since when is peace a 4-letter word?

i just came back from a trip to new york to attend a conference on dialogue which i've been helping the Network for Peace through Dialogue plan for the past year. the conference was great - lots of people, good energy, a revitalized spark for pursuing the kind of work i do.

yet over and over again over the course of the 2-day meeting, i heard participants sharing stories about how their work has created problems with local government, security forces, and in the community as a whole. a woman from the chicago area shared a story about her grassroots interfaith prayer group being denied permits to hold a prayer vigil in the local park because it was perceived as anti-war. another woman told of donations to her non-profit organization diminishing in the last several years as those who used to give turned to more "patriotic" causes. even our conference - held in an academic institution and organized by a group of people led by two nuns - apparently warranted extra security due to fears that it might turn into uncontrolled protesting.

is it just me, or is there something here that doesn't make sense? why is it that any organization or event that tries to present an alternative to the current MO of this nation's government is seen as an existential danger? somehow, we seem to have been placed in a class along with enemy combatants and other threats to the state.

i know i'm probably preaching to the converted here, but if any of you readers happen to agree with those creating obstacles to the activities mentioned above, let me set something straight: peace-loving is not equivalent to terrorism. those of us involved in this work are not security threats. we are not against the united states. we are not even all against the current government [though most of us would say we're against many of the things it's done].
we are none of these things. here is what we are: looking for an alternative to the use of weapons - particularly when it doesn't seem to be working. we are open-minded individuals. we are passionate about creating opportunities for people to share their stories, their ideas, their hopes and desires for the world. we think it is important to look at the long-term implications of short-term strategies. we wish to understand other people and help them understand us. we're nuns and teachers and social workers and students and soldiers and lawyers. we are, in short, people who care - about this country and its people and its future.

let us be. maybe even listen to us, for a change. it could help.

catching up

the past month has been full of unexpected trips, sights and kentucky adventures. i've been working, too, which has slowed down my traipsing around the state. in any case, i wanted to take this opportunity to point out a few of kentucky's beauties and introduce you to what i've been seeing recently.

N. and i have been doing quite a bit of hiking in the natural bridge state resort park, about 45 minutes away from our home. it's a gorgeous area - right near red river gorge, which is (so says a friend) one of the top rock climbing destinations in the US and that climbers come from all over the country to spend time there. it must be true: N. and i were there memorial day weekend and discovered when we parked our car that ours had the only KY plates in the entire lot! i'm truly enjoying the chance to spend time hiking in the area...and i'm slowly but surely learning my trees! of course, there's a good chance my tree ID'ing skills will only last through the early fall - i'm really not too good at identifying them by anything other than their leaves. i suppose i'll get there over the next few years as i continue hiking with a self-proclaimed "tree geek"...

in the meantime, last weekend we were able to snag tickets for the first annual chamber music festival of the bluegrass, which took place in a converted barn in kentucky's preserved shaker village [also about 45 minutes from our home]. the concert was spectacular - what could be better than schubert's "trout" quintet played by the lincoln center chamber music society in a pastoral setting with birds chirping overhead? - and the shaker village, which we spent about an hour touring before the concert began, is definitely worth a trip. the ride home was gorgeous, too - right through farm country, and we got to cross the kentucky river on a ferry at one point!

i am definitely enjoying getting to know the bluegrass region (and kentucky as a whole), and it's great to discover the little gems of natural beauty/culture/history hidden in the state. to be sure, it's not new york city - - but then again, i haven't heard of any world-class rock climbing within 30 miles of manhattan, either.

and it's a lot easier to find parking here, too...

by the way, the frugal traveler is coming through TN and KY this coming week and many of the comments on his blog refer to the places i mentioned here, as well as many, many other sites worth visiting in this part of the USA. not-so-subtle-hint here...!