Although I suppose we all, occasionally, wish for a life of luxury and ease, I do, in fact, like to work. I like the challenge of a new job, a new puzzle for me to solve. And I am grateful for my ability to be strong and quick and to connect well with people. I am, this week, grateful for so many things. Grateful that my little home on the river did not burn down in the raging wildfire only a few miles away; Grateful that the miniscus repair on my knee went so well and that the doctor says I "have the knee of a twenty year old;" Grateful that my three sons are, blessedly, alive and well.
At the doctor's office today, I read how the recently renewed attacks between Israel and Hamas (Gaza Strip) were inflamed by an attack on three Israeli teenagers, which provoked a reply attack on an innocent Gaza teenager. Four young people dead (plus so many more!) and grieving, loving communities determined to make sure their lives are avenged. I can only imagine the grief, and the desire to retaliate. But it never ends. Killing only begets more killing.
While waiting for the doctor, I jotted this down on my iphone, a sad ode to the conflict in the middle east:
Peace on Earth
You, with your murderous audacity, you who took the three sons we bow to bury, the teens we don't know, the teens we vow to avenge. You, we will kill, not directly, as you hide in the smoke and alleys. We will not cut your shadowed face or rip your well-fed limbs.
Instead, we will take the baby-faced 16 year old, on his way home from school, with dinner on his mind. Him we will drag off the sidewalk. Him we will smash on the gutter grate. Him we will burn while he gasps and cries and shakes.
Your teen shall join our teens, your wife shall join our wives, your babies shall join our babies, in the hot exhaust of our hate that knows no end, in the toxic fumes that trail our lives of anger and revenge.
Peace you shall not know, and peace we shall not know, until peace we find together, in the brotherhood of hell.
We are so blessed and protected here in the US. And yet, the world is fraying at the edges. Now we have a major airliner shot down with hundreds killed. What can we do? Foster compassion, peace, love. And spread the same wherever you can. And, please, don't bury your heads in the sense of isolation we have here in the US. We need to stay involved in our world to effect change.
With love and gratitude!
xo, Cate
