CPTnet
MARCH 26, 2003
IRAQ REFLECTION: Ask me instead

by Lisa Martens

[Note: Lisa Martens is currently working with Christian Peacemaker Teams
and the Iraq Peace Team in Baghdad.]

Don't ask me ever again if I saw the fireworks tonight and what did it feel
like. No, do not ask me that.

Instead, ask me about the day when we are so struck by the beauty of our
bodies--the way our hands work, the smooth roll of joints, the divots above
our heels, the small of the back, the intricacy of eyes...Ask me about the
day when we are so thrilled by these miracles that we decide never to
participate in the killing of another person's body.

Instead, lets ask each other about the day when affection for our children
overcomes us, bursting every boundary that separates us from every person,
so that we cannot stand to be part of--or pay for, in any direct or indirect
way--the killing of any child.

Let's ask each other about the day when seven-year-old Yusuf, the
shoe-shine kid--the wiry, street-wise, almost-always-grinning, toughest kid
you ever saw--no longer sits on the curb, tears running down his dirty face,
refusing to talk until, finally collecting himself, he walks away shrugging.
Let us talk instead about the day when he will not sit in despair because
his city is being bombed and he has nothing to eat.

Let's ask each other if it's okay to conquer a nation and take its
resources--no matter how noble our intentions might be. Let's ask about the
day when we localize and communalize and work things out so well that we no
longer steal each others' resources.

Let's talk about the day when we are so awed by the metals of the earth, by
their strength and texture and colour and inherent value, that it is a
sacrilege to make those metals into weapons that maim people's bodies and
maim the earth herself.

Let's talk about the day when Christians everywhere agree that they will
not kill each other, and the armies of the world begin to crumble. Let's
talk about the day when martyrs are so deeply honoured--not as untouchable
saints, but as flesh and blood human beings--that all people, in their
example, refuse to kill.

Let's talk about the day when Omar and Sarah can have their baby in gentle
conditions, confident in the world that the baby will meet.

Let's talk about the day when the old prophetess, dressed in black, eyes
sparkling, calls to the Empire, and all the spirits of Empire, and she
enchants them saying, "Do not kill each other. Share the good things." And
the Empire is so charmed that it takes up the chant and bursts into gales
of laughter and tears of enlightenment.