All my best nuggets of wisdom come from my parents. This morning my Mom shared a quotation with me that she came across: "Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten." -G. K. Chesterton
Sometimes, living here it is so easy to be pessimistic about the situation. Every side of this conflict is guilty of injustices toward the others and every side has totally legitimate claims against the others. The conflict is political with religion frequently pulled in to complicate the situation. A person can get really bogged down in the seeming inevitability of this conflict and its irresolution.
This quotation reminds me that I have to keep hope. The most impossible things are the ones we refuse to believe are possible and do nothing about. If ever there were a dragon, it is the conflict here and in other places all over the world. The worst thing we can do is refuse to believe that anything can be done about these problems.
Chesterton reminds me why I gave my blog this title. Even though things like a solution to the Isreali/Palestinian conflict seem as impossible as beating dragons, the important part is to hope that such a thing can happen. It is essential to always believe that a further shore is reachable from here.
Whatever your dragons may be, I hope you always believe they can be beaten.
Sara - I heard a good interview on the Charlie Rose Show the other night with Shimon Peres and wished you had been sitting beside me to tell me what you thought after being immersed in the culture.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate everything you write!