I hope for a world where no one dies in war –
where wars are a distant memory
of a primitive long-ago time
when humans thought they had to kill each other
to “win”
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Memorial Day Thoughts
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Tag Archives: peace
Will That Help the World?
If I
stop loving because others are at war
will that help the world?
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
T’was the Day After Christmas
T’was the day after Christmas and all o’er the earth
people were waking to find there still seemed a dearth
of peace on our earth and to all good will
– we wondered if the promises would ever be fulfilled.
And then a someone shouted, “Hey! I have a thought!
Let’s celebrate Christmas every day – let’s celebrate a lot!
Let’s keep kindness and sharing alive in our hearts –
not just at Christmas, but in all the year’s parts!”
And we thought this was wise, and we thought this was good,
so we celebrated kindness all over our earth’s ‘hood.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
The World Is Calling for Help
I’m deep in sleep
and suddenly there’s a voice
right outside my window,
insistent. “Hello? Hellooo?!”
And I wake.
But I’m on the second floor
and, unless someone’s on a ladder,
no one is right outside my window.
Someone was calling for help
in my dreams.
I’m groggy, but waking now.
The world is calling for help.
“Hello? Hellooo?!”
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
We Are One Body
Head, foot, and elbow
shoulder, hand, and big toe,
right, left, and center,
every race, nationality, and gender –
all part of the same Body,
the same planet, the same universe –
there’s no last and no first,
no best and no worst.
We are One
in One.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
podcast link: https://madcapchristianscientist.com/2023/11/25/we-are-one-body/
“One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself;’ annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.“
-Mary Baker Eddy
“For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.”
– I Corinthians 12
Aren’t We Beyond This Now?
I went to a movie today at the local theater. Saw the same movie previews I saw a couple weeks ago at the same theater. And I realized something had changed in me in the last two weeks. Two weeks ago when I saw the trailer for Napoleon I was thinking this looked like a movie I wanted to see – great acting, interesting time in history, yada yada.
But today when I saw the same preview, I found myself reacting differently. As cannons were booming and bloody body parts were flying and a tyrant was crowning himself monarch, I found myself feeling… I guess “repulsed” would be the best word. I found myself asking, “Aren’t we beyond this now? Aren’t we done with this, yet? Why are we still making these movies about these egomaniacal men and glorifying the wars they mongered?”
I’m so done with it.
I think at some point in the last couple of weeks I reached some kind of mental and emotional tipping point. Our world cannot go on as it’s been going on. Things are going to have to change if humanity is going to survive.
War is not the answer.
“Bloodshed, war, and oppression belong to the darker ages, and shall be relegated to oblivion.”
– Mary Baker Eddy
A Prayer of Peace
Love is all-powerful, ever-present, all-wise, ever Good.
Feel the force of infinite Life unfolding, unfettered,
unrestrained, unhampered, untouched by hate
and war, vengeance and ego and human history.
Love and Life are All,
and we all are of Love and Life, and everything Good –
created for Good, by Good, of Good.
Amen.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
An Evening Walk Around the Block
I step out of the door for a walk
around the block
and am instantly surrounded in the magic
of a spring evening in the ‘hood –
immersed in birsong and frogsong
and the fragrance of spring flowers
as the cool air embraces them
and in the sky a star twinkles at me
connecting me to the divine –
to a cosmos bigger than my problems,
enveloping me in Its peace and joy
I am a part of something amazing
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
Honoring John “Peace Wizard” Bromet
When I’d heard that my friend, John “Peace Wizard” Bromet, had passed, I immediately thought of the Friday noon vigils in front of the Skagit County Courthouse. John had been a faithful force at these vigils for decades. His passing was going to leave a huge hole there. Almost as soon as the thought came to me, I knew how I could honor John: I would go to the courthouse at noon and hold my “TRUTH JUSTICE KINDNESS” sign, and every time a car honked I would give a “high kick” like John had done.
When Friday came, it was rainy and gray outside. I wasn’t sure anyone else would show up at the courthouse, but I knew I needed to do this for John – even if I was the only one.
Of course, I should have known better. A little rain wasn’t going to stop John’s peacenik companions from showing up with their signs, as they’d been doing for years.
And yes, many high kicks were made. 🙂
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Remembering John “Peace Wizard” Bromet
I just learned that my friend, and peacenik extraordinaire, John Bromet, passed on yesterday. He made the world a better place every day that he was in it.
The last time I saw John was on January 13th. I’d taken a drive up to Concrete and came upon John waiting for a bus to take him to the courthouse for the weekly Friday noon vigil. He had his sign with him, of course. I got my sign “TRUTH JUSTICE KINDNESS” out of my car and joined him at the bus stop. It was so good to see him again. We chatted and laughed and sang a song while he waited for the bus. I’m so glad I ran into him that day.
Below, John at the Women’s March in 2017; John and I the last time we were together (January 13, 2023); and John and I in front of the Mount Vernon courthouse (November 22, 2019).
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 