When one considers the magnitude of the problems in the world, it is easy to wonder what a single person can do. Yet we are reminded that all change in the world begins with a single person. For one person to change the world though, one must first change oneself, and for this change, one must decide what one would like to be. In the opening of Paul Mayer’s memoir, Wrestling with Angels, he declares that he felt the calling to be a peacemaker.
Paul, who passed in November of 2013, lived a truly remarkable life. Through a century filled with conflict and destruction, he led a passionate life of activism for peace. His life began in an atmosphere of hostility as he was raised in a Jewish family in Frankfurt during the rise of the Nazis. His family was able to flee Germany and eventually settled in Washington Heights. After relocating to the United States, Paul’s life passed through a number of transformations as he lived as a Benedictine monk for 18 years, worked in the Civil Rights movement in Selma, Alabama, married and had a family, became an ordained priest, and remained active in the causes of peace, the environment and social justice through his entire life.
On February 23, Pam Kraft arranged a meeting where a group of people gathered to read from Paul’s memoir and celebrate his life. Through the evening, the group passed the memoir around the circle as each read a few paragraphs or a page. Paul’s script succinctly addresses the ponderous issues of society while drawing from the context of the world events through the perspective of his familial and personal life described in a crisp style and with a spry wit.
Then after the reading, the group enjoyed a jam session with standing bass, mandolin, guitar, banjo and Paul’s son, Peter, playing the violin. At one point someone gleefully announced that this was a setting of the New York they had always known and cherished in the past. An intimate setting of kindred spirits filled with celebration, joy, camaraderie and love.
The event reminded me of a statement made by the Dalai Lama when Dr. Richard Davies asked if he would assist in the study of effects of the practice of meditation upon the mind. The Dalai Lama approved with the explanation that we spend so much time investigating what is wrong with us, we should concentrate some of our attention on what is right. Through the evening, this small group of people certainly celebrated something that is right in the world, and through their celebration, they keep the light of Paul’s life alive. Blesséd be the peacemakers.
For more information about Paul Mayer, visit his blog at http://www.paulmayer.blogspot.com/.
The group plans to meet the last Sunday of each month to continue reading Paul’s memoir and celebrate the love of one’s neighbor. Anyone interested in attending may contact Pam at pkraft@triballink.org.
Garrett Buhl Robinson is a poet and novelist living in New York City. www.garrettrobinson.us
