Welcome. Sabbath Time is a regular weekly series that started almost a year ago on MyLeftWing and is now also a feature on Street Prophets each week – usually on Saturdays. The goal of the series is to remind us to find balance in our lives between work, play, and rest.  We cannot pour from an empty cup.

I’m crossposting to some of my other haunts this week as I think the Tree of Life project this entry centers on might be helpful to those who aren’t regular MLW or SP visitors.  Welcome to Sabbath Time.

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Photobucket - Video and Image HostingBeen a terrible week of news. 

I sometimes think humanity is imploding. 

It’s so easy to look at the boiling hatreds of the mideast….

or under an urban bridge that’s tonight’s shelter to a homeless family

or any of a hundred other tragedies

and despair.

and yet….
there are bright spots.  Every now and then a sword gets beaten into a plowshare. Once in a while, somebody gets serious about peace – and lets it begin with them.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Mozambique was torn by “civil” war for over 16 years – peace finally came in 1992 – but there are still caches of weapons hidden all across the land – a land where 75% of the population survives on less than £2 per day.

Artist are working to sustain the peace by turning these weapons into sculpture – including the piece that inspired this entry – The Tree of Life.

Out of despair, strife, and conflict we humans ARE capable of creating hope, community, and beauty.

We have strong opinions – and strong disagreements.  Personal history, ties to people on either side of a given dispute, different understandings of history shape our relationship on blogs like dKos, bootrib, MLW, and StreetProphets.

I don’t think we can or should avoid our disagreements.  I’m convinced that our differences are a source of strength and that “getting along” too often means excluding or suppressing differences.

There is a form of “peace” when “everyone’s the same” – but it’s not really peace – especially if you’re on the outside looking in.  The conservative idealization / cliche of the 1950’s America for example – looks very different if your picture includes, say, an African American Woman with polio….  the golden age tarnishes quickly.

I think true peace is only achieved by working through our disagreements – and it begins only when we let it start with ourselves.  Oaks and Maples are both trees – we need not decide which is the correct way of being.

  Peace is how we treat one another.  Peace is hearing the other side (not agreeing, not giving in – but hearing). 

the alternative is disaster for all.

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas.

The trouble with the maples,
(And they’re quite convinced they’re right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
But the oaks can’t help their feelings
If they like the way they’re made.
And they wonder why the maples
Can’t be happy in their shade.

There is trouble in the forest,
And the creatures all have fled,
As the maples scream “Oppression!”
And the oaks just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
“The oaks are just too greedy;
We will make them give us light.”
Now there’s no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.
The Trees, RUSH

Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice and work of restoration.

The effort of building community – not enforced sameness, but community where differences are respected – working together where we agree and disagreeing without being disagreeable when we don’t. 

Peace is drawing lines for ourselves to the benefit of others, of sharing resources, and breaking the cycle of hatred, revenge, and who did what to whom first….

Peace is not easy, but we can take the weapons and create works of art.