Candlelight Vigil No. 236, 9/15/10

"Will you accept my donation," asked a 40 ish woman in a new bright red heavy duty truck as she leaned across the seat to hand John Fortier and me money.

"No, but thank you," we replied. "Not even to pay for candles," she stated, determined to contribute money to help us.

"We don't accept donations," I answered. "But if you'd like to help, New Directions in West Los Angeles is an excellent organization that helps troubled soldiers." http://www.newdirectionsinc.org/

"God bless both of you," she answered as she looked at us and at the vigil.

Shortly afterward, a horn from a little gray car blasted "shave and a haircut, two bits" at us. "I always honk when I see you," said the driver, a 30 ish woman with a big smile. "Thank you for doing that," she added and then blasted her horn again in support.

While thousands of miles away in Iraq, a joint U.S.-Iraqi attack of a Fallujah area housing compound killed seven Iraqis, some of them children, and wounded others. The U.S. said they were insurgents while the local Iraqi people instead condemned the attack and those who committed it, as they prepared to bury the dead.

In Afghanistan, the U.S. soldier death count reached 1,178 yesterday according to The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/16/AR2010091605683.html I don't know why the lives of so many Afghans and soldiers are being sacrificed.

But thousands of miles away, our vigil received widespread support. It was joined by a 52 year old Englishman who sometimes joins and by a 42 year old man and his 18 year old daughter by a prior marriage and by his 4 year old tiny girl and her even tinier 3 year old brother by his current marriage.

The Englishman condemned Iran and he was particularly bitter because for 13 months they had imprisoned a 32 year old American woman hiker who had strayed into Iran. They released her only after her family posted a $500,000 bail, money he believed the family would never see again. Iran continues to hold her two friends, also arrested when she was.

It was as he was speaking, the 42 year old man with his family joined us. While the Englishman felt the U.S. or Israel should attack Iran because "you can't reason with fanatics" and "they will have the bomb" at some future time, the 42 year old man spoke of his wife who is Iranian.

When she was just 5 years old in 1979, as the Shah was overthrown, her father a successful businessman sent her to live here. He is now 70 years old and a political prisoner but "in her, he gave me a blessing," and this 42 year old man spoke of how thankful he is.

I replied to the Englishman, the U.S. has several thousand nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, and Iran poses no threat to America. That the U.S. would be wise to open a dialogue with them, for there is no downside, and everything to be gained. If nothing else, we can start with our common needs as people.

To the 42 year old man, I know his wife, a lovely woman, and I looked at their two little adorable children and told him that she and his family are blessings. Just then the 4 year old girl smiled at me and took a piece of her costume jewelry and put it in my hand as her gift.

Later, as the vigil was coming to an end, a 35 ish jogger clasped his hands together below his chin in a Buddhist acknowledgement of the vigil and added, "Thank you for being out here."

And as the vigil ended, a 45 ish man pulled up and gave us an ovation, then with a smile nodded his head in approval and waved at us. In the car behind him an 18 ish girl, the age of many of the soldiers, with a soft smile waved her support as well. It was a lovely way to conclude the vigil.

Dick