Can we make peace with
ourselves, with our neighbours
or those we don’t know, of
another culture or faith, even
those feeling the effects of
this harsh reality where
hatred is spoken freely?
Can we make peace by
simply wishing, wanting, and
waiting for the right time?
Would we even recognize the
time in the midst of all the
horrors we continue to witness
day to day to on this earth?
Will we manifest peace in
our hearts, in this world, in a
merciless attempt to defy odds,
to prove the naysayers wrong;
even if only for the time we
are even allowed to do so?
Can this be a season of peace?
Are there enough of us here who
might do a little more today,
are there enough of us who
really believe in possibilities?
Is this now the time for peace?
Take what is there, observe the
confluence of ideas, the merge of
unexpected honesty with the
reality you gaze at.
Unencumbered thought is simply
too easy to ignore, yet we put off
decisions we need to make all
too frequently.
We don’t question our behaviour.
We wait for conclusions to be
made for us, thinking it easier to
simply go with the flow. In doing
so, we avoid what is right in front
of us. We look no further.
Observe what is there; do with it
what you may. Discover the true
consequences of your own actions.
The hints of winter remind us what is to come: snow squalls, icy storms, those horrendous wind chills and descending temperatures. We can only imagine what is ahead of us, our fears augmented by seasonal memories of the coldest nights, frostbitten fingers, slipping and slipping on highways, and slip and falls on neglected sidewalks. Our minds can go way back in time documenting wicked winters, but we still must think of the present, and the future, and the vulnerable. The unhoused and the hungry will struggle with what is ahead: the birds and the people. Is it within our humanity to find simple charity, a gesture in kind, shelter, food when required, a hand up to those who need it? It is the season to feel more than the frigid temperatures.
Can we make peace with
