4-10-10

THINK.

"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace" -John Lennon
Truth??

I have never seen division. Physical division because of nationality. It is a horrific thing.
Exclusion. A horrific thing indeed.
Embrace. A need we can live to fill.

My thoughts to God after a day spent with Palestinian students, who quickly became dear friends, on the other side of the wall (also known as the West Bank, also known as Palestine, also known as Bethlehem, also known as occupied territory)

God, I hurt. I hurt so deeply, I can't breathe. I can't smile. I can't catch my balance. You love me. I know. But you love them too. How can people be so cruel to one another and then try to justify it? How can we continue to kill each other, exploit them for our benefit, tear families apart, and demonize people into enemies that must be destroyed? How can you stand to see this among your children? I almost cannot bear it. I havent felt like this since Brooklyn. I havent felt this deep of a pain for your heart since i cried out to you on my knees in the prayer room of the Bushwick building with the children in the ghetto. When i was in Bethlehem I felt the people and I felt the problems. I saw their faces. Their pain and their smiles. Politically i can argue both sides of the debate with numbers, facts, and reason but as a human i often succumb to the beats of my heart and the taste of my tears. I refuse to take political stands or join a fight that is not mine out of motivations to justify the divide between what i see and what i know, but i still hurt.
Some days I smile. Some days i cry. Some days i dream for what could be and should simply because we are all people. The complexities make it easy to forget that, but my heart hurts for the people. Some days that is all i know for certain. Today is one of those days.