the ‘peace gets personal’ blog

As a recovering global nomad, this periodic blog helps me to process the messy, ongoing journey of coming ‘home’ to the USA. This is where peace gets personal.

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Environment Faith First Nations Immigration Inter-faith International Race & Ethnicity

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  • Remembering 9/11

    Remembering 9/11

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    This week, on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the United States is awash with reminders to “never forget.” I do remember. I remember it all…including the parts that we Americans would prefer to ignore. I remember that we were attacked and 3000 civilians were tragically killed. I remember the first responders, who still bear scars […]

  • A Better Kind of Miracle

    A Better Kind of Miracle

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    “Hi Michelle, blessings. I wanted to tell you that – thank God – I received my social security card and I have an appointment (provisional job offer) at Amazon tomorrow.” This good news came suddenly, and it pulled my friend back from the brink of a potential financial crisis.  The spiritual implications were hard to miss, […]

  • Immigration: Whose Crisis?

    Immigration: Whose Crisis?

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    Last week I had a brief, surprising moment of agreement with President Trump. He described the situation of Central American asylum seekers at the US/México border as a humanitarian crisis – “a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul.” I recognized that as a profound truth. Unfortunately, we do not share the […]

  • A Warning from Anne Frank

    A Warning from Anne Frank

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    Last weekend in Amsterdam I queued up for two hours in cold weather to gain admission to the Anne Frank House museum. There was no guarantee that there would be space for me, or that my endurance would last long enough to find out. But I made it inside! It was a profound experience. I don’t […]

  • The Other Thing Happening in Paris – Climate Change

    The Other Thing Happening in Paris – Climate Change

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    My chiropractor recently told me ‘There’s no guarantee that you won’t have more than one problem at a time.’ He was speaking the truth about the health of my spine. And his words are equally true when applied to the state of our world. Most people who know me assume that I am preoccupied with […]

  • Homemade Lessons for a Global Life

    Homemade Lessons for a Global Life

    In honor of Mother’s Day, this is a modified version of the eulogy that I wrote for my Mom, Nancy Garred, who passed away on 30 January. Mom loved being locally rooted, living nearly 50 years in Tumwater, Washington State, and all her life in the Pacific Northwestern USA. I, however, lost my local roots […]

  • Ferguson: No silence, no acceptance

    Ferguson: No silence, no acceptance

    I usually resist the urge to write about every heartbreaking event that comes along. I’m a slow blogger, and by the time I finally write something the moment has often passed.  But here’s the thing: silence sometimes looks like acceptance. So let’s talk right now about Ferguson, Missouri. This looks like complex situation in which […]

  • A Conversation on Genocide and Whiteness

    A Conversation on Genocide and Whiteness

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    Jean-Baptiste, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, wants his story told and remembered. I had the privilege to sit in his home and listen. Listen. It started with house burnings. Then cattle thefts. Then machete hacks and seven days in a pit, praying, surrounded by the dying and the dead. Ten siblings among the […]

  • 2013: Signs of Hope in Seattle

    I see broken inter-group relationships everywhere I go. This is part of my DNA as a peacebuilder, but it can become heavy. I must remind myself to celebrate the positive. There were signs of hope around Seattle in 2013. Representative Jim McDermott introduced the Duwamish Tribal Recognition Act. There’s a history here of broken promises. The […]

  • What does God think of Thanksgiving?

    What does God think of Thanksgiving?

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    The turkey leftovers are gone, but I’m still thinking. Most of us know that the ‘Pilgrims and Indians’ story taught in school has been – ahem – sanitized. But the day is about being thankful, so it’s all good, right? Well, sort of. I do like Thanksgiving. It’s not about the food; it’s about being […]

  • I Can’t Not Look

    I can’t not look at ‘unpeace’ in the USA. I’ve never been able to look away. Wherever in the world I’ve wandered, some stubborn part of my heart has never stopped monitoring the pain unfolding in my home country. I learned the term unpeace from colleagues in Mindanao, Philippines many years ago. Unpeace simply means […]

  • I’ll Stand by You. Won’t I?

