{"id":1499,"date":"2016-05-02T12:43:08","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T12:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/todaysmartyrs.org\/?page_id=1499"},"modified":"2019-06-10T04:54:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T04:54:00","slug":"meditations-two-rows-by-the-sea","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/todaysmartyrs.org\/index.php\/meditations-two-rows-by-the-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"Meditations – Two Rows by the Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.\u00a0 Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.<\/em> – Matthew 10:28, 32, 33<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

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In February 2015 the Islamic State (ISIL)\u00a0murdered 20 Egyptian Coptic migrant workers in Libya and one refugee from Africa who it had captured in the preceding weeks.\u00a0 Just before February 15th the 21 men were taken to a beach and beheaded.\u00a0 The Copts could be heard praying to Jesus on the jihadi propaganda video that was made of their deaths.\u00a0 The African refugee was not a Christian, and so was given another chance to accept the invitation to Islam; he reportedly replied “Their God is my God”.<\/p>\n

Christians in Egypt were outraged, and the Egyptian government responded with air strikes against ISIL positions in Libya.\u00a0 The Bible Society of Egypt<\/a> responded in a different way: it published a tract with a poetic tribute to these 21 martyrs called Two Rows by the Sea<\/strong>.\u00a0 One and a half million copies were printed and distributed throughout Egypt. This tract also contains Biblical quotes for reflection and meditation.\u00a0 The English version of the tract may be found on the web site of the Bible Society of Egypt\u00a0here<\/a>; if that site is unavailable a back up can be found here<\/a>.\u00a0 If you do print copies – or even if you do not –\u00a0please consider making a donation<\/a> to the Bible Society of Egypt.<\/p>\n

Here is the poem:<\/p>\n

Two Rows by the Sea<\/p>\n

Two rows of men walked the shore of the sea
\nOn a day when the world’s tears would run free<\/p>\n

One a row of assassins who thought they did right
\nThe other of innocents, true sons of the light<\/p>\n

One holding knives in hands held high
\nThe other with hands empty, defenseless and tied<\/p>\n

One row of slits to conceal glaring-dead eyes
\nThe other with living eyes raised to the skies<\/p>\n

One row stood steady, pall-bearers of death
\nThe other knelt steady, welcoming heaven’s breath<\/p>\n

One now spewed wretched contemptible threats
\nThe other spread God-given peace and rest<\/p>\n

A Question…
\nWho fears the other?<\/p>\n

The row in orange, watching paradise open?
\nOr the row in black, evil and broken?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"21-martyrs-of-libya-with-names-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Icon of the 21 Martyrs of Libya<\/strong> – courtesy Antoun “Tony”\u00a0Rezk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.\u00a0 Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaysmartyrs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1499"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaysmartyrs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaysmartyrs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaysmartyrs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/todaysmartyrs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1499"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/todaysmartyrs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3775,"href":"https:\/\/todaysmartyrs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1499\/revisions\/3775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/todaysmartyrs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}