2008 Dewey Decimal Project: 294.3 J
Dec. 1st, 2008 01:31 pmIn November, I read Pavement: Reflections on Mercy, Activism, and Doing "Nothing" for Peace by Lin Jensen. Jensen is a local author who sits a peace vigil downtown every day. I read the book a couple of weeks ago and have been putting off writing about it because I didn't know what to say about it.
It's a well-written book, and powerful. Jensen is a Buddhist teacher in addition to being a writer, and he talks about peace and Buddhism in the book. It lulled me into a false sense of security and then he would hit me with a reminder of why he sits vigil: "You can hear the dismay of Israeli parents whose children have died in a disco bombing, the rage of Palestinians whose entire village has been razed with even the village orchards and kitchen gardens laid to waste." I read two-thirds of the book in public places like the library and the doctor's office waiting room, and that's where I was when I would start crying.
It's a well-written book, and powerful. Jensen is a Buddhist teacher in addition to being a writer, and he talks about peace and Buddhism in the book. It lulled me into a false sense of security and then he would hit me with a reminder of why he sits vigil: "You can hear the dismay of Israeli parents whose children have died in a disco bombing, the rage of Palestinians whose entire village has been razed with even the village orchards and kitchen gardens laid to waste." I read two-thirds of the book in public places like the library and the doctor's office waiting room, and that's where I was when I would start crying.
