Dear Cindy,

You are, in biblical terms, salt that has not lost its flavor...or its ability to catalyze! You certainly have catalyzed me.

Oddly, two things have kept rumbling through my mind this past week.

~ A poem by a Russian poet Nekrasov, the poet of Russian pain. The poem is titled Vnimaya Uzhazom Voiny --'Paying Attention to the Horrors of War'. Nekrasov singles out mothers: 'Mothers are the only ones who will never forget their children fallen on the battlefield, just as a willow tree will never be able to lift its drooping branches.'

It sounds a lot better in Russian. I look forward to sharing the whole poem and translation with you after I arrive at Camp Casey outside of Crawford on Saturday.

~ A passage from Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham City Jail:

So we had no alternative except that of preparing for direct action, whereby we would present our bodies as a means of laying our cause before the conscience of the local and national community.

It has been great to know that fellow Veteran Professional for Sanity, Ann Wright, has been with you throughout. We have been well represented; hope you are ready for reinforcements. I was delighted to hear from Ann today of the arrival of the crosses, stars of David, and crescents from Arlington West. Over 1800 of them now. There were only 1700 just a month or so ago, when I had the privilege of helping put them up on Santa Monica beach early one Sunday morning.

Keep looking to the hills for the horses and chariots of fire, and remember ? there are more of us than there are of them. And I am sure more and more will be coming in the weeks ahead.

Your friend,

Ray

Ray McGovern works for Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. During his 27-year career as a CIA analyst, he chaired National Intelligence Estimates and prepared/briefed the President's Daily Brief. He is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

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