We are responding. All of us in some way are reacting to the shaking of our world. I happen to be a list-maker, especially when the world is shaking. This is how I get a measure of control over my own emotions and actions. I am not any smarter than you are. But in […]
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When we were mere teenagers, my sister Joyce and I were sitting in a theater watching a war movie. Several soldiers moved forward into a battle, while others stayed behind in a trench, listening and watching. There was an explosion, a lot of smoke. One of those in the trench observed sadly, “Somebody got it,” […]
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A few weeks ago I posted a blog that I called “Peacemaking for Amateurs.” I called it that simply because my love and desire for peace are not matched by my knowledge of how to make it happen. In that post, though, I named three causes of war, three of which I was sure: Oppression, […]
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Last week representatives of the religions of the world met together in Salt Lake City. To me this event seemed significant and exciting, especially because it was only the sixth like it in the history of the world and was happening at a time when conflict in the Middle East seemed to be fueled by […]
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The Beirut Daily Star, which a couple of months ago expressed dismay that the U.S. had not appointed a successor for the outgoing ambassador, David Hale, reported relevant good news on October 8. Since I also was disturbed by the apparent apathy toward Lebanon at this highly critical period of time, I must report the […]
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I have read in the Baptist Press that you are “troubled” about the pope’s speech to the Congress, and now I am troubled. I speak as a retired Southern Baptist missionary. My husband and I were under appointment to the Middle East for 32 years. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Amman Baptist […]
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This may be news or rumor. I have heard it but cannot verify. The U.S. is going to send a new ambassador to Lebanon, and it is a woman. She, whoever she is, is awaiting confirmation. Meanwhile, because of the tense and drastic situation in the Middle East, Ambassador David Hale is being left in […]
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David Hale, the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, will reach the end of his term of service within a few days and has been confirmed as ambassador to Pakistan. The State Department has appointed no one to take his place in Lebanon. On August 22 the Beirut Daily Star suggested that the failure to appoint […]
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Today, I am told is International Peace Day. My daughter, Jan Fuller, senior chaplain at Elon University, has raised this question: “What can I do today to promote peace?” So I am thinking. The reason we never make peace, I think, is that we wait until violence breaks out and then we think about it, […]
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Another September 11. What to do with it? Already 10:15 in the morning and I realize that this should be a day of introspection. A day of deliberately ignoring those who have hurt us and looking in at ourselves. This thing happened 14 years ago today, and it changed us. We know we will not be […]
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