The Courage I've Seen

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.