During the Until We Meet Again Tour‘s visit to the United Nations with Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Elisabeth Lee, I had the opportunity to see my favorite exhibit.
An escopeterra, invented by Colombian peace activist César López, stands a sign of hope and peace.
They shall beat their AK-47s into guitars.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Friends, Music, New York, Photo, Uncategorized
Each year, there are three songs I make a point of hearing several times during the Advent and Christmas season. While they may not appear on the list of classical Christmas carols or music, they speak of the hope and possibility and peace of the season.
Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon
The Rebel Jesus by Jackson Browne
Like the First Time It’s Christmas Time by Tommy Sands
What makes your list?
See you along the Trail.
An invitation from our partners in Korea to participate in a peace walk
2015 DMZ Walkathon for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula
Christian Young Adults,
Harvesting Peace from the Site of Division
Dates: July 20(Mon.) – 25(Sat.), 2015
This coming July, my partner, the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) is inviting Korean young adults residing around the world to participate in a Peace March week long program on Korea’s division, war, and hope for reconciliation. They are especially interested in Korean Americans participating, and they have asked me to send a special invite to Korean Americans in the PC(USA). They hope this will be a significant time, the 70th anniversary of Korea’s division, for Korean residents in other countries to encourage their communities to join the movement for reconciliation on the Korean peninsula. It is VERY SHORT notice, I am afraid, so if you have this week free in July, please jump on this. Details below!
2015 DMZ Walkathon for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula
Christian Young Adults,
Harvesting Peace from the Site of Division
Dates: July 20(Mon.) – 25(Sat.), 2015
*The actual program…
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Filed under Current Events, Friends, Uncategorized
The world looks much the same;
horror, hatred, evil still remain.
Yet somehow, somehow all has changed.
Christ is risen!
May we experience and live
the Easter message
today and all days.
5 April 2015
Louisville, Kentucky
God of life and God of hope,
we give you thanks and praise this night
as we gather to remember the birth of Jesus
who came as a witness to grace,
who proclaimed peace
did justice
lived love
and walked humbly with you.
In his name, we pray for peace and healing
wherever your world is broken,
wherever violence and injustice reign
wherever your children are in pain.
We ask that we might follow Jesus faithfully
and so become answers to our prayers
for peace on earth,
goodwill for all people,
and wholeness and wellbeing for all creation.
Amen.
Originally written 2009
Filed under Advent
One hundred years ago
In a war ravaged corner of the world
For a few moments
Short moments
Precious moments
Defiant moments
Sacred moments
Shooting stopped
As guns stood silent,
Warring men
Forced death to take
A brief hiatus as they
Dare to leave the trenches
And enter
No man’s land
Filled with mud and corpses
Wire and blood
And enter
No man’s land
Of peace and
Shared humanity
One hundred years later
We gather to remember,
Sing songs, eat cookies
And though we know the
Undeclared truce failed to hold,
We dare proclaim
Peace is possible
Possible in our cities
Possible in Syria
Possible in South Sudan
Possible in the DRC
Peace is possible
Though violence rages
Though hate shrivels human hearts
Though fear squeezes human souls
We dare proclaim
Peace is possible
And we recommit ourselves
To praying,
Working,
Living
To make real that possibility.
24 December 2014
Bells for Peace
Commemorating the Christmas Truce of World War I
Church of the Covenant
Cleveland, Ohio
Filed under Cleveland Heights, Current Events
On this night, as we gather,
bellies spasm with hunger
winter seeps into the bones of people with no homes
thoughts turn to Syria, South Sudan and places between and beyond
people plot violence
children watch parents die of AIDS, wondering when their turn will come
relationships fray and come apart
children and women and men endure abuse
economic uncertainty undoes nations and households
walls divide people from their homes
handguns bark and blood flows
racism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism, and more
privilege some and crush life from others
drugs surge through veins to allow escape from reality’s pain
death comes calling — sometimes welcome, sometimes not
sorrow and suffering spread around the world
trouble and turmoil touch us all
evil stalks the earth
Yet
in the midst of all that
in the face of all that
in spire of all that
because of all that
on this night,
we gather
to sing and pray;
read ancient words and light candles
as we celebrate again
the birth of a child —
— nothing more and nothing less
than the every day miracle —
except that this child — this Jesus —
tells us
teaches us
shows us
life does not have to be the way it is
but that it can be filled
with
hope and
faith and
grace and
sharing and
commitment and
community and
justice and
righteousness and
well-being and
wholeness and
peace . . .
