Another fall, another all-Meeting meeting for worship in front of Textron. On a beautiful, sunny and cloudless Sunday, about fifty of us from Friends Meeting at Cambridge sat, knee-to-knee, on the sidewalk in front of Textron’s Wilmington plant, silently witnessing.
Sitting so close to buildings (which give the benign appearance of a sprawling, suburban high school campus) where cluster bombs are manufactured, I felt the military-industrial complex’s immense, relentless and deadly power, its mighty, driving force. How’s my/our sitting here for an hour going to change anything? I wondered. Is this yearly FMC ritual just a feel-good activity?
I don’t have answers. Next fall, when I again show up in front of Textron*, I suspect the same questions will rattle around my peabrain, again. But just like posting this blog every week, I know I am called to be faithful. To show up. To join with others—who, I’m betting, also sometimes question their efficacy—doing peace work.
It’s what we do, right?
*Some sturdy souls from FMC show up one Sunday every month, rain or shine or snow or sleet.