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Liturgical Elements, UU Perspectives: The War in Iraq

Reading

submitted by the Rev. Jack Taylor,
minister emeritus of First Unitarian Church in Ithaca, NY.
(Written at the beginning of the Gulf War in 1991)

SUGGESTIONS FOR LIVING WITH THE WAR

LIMIT YOUR EXPOSURE. We need to know, but we don't need to know
everything immediately. It is essential to decide how much time we
will give to the war.

REMEMBER THAT ALL WHO NEEDED US BEFORE THE WAR STILL NEED US. It may
be that they will now need our concern and love more than ever.

WILLINGLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT OUR OPINIONS MAY BE WRONG EVEN AS WE
BELIEVE THEY ARE TRUTH. Others who are just as bright, just as
ethically concerned, and just as suffering, often will not share our
deeply held convictions.

DO NOT BROOD ON MISTAKES AND FAILURES. It is important to remember
where errors have been made, but the present is all-important now.

DO NOT PREDICT. Being optimistic can lead to crashing
disappointments; being pessimistic can cause us to suffer needlessly.

HUSBAND YOUR ENERGIES. Hatred will destroy our arguments and twist
our personalities into something ugly. Anger has value only if
rarely and precisely used. Sorrow is universally respected, but will
render us useless if not broken by regular happiness.

PRAY FOR PEACE. This is not a call for divine intervention (if such
were possible, wars would have ended millennia ago), rather "pay
attention" to that which makes for a peaceful world. We need to
envision such a time and know our place in it.

This war will have enough victims. Let us be sure that we do not
become additional ones by our actions and attitudes.

Remember: LIFE GOES ON!


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