The road less taken — to understanding and peace

Posted on May 10, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

a road in Ireland - the road less taken - the road to understanding?

Good Morning, God

We were in Ireland for almost two weeks and I’m still gathering my impressions and thoughts and trying to sort things out.

Right at the moment, God, I’m thinking that there really are always two sides. It is so easy to “take sides” and conclude that This Side or That Side is RIGHT.

Yes, I KNOW that I’ve known that for a long time, God. But I EXPERIENCED it in Ireland. And THAT changes everything. I went over feeling that the Irish had been wronged by the invading English. I guess I was thinking that THEREFORE they were right and the English Imperialists were wrong. I guess I had made that ALL right and ALL wrong.

But, then, just tonight I remembered what Darien, our tour director, had said about how long it was that it was illegal to buy contraceptives in Ireland — at least into the 1970s or was it 1990s?. And I thought, SHOOT, I would have wanted to be part of Great Britain! I would not have wanted to be forced to join Ireland and not be free to exercise my beliefs.

Then too, I realized that I am not nearly as Right Brained as I thought I was. The rebellion of 1798 involved PIKES! Pikes against guns. Who was in charge of THAT ONE! So, I found my Left Brain making judgments — as the Left Brain is so good at doing. Now, it is so easy to leave it there. And I fear most of the time I do.

But our tour director also talked about the months and years of negotiations that both sides had undertaken in Northern Ireland. That’s HARD work. I always think of that as begun by mothers. Indeed, I just read, God, that Betty Williams started a March for Peace after she witnessed the deaths of three children hit by a car driven by an IRA man shot by the police. She and Mairead Corrigan won the Noble Peace Prize for their work in 1976.

Ah, God, help me stop judging and work on understanding. Please, God, take away the certainty that I am ALL RIGHT. And help me not just SEE but FEEL the “other sides”. To HEAR without judging — ah, that is the True Work of the Heart.