The Peace Gathering

Last night I participated in an event known as a peace gathering. It's a religious gathering based on the principles of the Bahá'í faith which occurs each month and is put on by a friend. Poetry and excerpts from religious texts are read, music is performed, and people offer insights on life. I myself offered a quotation from Aeschylus' Agamemnon.

Not to get sidetracked, but I have misgivings about quoting and reading the work of others. I feel it's my privilege to enjoy it, but I also feel that it's my responsibilty to offer something of my own. That being said, I did quote Aeschylus last night and regularly quote favorite song lyrics and other works regularly on this very blog, so I guess I have to come down on the side of it being all right in moderation.

Anyway, to get back to what I was saying: Ever since I first heard it, I was touched by the words of Aeschylus. To repeat them here:

"Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

Robert F. Kennedy offered that on April 4, 1968 as a salve to a crowd of his supporters in Indianapolis when he was compelled to report the murder of Martin Luther King that same day in Memphis.

So that was my contribution to the peace gathering, and this was a very good one. All of the artistic offerings were excellent, and it was a big group of good people. I would be remiss if I did not also mention that the refreshments were delicious, and acted efficaciously as a lubricant for some very satisfying discourse.