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A letter from El
Salvador |
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PEACE BE WITH YOU ...
AND WITH THE WHOLE WORLD
(From Mejicanos in El
Salvador,
to the loving people of the United States)
[9-26-01]
Gary Campbell, retired Presbyterian mission worker to Nicaragua, sent us
this translation of a letter to North Americans from Guillermo Cuéllar,
a musical artist from El Salvador. He says of the author:
Chess [Gary's wife] and I met Guillermo in Mexico in
late 70s or early 80s when he had been forced into exile. ... He is
known widely as the composer of La Misa Popular Salvadoreña which
was played at weekly Sunday mass in the Catholic cathedral of San
Salvador during the last year of so of Archbishop Oscar Romero's
ministry and life.
We're grateful to our friend Cat Bucher (Sherman,
TX) for having sent us the original Spanish version from Guillermo and
to Ken [Mahler] for the beautiful translation of this powerful
message. It expresses as eloquently and movingly as anything we've yet
received from our friends in Central America, based on many years of
suffering the losses and grief of war, their sympathy as well as their
plea for "peace, not the fury of war." ...
Peace and love from Chess and me. Gary.
Posted here with the permission of the author,
Guillermo Cuéllar.
My dear brother, my dear sister:
A Salvadoran greets you with a heart-felt wish that
springs from his own experience.
I know what peace is; I can enjoy it now with all my
being after a long drawn-out war that I suffered in my own flesh, in my
time and my country. That's why I come in such a crucial moment to talk
to you, as only a simple mortal can who has survived craziness and
cruelty.
I saw babies thrown into the air and caught on
military bayonets. I had to bear the howling of women machinegunned en
masse; the roaring of rockets launched by human beings at other
human beings. And I stood and watched while entire towns were swept away
by showers of bombs; starving old men blown to pieces by the explosions.
I breathed in the powder and blood that corrupted the aroma of the
forests. I felt the icy hands of children terrified by the airplanes in
the air. My feet bled from fleeing the death that was on my heels. I
bore the torturers' mockery in my face. I felt all the world's fear
crowded into a single sob.
I lost family, property, opportunities. Bitterness
nested in my spirit. I looked for those who were guilty so I could
despise them in my heart. I shouted slogans and condemnations against my
ghosts. Why shouldn't I feel hatred for the authors of so much savagery?
Why shouldn't my soul rebel against so much unjust suffering?
For thirteen long years I lived with my bitterness and
consternation. It seems a miracle to me that I am alive now, sharing my
sufferings with you. But now the warm sun of peace comforts me again,
and I know that I could not be different for anything in the world. I
rediscovered peace, not only because the arms fell silent, but because
in my heart I renounced hatred and vengeance. That peace that springs up
inside of each of us is the peace that our Lord Jesus promised to all
people of good will.
I have heard and seen your leaders calling for the "First
war of the New Millennium." Do you really want to give
your assent to a conflagration that would put the peace of the entire
planet at risk? Would your people really find the satisfaction they
desire in war?
As a human being and a believing Christian I tell you,
my brother, my sister, that it is better to quiet the call to arms, the
preaching of rancor. War promises but doesn't fulfill, it sweeps you
along but doesn't bring you back. It is a powerful whirlpool that
swallows you up. By the time you come to notice it, you find yourself
being dragged to places you never intended nor wished to be.
If we seek justice, God will accompany us along more
intelligent and productive ways.
With the assurance of what I have shared with you I
hope that peace, not the fury of war, will be the good counselor that
accompanies you during this supreme moment that you are going through
with your people. You are a sister nation of our beloved America.
14 September 2001
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch
Seminar!
GHOST RANCH SEMINAR
July 26-August 1, 2010
WE’RE ALL IN
THIS TOGETHER
CONFRONTING THE STRUCTURES OF INJUSTICE |
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