Prayers for Peace
The kids went to bed at 11:00 last night. Wyatt, face covered with soot and eyes completely bloodshot, fell into his sleeping bag at Grammy and Poppy's house and I didn't hear a peep until 9:00 this morning. Loretta slept with me, holding my hand until she could sleep through the crackling boom of fireworks. Lying there with her little feet on my stomach, I was infinitely thankful that the noises around us weren't noises of war. And sad for all the places in the world where that isn't so, especially Afghanistan and Iraq.
We went to the Anacortes Fourth of July parade with Grammy and Poppy like we do every year. When Loretta got her first piece of candy, she did laps in front of the parade-goers, jumping up and down like she had just won the lottery. She absolutely couldn't believe her good fortune--people throwing candy?! Amidst the emergency vehicles, political campaigns, ecstatic children, and marching bands, there was this veteran, riding his bike for peace. Veterans for peace always make me cry. If anyone knows the price of war, they do. And if anyone has a right to sit back and check out, they do. But there he was, pedaling under the gray skies, so purposeful and quiet.
Simone Weil says, "Absolute unmixed attention is prayer." What beautiful, rending prayers he prayed--spokes going round and round, the military tanks not far behind in the parade lineup. The rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air--may they be silenced everywhere, much sooner than we dared hope. Amen.
July 5, 2010
Reader Comments (9)
They will be silenced one day. I am infinitely grateful for my ancestors and my son who serve this nation. But there was One whose service will bring lasting peace. Amen.
Thanks Sarah, for such a good reminder of what celebrating our Independence has cost the ones who have died for our country, as well as their loved ones. Thinking about this as we sit around eating watermelon, barbecuing, and watching all that $ go up in smoke, is a bit sobering to say the least. but.... I'm grateful I could be eating caramel corn and red licorice as we watch the fireworks bursting in the air, listening to the squeals of my grand kids.
thanks for sharing your witness.
Amen
Amen!
P.S. Looked at your veteran of war pictures again, and it says it all.
I constantly think of that every fourth of July--the loud cracks & bangs of fireworks...how it must feel knowing that I can comfort my daughters in true peace to sleep, without fear, while mothers are rocking their children with everything but that solace.
Godspeed.
Yes. I was thinking about the same thing as I lay in our tent at Mama + Papa's after the fireworks.
I have also had similar thoughts about the pop-whiz-bang sounds we have become so used to hearing at this time of year, as a mother I cannot even come close to imagining living in a war torn part of the world. Blessings are truly counted very often.
On a side note, we too attend the Anacortes Parade each year, I remember the first time my children experienced the glee of chasing the treats tossed by many in the parade. They now, a bit older and more savvy, plan what they are going to take to keep their stash in:) I love that the experience of that little parade has become the center of what they want to do to celebrate the holiday, watching the many displays of fireworks shot off on the beach later in the evening is definitely secondary for them.