Thinking about peace, peacemaking, the importance of it all:
“And if they incline towards peace, incline thou also towards it, and put thy trust in God” (Qur’an 8:62).
"History is filled with tragic examples of wars that result from diplomatic impasse. Whether in our local communities or in international relations, the skillful use of our communicative capacities to negotiate and resolve differences is the first evidence of human wisdom" (Daisaku Ikeda).
"A fundamentalist can't bring himself or herself to negotiate with people who disagree with them because the negotiating process itself is an indication of implied equality" (Jimmy Carter).
"You don't make peace with friends. You make it with very unsavory enemies" (Yitzhak Rabin).
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| Tent of Nations: the Nasser Farm in the West Bank |
INCLINING TOWARDS PEACE
a poem by Dave Grishaw-Jones
We are flawed and fearful,
Tossed in seas both real and imagined,
Convinced of our guilt, yet hiding
From others we long to prove responsible
For everything wrong, everything askew in us.
When history and circumstance fling us
Upon the gritty shores of Ninevah,
We are still flawed, still fearful,
But facing a new choice, a chance
To speak an honest, hard word to a strange people.
You don't make peace with friends,
Says the wise and tired warrior.
You make it with unsavory enemies.
This is the peacemaker's calling.
And so we sit together, beneath the one tree,
Communicating with the ones we fear,
Imagining our equality before God and earth,
And inclining towards peace.
There is no other promised land than this:
This inclining is the promise itself.
7.18.15
Paris
