Children Wish for Peace in the Middle East

Children are our teachers. They can happily play with any child, they are only interested in playing. They learn discrimination from adults. Humans naturally are non discriminatory and naturally cooperate. Unfortunately money as they say is the root of all evil, I think when our goal is money, then that divides us. When we use it to bring people together, then it can be the root of the tree of life.

There is a children’s story that is told from the perspective of a grandfather speaking to his grandchildren. He says ‘I have two wolves inside me, one is greedy and jealous and angry, the other kind, generous and loving. He says ‘they are having a disagreement, which one do you think will win?’ The children think about which one is stronger. Finally they say ‘I don’t know?’ He says ‘the one I feed’. That is the answer. For me love is my answer and that is what I feed.

A CHILD’S EDEN

Take my hand my friend,
My memory is poor,
My hearing is faint,
But I can see clearly,
That we are all saints,
There are no sinners,
There can only be winners,
When we see that we need each other,
That the world is one,
When we forget and forgive,
And share where we live,
Step aside from the fear,
Give to show that we care,
For money is not security,
It builds walls,
To keep my family out,
It accumulates and shouts,
It insulates,
And perpetuates,
Misunderstandings.

What is this place the Middle East?
It is not the top,
It is not the bottom,
It is east of where?
From a satellite,
There is only space,
For there is enough space for everyone.

Strategic interests,
Biblical references,
For there are those in reverence to words,
Koranic guidance,
Values and morals are transmitted as truth,
For these verses are the roof,
To those seeking shelter,
From the heat of division,
Where they swelter at the road block,
For there is no road map,
When one chooses another path to Eden.

When I close my eyes,
And open my heart,
I see my people in all the faces,
I see the innocence in the children’s eyes,
For they don’t disguise,
They don’t premeditate,
They radiate unconditional love,
And I see the dove,
Flying over their heads,
It is looking to land,
In their hands,
For the land is the place of rest,
It is the place of nourishment,
It is without boundaries through the eyes of a bird,
It is for giving,
There are no lines,
There is no division,
Of any kind.

From a birds eye view,
I go to Golan Heights,
I see golden sights,
I see the Sea of Galilee,
I go to where the olives grow,
And I know,
That they are hurting,
That all peoples are in pain,
The weight of history is a strain,
So how do we start afresh?
How do we create anew?
Through the eyes of the children,
Where the vision is clear,
Where unity is not through fear,
To play with other children,
Without a care,
For they see the same,
It is all a game,
For it is in games that we meet as friends,
That we scream with delight,
That we imagine and shine,
That we experience the sublime,
That we smell the first flowering scent,
Of shared futures,
Reconstruction of social constructs,
Is not luck or force,
It is part of the course to peace,
It is the freedom,
That love seeks.