Getting It Together On Ground Level

I was stuck, again. Momentarily at a standstill, an ordinary part of life’s perpetual cycling that does not feel particularly uplifting. And, certainly one that our quick speed, high tech world judges to be a negative. I could not get off the ground, a particularly frustrating state of affairs.

The situation was especially exasperating because it came about due to my aborting my most recent endeavor to, once again, climb the Mountain of Awe. A peak I have become accustomed to attaining in recent years -- with some effort. Since it was by choice that I return to ground level, you might have thought I was going to enjoy the return.

Not so. Not so!

I was intent on returning to ground level only long enough to retrieve my right arm, co-conspirator in building small “zones of peace, Sue deVeer who I have yet to formally introduce, a failing on my part I intend to soon remedy. Right away one can see the error in this kind of thinking.

While the purpose of the aborted climb, if you recall, had the seemingly, wholly altruistic purpose of my collaborating with Sue on behalf of New Horizons Small “Zones Of Peace” Project’s main mission: to build small “zones of peace” everywhere, I felt great loss. But loss of what? Was it simply a loss of control? Or was there more to it than that?

Nonetheless, thinking -- worse, even believing -- that one is in control of anything, even the certain outcome of one’s own decisions has almost always got to be suspect. Nonetheless, it seemed rather straightforward at the time. I was ostensibly searching for an answer to my quest of what I and “we” might contribute to reconciling the brouhaha of the so-called “NYC mosque” episode.

Given that Sue and I, originally, had come together to reconcile our local “Jewish/Muslim Controversy” of 2006 – with a significant modicum of success, I might add -- and, given Sue’s pledge (“Quaker Sue” in some of our circles) to help the American/Muslim community – and – my, now being an out-of –the-closet, returning to my tribe, Russian/Jewish, American/Jewess, it seemed reasonable in mid-August – and – our history together, albeit a relatively short one, that we could contribute something positive to this effort.

Perhaps, even offer our community peace-building model and its, now, customary experience of awe with accompanying elegant solutions, if we could be so blessed. Of course, my best-laid plans did not work. Most significantly, life-altering changes in Sue’s life were brewing (none of it bad, but irrelevant here), making it next to impossible for me to progress with her.

Yet, I – born and bred to make executive decisions, just could not find a way to proceed without her. What frustration!

Good news now!

As of yesterday, I and we are more or less back on track. More to come. Maybe, even later today. Stay posted for our new developments in building small “zones of peace” – and – how --

We believe you can join with us!