sidewalk message

 

 

THE OPEN ROAD

peace, love, happiness & understanding

 

June 24, 2021

 

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

—Dalai Lama

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The other day I was thinking about what I would say if asked to give a TED talk. Here’s what I wrote:

 

Love to faults is always blind,

Always is to joy inclin’d,

Lawless, wing’d & unconfin’d,

And breaks all chains from every mind.

 

that’s William Blake

 

I’d like to talk about love

and so I shall

not the fascinating question of the relation between love and sex

but another kind of love:

unconditional love for everyone and every thing

is such a love possible?

that’s an open question

but surely it is possible to have this as an aspiration

for our love to grow and grow as we go along on our life journey

it is good to begin with this axiom:

we are one human family

that means:

all children are our children

all children are our children

every child, everywhere in the world

if you accept this as true, then war becomes impossible

unthinkable

for whenever we drop a bomb on our so-called “enemies” we would at the same time murder some of our own children

surely we don’t want to do that

it’s much more pleasant to have no enemies 

there’s no one to fear

we can live in love

the preamble to the UNESCO constitution says:

“wars begin in the minds of men”

so, that’s where they must end, too

we can end the wars within ourselves

by doing our own inner work

the other kind of war—between nations and groups of people—

ends with acts of imagination, informed by love

by the knowledge that each person’s life is as limitless and precious as our own

if we don’t imagine that we have enemies, we don’t have enemies

this is true, because we are one human family 

and all children are our children

we have no enemies

there is no “other”

there is no scapegoat upon whom to project all our sins

we are not born in sin

(every newborn baby proves Saint Augustine was wrong about that)

we are born in love

we grow in love

that’s why we came here

to love and be loved

that’s why we came to this earth

that’s why we came to this room

love has no limit

it has no beginning or end

to quote the Bible:

who loves not, knows not God

for God is love

Jesus enjoined us to love our neighbors as ourselves 

and to love our enemies

if you love your enemies, they are no longer enemies

they are friends

brothers and sisters

*

our family is larger than the human family

it includes every living being

and rocks and rivers and clouds

Thich Nhat Hanh speaks of interbeing

we all inter-are

the trees provide oxygen for us to breathe

each of our bodies is a host for millions of micro-organisms, without which we couldn’t digest our food

it’s wonderful!

whether or not you postulate a creator, this world is amazing! 

every particle of creation is miraculous

everywhere you look is another miracle

our breath, the circulation of our blood, our brain, the bees pollinating the fruit trees—

the Web of Life!

*

the odds against any one of us being born are impossibly large—

the chance meeting of our parents, the moment of conception, the zillions of little swimmers—

and yet here we are

it is great good fortune

here we are with our precious human bodies and brains

our thoughts, our emotions, our imaginings

we are in this well-lit room, where the temperature is regulated for our comfort

we are all suitably clothed

well-fed

we are very fortunate

many people, as we know, are not so fortunate

everyone should have access to clean and abundant drinking water

no one should go to bed hungry

no one should live in fear

we have a lot of work to do

compassion is the essential prerequisite

*

the earth is hurting, too

we have been relentlessly destroying the ecological health of our planet—especially since the advent of the Industrial Revolution

we have to learn, or re-learn, how to live on this earth in ways that are not so destructive

this, too, begins with love

we must love our Mother Earth

*

and as the poet Auden said:

“we must love one another or die”

of course you probably got the memo that we’re all going to die anyway

we are mortal beings

the question is:

how shall we live?

may I have the envelope please?

and the answer to the question “How shall we live?” is…

in Love

 

thank you

 

—Johnny Stallings

*

 

I shared it with Kim Stafford, who sent me a poem and also a letter that his friend  Charles Busch had written to the mothers and fathers of Palestine and Israel:

 

For the Bird       

Singing before Dawn 

 

Some people presume to be hopeful

when there is no evidence for hope,

to be happy when there is no cause.

Let me say now, I’m with them. 

 

In deep darkness on a cold twig

in a dangerous world, one first

little fluff lets out a peep, a warble,

a song—and in a little while, behold: 

 

the first glimmer comes, then a glow

filters through the misty trees,

then the bold sun rises, then

everyone starts bustling about. 

 

And that first crazy optimist, 

can we forgive her for thinking, dawn by dawn, 

“Hey, I made that happen!

And oh, life is so fine.”

 

—Kim Stafford

*

 

Letter to the Mothers and Fathers of Palestine and Israel,

 

We have read the names of the 69 children killed in the 11-day exchange of violence between your peoples. Though we live far away, your grief reaches us, for we too have daughters and sons we love and cannot imagine life without.

 

Qusai al-Qawlaq (6 months), Ibrahim al-Rantisi (6 months), Muhammade-Zain al-Attar (9 months)

 

The deaths of your children point to the dark truth of modern warfare: For every 1 combatant killed, 9 civilians are killed, the majority of them children. These numbers have been reported consistently for decades, but are hard to hear. War has become the killing of children.

 

Dain Ishkontana (2), Yazan al-Masri (2), Nagham Salha (2), Adam al-Qawlaq (3), Yahya Ishkontana (4)

 

We at Fields of Peace, a small nonprofit on the coast of Oregon, have a Mission: To stop the killing of children in wars. Today, we recommit to working for a lasting peace in your land by daring to propose a way to a new beginning.

 

Baraa al-Gharabli (5), Ido Avigal (5), Amira al-Attar (6), Butheina Obaid (6), Abdurrahman al-Hadidi (7)

 

We know there have been countless failed attempts at peacemaking. And we know that there are seemingly intractable issues—borders, occupation, settlements, refugees, statehood. But we also know that the majority of peoples on both sides desperately want and demand peace.

 

Zaid al-Qawlaq (8), Bilal Abu Hatab (9), Yara al-Qawlaq (9), Yahya al-Hadidi (10), Mira al-Ifranji (11)

 

To begin anew, a shared perspective is needed, one that rises above the narratives on each side that justify violence. The perspective we propose is the view from the eyes of mothers and fathers. They see that to gain a whole world is not worth the killing of a single child.

 

Abdullah Jouda (12), Hala Rifi (13), Ahmad al-Hawajri (14), Muhammad Suleiman (15), Nadine Awad (16)

 

To unite the mothers and fathers of Palestine and Israel into a force for peace, a common commitment is needed. The commitment we propose is an obvious one: make A Promise to Our Children. It begins,

 

I will not be a part of the killing

of any child,

no matter how lofty the reason.

These words may seem slight given the history and walls that divide your land, but words hold the power of creation. They set in motion the good that is waiting in us to be born. Nothing new begins without words. But they must be said out loud, and someone must go first.

 

I will not be a part of the killing

of any child,

no matter how lofty the reason.

Not my neighbor’s child.

Not my child.

Not the enemy’s child.

Not by bomb. Not by bullet.

Not by looking the other way.

I will be the power that is peace.

Spoken, these words will travel out, be heard and repeated by other mothers and fathers, by grandparents, godparents, by all who say the name of a child with love. They will serve notice to leaders: “Stop the killing of children in wars. Stop wars.” Spoken, the words will also travel in, reminding us of who we are, giving us courage to stand and act.

 

There is a way to a new beginning. It is simple and immediate: See with the eyes of mothers and fathers. Make A Promise to Our Children. It begins,

 

I will not be a part of the killing

of any child,

no matter how lofty the reason.

 

Thank you,

Fields of Peace

 

June, 2021

fieldsofpeace.org