On Christmas Eve

On this day before Christmas I send greetings – tidings of great comfort and great joy!

by Charlie Leck

“Through the tender mercy of our God, when the day shall dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” [Luke 1:78-79]

The Christian message has always be one of hope and peace – hope and peace! The message of Christmas has to do with the dawning of a new day, when a new counselor comes to guide us more clearly and steadfastly toward that peace. “Oh, oh, tidings of comfort and of joy – comfort and joy – oh, tidings of comfort and of joy!”

Seek peace, all ye who believe! And urge the nations to seek peace throughout the world!

A joyous Christmas to you all!

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Forever Hip!

I slashed around in bed last night and had a terrible time sleeping!
by Charlie Leck

It wasn’t that 18 inch putt Tiger Woods missed on the number 11 green yesterday in the Masters that was keeping me awake, but it was ugly enough that it might have done so several years ago. I remember when Woods could knock down putts just with his sheer force of will. That was, of course, before that Thanksgiving weekend a year and a half ago. Woods doesn’t have that will power and dominating control over a golf ball anymore. People speculate about what might be wrong with Tiger’s swing. Believe me, it isn’t his swing. It’s his mind. Unless he figures out a way to get his head clear again and his mind in control on the golf course, we’ll never again see the old Tiger. And, that saddens me.

But, no, it was the hip that kept me awake last night. The pain throbbed and pounded away in there as I struggled to find a position in bed that would give it and me some comfort. Only four more nights like this and then the surgery.

I tried doing the relaxation thing they had tried to show us at the hospital in pre-surgery instruction class. The Penny George Institute for Heath and Healing (one of those holistic health and medicine organizations) had sent someone into the classroom to lead us in a relaxation exercise. Amazingly it had worked for me as I sat there in a chair, behind a table.

“Relax your head and your eyes and the skin of your face and the muscles in your neck!” The instructor led us, with these commands, down our entire body – right through relaxing our little tootsies. And, it had worked and the pain had just seeped out of me.”

It didn’t work last night. Perhaps it’s because I kept challenging myself.

“Ga-dammit, relax!”

At one point in the middle of the night, as thunder clashed and lightening streaked across the sky, I rose up on an elbow and looked up into the dark space at the top of the room and cried out in frustration.

“All right, all ready! How ‘bout giving me a little peace!”

“Huh?” My wife stirred but didn’t really awaken.

I let my head crash back down into the pillow and something strange happened. Something washed over my body and the pain receded and disappeared.

I was a bit shaken and I thought a bit about what had happened.

I had uttered a plea to heaven. Had it been answered?

“I’m not that easy,” I said into the darkness. “You’re not winning me over with a little thing like that.”

Again my wife stirred.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing! I’m just having a private conversation over here. Go back to sleep.”

“You’re crazy,” she uttered, even as she drifted off to sleep again.

I waited patiently and thought. The pain had not returned. My hip was quiet and at peace. This time I whispered into the darkness.

“I wouldn’t give a dime for a god who would do a cheap trick like that!”

I waited. There wasn’t any answer.

“Why aren’t you downtown on a night like this? I’m here in a comfortable bed, next to someone who loves me," I said. "Why aren’t you tending to those homeless people who live beneath the freeway bridge? Imagine how they must feel on a night like this, when you’re spouting all that booming and crashing and sparks are flying. That’s where you should be!”

Again, there was no reply. There was also no pain. I felt my face breaking out into a sweat.

“It worked,” I whispered.

“What worked?” My wife mumbled the question at me, rather than to me.

“Oh, that relaxation bit they showed us the other day at the hospital. I tried it and it worked.”

“Good,” she said, “now sleep.”

I couldn’t sleep. It was too odd – feeling no pain was strange. I tried to close my eyes, but they were drawn to the little window near my face. I could see the lightening slashing across the sky. Thunder continued to rumble.

I thought about those people who slept out on the streets. What were they cramming their bodies into on a night like this? Where could they find shelter?

I whispered again into the darkness.

“If human beings are so danged smart, why can’t they figure out a way to rid the word of homelessness? How tough can it be to make sure everyone has a comfortable place to sleep at night and a good, healthy breakfast in the morning? How tough?”

No answer again – only the slashing lightening and rumbling thunder!

“And Jesus answered, saying: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance there came down a certain priest that way; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”

I drifted off into a painless sleep.

_________________________

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Nonviolent Peaceforce

Mel Duncan, Minneapolis, is the founder of Nonviolent Peaceforce

Give Peace a Chance
by Charlie Leck

Tuesday evening we were the guests of friends who are significant supporters of the Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP). I’m embarrassed to admit that I had not even heard of NP before that evening. I came away from the organization’s little fund-raiser quite impressed. In addition to making a small contribution, I determined that I would try to spread the word about them.

