Sightings

In the last several weeks, a number of peace cranes have come to roost in various locations around Chester County... Wegman's, Blockbuster Video, the Chester County Library, Kimberton Whole Foods, Oasis mini mart.. and other spots in West Chester and Philadelphia. (Thanks S.C!!)

I have debated about whether or not to leave any kind of mark on these little gifts, but I have to admit that I am curious as to whether folks are taking notice... and perhaps are curious too.

So, if you are reading this, chances are you have found a little bird in an unexpected place, and managed to read my scrawl on the wing. (bless you!) If you go to my first post (about my 9/11 birthday) you'll see the reason why you came across a peace crane perched gently atop your box of Lucky Charms, or stuck on under your windshield wiper, or nestled between the pages of Bill O'Reilly's "Culture Warrior". Hopefully it brought a smile to your face.. and perhaps a similar desire to leave folded paper cranes or some similar tokens of peace (that might be easier to fold) around your neighborhood. If so, then my intention was fulfilled. (And if you would, add a post here and let me know where you found one..)

Meanwhile, there are many more cranes about to hatch here in the nest and will soon take flight, hopefully to travel far and wide, spreading their message of peace for the world. Wow, I think they would look just beautiful perched in the many Christmas trees on display right now... don't you?

What can the Amish teach us about the "F" word?

Last week's horrible tragedy occurred about 20 miles away from us. Not that it matters, nor the fact that we have Amish neighbors, but I think that incidental familiarity caused my husband to be particularly curious about what the community reaction would be in regards to us "english", and in particular, this man that murdered several of their children. In light of their religion, would they brand him as evil incarnate? The devil in a milk truck?

As the story enfolded, horror and grief were shared by Amish and non-Amish alike. It was bad enough that this was not the sole incident of its kind even within a week, but there seemed to be something particularly tragic and senseless that it happened within a community that eschews violence, and ironically in a town called Paradise. Headlines on local newspapers caught my eye, though I did not pick them up to read.. one of them momentarily hitting a tiny chord as I rushed out of the store.. but then pushed aside as I went on my way. And then, my husband bringing home what he had read and heard about the goings on around the sad burial of the first young girl, which confirmed that I did read those headlines correctly. Am I hearing this right? The "F" word?

Yes, indeed. A word so insidious as to be shunned in our moralistic, God-blessed society. To my knowledge, it is not used in most decent circles, whether when discussing world events, or one's experience driving to work that day. It is most certainly taboo on all major media, regardless of political or religious affiliation.. or perhaps to be fair, it is used, but very selectively. To use the word with any emphatic meaning would be to proverbially have one's mouth washed out with soap, and perhaps publicly flogged.

And yet, there it was. Used by the Amish for all the world to hear. Forgiveness. It's all over the news now, from what I can see, and I am heartened by how much attention, positive attention, is being given to the words of one Amish grandfather to several young boys when he reminds them that they "must not think evil of this man". And to the Amish families that reached out to the wife and children of Charles Roberts with their condolences. And to the schoolteacher who says of Roberts, "He had problems of the heart."

Forgiveness is a tricky matter, indeed... or maybe we "english" just make it that way. Religious or no, at the very least, it is a letting go of the tremendous burden of carrying around the past, and the hate and anger that seems to accompany a desire for retribution, or what we like to call "justice". I pray that I will never have my faith tested by the loss of one of my children in such a way, but I pray harder that if I do, I will also come through it with forgiveness.

My birthday is September 11th

This year, I turned 40. And I really wanted a party, but after making that request to my husband, I realized that I felt a little selfish, and modified my request to be about creating a new tradition around that inauspicious date.. one that might be celebratory of being with good friends and loving family members, about being alive and furthering the cause of peace. Well, it didn't exactly turn out that way... everyone came and had a lovely time, which I was grateful for, but nothing much in the "larger picture" theme.

I decided to send everyone who came a thank-you card.. thanks for being here to celebrate, and for being a precious part of my journey to 40 (and beyond), and I enclosed a folded paper crane inside each one, with the idea of putting forth that intention of peace in the world. As I sat folding crane after crane, (decorated with beads, tiny Swarovski crystals, and little pendants that read "love" or "imagine") I was thinking what cool little gifts these could make, and perhaps I could make them to sell. Further along, I then began to imagine just making tons of them, like Sadako with her noble but unreached goal of folding 1,000 cranes before she succumbed to cancer... and placing them in random public places: the supermarket shelves, the ATM machine, Dunkin' Donuts, the gas pump, the video store. What if I enclosed one in every bill I mailed in, or in letters to my congressmen? What if I could get everyone I know to do this? Can you imagine hundreds upon thousands of paper cranes descending upon the White House?

Origami paper is pretty, but we could use any kind of paper...recycled junk mail, political smear ads that are coming by the hundreds in the mail, magazine articles covering the war in Iraq! What would be the reaction as more and more people starting seeing these delicate little birds everywhere they went?

It's just a folded piece of paper. It's silly to think that something so insignificant could have an impact on the huge and entrenched mindset of the necessity for war.

We'll just have to see, won't we...