Dear
friends,
More Verdugo H.S. Conversations
“I’m a Catholic. We believe we should be
tolerant of all religions.” remarked one girl.
One student upon entering the room
said, “I can’t wait for your talk. A friend told me about it.”
Here are
Mary Ann and Donald Berry, friends who hosted and gave me rides to the school.
Here is their yard which they converted to desert plants to save water because
of the drought. Half the water in Pasadena is used for lawns. The orange
flowers came into bloom while I was there. They grew some of the sweetest
tangerines and oranges I ever ate on their two trees. They live very ecological
and eat mostly organic.
Another girl
posed the question “But why is there so much violence and evil in the world?” I
replied with, “Well something that has been helpful to me recently is to
understand that God gives us free will. We can choose to come back with anger
when someone does something aggravating to us. As you know, in personal conflict hostility
doesn’t lead to peace. Caring and
kindness often results in peace and reconciliation. I think it is the same in
international differences.”
“But what can we do” asks another? I answer
back, “We have to create a peaceful society. When conflicts happen it is good
to think about it before you respond. Pray about it if you pray. Tell your
friends about this talk. Sent emails to your representatives, tell them to stop
using your taxes for 1.2 million dollar a minute for military. You represent
1000’s of people to them. My flyer tells you how to email them.”
Another
probed, “Do you think emailing or praying is worth it. Do our representatives
ever read our emails? Do our prayers just go into the air? What do you think?” I
responded, “I’ve struggled with these same questions. It’s hard to be
hopeful. A story that might be helpful
is that in the 1950’s, peace churches sent little bags of wheat the size of a
lemon to President Eisenhower asking him to send food instead of arms to
Europe. He later said that this really influenced him on what he did.”
“Do you
really think dropping humanitarian aid like food and medicine would ever work
to lead to dialogue with Isis?” questioned several students. I answered back, “I don’t know for sure if it
would work. But I sense it is a good possibility--it might. Seems it would be
worth a try. Has what we have been doing since 2001 worked-- what is it 13
years now? Has if not just gotten worse?” Often the students would just shake
their heads to say you’re right.
I added, “We
have to think outside the box, to break the cycle of acting like kids: if you
hit me then I’ll hit you back. Just like
when Isis bombed Paris, Obama and Holland responded “ok we’re at war; we’re
going to bomb Isis even more.” Immediate military manufacturing stocks shot up.
Everyone wanted to invest in the “Military Industrial Congressional Complex”. Investor,
in many ways, like war, I imagine.
Thanks again
for your prayers and donations.
May this day
for you be filled with shalom,
Jim
.
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