Just Some Guy
- For you, O God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.- You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.- You let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.
When I was younger and even dumber (at yet due to Dunning Kruger reasons, I thought I knew everything), I had the chance to meet a Palestinian guy named Kamil who was from Haifa. Kamil knew my older host brother Martin from Martin’s volunteer work in Haifa, and he was a Palestinian Christian. He was very accepting and laid back person, and patiently explained to me that not every Palestinian was a member of the PLO, but understood what the PLOs objectives were. He gave me (an 18 year old American from the Midwest) a new outlet on the complexity of the situation (Read the Britannica.com summary) that could otherwise be distilled into three bullet points (give back Golan Heights, Gaza Strip, and West Bank). Of course, I oversimplify.
He carried himself as just another guy. He stayed in my host family’s house and had breakfast with me at the same table in the morning. Later, I learned that he had a small retinue with him, and a priest (they called him a Bishop, but I was often the recipient of teasing about such things so I don’t know the Truth of it). He participated in a religious ceremony at the local church in Hergiswil on Sunday. I have some photos of it somewhere. Sooo… not just some guy after all…
I much later learned that Kamil started a mission called House of Grace (not the only one… yet this is the one he started) that persists to this day. The point of this is to say that he (Kamil) was in fact a very influential person who worked with men who had been imprisoned to get them back into society through loving kindness. His name was Kamil Shehade. Kamil posthumously has a Square named after him in Haifa. I can imagine it is very rare to have a place named after oneself, in a place that is so concerned about eternity as is Israel. In fact, the House of Grace in Haifa website features quite a few pictures of visiting dignitaries (ambassadors to and from Switzerland, and those from Belgium as well).
He died in 2000 at the age of 46, which means he was only 35 when I met him. And as I write this in 2023, he wouldn’t even be 70… Yet, he was so wise (or I remember him that way). I feel badly that I never kept up with him. I have those pictures of him relaxing in the basement family room of my host family’s house that I wanted to give to him.
Anyhow, as you get older, you realize that if you are ready for it, you can meet a very influential person who is acting like just some guy. So, you know, treat those random folks with a lot of respect.
Earlier, I used a Psalm reference to discuss Kamil’s Mission. But here is the one that they use on their website (so it’s probably more apt):
- I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’