Thursday, February 14, 2008

Thoughts at Night.

The world is increasingly one of conflict. And we, those people longing for peace, seek means by which to find paths to resolution within it. For this, we must create, we must express, we must give into the world along with and while, we take, learn and breathe it in. But this process is often a painstaking one. At times we are overwhelmed by the complexity, by the depth of chasm that exists between the poor and the rich, between the unprivileged and the privileged, the voiceless and the powerful. And we, a very few, that find ourselves in the latter position but loathe the divide that exists, struggle and moan for a way that will unite us.
It is easy for things to remain as they are, transition only occurs with difficulty. And this inability to introduce change, this shortcoming, is the disease from which we suffer. The incompatibility of desire and capability, it is enough to drive us mad. We fight to undo the wrongs, to oppose the man and yet his looming shadow is so daunting, its absence is unimaginable and quite possibly impossible as its disappearance may very well imply its replacement with another such, maybe darker vision. After all we, the seekers of change bring out our own weaknesses, our own downfalls, our own darkness to the world’s table that is overturned. When is it ever standing upright, and when so, is it only in our own mind’s eye? We are tainted by our own experience, we are tainted by our own partialities and all of us simply fall short.

But we must struggle on, each in our own way to find a way to turn upright was is laid waste. Let us question our biases, our neighbor’s, family’s and friend’s givens, always open to our own possible miscalculations and despite these and in light of these expand the conception of our self to include the other who is weaker, more invisible and voiceless.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your thoughts.
I really enjoy reading your blog.

Anonymous said...

so many words...

to achieve peace it would be enough to accept the idea the north of Gaza there are normal people living in a normal state. You might just start calling them by their name. It would be a giant step toward peace.

Anonymous said...

amen anonymous.

Nesrin said...

Phil,
You talk about an insight very few individuals have into their own selves and their own surroundings from relationships to happenings. You talk about one's own shadow, and I would like to talk about light. Shedding light opens doors, eyes, hearts and other places we would have never imagined to be open! Continue writing, even if its in the dark, reconcilliation to self, to the others, to the environment is not impossible, albeit hard.

Nesrin said...

Sounds from depths of unknowing
Keep writing in the dark:
a record of the night, or
words that pulled you from depths of unknowing,
words that flew through your mind, strange birds
crying their urgency with human voices...

Denise Levertov

Anonymous said...

so many words, little courage

Anonymous said...

I appreciate the source of this, but I'd be careful casting the Palestinians as 'weaker, more invisible and voiceless'...

As Nasrallah said the other day - about the fighters' spirit, referring to Hajj Radwan, but intending it for all - many of the them are among the "unknown soldiers on earth, but they are known in heaven. They do not defend themselves but defend the nation, homeland, and just causes. They do not wait for praise because they are unknown. They do not respond to an accusation by an oppressor, liar, or hypocrite because they are invisible. They do not defend themselves because they see no existence for them outside the battle..."

Pardon the clinical BBC translation.

Zhou Enlai, the Chinese PM in 1953, when asked by a journo what he though of the French Revolution, replied: "It is still too early to tell."

In the planet of slums, the Palestinian voice might ultimately be far more powerful than it may appear today.

Anonymous said...

... and in the meantime, while you ponder if Palestinians are voiceless victims or "see no existence for them outside the battle", everybody will be dead.

there are those who speak of peace, and those who act. Who is more brave? Read this, please:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125215

Kate's Typewriter said...

you have a beautiful voice. it is challenging and chiseled by experience that few have had. i have hope the world is less dark than we imagine in the midst of difficulty and pain, and that small actions and unknown individuals are every day crossing the divides you speak of. i know you are one of them.

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