As chaplain and Bible study enabler for the Community of Women and Men in Mission (CWMM) team visiting Wales this year, I shared the story of Rizpah, a little known woman who blows the whistle on violence.
At the beginning of this story found in 2 Samuel 21.1-14 King David is a little worried that the male descendents of Saul were a threat to his continuation on the throne. He calls the Gibeonites to him and reminds them of how Saul had organised to impale seven of their sons. David suggests to the non-Israelites that if they returned the gory act on the house of Saul, then perhaps God would be appeased, and that famine would come to an end.
Rizpah's social status and identity as the concubine of Saul would have been less than that of a wife. Her own two and another five of Saul's sons were forcibly taken, killed, and their bodies hung on display for days together.
In and through her act of defiance, resistance and courage, Rizpah shows that the cycle of violence can be intercepted... There are Rizpahs in our church and society today
Rizpah refused to be consoled and decided to keep vigil over the dead bodies and not bury them as a sign of protest and a demand that King David give her justice.
She waits in her mourning state until David relents, comes down and gives the slain seven, and also Saul and Jonathan, a decent burial.
In and through her act of defiance, resistance and courage, Rizpah shows that the cycle of violence can be intercepted.
There are Rizpahs in our church and society today.
When sons, husbands, brothers and uncles "disappeared" during the dictatorship of 1976 to 1983 in Argentina the Mothers' Union in Argentina decided to gather in Plaza de Mayo on Thursdays wearing black and standing in silence and solidarity, demanding an answer from the state.
At the time of war in Iraq, there were men and women across the globe that challenged their own governments and their policies and decided to join the global protest against war.
The church itself is called to be a peacemaker in a context of violence.
The CWMM team visit was an opportunity to learn more about the social, political and economic history of Wales against the backdrop of the larger history of the UK as a whole.
We asked how the power of the state functioned in the past to silence the claim for right to language, identity and rule of the people. We also asked ourselves how we could learn to affirm the human rights, identity and dignity of a people who were considered as lesser people, once upon a time.
The challenge for us all is to weave through the voices of hope and resistance especially as violence escalates globally.
We can draw from the example of Rizpah who dared to counter a culture of violence, even though it was ordered, organised, and managed by the highest of powers.
She speaks volumes to us about how we can become agents of change and channels of life who will keep vigil for justice and truth.