My second time in five years

Last Thursday marked the fifth anniversary of the San Francisco Friends Meeting vigil for peace and justice. It is co-sponsored by my Meeting, the American Friends Service Committee, Episcopal Peace Fellowship and Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Another blogger wrote about it last week: Peace Vigil Enters Sixth Year. I was there, but I'm not in the pictures.

I only went once before, with my eight year old son. It's just not convenient for me. That's what we all say when we're not there, isn't it?

The war's not very convenient for the soldiers, or the Iraqis either, is it?

It won't be very convenient if this is still going on when my son turns eighteen either, will it?

A Friend took a small cake with a peace symbol on it to commemorate the fifth anniversary. She told me that it was a bit of magical thinking on her part. She remembered the vigil she had participated in regularly during the Vietnam war. On the fifth anniversary of that vigil, an older lady brought a cake like this and the war ended soon afterwards. I told her we can use all the help we can get.