Offering reconciliation

As many of you know – and also feel – the wars around the world cause me such pain. It is the loss of life, the futility of losing loved ones. After losing someone close to you, you value life..you don’t want anyone to suffer the pain of bereavement. The stories of the war tend to be sad, depressing and painful..but I came across one that I thought was uplifting and wanted to share it with you, over at B.L Ochman’s weblog

 ”This bowl is part of an exhibit, titled “Offering Reconciliation,” which displays the work of Israeli and Palestinian artists, who were given 135 identical ceramic bowls to paint, decorate, inscribe, or embellish.

The exhibit is organized by Bereaved Families Forum for Peace, Reconciliation and Tolerance, a group of about 500 Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost loved ones in the Middle East conflict. Now they work together to educate Palestinians and Israelis, as well as people around the world, about how both sides can live together without hatred.

Robi Damelin, an Israeli woman, and Ali Abu-Awwad, a Palestinian man, who lost a son and a brother, respectively,spoke at Pomegranate Gallery ..”There is a lot of pain on both sides right now,” says Damelin. “You meet these hardened people — kids, even — who have no reason to believe in reconciliation. How do you fight [against] that?”

“The point is not to hug and kiss and forget our pasts. The point is to realize, ‘OK, we disagree. But you’re human and I’m human and the pain we’re causing each other is not the answer, “Abu-Awwad said.”

I just love these words…I love the idea of forgetting our past …I love the idea that we are all human and that we should be seeking a way of living together not causing ourselves pain.

Maybe one day…