Upon returning home, to quickly finalize her work day and start the road trip to the nearest airport, a mother and a daughter knocked on Bambi’s door. Bambi hesitated before opening it. Indeed, she did not expect anyone. She was too busy.
She finally opened the door and a woman, apparently preaching for evangelism, told her that she is here to talk about “the end of war”. Bambi greeted this woman and the child, telling them that there is nothing like peace, she agrees. However, she thanked them and said sorry because she cannot chat. She was in a rush, leaving the house soon. They told her they were Jehova’s Witnesses and talk about the topic of end of wars to others as well. She said good-bye without informing them that she was travelling to the Middle East, which they seemed to refer to. How ironic.
This brief interaction about end of war seems to be in line with the Canadian Encyclopedia’s description of Jehova’s Witnesses: its members are known for their “refusal to bear arms, salute flags or accept blood transfusions” (https://tinyurl.com/yt5xxm7u).
Once inside the house, Bambi could not help not to visualize in her mind an old scene from the Lebanese civil war when two members of Jehova’s witnesses knocked on her parents’ apartment door. They chose a vulnerable moment, following the death of seven people on their street because of the harshness of a military weapon called organ of Stalin. Bambi will always remember this horrible day of her life, which took place after several sleepless nights because of the intense battles.
At the time, her senses were quite sharp, even more than ever. For instance, she had a premonitory dream about the mortality. She even told her parents about this dream when she woke up on this day. Somehow, without understanding how or why, her brain predicted the seven deaths. War times are a different beast than the peaceful daily life, whether the latter is hectic or not.
Back then, Bambi may have been harsher on the unsolicited two guests. When they asked her “if she likes to live in a place, like the kingdom of God, where there is no war” She replied: “NO, I love wars, suffering and even dying. I like it when I am shattered into 100 pieces”. She said so while closing the apartment door in a louder way than the usual. You can think that she lost it on those preachers, even if, like them, she values peace. Clearly she is not a fan of weapons and is not into killing of others. With all due respect to all religious groups, including the Jeovah’s Witnesses, she does not like seeing someone apparently exploiting vulnerable moments in the lives of anyone, including herself.
From the first story of her adolescence to the latest story of her middle age, sadly nothing seems to have changed in the world, and especially in the Middle East, when it comes to the cruelty of conflicts, terror, and wars. Thankfully, there are MANY folks who silently work for not just end of conflicts, but also their prevention. Perhaps even more significantly, they work for increased healing and for love. Today more than ever, the world needs healing and hope for more loving times. This is Bambi’s wish for the Middle East on this day of exchange of hostages and prisoners on the two sides of an endless conflict. It is also her wish for the entire world, especially its hot spots and anywhere, including North America.
