I may have been to a refugee camp
But I've never been a refugee.
I may have seen a bombed out church
But I've never been bombed.
I may have looked at bullet-riddled buildings
But I've never experienced war.
I have befriended those who have.
I can see their psychological scars
But I do not know that pain.
All I know is listening
And sympathy
And empathy.
I've seen a woman forgive a man
Who had been involved in the bomb plot that killed her son.
They were Irish and British.
I met some journalists reporting on democracy
When they had none in their homeland.
They were Belarussian.
I shook hands with a Nobel Peace Prize winner
Who could not return to her country.
She was Iranian.
I met a man who worked for peace
By reaching out to the side that had tortured him.
He was Palestinian.
There are others, many others
With whom I've had the good fortune to cross paths.
They share the one human quality above all others:
Courage.
War is for cowards.
