Poets wrote about memory often being cruel. Yesterday I read an article written by my cousin named Susie McCarthy who found her great grand father’s, my grandfather’s, signature on a document making him a member of the fighting forces of the 1916 rebellion in Ireland. Yesterday I watched Obama and Castro make nice before reporters, and today I watch as ISIS takes responsibility for a bombing in Brussels, a beautiful peaceful city. So… I spoke of pain with Chuck, I talked of my father who spoke so clearly about what his father and his mother went through as the children of people who directly fought the brutal treatment of Irish by the English. I told Chuck that I had been afraid to travel to England as an adult for the awful stories I had heard from my father whose own father told him first hand horror stories of the very personal war for Irish independence, and let us not forget what the English did to the Catholic church on those 2 islands. I also talked of the stories I hear at my church from ladies who barely speak English. 60 and 70 years old now, they were shuttled here by their parents who wanted to save their lives when Castro started jailing people who went to church or people who "rebelled" against the communist rebel Castro. The anger and sadness is palpable as I speak with the ladies who still talk about political prisoners, relatives, stuck in Cuban jails. The Miami Herald today printed a list of political prisoners that Raul Castro arrogantly asked for, and printed an equally poignant article about pain that cannot be forgotten, that chokes the old ladies and their children who "can’t go home again." Dan LeBatard writes, "She (my mother) had her phones tapped back home. She endured neighborhood spies coming into her home whenever they pleased. She attended services for students and intellectuals killed for fighting for elections and a Constitution. She was chased through the streets by police dragging chains for attending those services. Her brother was a political prisoner… he spent almost 10 years in prison…. Exiled from a land they didn’t want to leave and still miss, a land they will not visit until this regime is ousted or they see real change that can be trusted." Chuck, a white bread American, parents here for generations, said we who remember from the past and harbor sadness must realize that it is the Past. We need to look at what we have today. So I look at the television… "At least 31 killed, hundreds injured… claimed by ISIS…" Can I ever return to Europe? I don’t think so… Do I feel totally free in crowded places? Do I feel entirely safe in church? During this Holy Week, let us pray for the peace that comes in our hearts when we give up trouble to Christ who first took it all on so that we might live abundantly both now and in heaven. God bless you.
Categories