Dona Nobis Pacem

It's blog blast for peace day, a day created by Mimi at Mimi Writes - when twice each year bloggers all across the internet and all across the world create a cyber prayer for peace.

I think the American public made a prayer for peace on Tuesday when we elected Barack Obama and I'm happy that this time as I blog for peace I feel like our prayers are flowing with the tide rather than against it.... I don't quite like that analogy. Maybe this is better. I have felt for so long like here in my country we were caught in a vortex of darkness, led by a pathetic man who was/is venal and greedy and probably something of a puppet to darker forces of this world. Today as I write this I feel like a great cloud is lifting. I love and admire Mr. Obama. I know he wants to prosecute the war in Afghanistan and that troubles me though perhaps it is a wise goal. War never seems like a good idea to me no matter the cause, but maybe controlled violence in the interest of stopping uncontrolled violence is a necessary evil. I don't know. I know we have a better chance of peace with a man who sees other human beings wherever he looks, who isn't so eager to demonize those he disagrees with that there is no hope for a meeting of the minds. I know we have a better chance of peace when we relate human to human instead of ideology to ideology. It's easier to hate a faceless "them," than a him or her whose eyes you look into, whose pain you see.

I was deeply distressed by the ugliness of the campaign that Mr. McCain and Mrs. Palin waged. Glad too, in a way, because I think it may have cost them the election. That makes me happy not just because my guy won, but because it says that some part of our consciousness has awakened to the truth that hate erodes us. My country has been like a blind amnesiac in a mine field for the last 8 years, unsure of who we were and afraid to move in any direction. We allowed ourselves to be guided by voices of deceit that led us not out of, but deeper into danger. Like a character in one of the soap operas I'm sorry to admit I watch, who as rewritten the history of the beautiful amnesiac in his care to suit his own purposes, Bush, Cheney and their commitee of thugs, took advantage of our shock and confusion after 9/11. And we let them. We went against our hearts. We went against our spirit. Like a sleep-walking giant we trampled on a lot of lives in our own nation and abroad.

Now we are waking up. Already, our eyes are seeing light again and our spirits are rising. I know this is melodramatic of me, but I feel like Mother Earth herself has breathed a sigh of relief. And I think maybe there are Angels dancing somewhere. Peace feels possible. All kinds of peace. It seems possible that the poor may have some hope again. It seems possible that those struggling with illness may now have access to treatment without choosing between food and care, or a home and medication. It seems possible that affordable energy that will not take from the earth and will provide employment for many who need work may be with in our grasp. It seems possible that in the greater world people may be willing to sit down and negotiate instead of killing each other. It seems possible that we will begin listening to our better natures and that in so doing we will lead by example and inspire others to do the same.

I have long found it devastating that those in positions of power have used the acts of small numbers of troubled people as an excuse to ravage the lives of others, as an excuse to turn away from peace treaties, as an excuse to justify hate and the thing-if-ication of their fellow humans. I believe that thoughts have power and that we draw to ourselves that which we put our attention to. I try to focus on the positive, on beauty and the light. Being as fallable as I am, it hasn't always been easy when the so-called heart of power in my nation seemed bent on greed and war. Still, something in us - and in the world at large - must have shifted. We have drawn a man of peace into a position of power on the international stage. Our better angels have sung and I have to believe that their voices are only going to get louder in the coming days. I hope so. My new president elect gives me hope. Things like the blog blast for peace give me hope.

I couldn't find a vocal version of this song that pleased me so I went with this one. not quite angels, but...

Please check out the hundreds of other blogs posting for peace.

Dona Nobis Pacem

Here's a sing-along Dona Nobis Pacem for anyone who likes to sing.

One last thing: My gratitude for day #6: Well, I"m grateful for the blog blast for peace and for all the voices in this world that speak for, sing for, write for, pray for and live their lives in a spirit of peace.

P.S. A number of people have commented about the angel on my globe so I thought I'd add her story. She was a gift from a friend of mine on the 20th anniversary of my older sister's murder. Her wings read: "Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy." I wanted to include her as sort of a secret tribute to my sister.