Viewpoint: Pray for Peace
12-01-2008Pray for peace
Viewpoint: Editor’s Corner
By JANE DENNIS
An angel lives in my kitchen. She is really a Christmas angel, but she hangs around all year long.
My angel is a framed print that has been part of my Christmas decorations for some time. She has a flowing white robe, a glowing halo and is holding three white peace lilies. The banner above her head proclaims “Peace on Earth.”
She came to reside in my kitchen four or five years ago when I was decorating for Christmas. About mid-January, I announced to my family that my Peace Angel was not coming down until we knew for certain that peace was achieved and our nation was no longer at war. I was staging my own mini protest amid the kitchen pots, pans, utensils and the daily stack of mail.
I just want peace.
I know peace is what our soldiers are fighting far. But it breaks my heart that men and women — some barely beyond being called boys and girls — are dying and being wounded every day, as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan rage on.
I just want peace.
I don’t know how long my Peace Angel will live in my kitchen. She has already been ensconced there longer than I thought she would. It will be a glorious day when she can come down and be packed away.
Pray for peace.
Do what you can to work for peace. Do what you can to reach out to soldiers who are risking their lives for us and for our nation.
My small contribution currently is heading up a drive to collect hot chocolate and apple cider drink mixes for more than 500 infantry soldiers assigned to remote bases on the Pakistan border. Not only are they in one of the most dangerous places in the world, they are facing a bitter cold winter with few niceties. My cousin works in a support role to answer the unmet needs of our soldiers. I gladly accepted her challenge to help.
With my peace angel looking over my shoulder, I’m glad to do my part.
Still, I pray for peace.
