Thursday, July 13, 2006

Peace


Angel, Tarquinia, Italy

I had a blog post ready for today, but I've yanked it. The news coming out the Middle East has dampened my urge to amuse. I thought I'd been completely numbed by all these years of Iraq, but no. I feel like I've been punched in the gut.

The world can't go on like this. Although of course it always has, hasn't it?

Fighting has broken out between a land of people I've always admired deeply and the land from which my father's family came.

I read all I could about it, trying to decide whose side I'm on. Can't do it. There are not two sides. People are killing people. Human lives are being disrupted. All that matters is that this must stop.

If you pray, please pray for peace. If you don't pray, go out of your way to put a little goodness into the world today.

Maybe it'll help. Something had better. And soon.

Namaste. Shalom.

36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Namaste, Franklin.

Heather said...

So much fighting, so much violence. It is a sad day, indeed.

Blessings and peace to everyone.

Cheryl:) said...

It makes you sick to think about it. I think the only thing we CAN do besides praying is making sure OUR attitudes don't perpetuate this hatred.

Sonya said...

Amen, Franklin.

pacalaga said...

Dang, and I was hoping for some lighthearted entertainment to briefly take my mind off things.

Angie said...

It is horrifying Franklin and darned scary .Talk about a stroke of genius from Israel ..a sledgehammer to kill a gnat .Those soldiers have no hope ..isn't M.O.S.A.D supposed to be intelligence ? Maybe they should try a little they are a democracy.

Angie said...

It is awful Franklin and darned scary too.Talk about a sledgehammer to kill a gnat .Does Israel not have M.O.S.A.D ? They just send in the big guns and those soldiers don't have a hope.Israel has GOT to learn to live with the neighbours or they will be taken out someday and that is just too dreadful to contemplate.

Angie said...

apologies ..first post appeared lost .

Elaine said...

I see..Israel...Lebanon..my 17 year old son...still optimistic in youth, the biggest fight of his life so far against adolescent acne. My first Grandchild..innocent and adoring of everyone she meets...Peace for them, peace for us..Peace for all the 17 year old boys and 1 year old girls..please.

dpaste said...

Thank you. My heart is breaking each time I see the newest headline about this. While I am tempted to respond to a certain comment on this site, I will bite my tongue. The world needs understanding, not invective or blame throwing.

Angie said...

I think you are aiming at me David..please feel free to comment .I might not agree with you but I'm afraid praying for peace isn't going to hack it and upping the ante the way Israel is does not help .India is trying very hard to to avoid such a thing at the moment with more provacation than 3 soldiers taken hostage.

Anonymous said...

I was raised to be proud of being Jewish but it's hard for me to see how anyone could be proud of Israel.

Liz said...

thank you, Franklin. Peace, Shalom, Namaste.

Those inclined to send aid to Palestinians will find a link on my blog, or just go direct to UNRWA. My heart breaks. It gets worse every time I look.

May this nightmare for everyone come to a close soon.

Sneaksleep said...

I cry now when I turn on the radio in the mornings.

Angie said...

I am sure you realise Joy that I was not being anti-Jewish ( far from it) and I don't want to see anyone of any belief killing each other .You should be proud of being Jewish I am of being English but events like "Bloody Sunday" hurt and are hard to bear .

Anonymous said...

Amen. It just doesn't make sense, does it?

brewerburns said...

Peace.

Hannah said...

Salaam, Shalom, Peace.

Thanks for this post.

--Your friendly pacifist Jewish knitter who is struggling mightily with her identity...

Anonymous said...

I take a lot of blogs off my roll because they're just so... something. But I appreciate your realness in your posts, and your connection to reality, if you know what I mean. I may sometimes skim through but I feel like I know the real "you" and that you're a caring, thoughtful, intelligent person, always. I appreciate that and I'm saying it now so you can know that by being this person, you're helping improve the world.

Anonymous said...

Praying now, Franklin. As old as I am I cannot remember a more scary time.

Maybe we should start a Pray and Knit along. Knitters are a peaceful sort.

Blessings to you

Anonymous said...

Franklin, you have gotten me back into my yoga practice and seat time. I had lost that peace this year during our SACS visit (which I am sure you understand!, ironically, when I needed it most!