    I’ll Stand by You. Won’t I?

    I used to live in Washington DC, but that was a decade ago, so I didn’t see the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial until last Saturday. I was in DC briefly for a conference, and I didn’t want to leave without visiting that site. I am not a big fan of statues in general, […]

  • An Unlikely Celebration

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    I discovered this week, while visiting the Hibulb Cultural Center, that the Tulalip Tribes celebrate annual ‘Treaty Days.’ This event commemorates the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855, in which local tribes were pushed to cede 10,000 square miles of ancestral land between Seattle and the Canadian border. Most of us would consider this an epic […]

  • Sins of Omission

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    Several months ago – Yes, I am a very slow blogger, but this is a story worth telling…. So, several months ago, I had the privilege of meeting two new colleagues at an inter-faith conference. Paul is a Palestinian Christian from Jerusalem and Salim is a Palestinian Muslim living in Nablus, 60 kilometers or so to […]

  • Opportunity & Uncertainty

    Opportunity & Uncertainty

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    Three months after its dedication, I stand at the foot of the John T. Williams Honor Totem. The totem has bold lines and bright colors, and its significance fills my eyes with tears. There is no mention here of how Mr. Williams died. Rather than proclaiming that he was felled by a police bullet, the totem […]

  • Everybody Dances

    I wish I could show you a photo of this event, but I can’t. The storyteller said that if there is dancing during his sessions, then ‘everybody dances.’ So I smiled and clumsily complied. I didn’t take any photos of the kids, because I was too busy dancing. When I explore my interconnections to the […]

  • America Discovers Columbus

    America Discovers Columbus

    I wouldn’t normally use my blog for a ‘book report,’ but every now and then comes a book that demands to be shared. One such book is 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. Author Charles C. Mann has managed to upend the mainstream Euro-American version of history. Most of us recognize that Columbus […]

  • Guest Blog: The Next Generation

    Today I’m delighted to introduce a ‘guest blogger:’ my own step-daughter Paige Thompson! Paige has just finished writing a paper on Makah Nation whaling rights for her seventh grade social studies class at Pacific Cascade Middle School in Issaquah. The assignment was to write a paper to take a position on a controversial issue from the […]

  • No Time for Mukilteo

    No Time for Mukilteo

    I’ve been to Mukilteo twice now. Both times, I tried and failed to make time for a visit to the lighthouse. What interests me about the Mukilteo Lighthouse is not the lighthouse at all, despite its picturesque charm. I’m interested because that lighthouse sits atop a piece of land that is also known as Point Elliott, […]

  • What’s Changed?

    It’s been almost five months since I wrote a blog entry. What happened? Well, nothing, really. I simply got waylaid by a doctoral dissertation. Most PhD candidates fail to do something important while writing up their research. In my case, I failed to blog. But even while the blog was on hiatus, I have continued […]

  • Since Time Began

    A wonderful thing has happened. A friend has pointed out that I made a mistake, and this brings me great joy. I know that I, with my European-American cultural background, make many mistakes in my attempts to learn about First Nations’ history. I also know that true learning means having friends and colleagues who are […]

  • Acknowledgment

    Continuing on the theme of last month’s meeting at the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, another comment offered that evening made a point about the land. A gentleman pointed out that anyone who wants to live in the Puget Sound region should show respect for the people who lived here first. “You guys are walking on […]

  • When ‘Peace’ Hurts

    Seattle is on edge following the police shooting death of John T. Williams.  Mr. Williams, a talented carver from the Ditidaht First Nation of British Colombia, was well known on the streets of Pioneer Square. Investigations are underway, but many Seattleites question whether it was necessary to fire 4 shots at a 50-year-old man with […]

  • On Language and Speechlessness

    Ten days ago, my mother and I visited the museum of the Squaxin Island Tribe at their small reservation just outside Olympia.  The museum is an impressive facility, designed to spatially represent the seven native groups that lived around seven nearby saltwater inlets.  There was a lot to learn, but one thought in particular has […]

