buried treasure
I just found a treasure, in the midst of a task I’ve been dreading (always a good lesson).
Over the course of the past four weeks, as we’ve met with community leaders, presented our work to interfaith coalitions, and individual congregations, we’ve kept a growing stack of signup sheets for our email newsletter. By the end, the stack had that nice heavy feel of a full file folder—substantial, and gratifying, but also…kind of a chore to enter each name and email, hundereds of ‘em.
At least that’s what I thought. So I came in to work early this morning. Sat down with a sweet cup of Byron Corrales Martinez’s organic Maracaturra (Byron is and has been a mentor for me, he’s a leader in the cooperative movement in Nicaragua, and a dear friend. No, contrary to popular belief, I don’t only drink Mirembe Kawomera coffee.) I put Midnite on my headphones (great politically charged reggae from St. Croix) and started typing one-by-one-by-one, trying to enjoy the time, but mostly looking forward to being done with it.
And then…I started to pay attention to the names, to enjoy their sounds and to imagine their stories. Luo, McDowell, Shapiro, Qarni, Najmi…that was Boston, I think. Panitz, Curtis, Abu Jamal, Allen, Ali, Van Besien, Weisbaum…that was Chicago, the sign-up sheet from our event at Columbia College. Then Lupien, Khan, Gardner, Hasaan, Mulazim, and Gardner, from Baltimore . These people were standing next to each other, probably talking, maybe shaking hands, perhaps trading phone numbers and email addresses. Read their names out loud, for yourself. Imagine the world they are living in. People of all different backgrounds, faiths, and histories, together in a moment, a rich tapestry of human experience, weaving their disparate threads together around this project…
So now, with the chore transformed into a kind of treasure hunt, I sit and ponder the beauty of this work to build peace by working together; the work of creating a pluralistic society where are differences are cause for celebration and a source of inspiration, rather than a cause for division and conflict.
Still yours, in Peace,
Ben