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Sunday, July 9, 2023

A Persistent Voice For Peace

This woman, like the widow in one
of Jesus's parables, is not about to 
give up.
Katherine Temple, a local mother and grandmother, is not only passionate about promoting peace and condemning war, but is willing to actually do something about it. Every day.

Every day she posts a "Peace Bit" on her blog and sends emails to an international group of folks who have signed up for them. And each day she contacts her legislators with another message of appeal and warning, and urges others to do the same. 

Here's an example of one of her recent "Peace Bits," edited for brevity and posted with her permission:

Hello lovers of peace, justice, and hope,

When Donald Trump was president, it was  hard to get through when we called our legislators’ offices. The lines were constantly busy. Lots of us were that alarmed about what would happen, and knew our legislators were often corrupt, weak, and ineffectual, but we never let up; we were that concerned. 

Now, I usually get through on the first try. I’m hardly ever even put on hold. So I know very few people ever contact legislators. Why?

It can't be that people don’t know that humanity is in an emergency situation. Everyone here in North America at least is breathing wildfire smoke, for one thing. And people know the Doomsday Clock is ticking with only a few seconds to nuclear “midnight”.

Why is it so difficult to get some of our friends and loved ones —maybe ourselves as well— to “lobby" those individuals who could possibly significantly alleviate the dangers? Why are our legislators not inundated?

We can email or hard-copy-mail those legislators Just go to their websites for the info you need. They DO have power to gum up the systems that press toward Armageddon. Use this or any peace message to tell them what you want:

“[Legislator],

You may not hear from many of your constituents about the extreme peril our world is in due to climate catastrophe and impending nuclear Armageddon. 

But you do hear from me and I’m sure at least a few others, so you cannot be unaware that our world is not going to survive unless people everywhere come TOGETHER to work for peace and healing. And you know that our current use of fossil fuel as well as our war making must end post haste. 

I implore you to speak out. I urge you to call for peace, global cooperation and negotiation, and healing for our planet. Take assertive leadership to condemn war, domination, competition, and exploitation. Please do not let "warists" and exploiters silence your voice.

Your constituent,

[Name]”

Please ask your friends whether they would be willing to tell legislators how worried we are. If they need prompts, please invite them to receive my Peace Bits. There are over 140 of us around the WORLD who use them in one form or another every day:

1. Sign up on the Experiential Peace site: www.epaxoc.org/stay-updated

2. Email KathleenTempleTailor@gmail.com 

3. Subscribe to my blog: KathleenTemple.wordpress.com 

For survival, peace, and healing,

❤️  - Kathleen

*****************************************

   (But) Love compels us to respectfully and humbly show all high officials what the Word of God commands them, how they should rightfully execute their office to the glory and praise of God... to punish the transgressors and protect the good; to judge rightly between a man and his fellows; to do justice to the widows and orphans and to the poor, to rule cities and countries justly by a good policy and administration, not contrary to God’s Word but to the benefit of the common people.

The regenerated do not go to war, or engage in strife. They are the children of peace, who have beaten their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and they know no war. Since we are conformed to the image of Christ, how then can we kill our enemies with the sword? Spears and swords made of iron we leave to those, alas, who consider human blood and swine’s blood as having well nigh equal value.
- Menno Simons, 16th century reformer

2 comments:

  1. Thanks so much, Harvey, for telling your readers about the PEACE BITS they can use to "lobby" our legislators in the cause of peace. I will be very happy to send my Peace Bits to any of your readers!
    Today's Peace Bit (July 10) is about the threat to send more cluster munitions into the Ukraine war. The little kids who would be disproportionally harmed by these diabolical weapons are NOT the ones who are begging for them. https://kathleentemple.wordpress.com/2023/07/10/does-it-matter-peace-on-july-10-2023/

    I welcome anyone who wants to advocate for peace to contact me. I even welcome anyone who has doubts about protesting war to contact me.

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  2. Thanks for your good work, Kathleen. You are an inspiration.

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