Blessed Are The Peacemakers

Lichtkind (Child of Light), 1972 Silver print with grattage by Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein. Helnwein’s work frequently explores childhood, vulnerability, injury and the resilience of the child. The Girl Who Sang at High Noon There was once a little girl who sang at noon. Not at night, when songs belong to dreams and darkness can hide the face of the singer. Not in the blue hour of morning, when the world is still half-dreaming. At noon. When the sun stood directly overhead and even the shadows gathered themselves small beneath her feet. She carried a melody that belonged only to her. No one had taught it to her. She could not remember learning it. It seemed to have arrived with her, stitched somehow into the small body she inhabited, as natural as breath and nearly as necessary. When she was very young, she assumed everyone had one. So she sang. She sang while she played and while she wandered. She sang when she was delighted and when she was afraid. Sometimes the tun...

  What Is Mine To Do? There's a conversation taking place among a number of people I know, and since it's clearly on a lot of minds, I thought I'd throw my own thoughts into the mix. They'll probably be unpopular. At this point, that hardly seems worth mentioning. 🤠 The interesting thing is that not too long ago I likely would have been on the other side of this discussion. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm right now or that I was wrong then. It simply means life has a way of changing the questions we ask, and I've found myself asking some very different ones lately. For years, whenever I encountered another frightening story, alleged conspiracy, another hidden evil, my first question was generally:  Is this true? I wanted to understand the world. I wanted to protect people. I wanted to know who could be trusted . Looking back, I don't think I was chasing darkness because I loved darkness. I think I genuinely believed I ...