Last night we had friends over for dinner, and during that time I found out about the Rafah massacre against displaced Palestinians by the Israeli government.
We eat dinner and laugh, share our hopes and dreams, ask how to be better humans, while the world burns and civilians die.
The weight of it all is unbearable, and we cannot forget that while we are capable of such incredible love, we are capable of such immense hate on every level. How do we hold care for and with one another in the face of this?
Today’s word is idea, and there are so many directions we can go with this.
Pause a moment, take some deep breaths, hold the realities of the world and the hope for every day that waits for us.
I don’t have any idea how we came to be so full of hatred and pain, but I know that an idea is the very thing that could bring us back to life again, back to love and kinship, back to caring for one another when we thought we’d given up forever. An idea that lives and breathes and becomes an embodiment could be the thing that saves us all, that nourishes future generations, that calls us back to home to ourselves when we have senselessly forgotten.
Is there truly any heart
so hard that it cannot begin
.
to beat again in time with
the pain of the world?
.
I don't know for sure,
but I have an idea.
.
Those of us with hearts
bleeding needn't wait
.
for the change of heart
of those heedlessly
.
imparting the violence
if it is even yet to come;
.
no, the thrum of life
must not be silenced.
.
It is violence that must
no longer be allowed
.
to express its depths
when it is so unfeeling.
.
Violence is senseless;
it does not see
.
the extent of harm
that it causes.
.
It will never hear
the cries of those
.
suffering at its hands;
it cannot taste
.
the salt of their tears.
Violence does not smell
.
the smoke from all of
the good and beautiful things
.
it has burned to ash;
it cannot feel
.
sadness at their loss,
guilt over its actions,
.
or the need to relent
the way a human can.
.
We must not suffer
violence and its whims
.
if we are to continue;
we must step in.
.
We get to decide
our conditions.
.
Our hearts will lead us,
if we will only listen.
Thank you, Kaitlin. You have named a sledgehammer in our heartbreaking world.
Idea
It’s been said that
our children learn much more
by watching what we do,
than by listening
to what we say;
that music touches the soul
in spots far deeper
than words, alone, can reach;
and that dancing opens us
to thoughts and ideas
we never could have imagined
from our seats.
Here’s my idea:
Our generation needs
to learn to sing
and dance to the song,
“Study War No More”
while our children
and grandchildren are watching,
and put its lyrics
into action in our lives,
here and now.
Otherwise, how
will war ever end?
*I ain’t gonna study war no more!*