With Each Step...

When I first began this blog I never anticipated writing every day, nor did I expect to post pieces by other writers. Certainly I quoted passages or often responded to what I read. And snippets of poems or essays, or lines from books read, acted as catalysts for my own words.

But I never established any hard and fast rules. This morning I received an email from my son David, who lives with his family outside of Tel Aviv, Israel. 

After reading his simple prayer I knew that I wanted to share his thoughts, his prayer, his words.

My father loved words, their sounds, their nuances, and the subtle differences between words. He passed that love on to me and I think I passed that on to David. 

But it's not only the words, but how those words impact the reader. When I read David's words, I was moved and knew that I wanted to share his thoughts with anyone who reads this blog.

Shalom, my dear son.

******


A Simple Prayer

I woke early this morning so that I might run one last time in Sicily in the quiet of first light.

The run started off slowly and my body revolted against the idea of moving forward and I tried to clear my mind and concentrate on my breath.

My mind, as it oft does, began to wander and I started to meditate on the qualities and meanings of peace, and soon I began to actively run as a form of praying for peace.

With each step, I thought of the war being waged in my back yard and prayed not for a cease fire but that both Israelis and Palestinians might  hear my prayers and join me.  A cease fire stops the shooting but the underlying issue is that people must want to see each other as equals, and join together in a partnership of nurturing not only the land, but each other.

It is funny, as a child my mom took me to see a film about a King who talked about ending war and this same kind of peace - he had a dream and did not live to see it happen.  It still has not happened.

We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on cancer research and not once will anyone say that it is a cure targeted for one group of people - we try and cure everyone, yet the simple tenet of peace seems such a hard one to tackle.

It occurs to me that if each of us meditates on peace - runs or walks for it, carries it with us and sends it out into the world than it might be contagious.  

Perhaps it is the Sicilian sun and a diet of pizza and gelato that has me rambling, or perhaps it is just a single voice saying a truth that we all know - so take a jog for peace today - send your love out to those fighting in the Middle East - and maybe, just maybe one person might feel your prayers - 

David Craig