Exhaustion

Exhaustion
April 13, 2003

hi everyone,

After receiving several "Where are you?!" notes, I am finally checking in. The tension of the war build-up, the grief from reports of friends' houses destroyed by bombing, the situation here including several deaths of colleagues in the past month, and other unfortunate encounters have left me exhausted and on edge, not really in a writing mood. It has been good to pass on reports and action alerts and have people respond that they've been helpful.

I am spending most of Holy Week on retreat in a German Lutheran community at Latroun, which is grassy, flowery, and has neat Crusader ruins. Probably I will be incommunicado (lost the cell phone yesterday, ending my two year championship title for not having lost any of our equipment.) I'll come back to Jerusalem Friday afternoon and rejoin the team for the holiday weekend.

A contemplative Holy Week to you all, and a blessed Easter...

Le Anne



"Why of course the people don't want war. . . That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the
bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

~ Hermann Goering,
Nazi officer, during his Nuremberg war crimes trial.