peace vigil

this is an image (courtesy of the austin american statesman) of one of the larger peace vigils in austin last night. moveon.org organized and encouraged these vigils across the country for people to show their solidarity and support for cindy sheehan, who is currently camped out a few miles from president bush's ranch in crawford.

sheehan lost her son in the war and has requested an audience with the president. i understand that she's already spoken to him but was dissatisfield with his answers about the war. the president has thus far ignored her requests, but sheehan has vowed to stay outside his ranch for the duration of his five week vacation.

i chose to attend a peace vigil last night in my neighborhood. there were about fifty people who showed up to the vigil at cherrywood green last night. we came with blankets and candles, sat aroud in a circle. the woman who had organized the event lit her own candle, instructed us to pass the flame and then to spend half an hour in silence.

silence for thirty minutes. i prayed a lot. asked God to give comfort to cindy sheehan as she copes with the loss her son, thanked him that there were so many people who expressed this desire for peace. i prayed for wisdom for the president and his advisors (both political and spiritual). i prayed that he or someone around him could come up with a better strategy for what his government is trying to achieve. i prayed for peace, which really seemed like praying for a miracle.

but i believe in miracles.

after the half hour was over, people shared some of their thoughts and opinions about the war. someone said that another four US troops were killed that day. someone else mentioned that forty iraqis ahd been killed.

then the daughter of the organizer spoke. she's nine and still has a child's voice. as her words gained momentum, she expressed that it was important to stop the killing. that all the people who died could have done something important, but now they wouldn't be able to.

it occurred to me that she understood that many of the people killed in this war were young people who had yet to make their contributions to the world. maybe that young soldier was going to be a scientist and find the cure for cancer. maybe that other one was going to be an astronaut. it seemed an especially poignant sentiment coming from a nine-year old girl who has yet to make her contribution to the world. i think that what troubled her was the idea that the people dying would not be able to achieve their childhood dreams. i imagine the dreams she has for herself.

we sang then some peace songs, continued to swat mosquitoes and avoid the hot wax dripping from our candles. spent time talking to our neighbors as the daylight faded. walked home itching in the view of the bright, nearly full moon.

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