A Practice of Peace (Tova Averbuch)

[Julie Smith]

Dear Harrison, Dear Tova, Dear All,

Thank you, again, for your insights and inspiration.

Harrison, you asked "How is our Practice of Peace progressing? And what
do we have to share?"

Here in Fairbanks, Alaska, we are just six days away from our Becoming A
Peacemaker conference.  We held a contest in our schools for a suitable
drawing to print on the T-shirts we will be giving to all our
participants.  As I write this, another group of students are printing
the T-Shirts.  They show a young girl embracing the earth.  If you look
closely, you can see along the bottom where the earth has cracked, and
where she has lovingly placed a band aid.  The girl is smiling and
confident and loving.... not even a hint of fear or concern mars her
expression.....

Judi and Chris and Michael will facilitate the two-day Becoming A
Peacemaker conference for youth and adults, and then a two-day OS
practice workshop.  I recently learned that our statewide association of
school boards is planning seven regional conferences this fall, all of
which will be held in Open Space.  I assume all will also involve youth.

For the younger crowd, we've invited three people from Peace Games to
join us next week.  Peace Games helps younger children explore
communication, collaboration and conflict resolution through games.  We
hope to initiate school-wide Peace Games programs in one or two of our
elementary schools next fall.

This weekend, fellow OSLISTERS Dan and Heidi Chay are teaching a group
of local youth how to mediate criminal cases involving their peers.  We
already have several hundred youth mediators helping resolve conflict in
all our secondary schools.

Tomorrow our local Quaker group is sponsoring a discussion about peace.

We are busy here, talking about peace.  Sometimes I think this is not
the time and place for such talks.  I sometimes think I have not
suffered enough to raise these issues, that I have not earned a place at
the table for this discussion.  I sometimes think I'm going too far when
I raise ideas I can barely comprehend with 12 and 13 year old children.
And then I think the only time I have is now, and the only place I have
is here.

As I think about our conference, and what I want to contribute, and what
I have passion for and can take responsibility for, I realize I want to
shift my attention away from the suffering that leads us to desire
peace, to being more like that girl on the T-Shirts.  I want to have the
capacity to see past the cracks and the band aids to that space where I
can hold the whole in a loving embrace that contains no fear or concern.
I think this might be close to what Tova is expressing, the idea of
accepting the people who come and the events that occur as being the
right people and the right events that will inevitably lead us onward in
our journey.

And now, silly as it might seem, I'm going to drive to town with my 16
year old son to pick out the flooring for the house my husband is
building.  Along the way, I hope to notice the way the spruce trees
point their branches into the sky, and the way the sun glances off the
melting snow.  I hope to listen deeply to my son's comments about life
and living, and I hope to cherish the breath that carries me through
each moment.  What else, after all, is there to do?

Julie

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