What a gorgeous night for a vigil, a vigil which got a wonderful reception.
In the balmy 81 degree nighttime temperature, a group of people stopped to join John Fortier and me. A family comprised of a 40 ish father and mother, who have occasionally joined did so with their 4 year old daughter and 3 year old son. They also had his 18 year old daughter.
The children were as cute as tiny buttons as they giggled and played. The little girl was fascinated by the candle, which with care, I let her hold. This family was joined by a 40 ish neighbor who was carrying her 31/2 month old Shitzu, a brown and white dog so perky and small, it lay in the palm of her left hand and licked the fingers of those who approached it.
This group of people and tiny canine created a joyful energy and attracted a lot of positive attention to the vigil.
Soon after they left, a 64 year old Haitian man who often joins the vigil when he is in Los Angeles did so. He has long been one of the vigil's strongest supporters, but he has a tumor growing behind his left eye, painfully pressing on his brain. He has had corrective surgery before and may need it again. When he is healthy, he will return to Haiti to help the homeless and hungry people as he was doing.
Meanwhile, in Baghdad on Sunday, about 150 Catholic worshippers were held hostage in their church as U.S. and Iraqi forces tried to rescue them. In response some of their captors triggered their bomb laden vests, as other captors opened fire. When it was over 58 people were killed and 78 were severely injured.
That was a prelude to Tuesday night, when for an hour starting at 6 pm, 14 carefully coordinated car bombs and additional bombs rocked Baghdad, killing at least 113 people and wounding 280 more. Yesterday, the day of our vigil, Baghdad was in mourning, holding numerous funerals as families struggle to absorb the loss of their loved ones.
But thousands of miles away on our street corner, drivers honked and waved their support, and some held up two finger peace signs and there was a shout out or two to us. Many more stared at the vigil in silence, as people contemplated the wars and the pain others must bear.
I don't know why these wars are being fought nor what can possibly be gained from them. But I know the price in blood and in dollars and know the wars will end, either because Americans demand it or because they bankrupt the nation. Either way, there will eventually be peace. It is only a matter of how soon and how many more precious lives will be lost.
Dick
2 comments:
I agree that the wars will end, there will be monuments to the dead, fortunes made in oil and military contracts and a country bankrupted for its folly and corruption.
Thank you for sharing the news from Baghdad as I had only heard about meaningless election results! And I do mean meaningless as nothing will change...
Hey, I think I detect a note of "sour grapes" from my Beachfront pal? Ah, light up and move on, K. (miss ya, fella)
Dick, have you read/heard about the thousands of people, innocents included, being killed in Mexico, a mere 150 miles from us here in Calif? I am fearful that those drug cartels will bring that violence into our country. Somehow, that nearby violence is more tangible to me than what is happening in the middle east. Maybe, that is why nothing, politically, is getting done to end the war. Hopefully, God willing, the new congress will see fit to end the war sooner rather than later? It is too bad, but most people worry about dough/jobs/Obamacare rather than the pointless and costly war that we promulgate.
Ben
Post a Comment