Letter to the Editor: Love and Peace in Our Country

Dear Friends,

On Martin Luther King Day (Jan. 17), as on Christmas, we have a day to meditate on love and peace.

My great-grandparents came to the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, escaping the pogroms of Eastern Europe and, in one case, bombs dropping on their neighborhood. So as fortunate as I feel to be a U.S. citizen, I also feel a sense of responsibility for what my country does.

For almost a decade, our country has been mired in two wars, killing many thousands of innocent people. We entered at least one of them based on lies. Who has profited?

Why do we allow ourselves to be manipulated into wars that shift many billions of our tax dollars to large corporations?

Most of us are shielded from the devastating effects of war. But we lose hope, lose energy, and withdraw into ourselves, letting violence have the last word. It happened the day our military invaded Iraq. People stopped going to peace rallies. It happens when people who give us hope are snuffed out by a bullet – John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Dr. King.

When they’re shot down, it instills fear in us. But you can’t kill love, and on the deepest level of our existence, I believe, love is what we need to envision the world we want to see and help bring it into being with our minds, hearts, and lives.

We forget that “We, the People” are in charge, if we take that responsibility, which comes with freedom.

I recommend reading Dr. King’s 1967 speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” It’s chillingly current.

On Martin Luther King Day, as on Christmas, or any day, we can ask ourselves, “Do I choose love or war today?”

All are invited to a free Martin Luther King Day celebration on Sunday, Jan. 16, 7 pm at the Orcas Senior Center. We’ll share poems, songs, stories, thoughts, and refreshments.

Wishing everyone a New Year that brings peace, environmental balance, good health, healing, and prosperity to all those in need.

Sharon Abreu
Eastsound