for a glimpse of Dr. King's "beloved community." That is why I drive forty minutes into Detroit to be part of the celebration at my extraordinary church every Sunday. Rich people, poor people, Black people, White people, Asian people, Hispanic people, trying to be Jesus for each other and clapping and praying together. "This is what heaven's gonna be like, " someone told me once during the service. I hope so.
And that is why I will be standing at yet another peace vigil tonight in my town. This one is to call for peace in the Middle East and an immediate cease-fire. I could get depressed at the seeming futility of a few hundred lefties in a liberal college town preaching to the choir. I could wish that the message of the organizers were stronger and included a demand that the U.S. stop arming all the countries in the Middle East (or the world). The chances that this one vigil can change anything seem small, while the possibility that those of us standing out there on a Sunday night are going to look silly and self-righteous seems pretty good. But I'm going. I am going to stand for peace and I am going to go see some peacemakers and I am going to go get a booster shot of hope and if there are some people there with a positive vision for the future, for a different future than the one that our leaders have in mind, then I will help them to hold it and I will take it home with me. I am going because driving five minutes to attend a peace vigil in my safe, priviliged town is the least I can do. Literally, the very least I can do, but probably better than doing nothing. And if someone starts singing some old sixties protest song, i am going to belt it out with them on Main Street and we'll see if we can't summon the beloved community to appear for a moment or two. I ain't gonna study war no more, I ain't gonna study war no more, study war no more.
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