Today I speak with Jonathan Kuttab on Palestine. He is the executive director of FOSNA, Friends of Sabeel North America, the best Christian solidarity group working with Palestinians for peace.

Jonathan is also co-founder of the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and co-founder of Nonviolence International. A well-known international human rights attorney, Jonathan practices in the US, Palestine and Israel. He serves on the Board of Bethlehem Bible College and is President of the Board of Holy Land Trust. He was the head of the Legal Committee negotiating the Cairo Agreement of 1994 between Israel and the PLO.

“The war on Gaza is continuing even today,” he told me just before the US/Israel declared illegal war on Iran.

“They're refusing medicine, food, journalists, aid, and they're using the ceasefire to continue the genocide. The world is allowing this to continue, and it breaks my heart.”

Jonathan explains why most Christian Palestinians are nonviolent peacemakers, and have been since the 1st century. His conclusion:

"Violence does not work. It does not deliver what it is supposed to deliver."

FOSNA promotes the vision of Sabeel Jerusalem, an ecumenical liberation theology movement founded by Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land, joining Friends of Sabeel chapters around the world.

As a nonprofit organization in the United States, they amplify the voice of Palestinians by advocating with churches, communities, and civic leaders for justice, peace, and liberation in Palestine. See www.fosna.org and www.jonathankuttab.org for more information on Jonathan and FOSNA. I have worked with them for many years and gave a keynote speech at the Sabeel conference in Bethlehem in 2008 with the Cardinal of Jerusalem, you can find it here: www.sabeel.org

“It is possible for people to live together!” Jonathan concludes. “We have lived together peacefully in the past, and hopefully we will in the future".

Listen in to this Palestinian voice for peace today and be inspired to join the grassroots movement of ordinary Christinas trying to live out the teachings of Christ in the 21st century.

www.beatitudescenter.org

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I speak with Rev. Amy Brooks Paradise of Greenfaith.org, a global, multifaith, grassroots network working to protect creation and resist environmental destruction around the world.

She previously served as the Education Director for the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network in Charlotte, NC and also as the Pastor for the UU Fellowship of Lake Norman in NC. She lives outside Charlotte with her partner and daughter.

“We work with people around the world who are most impacted by climate change,” Amy says. “We encourage people to get involved in local climate issues and make different choices that protect creation.” Check out their website to see some of their grassroots campaigns.

“We all see that natural disasters are bigger, more catastrophic and happening more often and everywhere,” she continues. “Scientifically, it is proven our climate is getting warmer, and our use of fossil fuels is the main contributor to global warming. Why is it okay to continue to use fossil fuels?"

"The fossil fuel companies created a massive disinformation campaign that became politicized and promoted by politicians. We're now living in a world that is breaking down because the global economy depends on fossil fuel. I'm excited to see so many countries embracing renewable energy, and people of faith involved in these struggles.”

She encourages each one of us to get involved: "Find your people, find your community, choose your issue, get training, start showing up in public and doing the work. We are made for times like this, this is exactly what people in faith are for!"

Put your faith into action and join Greenfaith today!

beatitudescenter.org

johndear.org

greenfaith.org

https://fatherjohndear.substack.com/

On today’s new episode of “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” I offer part 2 of my reflection on my new book, Universal Love: Surrendering to the God of Peace.

If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet, it will be helpful to listen to last week's podcast first. There I tell how the book came about, and why I wrote it.

I conclude the first episode with the story of my visit with Archbishop Tutu in Cape Town, South Africa, where he confided with me his thoughts on free will as the basis of understanding God and our work for peace, justice and nonviolence,

In this 2nd episode, I’ll reflect on the connection between nonviolence and surrendering our will to God, and the political consequences of doing God’s will of peace in a world of war, I also recount many of my experiences with some of the greatest peace activists and peacemakers in the world and how surrender is vital to becoming an extension of Universal Love.

In this concluding part, I explore the connection between surrendering our will to the God of universal love and living nonviolence in our daily lives. Then, I try to unpack the shocking political implications of universal love, peace and nonviolence--if we surrender our lives and our wills to God.

I’ve long wondered what the teachings of the spiritual classics about of abandonment to God mean in this time of permanent war, extreme poverty, white supremacy, fascism, and the real threat of nuclear war and catastrophic climate change. In light of the nonviolent Jesus,

I think if we surrender ourselves to God and do God’s will, we’ll have to step out of ourselves into the world and take nonviolent direct action through selfless service, nonviolent resistance to injustice, and public work for the coming of God’s reign of peace.

No matter how much we love God and want to follow Jesus, we’re all still trying to control God to some extent in order to do our own will, and that’s the problem. In my new book, I invite us to let go of control, let God run our lives, surrender to God’s will of universal love, and enjoy the ride with all its glorious social, economic and political implications, come what may. If we are truly surrendered to God, then God will use us to help disarm the world. That’s the journey.

You can get Universal Love at 30% discount at OrbisBooks.com or by calling 1-800-258-3858, and giving the discount code “JDT.” Please share this message far and wide. I hope you enjoy this special 2 part podcast and get my new book.

www.beatitudescenter.org

www.johndear.org

For more excerpts from the books and other writings, go to https://substack.com/@fatherjohndear

May we all surrender to the God of Universal love and peace.

🌻, Fr. John