peace

Im sitting in my kitchen in my little town surrounded by mountains, its cold, and it has rained. I am sitting alone, but I am not lonely. I had the vision that I often have. I see myself in my house and then I slowly see from above. I see the town, then the mountains, then then tiznit province, then the souss region. I see people, movement, the ocean. I then see Morocco, I see the different places that I know; all of this in my minds eye. I see North Africa and southern europe then I see the oceans to the East and West, the mediterranean, the atlantic and the indian ocean. I then see the people in every continent. I have visions of people everywhere living their lives. I can look in closer if I desire. I imagine all of this, but it is as if it were real. I see the American continent. My heart says go nearer and so I look closer and I look at Argentina, I look at the north west, I look at Tucuman and I see the streets that I know. I see people in stores, on the streets and in their houses. People sitting out in the evening and children playing outside. I then see latin america in its many contexts and peoples. I see people from all walks of life and ethnicities, speaking many dialects and living their different ways of life. I smell the smells and feel the wind on my face as if I were there. I then shift my gaze back to north africa and into morocco again. I see people in the streets wearing djellabas and pointy leather slippers. The pointy hoods of the djellabas drawing attention as people walk the streets. I watch the old women in the fullbody cloth covering, bent over with age. Maybe they are widows, maybe they are tired and sad, maybe no one knows. They walk up to people holding out their right hand, saying: God bless your parents, God bless you, God bless the hand that receives and also gives. Some people then look away, others mumble something under their breath that is barely heard: may God provide for you. Still others take a cold coin from their pocket and place it in the upturned palm and look away. The one that looks the woman in the eye with kindness and gives a coin while pausing to say "may God provide for you" is the one that leaves an impression the longest. To him, this is not only a duty, he does it because he understands her, he sees her and he sees his own mother. My vision shifts again, back to Tucuman and I see children selling candy in the middle of the night at restaurants and cafes. They are clearly tired, have done this all day and will probably only sleep a little until they have to get up and continue. If they return home with any candy left in their little boxes they must also face the anger of a mother and perhaps a beating for not selling all that they were expected to sell. Some are too afraid to return home and stay in the streets with the other children they know well. My gaze shifts accross the ocean again to the middle east, to a place I have not seen yet with my own eyes. I see only what I imagine it to be like. I feel tension in the air and fear. I hear women screaming and children crying.There is a little boy who doesnt understand what is happening. All he knows is that there are fires and houses falling around him. His best friend has been taken in the arms of a man and he wasnt moving. He called to him and he didnt respond.Will he come back?. I then see Morocco again, the province of tiznit and I see into the mountains. I see my town and the clusters of houses along the valley and mountains sides. People are inside because it is after dark. In the sitting room people sit with blankets and talk. The daughters are preparing dinner in the kitchen and their father comes back from the mosque wrapped in his woolen cape and pointy hood. He says "peace be upon you" as he enters the sitting room. Everyone answers "and upon you also, peace". I think to myself, and wonder what people really desire when they desire peace? is it really so complicated? People desire peace so fiercely that in most places are willing to fight for it and even take lives and give their own if they must. I wonder if people realize the depth of what they are saying to eachother day in and day out as they greet eachother in peace. What kind of peace are they imparting to one another as they take their right hand and touch the left side of their chest, over their heart? What does it mean for me to say these words to people every day? Has it become only a greeting to people or does it still have the meaning and intention it was originally meant to have? As I consider this, i tell myself that all people desire peace no matter who they are. The fact is though, that peace means different things to different people and is attained in different ways depending on what the different definitions are. Can I wish peace upon someone without knowing what peace means to me?, or to them- as a matter of fact. yes, i guess so but it would be just another greeting. I strive to understand, to know. I do hope for peace. I do hope for peace and that it be upon us. I hope for peace for that child that lost his friend. I hope that he can understand one day what peace is, and that many times it will not seem to be around us, but it can be upon us. I think that man who gives the coin while looking the widow in the eyes understans something about peace, he acknowledges his kinship with her, and how he could be in her place, how it could be his own mother, and he gives her the respect he would also desire in her place, the kindness he knows his mother would want. The woman who receives the coin is grateful, but she is not thinking about the money. She sees the kind mans eyes and she sees a son. She sees what peace is. This womans life may be full of hardships but in this moment out of many, peace is upon her and she knows.