‘Peace House Community Journal’ Archives
Peace Housing Community: Standing Still
By MARTI MALTBY I spent last week visiting my parents in Jasper, a small town in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. It was the first time since my 11 year old twins were born that I have been away from them for more than two days consecutively. It was also the first time in over 20 years that I spent time with my parents without other family around. My time with them reminded me of some of life’s simple truths. Marti with his parents, Margaret and Roger I visited them because my dad has been declining for several years, both physically and mentally. I wanted to see how he was doing for myself, and to let the rest of my family know what I saw. The experience was bittersweet, as I got to spend more quality time with my parents than I have in all of the last two decades, while at the same time realizing I will probably never get to have another good in person conversation with my dad. He will simply be too far gone by the time we get together again. One of the joys of the trip [...]
Wouldn’t it be Good? Yeah, But it Isn’t
By MARTI MALTBY Those of you who have read these columns regularly have probably noticed that I like quoting songs, books, plays and anything else that strikes me. Yesterday I watched a clip from the Live Aid concert in 1985 and heard Nik Kershaw sing “Wouldn”™t It Be Good”. I don”™t know what he had in mind when he wrote the song, but on that day the song took on new meaning. Live Aid was, after all, a worldwide fundraiser to deal with a famine that was devastating Ethiopia and killing millions. Kershaw sang: Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoesEven if it was for just one day?Wouldn't it be good if we could wish ourselves away?Wouldn't it be good to be on your side?The grass is always greener over thereWouldn't it be good if we could live without a care? This was just the chorus. The verses add even more poignancy as they are sung by someone who is suffering an unknown fate, and are addressed to anyone who has better life. Kershaw may [...]
What Time for Forgiveness?
Peace House Community-A Place to Belong By MARTI MALTBY As you probably know, a Japanese Olympic official was fired on the eve of the opening ceremonies because of comments he made in a comedy routine about 20 years earlier. The comments were determined by his superiors to be racist, and so he was relieved of his duties. (I haven”™t heard the comments so I can”™t comment one way or the other about the accuracy of that interpretation.) This is not the first time that someone has been punished for a comment or action from the distant past that resurfaced as the person took on more responsibility. There was a time when such comments and actions were often overlooked or excused, allowing perpetrators to continue to act in the same way without having any reason to change. While I am glad that society is doing a better job of proclaiming what sort of behavior will or will not be tolerated, I am concerned about how easy it would be to move too far in the other [...]
