(Photo from Facebook.com)
Today I am taking sides.
I am taking the side of Peace.
Peace, which I will not abandon
even when its voice is drowned out
by hurt and hatred,
bitterness of loss,
cries of right and wrong.
I am taking the side of Peace
whose name has barely been spoken
in this winnerless war.
I will hold Peace in my arms,
and share my body’s breath,
lest Peace be added
to the body count.
I will call for de-escalation
even when I want nothing more
than to get even.
I will do it
in the service of Peace.
I will make a clearing
in the overgrown
thicket of cause and effect
so Peace can breathe
for a minute
and reach for the sky.
I will do what I must
to save the life of Peace.
I will breathe through tears.
I will swallow pride.
I will bite my tongue.
I will offer love
without testing for deservingness.
So don’t ask me to wave a flag today
unless it is the flag of Peace.
Don’t ask me to sing an anthem
unless it is a song of Peace.
Don’t ask me to take sides
unless it is the side of Peace.
—Rabbi Irwin Keller, Oct. 17, 2023
(info@coyotenetworknews.com)
The war in Gaza perpetrated by Israel and the war perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7 have left me speechless with incomprehension. Each of these three offerings helps me speak again.
I’m with Peace. May it live long enough trampled in the ditch of war to ever be welcomed in the Middle East as we know it.
I’m used to thinking of Elon Musk as a dangerous and astonishingly successful jerk. I was curious about what he would have to say that was relevant. I’m now impressed, and no longer think he is a jerk. I wish the Israelis were taking his suggestion.
I’m not mature enough to have kept my heart open, for example towards Trump and his ilk, let alone Putin and his ilk, ….
Hope is a muscle, an active posture towards the world. Right now Im more hopeful because of these offerings.
Mike, would you correct a grammatical error in my post.
Please replace the first two lines with these; thanks:
The war in Gaza perpetrated by Israel and the war perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7 have left
Done, I think.