[Be sure to visit the web site of Nonviolent Peaceforce!]

I find it difficult to believe how quickly America has been drawn into several wars in my lifetime that could likely have been solved much more easily, inexpensively and civilly through peaceful measures – it’s true of Korea, Vietnam, Granada and, now, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Paranoia is one of the great problems of the American psyche. We were irrationally threatened by communism and those fears catapulted us into both Korea and Vietnam. This is certainly true in the case of Vietnam, where our adoption of the “domino theory” at that time was totally unfounded.

Our nation continues to reveal its paranoia when it comes to terrorism and that plays right into the hands of the terrorist, who seeks to strike fear into our hearts, and therefore succeeds in his mission.

The idea, which eventually gave birth to NP, was born among a group of participants at the 1999 Hague Appeal for Peace and then became a reality when it was first convened in 2002 in Surajkund, India.

“Nonviolent Peaceforce is a non-profit organisation dedicated to creating an international peaceforce of civilians trained in nonviolent strategies.

Nonviolent Peaceforce responds to requests for help anywhere in the world, using proven methods of nonviolence to protect human rights, deter violence and help create space for local peacemakers to carry out their work. The need is great: it has been estimated that as few as 1,000 people trained in nonviolence could have prevented the violence and genocide that devastated Yugoslavia in 1998. [This emphasis is not in the original.]

Nonviolent Peaceforce represents the hope of many people for an alternative to massive military intervention. It is a key component in the development of a strategic, cohesive, nonviolent response to brutality and threats of genocidal violence.”

I put part of the above quotation in bold type because it strikes me as extraordinary. I intend to soon ask what sort of strategy could have been used in my ancestor’s homeland to accomplish this. In essence, the answer to that question would explain more to us about NP and what it is than any of their statements that I include here.

On first glimpse, I am impressed – impressed enough to put my name on the dotted-line and list myself as a member.

Though the work of NP is to foster nonviolence, danger constantly lurks for their workers. One of the organization’s trained peace-makers, Umar Jaleel, was recently abducted in the Philippines and work goes on to secure his release. A press release about that abduction tells us a great deal about the philosophy and heart of NP.

While we cannot begin to address all of the misinformation contained in media reports, we wish to clarify four important points:

1. Mr. Umar Jaleel is a International civilian peacekeeper working in the Mindanao region of the Philippines, not a “Muslim religious preacher.”

2. Nonviolent Peaceforce does not pay ransom.

3. Nonviolent Peaceforce relies on nonviolent activities. We do not use armed body guards.

4. The motive for his abduction is not known, nor is the affiliation, if any, or identity of his captors.

Mr. Umar Jaleel is an experienced peaceworker who has been involved in resolving community disputes among communities in Sri Lanka prior to being deployed to the
Philippines.

He is a learned man speaking 6 languages who was hired by Nonviolent Peaceforce in 2004 to support our work with vulnerable families affected by armed conflict in the Trincomalee district of Sri Lanka. Jaleel was working specifically with Peace Committees, religious leaders, local government officials and merchants to build capacities for resolving local conflicts and mitigating or preventing violence against civilians. He is a well-respected member of our team and the peace worker community.

As one of Nonviolent Peaceforce’s most experienced national staff in Sri Lanka, Jaleel was asked, in 2008, to become one of NP’s international fieldworkers for our Mindanao project in the Philippines. He is the third Sri Lankan to be deployed by Nonviolent Peaceforce to the Philippines, where he is working to improve Muslim-Christian relations and support local peace organizations and structures of peace to
consolidate the peace processes. His efforts assist to maintain a fragile ceasefire between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and various armed groups on the island of Basilan.

Nonviolent Peaceforce maintains excellent relations with the government of the Philippines, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the national police, local community and religious leaders, local and national NGOs in the Philippines and the various armed groups. Many of these armed groups are in negotiation with the government and are accepted by the government, as legitimate parties to the conflict. As a Sri Lankan peaceworker and a Muslim, Jaleel is widely admired and respected in the area of Basilan, where he is working. Though shocked at the news, Nonviolent Peaceforce is confident that he will be released unharmed, through the strong relationships with local communities and religious leaders who are extremely supportive of Nonviolent Peaceforce’s work there. Since this terrible incident, our friends are working tirelessly to secure Jaleel’s release.

An Incident Management Team headed by Nonviolent Peaceforce Mindanao country director Atif Hameed is coordinating the return effort in Mindanao. A Crisis Management Team headed by NP executive director Mel Duncan is coordinating the effort for wider NP.

In the coming weeks I’ll tell you more about NP and how they work. In the meantime, you might enjoy looking into the organization.

“Give peace a chance!”
Those extraordinary words were drummed into my heart and soul when I was a young man. The nation’s of the world need them drummed into their own hearts and souls.