Wanted: one Christmas miracle

Claudette and Patrick Loney have set a place for their son Jim today at their Sault Ste. Marie home.

It's been 15 days since the execution deadline passed for Jim Loney and his fellow Christian Peacemaker Teams hostages in Iraq.

In Baghdad, Iraqi newspapers today published an appeal from the families of the four hostages.

"Our dear ones have been kidnapped. They are all working as activists for the sake of peace and to aid the Iraqi people," said the advertisements.

"A number of religious figures in the Arab and Islamic world have talked about the noble work which they are doing for the sake of Iraq and called for their immediate release. We also appeal for their safe return to us.

"If you have any information that could help us, please call the phone number and it is not necessary to reveal your identity." The families are also expected to issue a radio appeal tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the following Christmas thoughts were written by Maxine Nash, one of James Loney's Christian Peacemaker Teams co-workers in Iraq.

Maxine is from Waukon, Iowa and has served with CPT since 2002.

She has worked for the organization in Iraq since December, 2003.

Maxine is currently with the CPT team in Baghdad, awaiting news of Jim Loney, Norman Kember, Harmeet Sooden and Tom Fox.

*********************** Iraq: Mary, Joseph and a new worldview

During this time of waiting for news about my friends who are kidnapped, I can't help but think about Mary and Joseph.

It must have been an agonizing thing for them to make a trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem when Mary was near her time of giving birth.

I can't help but wonder if they were angry at having to make such a difficult journey to comply with the orders of an illegal occupier in their country.

I know I would have been.

And then to get to Bethlehem and be told that there was no place to stay would have added fuel to the fire.

But somehow, I suspect that all of that anger vanished when Jesus was born.

Who has attended a birth and not realized that everything else pales in comparison to the joy of new life?

The miracle of every birth bathes the world in a cleansing light.

I feel like I need a new outlook.

After two years of living in Iraq, I find myself discouraged and angry about the situation.

And every helicopter that flies over (like one just did) reminds me that two and a half years after the fall of Saddam there is still an occupying force from my own country here, one that has no stated intentions of leaving anytime soon.

Did Mary and Joseph feel the same way?

Were they angry at the Romans?

Were they worried for the future of their child who would be born into such a situation?

I suspect their feelings were similar to what many Iraqis feel every single day.

I'm waiting for the re-emergence of my colleagues, and anticipating a new view of the world through this miracle.

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