Resources for Peacemakers: Poems for Peace, Books, and a Commentary on Ukraine
A Poem:
"Darkness Disease"
by Thomas R. Smith from his splendid collection, Storm IslandWe dismiss the images at our peril:
in the Sunday paper’s ads for games, Doom
and Assassin’s Creed. Muscle-armored
drab of the downtown theater’s poster
X-Men: Apocalypse, a battle-
bulked figure contemplating a Yorick-
like skull: Only the Strong Will Survive.
Only, we rationalize, entertainment,
but the subterranean truth of these
ubiquitous displays is that our gun-
deaths and never-ending war have become
a cancer on our soul, a Darkness
Disease killing our will not only to
keep ourselves alive but the planet.
Each empire carries the seed of
its destruction. I know that this rage
we secretly turn inward on ourselves
is telling us to die. Let’s release our dream
of redemptive violence and give
the heroes peace, call the armies home.
Wash with light this dark sickness from our eyes.
Recommended Books:
Commentary from Bill Habedank:
Notes from February RWUUC Meeting & Letter to Editor
Notes on Red Ring UU Discussion
February 20, 2022
Additional comment by Bill Habedank
The question is: why does the U.S. speak of enemies more than it speaks of friends?
When you meet someone for the first time, you consider that they may be friends one day and not potential enemies.
We in the U.S. call ourselves the “Home of the Brave”. Should brave people repeatedly expouse that there are enemies lurking to destroy us?”
Is it not true that this fear has cost us dearly to the point where we cannot afford to pay for the things we desperately need to improve our lives? The late President Dwight D Eisenhower said this:
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed”
President Eisenhower said that in 1953! He also said:
“Only America can hurt America”.
And:
“The problem in defense is how far can you go without destroying from within, what you are trying to defend from without.”
I also wonder why capitalism seems to thrive on having enemies. Being number one is the most important thing and remaining number are above all other considerations. It seems that making a profit is more important than making and keeping friends.
Bill's Letter to the Editor, published in Red Wing Republican Eagle
re: Paul McCartney's Live Concert in Moscow & St. Petersburg (2005)
Dear Editor:
A Study in Faces
Last night I watched a two-hour special about Paul McCartney and his band which performed in Russia recently. The concerts were in Red Square in Moscow and in St. Petersburg. There were numerous close-up camera shots of the audience. There also was commentary with Russian dignitaries including Vladimir Putin, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Russian Minister of Defense, and others. All expressed the value of music in uniting people. They discussed how they would get hold of Beatles music in the 1960s and 70’s even though it was illegal at the time.
When McCartney was performing, the audiences were very into the music and were singing the words in both English and Russian. Even the dignitaries were moved by the music. They all sang the song Yesterday with the same kind of passion we would in America. You could tell Paul McCartney was very moved.
As the camera showed these Russian people I was struck with their humanism. They were plain ordinary people just like you and me, even the dignitaries. They were people with the same hopes and dreams as we have. The only thing different about them is that they were living in a different country and spoke a different language. Many of those people in that crowd were old enough to be called members of an Evil Empire by our leaders in the United States.
It’s just like today. Now we have an Axis of Evil. We continue to create enemies out of people who are just like you and me. I am getting very tired of this attitude. I am tired of creating enemies out of people who could be my friends. I am tired of my leaders told me I should be afraid of these people. We have become a nation of fearful and paranoid people and we are almost afraid of our own shadow. This is causing America to lose its’ respect around the world. It is causing us to be a poorer country unable to meet even its’ own pressing needs.
Americans, conquer your fear. Let us start making more friends than enemies. Let us open up to the people around the world with a welcoming spirit. If we do not we will become what we fear—an Evil Empire.
Yours truly
Bill Habedank
Commentary from Ted Tollefson:
Questions and Prayer
QUESTIONS for PUTIN
1. What's the difference between invading a country and securing it?
2. What did you learn from Afghanistan that might apply to Ukraine?
3. What will it cost you to try to occupy Ukraine?
4. How has your annexing Crimea and the eastern areas of Ukraine strengthened NATO?
5. How will your troops respond when their Ukrainian relations come after them armed to the teeth?
6. What's your reading of this Russian proverb: "a bad peace is better than a good quarrel/'war"?
7. What's your exit strategy for Ukraine?
8. How do you say "intractable quagmire" in Russian? "Swamp" does NOT really cover it, does it?
9. What do you want your legacy to be?
10. What if Russia and Ukraine are ONE people, but TWO nations? Can you live with that?
A HINDU PRAYER for PEACE/SHANTIH (adapted)
Lead us from illusion to Truth
Lead us from darkness to Light
Lead us from mortality to Immortality
Lead us from war & strife to Peace & Harmony.