– by Patricia Smith Melton
Founder, Peace X Peace
Editor, Sixty Years, Sixty Voices: Israeli and Palestinian Women
Love, I will hunt you down if you leave me.
I will hound you and howl at your feet
until you forgive me for spending nights
with Resentment and Schemes of Retaliation.
They were only flirtations, nothing really.
Even Pain and Jealousy.  Mere trifles
compared with you.
I will seek you out until the end of the earth
and beyond –
I will yield, I will give up bad habits,
I will reexamine my life, and explore my
darkest corners.
For you, Love, I would do …

- by Patricia Smith Melton
Founder, Peace X Peace
Editor, Sixty Years, Sixty Voices: Israeli and Palestinian Women
Few things have sharpened my thoughts about humans more than being in the middle of a divorce. I’m at: We are smart enough to be conscious of ourselves but not smart enough to comprehend our place in the universe. The universe is 156 billion light years wide. If you can grasp your relationship to that, you are, ahem, light years ahead of me.
Given the universe is Beyond Knowing and Way Too Scary, the human species …

- by Patricia Smith Melton
Founder, Peace X Peace
Editor, Sixty Years, Sixty Voices: Israeli and Palestinian Women

Last week the forsythia in northern Virginia went from twigs to yellow flames in one day, following a winter of the most snow in Virginia’s history. If more religious texts reveled in the miracles of Mother Earth instead of promoting best dominion of Her, this might be a different world.
Gathering flowers instead of using slave laborer to mine diamonds? Harvesting the sun and wind instead of laying pipelines? Planting gardens instead of killing whales? We …

- by Patricia Smith Melton
Founder, Peace X Peace
Editor, Sixty Years, Sixty Voices: Israeli and Palestinian Women
Many of the Circle Principles meant to promote dialogue where everyone is included and heard have to do, naturally enough, with not interrupting, making sure all voices are included, and working towards consensus whenever possible.  One of the principles says that when in doubt, invite silence. Your own, that is.
Peace X Peace not only promoted these principles for years but studied them, used them, honed them.  Now I rebel!
I have a mad desire to interrupt, …