This 4th of July Weekend

For almost five years of Saturdays, we women wearing black have stood on our corner as a witness to peace. We have been given gifts of all kinds, we have been flipped off, yelled at, clapped for, thanked, peace-signed and ignored. Most of the negative comments lack originality, obviously having been taken from some soundbite on television or radio. Not that peace signs are original or anything. But their silence (and their agreement with our message) is more tolerable than hearing an imitation of some Fox News talking head. So to stay consistent, I guess I'll have to admit that, for me, being flipped off is preferable to hearing someone yell "Support Our Troops" as we stand there offering the radical suggestion of ending wars so our troops can live healthy lives with their families.

I especially like standing in vigil on patriotic holidays. People are more alive and engaging.

So what was I going to write about? Oh yeah...

Yesterday I was holding this sign



when a man walked by and said to me, "Peace will come to earth when God comes back".

And I wondered...

Where did God go? And when?

Did God create the earth and all of the universe and then just GO somewhere?

Or did God abandon just those of us here on the earth? Is God now residing on other planets, allowing peace to flourish there?

How does this man KNOW that peace on earth will only come at some date when his God "comes back"? Did he read it? (He could have read about a lot of other possibilities.) Or does he KNOW it like he knows the back of his hand or the face of his child?

Are we supposed to let go of our imagining and our work toward a peaceful life because such acts are useless due to the fact that we can only have peace when this God comes back? Are we meant to be passive people waiting for our redemption? Or would this God, when he/she comes back, want us to have followed the teachings of the wise people of all ages, creating peace by treating our fellow (hu)man as we would like to be treated and "thou shalt not kill"ing and such?

Just wondering...