A Bridge to Peace.org

If peace and connection is indeed what we seek in our lives and troubled times, is there a better way to symbolize this connectedness to one another than through bridges? Surely if given a choice between conflict and peace we would choose peace, wouldn't we?

Read on:

 

Peace In A Time Of War

Two thousand-seven was a time of war,
when patriots took quick offense
of peace people
by yelling things like, “Freedom is not free!”

 

Being of the latter persuasion,
we expressed our hopes in the local paper:
“City Council should dedicate a bridge to peace”.
And then we waited.

 

Nothing happened.
So we upped the ante a notch.
Gathering our small group,
we spoke to our city council.

 

We talked about how
a bridge to peace
might bring folks together, build connections,
maybe heal some divides.

 

One council member,
fairly sneering,
called the idea “Loony,” worried aloud that the
local paper, The Bulletin, would ridicule us.

 

And, on cue, the paper did, suggesting possible other names:
“The Political Cause Bridge”.
“The Bridge to Land Use Reform”.
Better still, “The Bridge to Impeach Bush”.

 

Even our alternative newspaper got in on the fun.
They suggested our bridge to peace would put us on the
“...slippery slope of pacifism, un-Americanism, atheism,
fascism, socialism, communism and vegetarianism.” Whew!

 

They concluded by suggesting yet another name:
“The Mission Accomplished Bridge.”
We were put in our place, alright.
That was a good one.

 

After being ignored, they made fun of us,
poked us in the eye, if you will.
Then when they made it into a fight,
we peace people sought to parley with The Bulletin.

 

In the double-speak of diplomats,
the talk was frank and honest.
But the peace pipe would not be lit that day,
And we returned to the city council.

 

Whereupon The Bulletin let go with another salvo:
“Bridge to Peace a credibility test.”
They tried shaming the city councilors into submission
by guilting them.

 

But by now the tides were turning.
We were making friends.
And the little bridge over the Deschutes
was looking decidedly more peaceful.

 

Perhaps feeling a little less confident,
The Bulletin fired one last,
rather impotent shot:
“Bend 'peace' bridge will generate anger.”

 

But their warning fell short of its target,
and any anger turned out to be reflective of
the editorial board's bruised egos.
It was time to move on.

 

This, then, was how a small group of peace activists
waged a 17-month long war of words
over peace
in a time of war.

 

And where on December 17, 2008, our fair city
celebrated the city council's 5 – 2 vote
proclaiming the
Peace Bridge of Bend.

 

The Proclamation read, in part:

 

Be It Resolved that the City Council of Bend, Oregon
hereby proclaims the Portland Avenue Bridge be designated the “Peace Bridge of Bend,” so that this public structure,
built to bridge physical divides,
may now come to symbolize our collective will to  bridge our human divides;
this for the benefit of our children and their children,
that they may grow to understand peaceful resolution of conflict takes patience, and courage, and a desire to foster tolerance
and celebrate diversity in our community.

 

Postscript:

 

The Peace Bridge of Bend was dedicated on September 20, 2009 along with the International Day of Peace.
Speeches were made, songs were sung, banners flown, and 30 white doves were launched across the Deschutes River.
Not lost on the celebrants was The Bulletin's decision to publish a story marking this event. They titled it: “Bend's own (officially official) bridge to peace.”

 

The peace pipe was finally lit.

 

 © John Castiello Schwechten
2010