Seeds of justice

For the last time during my stay, I attended today the communion service at Sabeel (Arabic for 'the way' and also a 'channel' or 'spring' of life-giving water). Founded in the late 1980s, Sabeel is an ecumenical grassroots movement among Palestinian Christians that is inspired by the principles of Liberation Theology. Rev. Naim Ateek, the director of Sabeel, has written numerous essays developing the tenets of Palestinian Liberation Theology; Sabeel’s mission statement sumps them up: "Sabeel strives to develop a spirituality based on love, justice, peace, nonviolence, liberation and reconciliation for the different national and faith communities." (http://www.sabeel.org/)

Every Thursday at noon, the Center opens its doors to those who want to share its weekly communion service. I made a point of attending it as often as possible over the past six weeks. This weekly service, led by Naim Ateek, represents a wonderful opportunity to read the New Testament together and to share questions and insights. Today, we read the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." (NIV)

After the reading, we discussed the following question: Sabeel insists on justice and peace as the fundamental elements of Christian faith; if we are to read the "seed" as a "seed of justice" instead of the traditional reading of the "seed" as the "word of God," how do we interpret the parable? The discussion was very lively, everyone commenting on the risks and challenges of sowing seeds of justice, not knowing where they would fall. As one of the participants reminded us, the sower goes everywhere; he doesn’t just choose the "good" soil, but scatters his seeds in every terrain, even if the chances of them growing are not as great. Many had examples of seeds of justice that grew in unexpected places.

One thing always bothers me with this parable: how predictable its reading has become! It is pretty clear (thanks to the explanation already inserted in the narrative) that the final soil is the good guy whereas the rocks and the thorns are clearly the bad guys. However, being in Palestine and listening to Palestinians discussing this parable around issues of justice, I realized that these pre-conceived notions of good and bad need to be challenged: many seeds bear fruit, take roots, and grow despite their harsh environment; here, in Palestine, if this is not a foreseeable possibility, then there is no hope!

Twice this week, I heard anecdotes about the Wall being a place of unexpected revelation: it forces people to pause and face the reality of this land. After today's discussion of the Parable of the Sower, something else can be added: only seeds, growing in unusual places, will crack it!