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PIECE OF PEACE

Thursday Oct. 25, 2018

Do you remember Henry Kissinger’s quote – “Peace is at hand”? It resonates for me, partly for the words, partly for remembering his raspy voice uttering that ridiculous statement in the Nixon-era. Some of the world believed him for a while, but soon it was apparent that peace was nowhere in sight. The memory of that time in history is probably strong for many boomers like me, because of the age were and the reality we were compelled to see unfold on the nightly news. And lately history seems to be repeating itself in terms of collective delusion in the highest places, and perhaps in many places.

Surprises come in many packages. When someone gives us a gift, we say thank you – we unwrap it and are surprised by the contents. Even if the contents are sometimes unexpected or bizarre, we most love the concept of giving and receiving and most of the time the ‘social niceties’ of it are both pleasant an easy to manage.

Sometimes gifts come in ‘people form’ and not on any special occasion, they are unexpected and we can be caught both ‘by surprise’ and ‘unaware’. Sometimes this is shocking. More often it is shockingly pleasant. I had one of these recently. Someone I had a conflict with gave me a huge surprise. I got to watch him in action and to be impacted by the surprise. I don’t know if the previous conflict is really resolved, but the hatchet has been buried for now, albeit in a shallow grave. Yes, peace is at hand.

Makes me envy people in NW Alberta, because they are always in Peace Country!


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