +44 (0)20 7287 9128, e-mail
agents@casarotto.co.uk
This text can be downloaded free of charge from the
following websites:
Casarotto Ramsay, www.casarotto.co.uk/page/sjc
Nick Hern Books, www.nickhernbooks.co.uk
Royal Court Theatre, www.royalcourttheatre.com
Printed copies can be obtained, while stocks last,
with all
proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians,
from Nick
Hern Books,
address as above.
Order of Service
10.30 a.m. Morning Worship led by Rev Andrew Sails
Hymn 268 “My
heart and voice I raise”
Prayers
All Age Ministry
Hymn 776 “Make me a channel of your peace”
The Peace
[Young people leave for
their own sessions]
Reading: Isaiah 11:1-9
(p.696)
Introduction to the drama
“Seven Jewish Children: a play for
Gaza”
Hymn
425 “Lord, save thy
world”
Reading: Mark 10:13-16
(p.1014)
Sermon
“What do we tell the
children?”
Hymn “I the Lord of sea and sky”
[Dan Schutte,
© Daniel L Schutte and New Dawn Music NHWS 163 CCL Licence 58752]
Collection
Prayers and Lord’s Prayer
Hymn “Onward Christian Pilgrims”
Michael Forster, © Kevin Mayhew Ltd (Tune 718 St Gertrude) NHWS 260.
CCL Licence 58752
Blessing