It’s always fun to get together with other bloggers. Yesterday I had coffee with Pam of Pam’s House Blend and her spouse Kate, who were here visiting family. We talked about life, blogging, government officials (good and bad), domestic policy, foreign policy, women’s issues, LGBT issues, sex education — and we squeezed all that into a two-hour conversation.
Pam and Kate
Pam and I
I spend lots of time thinking, talking, and writing about politics. Sometimes, just to maintain my sanity and any sense of optimism, I pretend that politics don’t really affect me, my family, and my friends. Then I get slapped back to reality.
Here’s a little reality. Part of Kate’s family is trapped in Lebanon. A group from her home church, a Maronite Christian congregation with a lovely building in the south side of Birmingham (where I sang for a wedding a few years ago), is also stuck there. A young man who is a member of my own church is there as well. All of them are guilty of nothing more than bad timing — Kate’s family went over for a funeral, her church group for a wedding. There are around 25,000 Americans who live in Lebanon full time, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to leave anytime soon. Most of the friends that we made when a group from my church visited Israel in 2000 are in the Jerusalem area, well to the south of the border, so I think they’re safe for the moment. But citizens on both sides who have done nothing to provoke reprisals have been injured or killed in the fallout, and so far there isn’t an end in sight.
I can only pray that cooler heads will come to the fore and demand an end to the violence. And then insist that all parties get around the table and work out some reasonable solutions. Yes, I know there are elements of this conflict that go back for thousands of years, and they have been exacerbated by interference from outsiders — some of it well-meaning, some of it just plain selfish. But surely we can learn something from history and come up with a way to co-exist in peace.
Meanwhile, keep good thoughts for the people who are caught in the middle of the hostilities and for the world leaders who are going to need every iota of diplomacy, patience, and good sense to prevent escalation. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m not interested in bringing on Armageddon.
My heart goes out to Kate and Pam. Humans are a pugnacious lot, and that always brings sorrow.
We had a great time gabbing with you, Kathy! The situation with relatives abroad is so frightening, so far we know of two who have made it to Jordan (by car via Syria) and now on to Paris to make their way back to the U.S.
This whole matter is senseless, and there’s blame to go around on all sides. In the end its the everyday people who have nothing to do with the posturing and the violence who lose their homes and lives to bombs and rockets. Humans seem to take away precious little from the mistakes of history. Something’s got to give.
[...] Kathy and Pam both blogged on there meeting at a local coffee house. Always good to meet bloggers face to face. [...]
[...] It looks like the evacuation is underway. This story highlights those who are flying out; MSNBC just reported that a cruise ship will be leaving today, with more people going tomorrow. The US is deploying ships to escort the evacuees. I hope Kate’s family and church friends are already out or leaving ASAP. [...]