Dear friends,
I recently received an email from the author and writing teacher who launched me on this writing path, Natalie Goldberg.
On Wednesday, February 7th, I went to Upaya Zen Center [Natalie lives in Santa Fe] and listened to Kaz Tanahashi’s dharma talk. He talked about war. He lived through WWII in Japan. He is very afraid that by November we will go to war with Korea. 37% of democrats and over 80% of republicans are for it.
After the talk, I came home, took an old pink pillowcase, and painted “no war.” The next day, a friend came and helped me wire it up to my stone wall, facing the street, on Cerro Gordo. No war. We just cannot do this with Korea. No atom bombs. Please let’s do all we can to prevent war. The simplest act–the “no war” pillowcase sign–counts. It’s a solid statement of our stance against destruction, and a solid declaration of our love and respect for earth, for our fellow human beings, those we hold close to us and vow to protect, friends we’ve kept in touch with and those long gone, and the strangers we sit next to on the bus to work, or that one stranger Katagiri who a long long time ago boarded a plane from Asia, settled in Minnesota, and shared zen with me, with America.
Let’s heed the call, take a stand together, and make and display our “no war” sign. Share an image/s of your sign. Share this call to action with friends; post on social media.
Thank you, Natalie, for your inspiration.
We need to do what so many of us did in 1980: search for the truth about this new threat to our planet. Target Seattle was such a movement. Perhaps the rejuvenated and re-dedicated work being done by Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility is the way to go.
I made a pillow case sign myself and hung it beside my mail box.
Join me. Betsy
