It is not enough to pray for peace...

Wake Up Call

“When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of the wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

Wendell Berry (“Peace of the Wild Things” Selected Poems of Wendell Berry)

This is perhaps Wendell Berry's best known poem, and one I find great comfort in. I actually saw both these birds—the wood drake and the great heron—while at Lake Martin last week. Just being there, at the edge of the still water, even in the freezing cold of winter, is a blessing I never take for granted.

There was an article circulating on Facebook this morning that the Centers for Disease Control will be training people on how to protect children during nuclear war. I have faith that such a war will not happen. I remember the tension of the 1960's during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember squatting in school hallways and under desks, with arms over head, while air raid sirens blared in the 1950's. Though I know that all unhealed things come around again, I have to say, I had hoped and prayed this one would not.

One of the pioneers in progressive spirituality, Caroline Myss, has written and lectured extensively about how we unconsciously manifest the things we need to heal. The events of the world reflect our inner, as well as our outer, reality. For instance, in the 1930's when the Great Depression was in full swing, this nation was paralyzed. We elected a leader who was physically paralyzed to bring us through that desperate time. Today, we've elected a leader who seems utterly disconnected from the reality of what nuclear war would mean—who is willing to lead us right up to in a frightful game of “chicken.” Most sane and rational people understand that nuclear war is madness—that there is no stepping back from that precipice. Perhaps this is our wake-up call. We cannot sleep-walk our way through this.

Let us take comfort from the peace of the wild things. But we must also awaken to the dangerous circumstances of this moment. And not only wake up, and not only pray about it, but act. Do whatever is possible to let your representatives know that this is not the direction you want our country to go. Sometimes, one's faith calls for action, and if there has ever been a time for action, this is it.

                                                       In the Spirit,

                                                           Jane