chapter 1 - "some things are profound enough to interrupt our lives"

Dear friends, family, and homies,

"Some things are profound enough to interrupt our lives."

This was written by the late great activist and photojournalist, Mev Puleo, whom I never got to meet, but whose words lit a fire in me last winter - a fire that now takes me to one of the most embattled places on the planet in just a few short days.

Most people say - and I agree - it's not a very good time to go to the Middle East:

the bombs and raids and kidnappings,

the poverty and suffering,

the militants and oppressors,

the guns and broken treaties,

and also.....

I miss St. Louis.

I want to be there for summer and barbeques and fireworks, (plus I was just starting to get a really good tan).

But some things are profound enough to interrupt our lives.

I'm sitting here staring at the computer screen with a thousand words caught in my throat so I'll go back to Mev's words. These are from a journal entry dated January 7, 1991, and can be found in The Book of Mev, a memoir written by her husband, my good friend Mark Chmiel. Mark asked me to read this passage (I've edited it here a little) at his book signing last winter, and I was never the same again:

"And I think that our world, primarily at the instigation of "my" country, is on the brink of war - nuclear potential, no less - and I am in the process of conversion. This is a significant moment.... I am called. I am called forth to say no to injustice, war the preparation for war. I am called forth to yes to life, yes to diversity, yes to the stepped-on ones standing up and claiming what is theirs.

"This is a turning point in my life. I was an activist in college, engaged in various ways. But the Middle East situation has told me that my life as usual can't continue when such massive bloodshed is being planned, discussed, prepared for! It makes me sick. There is not a moral indignation, but a moral revulsion, nearly physical, that impels me to move, to do, to deepen my reflection, to put my body out there on the line. Enough. Stop the bloodshed. Repent. God have mercy. God, empower us to strive and struggle with integrity, love, and humility for a better world, to strive and struggle courageously, willing to risk, willing to be accommodated, placing our freedom on behalf of others' unfreedom - empower and inspire us to act creatively and justly and lovingly and disruptingly. Life as usual cannot go on, as it grinds the poor in the dust and sand - sick, sick, sick. God, heal this sick world and let us be your hands. Condemning no one and afraid of no one. Putting our bodies before the wheels of the great machine that crushes the bones of the poor, blacks, gays, PWAs, elderly, children, orphans, strangers, Jews, Palestinians, Latin Americans, Iraqis, U.S. soldiers - no more. No more. No more."

I think there are times when your heart is saying something, and you can choose to listen or you can let the moment pass you by. At that book signing, my heart told me to go to Palestine. It still sounds crazy to me, but I guess sometimes you just gotta have a little faith.

Thank you, everyone on this list, cuz I wouldn't be able to heed the call of my heart without your spiritual and financial support. I am a very very lucky girl to have such an amazing community of people surrounding me, and I can't wait to come back and tell all of you about the incredible things that your generosity has made possible.

Please keep the people of Palestine in your thoughts and prayers. Please keep the people of Israel there, too. There is a whole lot of suffering happening right now. The next time I write will be from the thick of things. I hope to gain insight into this big, indescribable, horrible thing, and I hope to be able to send it on to you truthfully and articulately. Please pray for me, too.

Peace, salaam, shalom,

Miss Magan Wiles

ps: if you wish to be removed from this list, or if you know someone who should be added, please let me know.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Ghandi