  • Sacred Spaces

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    The word ‘sacred’ has cropped up often this month. Or maybe this word has always been prominent, and I’ve been slow to notice it. I attended a powwow orientation class through the Episcopal Diocese, where I learned that the space inside of a talking circle is sacred. So are the sage, cedar, tobacco and sweet […]

  • The Whulge

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    I’m a Whulger now. Just a beginner, but a Whulger nonetheless. I have joined the Whulgers, a loose group of Vashon Island residents who swim in the Puget Sound, otherwise known as the Whulge. When the Whulgers gather, the big topic of conversation is the water temperature. It’s now hovering a little above 50° Fahrenheit […]

  • In Memoriam

    This week the USA celebrated Memorial Day, the annual event in which we remember our fallen soldiers. I have very deep concerns about militarization, especially when it comes to US foreign policy. Yet I cannot overlook the fact that Native Americans have served in impressive numbers in the US armed forces. A high percentage of […]

  • Thoughts on Immigration

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    I see in my email inbox an angry anti-immigration message entitled “Whose country is it, anyway?” The implication is that US citizens, especially European-Americans, were “here first,” so newcomers are not welcome. My heart sinks. In my opinion, a government’s responsibility to manage immigration wisely should never overshadow our shared human responsibility to treat all […]

  • New on Vashon

    I’ve just returned from Germany, finally home from travel. This time, I came home not to my West Seattle condo, but instead to nearby Vashon Island. Vashon is nestled in the Puget Sound, just offshore from Seattle and Tacoma.  I’m at my husband’s family home on the island, so I’m officially ‘new on Vashon.’ When […]

  • Indigenous Rights

    I am traveling in the Philippines this month, so my blog will deviate a bit from the local Seattle-area perspective.  Embracing the view from abroad, I wonder how many Americans know about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples? More to the point, how many of us know that the USA is […]

  • Salish Land

    Salish Land

    Reading graffiti is a great way to sense the pulse of a community, especially the voices that don’t feel heard. Check out this urban mural with the words “Salish Land” added in prominent spray paint. This statement is found just off Capitol Boulevard in downtown Olympia, near the Washington state capitol campus. Admittedly I am missing a lot […]

  • The Condo and the Longhouse

    The Condo and the Longhouse

    Last year, when I returned to the USA from overseas, I bought an urban condominium apartment in West Seattle. I chose the neighborhood for its ethnic diversity, its convenience, and its excellent access to swimming pools. (Yes, I am unusually passionate about swimming pools, but that is a different subject, for a different blog!) I […]

  • Back to Basics

    It’s me again, one week older, and still learning the basics of native history around the Puget Sound. I’m looking for information on land “reservations.” These lands are apparently allocated to the Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Puyallup, Suquamish, Tulalip and Squaxin Island Tribes. A jumble of unruly questions comes to mind . . . What was the chain […]

  • A Stupid Question?

    My school teachers used to insist that “the only stupid question is the question that you do not ask.”  I sure hope they were right!  It pains me to admit that I am unclear on the names of native groups in my area. Yet this lack of awareness is widespread among ‘white folks’ like me […]

  • Atop the Rubble

    Thankfully I am not the only one asking “whose feet” walked the Pacific Northwest of North America before the Europeans arrived. Next month’s winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada will be co-hosted by the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. BBC: Aboriginal Canadians divided over Vancouver Olympics If the BBC has got it right, opinion […]

  • Justice gets Personal

    Where have the Native American peoples gone?  Well, of course I know the answer to this question, too.  They have died in large numbers, been moved off their land, and had their way of life forever altered by their interaction with European migrants.  I have a passion for justice, and I find it pretty easy […]

  • Whose Feet: Beginning the Journey

    Whose Feet: Beginning the Journey

    Whose feet? Whose feet walked in this place before mine did? I don’t mean yesterday or last week, as interesting as the recent past may be. I mean 150+ years ago, right here in Seattle, USA. Like all European-Americans, I know the answer. The Native American peoples, the First Nations, walked here before me. Yet I […]

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