tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726111557714039733.post347453075504799701..comments2023-03-27T01:38:28.723-07:00Comments on Boycott for Peace: Imagine Peace!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726111557714039733.post-52620255773797380232014-11-18T19:36:28.950-08:002014-11-18T19:36:28.950-08:00Angels, angels everywhere . . . .
Today, in the c...Angels, angels everywhere . . . .<br /><br />Today, in the cold and the dark, the bus driver who was picking up passengers from Astoria to bring them home to Pacific County got in an argument with the person in line in front of me to get on the bus. He told her no, she had to wait, that he would be back. And he was being unpleasant and unreasonable. The bus was far from full and she wanted to get on where it was warm with her son. He yelled at her. Then he asked me if I was going to a certain destination, I said yes, and he put up his hand and said no, you have to wait, I will be back, and he took off.<br /><br />Immediately, the first woman said that he was wrong, that the bus was now going where I needed to go, and that he should have let me on. She was very insistent. I called the bus company immediately, I could still see the bus, and had to argue with dispatch, and my angel had to get on the phone as a witness as to what he had done. They let that bus go quite a ways before he turned it back around to pick us up, and it turned out that he had left two other people as well.<br /><br />But the fact that I got home at all tonight, and that I didn't wait for the bus to come back and take me to a strange town where I don't know anyone, was because someone noticed an injustice, spoke up about it, and took the steps necessary to make it right. <br /><br />It seems to me, that these sorts of small and large acts of advocacy--that we all could and should make--elevate us, in moments, in to the realm of angels. And if we all acted thus, on small and large acts of injustice, if we all advocated for what is right for others, even when it does not have any bearing on us, we could elevate our existence into the realm of heaven on earth. <br /><br />I thanked her profusely, and I told her that today she was my angel. Without her, who knows what would have become of me.<br /><br />And now I have to confess something. I was at the transit center in Astoria for about 45 minutes before the bus came. And in that time, this woman, who turned out to be my angel, had previously made such a bad impression on me that I removed myself from her company, twice. I removed myself so that I did not engage with what I perceived as her negative behavior--in a negative way. <br /><br />Imagine, now, where I might be if I didn't have the self restraint to remove myself from her presence when she was disturbing my peace. <br /><br />Really, we never know who is going to turn out to be an angel . . . An angel, who might just save our lives, or at least save us from a cold dark night in a strange place . . . .<br /><br />This was an important reminder to me, of something I already know, about Peace Making and respect. And it really proves, that even when we don't feel respect, it may be very important for us to act with the highest level of respect that we can extract from ourselves in any given moment. Really, it just might save our lives . . . <br />Harvesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06317944232551873144noreply@blogger.com