Peace Parades

Well, I had an interesting experience today as I drove home from church. I was sitting at the corner of Hilyard and 11th, waiting for the light to turn green so I could cross and pull into my parking lot when two police on motorcycles pulled in front of me. I was confused at first, but then as I looked east I saw a giant line of people walking down 11th.

It was a group of hundreds of people protesting the war in Iraq, with signs and everything. Normally I would have been all for it, no questions asked, but I had to pee very, very badly.

About 10 minutes later it finished, but during that time I made a few observations.

1) The guy in front of me was a jerk, he was flipping all the people the bird. The protestors responded with their own hand gesture, but one that involved two fingers and a lot more peace and love.

2) Most other people seemed to be patiently waiting it out, which surprised me. I think that shows a certain receptive-ness to the idea of peace.

3) It gladdens my heart that people care enough about not killing people that they will walk around for hours with giant doves on their shoulders.

I also had a kind of neat experience at church today. I sent out the support letters for Cambodia last week to all the church people. This morning I was affirmed by 15-20 people that received my letter, and most all of them let me know that they had sent a check in. One guy even said that he wanted to send in more general funds to help everyone going on the trip, I need to talk to Elizabeth and find out how he can do that. 

It feels like God is working.

I had an even further revelation Saturday night. My boss was freaking out because a number of pieces weren't falling into place for the trip to Mexico on Thursday. Without thinking I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, which turned into a hug. While that might seem like a small thing, touch is something that I've struggled with for a long time. I've been uncomfortable with it, sometimes to the point of awkwardness. 

I've been trying to overcome that particular obstacle for a few months now, it appears that I'm getting there. A year ago I can't imagine voluntarily hugging anyone, and here I am doing that now. 

God is good.