By Kat Dornian
I can name the metrics of violence:
Bullets, bombs, blood shed
Blast
After blast
Echoing in my head
You tell me I could measure love too
But I don’t know what to count
You said count the loaves of bread
Remembrance Day feels extra difficult this year as I watch more catastrophic acts of violence, power, and greed unleash their fury. I feel powerless; Many of us do.
This morning, I read Wendell Barry’s speech from 2013, titled “On Receiving One of the Dayton Literary Peace Prizes.” It seems appropriate that it is today when this chapter was where my bookmark took me. Some of his closing words struck me: “Peace comes from freedom, real freedom. It comes from responsibility, real acceptance of responsibility.” The line reminded me of the way bell hooks talks about the work of love. I’ve been enjoying both of these contemporary philosophers this year.
I don’t have much to offer in terms of answers for peace and responsibility. What I am finding to be true, again and again, is that the compassion and care we show for each other through acts like giving time, space, skill, and creativity (of which I include such acts as baking bread) make life livable. History shows us that our collaborative, collective, connective caring leads to flourishing, so that is what I chose to practice if only to make my own, little community lighter.
Kat Dornian 