2 worthy requests from Tikkun

I gotta be honest here: I'm in way over my head when I try to be at all aware of Middle East politics. Most of a life without television, crap for history classes in school, and (most of all) the inability to bear the empathetic pain required to keep up with this world's struggles. So, I'm hesitant to speak on the subject because I don't want to oversimplify. But I can say this: the efforts of the Tikkun organization and its sister effort, the Network of Spiritual Progressives, continually get my attention and my admiration with their voice for dialogue, healing, and transformation among those willing to look at the whole sphere of humanity (spiritual as well as political) as one reality. I deeply respect their intentions, and am trying (slowly) to match that with knowledge. I don't know if I can properly introduce these two worthy requests they're making right now - except to say, if we still remember our hope at President Obama's election, and our crazy beginnings of belief that change is coming, in our nation and our world, and our intention to stay involved past just voting: in that case, Rabbi Michael Lerner and others at Tikkun are offering some very easy ways to make good on all those good intentions. Below are very brief excerpts of both, with links where you can take quick and direct action.

1. Call for cease-fire and international peace conference in Gaza:
It breaks our heart to see the suffering of the Israeli people, the Palestinian people, the Lebanese people and others in the region when we know how unnecessary it is. The basic issues can be resolved. No matter how maximalist the fantasies are on each side about eliminating their enemies, the truth is that the majority of the people on all sides of the struggle would embrace peace if they thought it could be established in ways that provided for genuine security from military assault and terrorism for everyone, real justice for Palestinians, and acknowledgment of the wrongs that had been done to each side as a first step in healing the humiliations and huge psychic woundings that have happened to Arabs and Jews throughout their histories...

To sign this petition (or to donate to funding for the ad), go to
http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/article.php/gaza

2. Call for a Global Marshall Plan, toward economic and spiritual justice:
The Global Marshall Plan is premised on the notion that generosity and solidarity with all peoples are better routes to homeland security than are domination and control....

Under the Global Marshall Plan, the United States would lead the other G-8 nations in dedicating an amount equivalent to 1-2% of each country's gross domestic product each year for the next twenty years to eliminating poverty once and for all and to healing the environmental crisis. We are currently soliciting endorsements from as many individuals and organizations as possible, and we are working with legislators to introduce an initial resolution into Congress....

To sign this petition, go to
http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/article.php?story=20071220085221851

I've signed both, with prayers for justice, courage and intelligence to prevail among those with the power to make it be. And also with thoughts of the conversation I never got to have with that Palestinian clerk in Albquerque, the one whose beautiful eyes and friendly/flirtacious words always brightened my workdays last year...