Tuesday, May 17, 2005

When We Dance Together

Hello folks. Bob writing from the Summer Peacebuilding Institute. Tonight is Potluck and dancing night for the students currently attending classes. The potluck was great, and after the dinner came the dancing. Everyone is dressed in the clothes of his or her country and we dance to music from every corner of the globe. In fact, it is still going on as I write at 10:00pm. It will probably take me a few of these gatherings to get me to dance, but I've been hanging out and watching with a surprising sense of delight. I find myself thinking, "there is hope for us."

Imagine a room of people from all over the world, each from a unique culture, a unique place. In this space we are people with different native tongues, different ways of seeing, different faiths. In the places we call home, there is racism, poverty, oppression, injustice, war and horror. And here, tonight, there is none of that. There is only laughter, music, and the joy of being together.

Imagine that. I know this kind of picture is not the world's reality. Much of the world would see this picture as sentimental and unrealistic. But tonight, in this space, this is how it is.