Surge THIS

I didn't listen to the President's address tonight (I'll read it in the cold hard light of day), and I'm not going to be able to attend the demonstrations in Trenton tomorrow. But that doesn't mean that I'm disengaged.

Above is a picture I took last Wednesday of the weekly vigil for peace that has been going on in Palmer Square for months. There will be more demonstrations and YouTube videos and calls and emails to representatives tomorrow.

An increase in troop levels makes no sense. Even if it did, we don't have the troops to send. We need surges of compassion, advocacy, mediation, and peace.

As is so often the case, Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks my mind: "Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows."

The Hard Work

The African Great Lakes Region

In these times, I find that my spirit hungers for wisdom, passion, and evidence that courage and love will always prevail over fear and distrust.

John Woolman was a mid-eighteenth century Quaker whose powerful and personal way of "living into the testimonies" earned him great respect among his peers... even when he was challenging the very roots of their belief systems.

Because he was such a clear and powerful thinker, and because his family's land holdings lay between Burlington and Mount Holly, there is an annual John Woolman lecture here in New Jersey every year. I was unable to attend the lecture this year. But I am grateful to Tom Hoopes, who shared with me a synopsis of some of John Woolman's teachings as highlighted in this year's address by Friend David Zaremka.

Here are some of Woolman's lessons, as evidenced by his life and writings, in a distilled form:

1. Rather than run from those in conflict, let us visit them.
2. Do not let danger deter us.
3. Let us confront the violence in the United States so that we lessen the wars, conflicts, and economic exploitation that the United States brings to other parts of the world.
4. Let love replace hatred. Let us restore that of God in those who have done bad things.
5. Let us address the roots of violence in order to reduce societal and domestic violence.
6. Let us bring enemies together to “look each other in the eye.”
7. Let us stop judging people as “good” or “bad” but answer to that of God in absolutely everyone.

And the unifying lesson:
8. Let us dwell deep that we may feel and understand the spirits of people.

~ ~ ~

Can you imagine what we could achieve, as individuals and as a people, if we were to take up this hard work?

(The full text of David's remarks can be found here: http://woolmancentral.com/lecture2006.html)

Today's Reuters Iraq News

I am led to bear witness today. US military engagement in Iraq has now overtaken the length of America's involvement in World War II. The pain of this endless stream of broken hearts and families is difficult to comprehend or describe. We must wage peace. Emphases below are mine.

SAMARRA - Six policemen were killed and four wounded when a car bomb exploded near a police station in a town near Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad. Militants briefly occupied the building. A daylight curfew was imposed.

ANBAR PROVINCE - A U.S. Marine died from wounds sustained in combat while operating in western Anbar province, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber targeting a police patrol killed a policeman and wounded seven people, including three policemen, in southwestern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber exploded near a police patrol, killing a policeman and wounding five civilians in al-Nidhal street in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

MOSUL - A suicide car bomber targeting a police station killed one civilian and wounded 23 in the northern city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

BAGHDAD - A U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded on Tuesday when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Salahaddin province, the U.S. military said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed two policemen and wounded seven people, including two policemen, in Baghdad's al-Nahdha area, an Interior Ministry source said.

NEAR BAQUBA - The U.S. military said its forces killed eight insurgents and two women in an early morning ground assault supported by an air strike on a village near Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad. Iraqi police said a U.S.-Iraqi force killed eight civilians. Police said the dead were a man and his three sons and a neighbouring couple, their son and daughter.

DIWANIYA - Police said they found the body of a teacher with gunshot wounds in Diwaniya, 180 km (112 miles) south of Baghdad. Gunmen had kidnapped him on Tuesday.