CPTnet
1 December 2007
CHICAGO/TORONTO: "Why did you decide to be pacifist?"; CPT Lectionary
Reflections for Advent, Year A

[The following is second in a series of Advent reflections incorporating
experiences of Christian Peacemaker Teams and based on readings from the
Revised Common Lectionary, Year A.

CPT sent delegations to Chiapas, Mexico from 1995 and had a full-time
presence there from 1998 to 2001. This 22 December 2007 marks the 10th
anniversary of the Acteal massacre.]

Second Sunday in Advent, December 9, 2007

Focus: Chiapas, Mexico

Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew
3:1-12

"Why did you decide to be pacifist?"

by Rusty Curling

I'm not sure of the specifics of whom we were talking with that day, or even
who asked the question, but I found the simplicity of the answer stunning
and profound. "Why did you decide to be pacifist?" a delegation member
asked one of the Abejas leaders as we were visiting Acteal, an indigenous
village in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. "We want the same things the
Zapatistas do, but Jesus would not want us to hurt anyone" was his answer.
He went on to explain how paramilitaries had entered Acteal on 22 December
1997 and killed forty-five Abejas, mostly women and children, who were
beginning a three-day period of fasting and praying for peace leading up to
Christmas Day. After that, the Abejas (a group of approximately 3000
Christian pacifists in Chenalh� Municipality) met to seek consensus on how
to proceed considering what had happened. They asked whether they would
continue their pacifist ways. They struggled but kept coming back to the
same simple, profound truth, "Jesus would not have us hurt anyone."

This conclusion seems to me to be the aim of the vision of Isaiah "The wolf
shall lie down with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid. They
will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain." When Isaiah spoke the
words describing the ideal King for Israel he spoke of a King who would
build a place where no hurt or destruction happened. On this idyllic
mountain, the natural order would be suspended, eco-systems would be turned
on their heads, and "the lion shall eat straw like the ox."

"Jesus would not want us to hurt anyone." The simplicity of the statement
bothers me, it seems too simple, but I cannot get away from the truth of it.
Another thing I learned from my Abejas sisters and brothers is that living
out simple truths can be very difficult, but it also changes the world.

The following is a song I have written about what happened at Acteal. It is
also a call to prayer.

"December 22"

by Rusty Curling

Refrain
Shall we pray, shall we pray?
Shall we pray for peace this Christmas, shall we pray for peace today?
With every breath we take, with all the angels as they sing,
Shall we pray for peace this Christmas, shall we pray for peace today?

1. On the morning of the 22nd. the people met to pray.
Mostly women with their children, a few old men, met that day.
They fasted and they prayed to bring in the Christmas feast.
They fasted and they prayed the Christ Child would bring them peace. Refrain

2. But, the generals from the army trained at the SOA
Trained the campesinos riding with the border police that day.
They trained them not in ways of peace, but violence so great.
They armed them not with prayers of peace, but guns and knives and hate.
Bridge Maybe it was cultures clashing, maybe ways of peace and war, But
the dead in Acteal that day reach five and two score. Some shot down with
rifles, some hacked to death with blades, The women and the children and the
old men, as they prayed.

Final refrain
Let us pray, let us pray.
Let us pray for peace this Christmas, let us pray for peace today.
With every breath we take, with all the angels as they sing,
Let us pray for peace this Christmas, let us pray for peace today.
Let us pray for peace this Christmas, let us pray for peace today.