The Furious Spinner

Most days I don't feel as though I do enough. I am struggling every day to make the right decisions to create peace, love, and healing. When to do, what to do, when not to do, what not to do. I don't think we can all sit around praying for peace; I do believe there are "right" actions to be taken. Figuring out what those are is difficult. For years I did, did, did. I saw no changes. I decided I needed to "do" differently. So I plug along, hoping I make the right choices, just as so many of you do. I hope I'm not one of the people Sophie Scholl described before she was killed by the Nazis:

"The real damage is done by those millions who want to 'survive.' The honest men (and women) who just want to be left in peace. Those who don't want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won't take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don't like to make waves - or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honor, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It's the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you'll keep it under control. If you don't make any noise, the bogeyman won't find you. But it's all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn." (via)

Windchime Walker Patricia spent her last day of protest in D.C. yesterday. It was her most dangerous day. Sitting on her scooter (she has MS) in front of the White House she was accosted by a group of Israeli men. Young angry men. At one point when she is talking about love, the men tell her it is too late for that. I understand their point. If someone is about to kill you—say someone like Hitler—meeting him with love is fine, but if you want to live and you want to save others, you've got to have a plan. (Gandhi had a plan; MLK had a plan. It wasn't just about standing there and taking it.) I understand the terror and fury that comes with having your safety threatened, which is probably how the Israelis are feeling. But what's happening in Lebanon is wrong. What's happening in Iraq is wrong. I admire what Patricia is doing. I send her much love. May her road home be smooth and uneventful. 1 comments

1 Comments:

Thank you, dearest Kim, for all the words, love and energy you have created to help me through my 18-day solitary vigil in DC...and my 560 mile journey home. I couldn't have done it without you.

BTW, not all of us are called to be on the "front lines," so to speak. We each do our work for peace in whatever large and small ways we can. Occasionally this means going out on a limb, but for most of us, that is rare. It's the day-to-day moments, in our homes/workplaces/communities, where most of the work occurs. Being "heroic" can seem easy in comparison.

By Patricia, at 10:28 PM  

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