Heaven And Hell

Heaven and hell, Biblical places, or neighborhood hang outs?

How easy it is to distance myself from the world, to say this is God's business, or symbolic literature written by some romantic, or just politics. Not so easy for others.

We received a postcard from a friend who was in Egypt not too long ago saying he would be home when the shooting stopped in Gaza. He is home now. He is a man with many irons in the fire, both here and abroad, each of them attached to heaven, or hell on such a personal basis that there are no questions in his mind about things such as this. He is one of my heroes, a man who puts his actions ahead of everything, ahead of his words, even his personal comfort and safety. His life is dedicated to caring, loving, and peace keeping.

Seniors approaching the end of their twelfth grade, their last year of high school here, are looking forward to proms and college and summer vacations in Cancun. There are other seniors, in the twelfth grade, who are looking at spending their lives in solitary confinement. In jail because they refuse to serve in occupied territories, which is a compulsory part of living in their society. They are called Shministim.

There are children right here among us who are ostracized and made to feel odd about their own bodies and beliefs and feelings, because someone tells them they are not right.

Battles are fought between heaven and hell in every second of every day. Fought in the bigotry and self righteousness of anyone who is willing to allow another to suffer in the name of something they know very little about.