I wrote on December 15, 2005, two weeks after four members of our peace team were kidnapped in Baghdad:
Advent is a time of waiting and longing for something to happen. People, at the time Jesus was born, cried out for healing and release from the oppression or captivity they knew. They, too, had heard God’s promises, but had not seen them fulfilled. Many were able to keep walking ahead in faith, expecting God to break in and work in seemingly impossible situations.
Waiting does not mean being passive. We’re called to an active waiting. We can act boldly because God is with us giving us hope. Even death, persecutions, or violent forces of power “will not separate us from the love of God!” If we follow the way of Jesus—of nonviolent suffering love—we will expect hardships and suffering. We may have to grieve and cry together, and support each other more deeply, but we keep going and working where God leads us.”
(excerpt from Walking Through Fire: Iraqis’ Struggle For Justice and Reconciliation, (pp. 94-95) by Peggy Faw Gish, Cascade Books, 2013)
Plotting Peace 