April 18, 1989

For perfect love drives out fear,
and what greater fear is there
than fear of another’s fault-finding
or criticism.

Instead of concentrating on the
upbuilding of ourselves,
we should build up our
brothers and sisters.

March 31, 1986

The importance of clean seeing
and clean hearing can never
be emphasized enough.
To see and hear only those things
that are wholesome to the soul is
vitally essential to the wellness of the body.

May 7, 1985

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the silver coin I had found on Earth. It was partially melted but I could still read the writing inscribed on its surface: E PLURIBUS UNUM.

Yes, I had found Earth and soon I would return to it to make it a great and peaceful world once again.

Written November 22, 1983

Part of the Cold War Kid collection

I started the vehicle’s engine and, after flip­ping on its powerful headlights, began to drive through the desert-like landscape ahead. The headlights stabbed through the black night and presently, they pointed out what seemed to be a primitive road. I began to follow the road, driving very carefully so as to avoid the many cracks and fissures that littered its surface. After a few miles of this constant maneuvering, I stopped the vehicle dead in its tracks.

Before me lay something that was so extraordinary I could not believe my eyes. In the bright glow of the headlights, I could see a city! A manmade city, intelligently built! Had I found Earth?

As I walked through the streets of the old city  . . .

It was while I was strolling the streets of the city on one such exploration that I came across an old, deserted house. The sign hanging beside its broken door in huge red letters pronounced CONDEMNED! No one could have agreed more totally than I.

Most of the house^’s win­dows were boarded up to keep the glass panes intact, though judging by the amount of shards that littered the street, they had done little good. The remains of what probably had been a beautiful veranda lay rotting on the ground. The house had such a ramshackle appearance that any “sane” person would never have ventured beneath its sagging frame. That is precisely the reason why I stepped through its door.

Inside, the house was totally barren. Except for the dust of many ages that had settled on its surface.  Nothing remained on the rough wooden floor, except . . . My eye caught something white stuck in a crack in the floor. It was paper! Paper had been outlawed many years before by the International Council of Censors! I eagerly picked up the scrap and noticed that it had writing on it. The writing was of a strange, ancient text, but I could still read it:

Earth was beautiful once upon a time, but now it is barren and the sun frowns upon it, for it is no longer its child. Long ago Man destroyed Earth and now is get­ting rid of all the history concerning it so no one will know of the great destruction that was wreaked upon it. Earth, I weep for thee . . .

Here the writing ended because the rest of the paper had been torn off. I suspected that after the Federation Police raided this joint, its owner had received a sentence similar to the one tacked outside the door behind me. His carcass was probably rotting in one of Terra’s mus­ty prisons. I, suspecting which planet was this mysterious Earth, made provisions to . . .

The XZ-900 Space Cruiser slowly came to a rest on the old un­used docking port, using its lower thrust engines to maneuver onto the platform.

I picked up my flight bag and made my way to the front of the passenger cabin. There I was assured by an almost-too-polite stewardess that my “important equipment” was being unloaded outside. I thanked her for making mine such a marvelous trip and made my way off the ship.

Outside, the crewmen had finished unloading the laser rifles, rations, and over-terrain vehicle I would need for my explor­ation of this barren planet. I thanked them for their help and then they boarded their ship.

As I watched the powerful liner disappear into the already dark­ening sky, my mind flipped back over the events that had brought me to this so-called “uninteresting” planet.

The song was written and recorded to celebrate the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding (CJP) at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU).

I and several other participants sang the song as part of the opening ceremony at the 2006 SPI. The song features international participants saying “We Are Peacebuilders” in many different languages.

Peace is peace in any tongue.

Video: http://youtu.be/WN8XGqaplxY

News article: http://www.mennoweekly.org/2006/5/22/emu-peacebuilding-institute-opens/?page=2

For in this land of coziness
Where all is calm and quiet rest
Is a thought of peaceful sighs,
Whispered cries,
Answered “whys?”

Tis where death and sorrow lay
To disappear with the coming day
When a burdened heart is freed,
Wounds bleed,
Planted seed.

November 8, 1986

Our very unwillingness to leave the judgment up to God
is the source of the pestilence among us
and masks our reluctance to commit ourselves
to true healing action.

For God has said, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.”

October 12, 1997