Give the essence a home
The past few days have been about being a part of Brisbane community and finding a voice to speak out in solidarity with those pleading for mercy. I sit here exhausted, but knowing a new day will come.
There were many highlights to the 'Peace Fair'-- being together with Peace Fellows on a beautiful sunny day, helping to hang photos; having the opportunity center stage to speak out to the crowd (speech below)... but one of the most meaningful times was that spent talking with a man who had been to Iraq three times and seemed angered at 'us people' for proposing pulling out troops. He insisted things would just get worse for the people. We engaged back and forth for almost an hour, and the challenge this posed was formidable, and draining. But those moments I'll hold on to are those where we found true common ground. We discussed 'boxes' and 'labels' and agreed to let go of these as we spoke with one another... we acknowledged each other's frustration...
As we see one another as the emotional and vulnerable beings we are, have to hug the hope--
"Why Peace Day? What is the common force that brings us here?
We come together today, as people are doing all over the world, in a collective call for a renewal of humanity. Today is a time to step back and look ourselves in the mirror. We see pain, we see joy, we see violence, we see love, we see greed, we see selflessness. More than anything, as we gaze in our mirrors, we feel that we have the potential as a human race to be more--to be better--than what we currently are.
It's time to ask ourselves who we are... what are our lives on this earth about? Is it the cars, the glitz, the glamour, or our relationships with each other?
Media and world leaders often try to divide us into camps of good and evil. But we all know we all have shades of grey.
We recognize that we each carry wounds within us... that we are all fragile beings. If we can look at each other and see this, we can melt down the walls of fear and hatred and in their place build bridges of compassion and love.
I challenge you to dig deep beneath the ribbons, the brochures, the buzz words of 'peace' and 'justice' and grasp on to the core of what these symbols and words speak to... latch onto the essence of the message--the message that speaks to each one of us that we are capable of more, that we can rise up.
Let this essence rock and wrap your sould and give it a home there... so that it lives on from this passing day and becomes the driving force of your thoughts and actions tomorrow and all the days thereafter."
(followed by a reading of an excerpt from Maya Angelou's poem 'I the Rock' from Clinton's inaugural)
There were many highlights to the 'Peace Fair'-- being together with Peace Fellows on a beautiful sunny day, helping to hang photos; having the opportunity center stage to speak out to the crowd (speech below)... but one of the most meaningful times was that spent talking with a man who had been to Iraq three times and seemed angered at 'us people' for proposing pulling out troops. He insisted things would just get worse for the people. We engaged back and forth for almost an hour, and the challenge this posed was formidable, and draining. But those moments I'll hold on to are those where we found true common ground. We discussed 'boxes' and 'labels' and agreed to let go of these as we spoke with one another... we acknowledged each other's frustration...
As we see one another as the emotional and vulnerable beings we are, have to hug the hope--
"Why Peace Day? What is the common force that brings us here?
We come together today, as people are doing all over the world, in a collective call for a renewal of humanity. Today is a time to step back and look ourselves in the mirror. We see pain, we see joy, we see violence, we see love, we see greed, we see selflessness. More than anything, as we gaze in our mirrors, we feel that we have the potential as a human race to be more--to be better--than what we currently are.
It's time to ask ourselves who we are... what are our lives on this earth about? Is it the cars, the glitz, the glamour, or our relationships with each other?
Media and world leaders often try to divide us into camps of good and evil. But we all know we all have shades of grey.
We recognize that we each carry wounds within us... that we are all fragile beings. If we can look at each other and see this, we can melt down the walls of fear and hatred and in their place build bridges of compassion and love.
I challenge you to dig deep beneath the ribbons, the brochures, the buzz words of 'peace' and 'justice' and grasp on to the core of what these symbols and words speak to... latch onto the essence of the message--the message that speaks to each one of us that we are capable of more, that we can rise up.
Let this essence rock and wrap your sould and give it a home there... so that it lives on from this passing day and becomes the driving force of your thoughts and actions tomorrow and all the days thereafter."
(followed by a reading of an excerpt from Maya Angelou's poem 'I the Rock' from Clinton's inaugural)
posted by Amanda Joy at 3:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home