"The causes lie deep and simple- the causes are a hunger in the stomach, multiplied a million times; a hunger in a single soul, hunger for joy and some security, multiplied a million times; muscles and mind aching to grow, to work, to create, multiplied a million times. If the step were not being taken, if the stumbling-forward ache were not alive, the bombs would not fall, the throats would not be cut... and this you can know- fear the time when Humanself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe... This is the zygote. For here 'I lost my land' is changed; a cell is split and from the splitting grows the thing you hate- 'we lost our land.' The danger is here, for two men are not as lonely and perplexed as one... this is the thing that is bombed. This is the beginning, from 'I' to 'we.'"
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The movement from 'I' to 'we,' is the beginning of resistance. John Steinbeck,writing about farmers fleeing desolation during the Great Depression, saw great helplessness and despair in individual suffering. When the people were scattered and lonely, they were powerless to make any change. When they gathered around campfires, fixed each others' cars, shared a few potatoes, and talked about their experience, they began to see themselves as a group, as a 'we.' They began to gain the power to challenge the structures that kept them down.
For me, peacebuilding work is about connection. We try to bring people together- either people driven apart by oppression and injustice or by ideology and circumstance. This is the beginning, as Steinbeck says. The violence from the powerful in our world is directed at destroying this coming-together, this unity. It is dangerous. A 'we' has the power to rewrite the rules around them, to remake their reality. This is resistance.
This is my work- to take myself- American, white, female, young, pacifist, Christian- and make a 'we,' with the people I meet. To create a different reality together- of freedom, justice, peace, and hope. This is our work- to keep our 'we' as we travel away from each other, as we follow different vocations, and as we widen our circles of connection. This is our work- to reach out and bring each other in, to move from 'I' to 'we.'
Be part of this process with me. Please keep in touch and let me know what you are thinking!
Take care.
Esperanza,
Larisa
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The movement from 'I' to 'we,' is the beginning of resistance. John Steinbeck,writing about farmers fleeing desolation during the Great Depression, saw great helplessness and despair in individual suffering. When the people were scattered and lonely, they were powerless to make any change. When they gathered around campfires, fixed each others' cars, shared a few potatoes, and talked about their experience, they began to see themselves as a group, as a 'we.' They began to gain the power to challenge the structures that kept them down.
For me, peacebuilding work is about connection. We try to bring people together- either people driven apart by oppression and injustice or by ideology and circumstance. This is the beginning, as Steinbeck says. The violence from the powerful in our world is directed at destroying this coming-together, this unity. It is dangerous. A 'we' has the power to rewrite the rules around them, to remake their reality. This is resistance.
This is my work- to take myself- American, white, female, young, pacifist, Christian- and make a 'we,' with the people I meet. To create a different reality together- of freedom, justice, peace, and hope. This is our work- to keep our 'we' as we travel away from each other, as we follow different vocations, and as we widen our circles of connection. This is our work- to reach out and bring each other in, to move from 'I' to 'we.'
Be part of this process with me. Please keep in touch and let me know what you are thinking!
Take care.
Esperanza,
Larisa
I'm with you, sisterfriend.
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