May 13th Meeting

Our Spiritual Peacemakers group is just 6 of us tonight. We give thanks for our food and then M leaves to pick up his son from class - they will be back soon. K arrives last, he was sorting out a problem with a sick dog. We have all been fooled by the weather - it is supposed to be 80 degrees in 2 days time, but it is cold, rainy, and only 50 degrees. F has brought a cold chicken salad, U has made a dish of beans with avocado, olives and corn chips. There is also quinoa with vegetables, a lamb rice biryani, hot tea, and we follow it all with deliciously sweet strawberries.

We sit around the table talking. M has come back, and he reminds us that when we asked Shahabuddin at our last seminar what we could do to help the AR, he thought for a few moment and then said "blog". J doesn't like the idea too much. T, who is more computer savvy, asks what she is afraid of. J has learnt in her life to keep a low profile, to blend in, because standing out is asking for trouble. Her parents taught her that. T points out that Shahabuddin did not tell us to raise funds or give lectures, in fact his only suggestion was this one. "And what exactly would we write about? Our conversations wander around different topics, and it would be hard to pin them down", J asks. F says that before she came this evening, she was listening by phone to Shahabuddin's evening class in Sarasota. One of the class asks a question about what we can do to help the whole process of peace and saying how helpless she feels, and Shahabauddin says that not getting drawn down into the troubles of the world, but doing practices, offering love and light, will really help the world. "You don't have to listen to endless reports of misery", he says. At the end of his talk he tells about the Sheikh and his wife who are part of the AR in the Holy Land, and she was chosen to light a candle for the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel. It was very controversial in the community, both to Jews and Arabs, but she did it - and it was televised on national TV. After a few days, his car was blown up by a bomb and their house had Molotov cocktails thrown at it. No-one is hurt, but it is frightening. Shahabuddin phoned them to extend love and energy from the community in Sarasota, and he replied, "This has only made my wife's and my resolve even stronger."

So here we are, coming together once a month, sharing food and saying prayers together, getting to know and trust each other a little better with each meeting. We finish by doing practices - Salaam, Shalom, Hu Hu.

We hug each other, put on our coats, T asks shall we get together for Pia Zia's videocast?, and there is a chatter of last minute ideas and reminders. We open the door to the rain. "Next meeting June 10th," calls out J. Until then, know you are held in our hearts, with love and prayers for peace.