Day 814: June 8, 2022

All your strength is in your union,

All your danger is in discord;

Therefore be at peace henceforward,

And as brothers live together

Jacqueline sent us these wonderful photos of Péronne, a small town in France she and David visited on their walking pilgrimage.

(Péronne marked with the red marker)

After Googling the town I put together this description:

Péronne is a small town on the banks of the Somme river in the east of the Somme department of Picardy, about 50 kilometers to the east of Amiens. Although it is a quiet provincial town today, few towns have been so frequently devastated as beautiful little Péronne. Péronne was a well-fortified place during the early Middle Ages. The town walls were built in the 9th century. Imagine. But then:

• Burned and pillaged in the time of the Normans;

• gravely damaged during the time of the Spanish occupation;

• devastated by the Germans in 1870;

• totally destroyed in 1917 during World War 1;

• bombarded and burned in May 1940 by the German airforce.

• But after each war, the people buried their dead and rebuilt.

(Péronne City Hall)

After reading the history of this city I was struck by how many times we, as humans, have destroyed places and ripped apart families, communities and countries during war. And then I remembered this poem that Dan Lambert mentioned at the picnic -- the Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

(Church of St. John the Baptist)

In this section of "The Song of Hiawatha," the Great Spirit calls together the nations with the smoke of a peace-pipe and then offers them the peace-pipe as a custom to create and maintain peace among the nations.

"O my children! my poor children!

Listen to the words of wisdom,

Listen to the words of warning,

From the lips of the Great Spirit,

From the Master of Life, who made you!

"I have given you lands to hunt in,

I have given you streams to fish in,

I have given you bear and bison,

I have given you roe and reindeer,

I have given you brant and beaver,

Filled the marshes full of wild-fowl,

Filled the rivers full of fishes:

Why then are you not contented?

Why then will you hunt each other?

"I am weary of your quarrels,

Weary of your wars and bloodshed,

Weary of your prayers for vengeance,

Of your wranglings and dissensions;

All your strength is in your union,

All your danger is in discord;

Therefore be at peace henceforward,

And as brothers live together.

(Marie Foure is a local hero who led the defense of Péronne in the 16th Century)

To end on a hopeful note I include the beautiful flowers Jacqueline sent us. They give is hope for a future of peace. After all, we are the hope.