I continue to be disappointed in my fellow human beings. As a Quaker, I am perplexed by the need of another human being to "force" their ideas on another. I never even spanked any of my four children! Personally, I have invoked the economic approach; I have boycotted anything that comes from those areas that engage in violence toward others in the form of war, economics, or human rights. While I must confess my shopping has declined significantly, I feel better every time I make this decision. Perhaps this is one way to vent our displeasure toward these countries. Another thing I do, weekly, is send a loving post card to my state and federal representatives. It is to the point that I receive a lovely letter back which usually begins, "Dear Martha, Thank you again for your letter expressing..." LOL

Let's love each other, not be indifferent! As we say in the South, Namaste, ya'll.

dpaste said...

OK, here I am again. I certainly can't say I think Israel is fully justified in its actions, but I also can't sit with the comment that "Israel has GOT to learn to live with the neighbours." That is like putting a Beagle in a kennel with 13 Dobermans and telling the Beagle "now play nice."

To the woman who is wondering how anyone could be proud of Israel, I ask her if she is proud to be an American? I deplore the war in Iraq but I remain proud to be an American. There is still too much good in this country to see it irrevocably tainted by one miserable administration.

Likewise I know many Israelis who are agonizing over what their government is doing. Yet they remain proud of their country and how it has survived and prospered in an atmosphere of unrelenting hostility for over half a century.

Please, everyone. Can we not focus on who is the bad guy? Can we just sympathize with those who will be hurt, on all sides of this conflict? Palestinians, Lebanese and Israelis are all suffering because of this conflict and we can only pray that the leadership of all three of these states realizes the lose-lose situation they continue to maintain.

Franklin said...

David's point echoes my own. I don't want this to turn into a finger-pointing session - even if folks are inclined to point the finger at themselves. The point is not who did what to whom - it's that what's happening is terrible.

I tell you what...instead of commenting, go do something constructive an positive. The blog will be here when you come back. And I may even try to be funny again.

Anonymous said...

Ah, Franklin - and I thought I was the only one moved to tears over this newest demonstration of insanity. Poor Beirut - once such a beautiful city.
Clueless how to stop the hate - all we can do is try to encourage all in the little bit of the world that surrounds us to tolerate and be patient with each other.

Unknown said...

God bless the world...

Anonymous said...

Dear Franklin,
You are a real mensch.

Joanne
who's Jewish and whose daughter-in-law is Lebanese

Anonymous said...

I thought of you when I heard about all that's going down in Beruit. I've been having an uneasy stomach lately, and I realized this afternoon it was after watching the news about the middle east. Part of me is relieved that I canceled my plans to go to Armenia.
The sad thing is that this has been happening since OT times... and probably wont end any time soon. I'm praying for peace, and if not peace, for less attacks.

Angie said...

David ..don't think I want to impose anything or any idea on The State of Israel but I'm talking about for their sake ..surely you can see that? Of course we ( I am a Quaker too) are all praying for peace so did my Mum in 1939 ..did it work ? We can hope and yes we can make our voices heard because I think the World is very different from the Last war in Lebanon and Israel is playing with matches in a fireworks factory you don't need to point fingers you see the obvious.

Joanna said...

Yes, pray, spin and knit .... the world needs a calming spirit to blow gently

Anonymous said...

It surprised me, when I held my newborn son, that my immediate thought was a prayer to God that that perfect, new human being would never, as he grew up, be told to pick up a gun and aim it at some other human soul. That he would never have to be part of any war.

He's 22 now, and I still pray that prayer for everyone's sons and daughters everywhere.

Will Pillage For Yarn said...

Yes. What you said. Exactly.

Peace.

Roggey said...

Common sense and peace.

A friend of mine's 13 yr old daughter is trapped in Lebanon right now. She was visiting her grandparents for the summer when the bombing started - worse yet, they live by the international airport.

They've fled to the mountains and this is the last communication she's had with them since last week Thursday (7/13).

Worse yet, the US Embassy kept saying that they could ship her daughter to another city away from Beirut, but after that she was on her own... A 13 yr old girl & US citizen and that's the best that could be done.

All thoughts & prayers are appreciated.

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