lights out

So, it is snowing today and I walked to class (gotta get the exercise!) then some of my friends were at a coffee shop studying so I joined them. After a pretty mellow hour or so, we decided to walk down to the Balad for supper. We went to one of my favorite restaurants here in Amman- Jafra. We ate hummus with meat, taboulieh and had some much needed hot tea. After we finished eating, they told us that there was going to be "something to support Palestine." Since we had no idea what that was - and I am always open to an new adventure- we decided to stay. A man said something and everybody stood up and we had a moment of silence. Then the man said some more things (of which I understood "10 minutes," "america" and "palestine" Yes- I was having a great arabic day!!!) And then they turned the lights off- and I mean off. NO LIGHTS! Everyone got out there cell phones to give small pricks of light and someone started playing what I guess was the Palestinian national anthem.
As the darkness was all around me, thoughts started swimming through my head. Here we sat with a whole bunch of arab speaking people in complete darkness.
it was hard to deal with the many emotions- I wasn't expecting that at all. In the darkness, I saw the faces of people who have been taken advantage of by their leaders, people who have been ransacked and oppressed, people who have been ignored by most of the world. I heard clips from movies I have seen that showed the hopelessness and despair of the Palestinian people. I began to pray- I knew that there were just a few of us in that darkness that were able to petition our Father for peace. I began to ask Him to bring peace in the midst of this complex situation. I asked that He would send people to proclaim the kingdom of hope, peace and love. I asked that He would allow His children to see these fellow humans as precious, beautiful people who are much loved by God.
I know that we were sitting in the dark for a few minutes but people in Gaza and the West Bank regularly go without power, without water and are restricted in their ability to move around the country. But somehow, mixed in with all of these Jordanian and Palestinian people, it seemed like a grand gesture- 10 minutes in solidarity with "our people" in Palestine.
The lights came back on- and I saw all of the people glance towards us, wondering how these Americans were responding to this "protest." The Palestinian song was now over the loud speaker and people began to hum along, flashing peace signs at each other.
I hope that they saw a different "america" tonight, or at least a different "american"- one who can hope with them, and one who will sit in the dark with them and one who loves them and joins them in praying for peace.