Goliath got up on the wrong side of bed.  It would be a difficult day for him.  People of the Jewish faith must thank him for doing it however, since it was Goliath who provided the reason that a shepherd boy David would rise to become King.  It was not surprising that David had skill with his slingshot, having practiced daily to keep the wolves away from the sheep.  He could hit a tin can at 50 paces – or something like that. 

This is a cherished story of Judaism, yet one can imagine another chapter to the story.  Goliath, whose first name was Garth, had a younger sister Billie who had seen the whole incident.  Billie made note of the fact that Garth had not worn is helmet like his mother told him.  Billie was not going to make the same mistake.  Sure enough, on the second meeting with David, Billie was victorious and went on to become Queen of the Philistines. 

Stories can certainly be inspirational, but to be really useful they must touch reality at some point.  Fast forward to Israel today where the Iron Dome is said to keep out all the missiles. . . except they don’t.  The story of the Iron Dome has holes in it, allowing both Iran and Yemen to fire missiles into Israel. This is a problem. Once the enemy has equal or superior military force, the story must change if Israel is to survive. It does not have to be a new Story, but it must change directions and follow a new path. 

Up to this point, Israel’s solution is to “kill the enemy first” before they have a chance to strike, following a strategy conceived by the early Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky.   That might have worked during the time of Abraham and Isaac, but that was long ago.  At that time, a “nation” was a group of related tribes with no geographic boundaries.  The earth was flat and one might see only 50 miles from the top of the nearby mountain. This was their story, and it remains precious, but will it guide us today?  

We must now think not only about who the enemy is, but about who we are.  Are we an older sibling – or are we really an enemy?  This self-concept can make a difference.  Is the God we worship the God of all – or only a God for us?

Then how does one change a story?  It is not a group effort except maybe a consensus to trim a bit here and there like a hairdresser might do. It should grow from a seed from ideas of one or two people, then be compared with another story, then chosen by a third party judge who makes a “decision” (meaning “cut off”), and the process repeated. 

What can Christians do about the war in Gaza?  Christians know both the stories of Abraham and the current direction of Israel.  And we like stories.  We can help to start a new story or at least a change in the current story, and with just a few people, re-iterate the process, invite some outsiders, maybe some Jews, maybe Muslims or others. They can participate but cannot take over the process. If those invited refuse, then we develop the Story alone.  Others may eventually join in to create a new pathway ahead.