Welcome to the long road

After a short spate of hope after the 2006 election, the peace-justice-environmental front is caught up in frustration. It seems that our 'friends' and our 'less-then-friends' are on the same side, if they're in power. Now seems like a good time to open a conversation about more alternatives to the peace movement as it exists. Peace is the convergence of forces that form an alternative to the war culture the way we live in it. We're struggling though, to grab hold of a vision for an alternative world where peace can be the norm, and violence and domination are the aberration.

Because it feels more and more like peace and environment are just special interests that can be manipulated for political points; and because the stakes keep getting higher as global warming is added to the mountain of critical issues that are not being addressed in our country, I'd like to add my voice to the cathedral choir that sings: "The power structure has no clue how to fix this. We have to do something ourselves."

The thing is that "doing something ourselves" takes more from us then organizing marches and rallys. I'm really curious to know if the people of the peace movement are prepared for what it takes to actually create a culture of peace. Can we ask the right questions, and accept the answers truthfully presented?

This is not a project we can plan to complete with the next election. It's a long and winding journey that Gandhi started with a single step 101 years ago next month. I think he deserves some credit for it, anyway. Many others have continued in his footsteps, including me, and some of you. It's a long road, with steep grades and hairpin curves. We know about those in the Ozark Mountains. But at the end, this road leads toward another world that really is possible, if we keep traveling along together.

A quote my friend uses on his emails is "If we don't change direction, we're going to end up where we're heading." Wish I could remember who said that. It's time to get off the superhighway to catastrophe, and take the scenic route to the culture of peace.