Thursday, September 11, 2008

We Are the Same

I seem unable to let this day pass without saying something about it.

Except, today, I don't know that I have much to say. Seven years have gone by. We have been embroiled in armed conflicts in the Middle East for most of that time, though that's no longer, evidently, the thing weighing most heavily on voters' minds as we head into the last 6 weeks before the election.

I listened to women being interviewed on Democracy Now today as I picked up my lunch. BOth New Yorkers. One woman lost a brother in the Twin Towers. The other lost nineteen relatives in Afghanistan. The woman who lost a brother kept saying, "We are the same. We are the same."

I wonder, could we believe that?

I love my daughter, just as an Iraqi woman loves her daughter.

I love my father, just as an Iraqi girl loves her father.

I live in a home in which I hope to be safe, just as a Pakistani woman hopes to be safe in her home.

I hope to go on worshiping God in freedom, just as an Israeli Rabbi hopes to worship God in freedom.

In all the important ways, are we not the same?

5 comments:

Diane M. Roth said...

oh yes, yes. may it be so...

Fran said...

Amen my sister.

Funny you should say rabbi... my cousin was a reform rabbi (he moved to israel last year-no such thing...)

Anyway he is a BIG Zionist and does a lot of work (gulp of shame) with CUFI and others. (John Hagee's group.)

Today he wrote something online about how Jews will pray Psalm 27 each day for the month of Elul prior to the High Holy Days and went off on some rant about how Israel is persecuted.

Then I went to my church blog (think I have sent you the link before) and wrote about how Psalm 27 is for each of us, all of us.

So that we may all pray and pray in peace.

Thank you.

Unknown said...

We are, we are.

Gracebythesea said...

preach it sister-you keep holding all of our feet to the fire. Well done good and faithful servant!

Choralgrrl said...

Amen, sister.