. . . on earth . . .
. . . for all!
May it be so.
(originally written for Christmas Eve 2003; adapted annually since)
Filed under Advent, Antiracism, Current Events, Human Rights
Many years friends ask about favorite Christmas songs.
I name two every year.
Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon
The Rebel Jesus by Jackson Browne
This year I add, Like the First Time It’s Christmas Time by Northern Ireland’s Tommy Sands.
It is another song that speaks of the hope and possibility and peace of the season.
See you along the Trail.
Today is the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
The UN Calendar of Observances app says this about the day:
More than eight million Palestinian people live in territory occupied by Israel, in Israel, in neighbouring Arab States, and in regional refugee camps. International Day of Solidarity provides an opportunity to remind the international community that the question of Palestine remains unresolved and that the Palestinian people have not yet attained their inalienable rights as defined by the UN General Assembly, including the right to self-determination and national independence.
On the official page for the day, the UN provides this description:
In 1977, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (resolution 32/40 B ). On that day, in 1947, the Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine(resolution 181 (II))
In resolution 60/37 of 1 December 2005, the Assembly requested the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division for Palestinian Rights, as part of the observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November, to continue to organize an annual exhibit on Palestinian rights or a cultural event in cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the UN.
The observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People also encouraged Member States to continue to give the widest support and publicity to the observance of the Day of Solidarity.
In 2014, the Day, which is normally observed on 29 November, will be commemorated at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday, 24 November.
I had the privilege to speak on behalf of the Israel-Palestine NGO Working Group at the UN for the observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. We called for the UN and international community to increase their engagement and efforts to support Palestinians and Israelis in the search for just, sustainable peace.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also spoke. He concluded:
On this International Day of Solidarity, I call on the parties to step back from the brink. The mindless cycle of destruction must end. The virtuous circle of peace must begin.
May the circle begin!
See you along the Trail.
There are people whose words carry deep weight and profound meaning. They matter.
Johnalee Barnes Nelson was such a person. A woman of deep faith and profound courage, she personally witnessed for justice and peace. She supported her husband and their community in their shared witness. And together with her husband, and on her own, she raised her son to be an advocate, a witness.
I am humbled and proud to call her son, J. Herbert Nelson II my colleague, my friend, my brother. I know he is who he is, he lives as he lives, he serves as he serves, in large part because of his mother.
Each of us is shaped by, among other factors, the people in our lives. When we meet someone, we meet, to some extent, the people who have shaped them. Family. Friends. Neighbors. Teachers. Co-workers. And more. In J. Herbert, I met Johnalee Barnes Nelson.
But I also had the privilege of meeting Johnalee herself on several occasions. The most recent occurred at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Compassion, Peace, and Justice Training Day on March 21 of this year.
With my friends and colleagues and sisters Christine Hong and Esther Lee, I led a workshop on how different faith communities can work together to prevent violence. Johnalee attended. Because I was helping with the closing worship, I had to leave early.
As the worship ended, Johnalee made her way across the sanctuary of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. She sought me out. And when she found me, she thanked me for the workshop and said it had been the best one she attended that day. Because of who Johnalee was, I have treasured her words. I can think of no better feedback I have ever received.
Johnalee faced health challenges. She moved to live with J. Herbert because of those challenges. At the end of September, she was hospitalized.
Today, along with my colleagues in the Compassion, Peace, and Justice Ministry, I received an email with a brief message:
I am emailing to inform you that on yesterday my mother, Johnalee Barnes Nelson transitioned to be with The Lord. The members of my family are grateful for the love and support that you offered during her lifetime.
We are planning a memorial celebration of her life in Jesus Christ. Your prayers are solicited.
In the faith we share,
J. Herbert
I grieve with J. Herbert and his family and all who loved Johnalee Barnes Nelson. I pray they may find comfort and strength in this tender time.
I give thanks for the faith and witness and love and witness of Johnalee Barnes Nelson. Faith that gives us hope through Jesus Christ. Witness in Christ’s name that has inspired others, including me. Love that never ends.
Thanks be to God.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Family, Friends, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Along the Graybeard Trail 