Advent 2006

Angels

They may not be men with wings,
Angels.
They walk silently; they do not have to shout;
They are often old and ugly and small;
Angels.

They do not bear swords nor white gown,
Angels.
Perhaps there is one lending you a hand,
Living next door, wall to wall,
an Angel.

They give bread to the hungry,
Angels.
They make the bed of the sick,
Angels.
And they hear you when you call at night,
Angels.

They stand in your way and say: No,
Angels.
Tall as a post and hard as a stone –
They do not have to be men with wings,
Angels.

Translated from German: a poem by Rodolf Otto Wiemer

Dear Friends of the Shanti Family,

It was a funny thing with the angels which you will find in this letter as our Christmas greeting:
They were assiduously cut out in our paper and paint workshops, they were painted with little skirts, feathery wings, hair and friendly faces – and at the same time we are under stress following the progress of the peace negotiations in governmental policy.
Whenever I went downstairs to the workshops, I had the feeling that all the longing of the people in pain from the riots was bundled into this work with the peace messengers, and it was as if we supported the manifestation of peace for the whole nation with this little work.

I am so very grateful to you and that you have been loyal to us and never said: it is not worth while to build something up in a country in which everything is destroyed again and again. I am thankful that you have always encouraged us, again and again, and given us financial support. This was the only way how to keep up when most of the other relief organisations withdrew.

Please find some detailed impressions from Nepal and the station written by Christa Schaaf who had been with me this time.

It is with all my heart that I wish you that our peace-angel reminds you of the options we have to have peace wherever war is intoxicating life – at the workplace and in the schools, hospitals, factories, families – in short: wherever we need the strength of the Godly peace-bringer.
For us all, I hope and wish for a blessed pre-Christmas and Christmas period and a protected Year 2007.

Your Marianne Grosspietsch