The Citizen, 2019-01-24, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2019. PAGE 17.
From the Minister’s Study
It’s alright to be ordinary says Ireland
By Rev. Charmila Ireland
Melville Presbyterian Church,
Brussels
I’m going to start and end this
article with the stories of two people.
Two ordinary people: Rahaf
Mohammed al-Qunun to start and
James Harrison to end.
If you’ve been following the news
much (which you very well might,
seeing as you’re reading a
newspaper right now), you might
have heard of Rahaf Mohammed al-
Qunun. She’s an 18-year-old woman
from Saudi Arabia. While her family
was visiting Kuwait, she managed to
flee to Thailand, en route to seeking
asylum in Australia. She says that
her family is abusive and was going
to force her into an arranged
marriage. She declared that she was
leaving Islam, which in much of the
Middle East is, to put it mildly, a bad
idea.
Unfortunately for her, as she was
leaving the plane during the layover
in Thailand, she was met by Saudi
officials or supporters who seized
her passport. She barricaded herself
in her hotel room and sent out a plea
for help on Twitter, fearing for her
life. Her fears were likely very well
founded.
Only two years ago, in a very
similar situation, Dina Ali Lasloom
was en route from Kuwait via the
Philippines, also fleeing her family.
She also sent out a message, with the
help of a Canadian tourist, saying
her family would kill her.
Two of her uncles came and she
was forcibly carried aboard a plane
and taken back to Saudi Arabia.
Her current whereabouts are
unknown.
Fortunately, Rahaf’s story has a
happier ending. As silly as it may
seem, her Tweet may have saved her
life. It gained international attention,
drawing interest from human rights
organizations.
I was happy to hear that her flight
landed in Canada last week. She
surely has a hard road ahead of her –
only 18, with no family support, in a
new country. But she has a chance.
What interested me, for the context
of this article, were some of the
comments on a report about her
arrival. One said, “I’m expecting
great things from her.” Another, in
response to this comment and many
others like it said, “To everyone
expecting her to do great things, be a
spokesperson for others, some kind
of good will ambassador, what if she
just wants to go to school and get a
regular job like everyone else?
Would that be all right? You guys are
putting a lot of pressure and
expectations on a kid who just
wanted to be free from abuse and
oppression.”
That’s quite interesting. Is it
alright if she just wants to get a
regular job? What if, after all this,
she simply settles in to a small city
in Canada and gets a job selling
shoes for the rest of her life? After
all this hoopla and attention, would
that be alright?
Of course it would. I’m sure many
people would be disappointed, but
that’s their problem. She does not
owe anyone a fantastic career or to
devote herself to becoming a speaker
on human rights issues. Her life has
value however she lives it. Sure, it
would be an amazing testament to
human resiliency if she went on to
change the world – but it is enough
that she’s not dead. That’s worth
celebrating. I wish her a long, happy
and normal life. Rahaf is a normal
person who may or may not change
the world, we don’t know yet.
Now, looking to the Bible - Luke 1
and 2 are some of the longest
chapters in the Bible. They’re a little
like Rahaf’s story – getting started
with a lot of drama and noise. Filled
with the wonderful story of Jesus’
birth. Angels singing in the sky,
people prophesying, Jesus
impressing the teachers in the temple
when he’s only 12 years old. Jesus is
pretty impressive. He’s a big deal.
Until… he’s not. Between age 12
and 30, there’s nothing. We don’t
really know what Jesus got up to. He
got busy living a normal life, I
imagine.
Luke 3:15-22 also tells us of John
the Baptist – maybe because John
was actually doing something worth
reporting. Only a little older than
Jesus, and destined to prepare the
way for him. It seems almost as if
John became impatient. John
ratcheted up the rhetoric. Calling
people broods of vipers, urging them
to repent. The day is at hand! He
talked about how every tree that
doesn’t produce good fruit will be
cut down and thrown in the fire! The
Messiah would come and clear the
threshing floor and burn up the chaff
with unquenchable fire! He was
coming! There is undoubtedly a
feeling of great expectation.
But even as he’s preaching all of
this, nothing seems to be happening.
Jesus, as we learn at the end of Luke
2, is simply growing in wisdom and
statue and favour with God and men.
He hasn’t begun his ministry. People
are waiting for him, though they
don’t know yet who he is.
So perhaps John gets a little
impatient. Things aren’t moving.
The Messiah is supposed to be
coming, expectations are high. But
where is he? John has enough with
waiting and goes and rebukes Herod,
the tetrarch, the leader, for all the
evil things he has done, including
marrying his brother’s wife.
This… does not go well for John.
He is arrested and thrown in prison.
We learn later in Matthew that John
the Baptist is beheaded. All the
waiting, preaching, exhorting and
hoping, and so far, not much to show
for it.
Now here’s where Luke gets really
interesting. Or should I say, not very
interesting at all. Luke is a
wonderful storyteller; richly detailed
and colourful. Then, there’s this
section: Jesus’ baptism.
It’s like it’s an afterthought,
shoved in between John the Baptist’s
fiery rhetoric and a long genealogy
of Jesus. Listen again: “When all
the people were being baptized,
Jesus was baptized too.” It’s like,
oh, yeah. Bunch of people were
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