Rainy Day in Nyack

No summer is complete without a stretch of rainy days. The earth is thirsty and the sun is bored; a quiet day allows us to focus our attention and energy of open-ended tasks.

Yesterday, two extended conference calls within the peace community surfaced an equally sober mood. There is a rather rooted despair at the moment among those seeking to see a way to make a difference in the world. One would have thought that the announced departure of Karl Rove would have lifted spirits. Or the slow but steady migration of opinion in the direction of ending the occupation of Iraq and withdrawing troops. But the more broadly felt impression is that nothing makes a difference with the current administration. Andthat few Americans really want to be reminded of the challenging mess we have created.

We must find the right words and vehicle to reinforce our understanding that optimism is its own tool for success. Some of the mantra we might use are of suspect provenance, but Churchills "Never Give Up, Never Give Up, Never Give Up" could do. I like a variant that I credit Bill Moyer's with inspiring" "Organize, Organize, Organize". Or, finally, an adaptation of David Abram's call that we need to write ourselves back in to nature: we need to write ourselves back in to peace. Or we might suggest that we need to "right ourselves" back in to peace.

Tomorrow the sun will shine again. We'll recover some of our courage. We'll understand that we are called to this work, together.