Common Wonders
Co-creating a culture of peace
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A World’s Soul in Tatters
By Robert C. Koehler “I left you for God, Daddy.” Let those words resonate across the planet. The speaker is Yahya Al-Batran, a Palestinian man – a dad – imagining the words his newborn son would have said. The boy, Jumaa, froze to death in the family’s tent. The infant had a twin brother who […]
Finding a Cure for Humanity’s Cancer
By Robert C. Koehler I welcome in the new year with a sense of abstract helplessness, as the headlines continue to bring us dead children, bombed hospitals, torture, rape and, of course, ever more “self-defense” (sometimes known as genocide). From my safe, secure office space I absorb the daily news – from Gaza, from all […]
Growing Up Means Claiming Your Own Mind
By Robert C. Koehler Dig, ponder, dig some more. A year ago I wrote a column about some of the early moments of my growing up – not just memories but profound moments of awareness; flickers, you might say, of becoming who I am. I was 77 at the time. Now I’m . . . […]
Return of ‘Kids for Cash’ and a Look Within
By Robert C. Koehler More than fifteen years after the “kids for cash” scandal shocked the nation, it’s back, stirring not just public incredulity but, for some, soul-slicing memories of hell on Earth. This is thanks to Joe Biden’s decision to grant clemency to Michel Conahan, one of two juvenile-court judges in Luzerne County. Pennsylvania, […]
Our Right To Sing — and Create the Future
By Robert C. Koehler You may not have noticed this. The world “celebrated” International Human Rights Day the other day, even as wars across the planet continued, bombs fell, children died. What if “freedom from war” were a human right? I don’t ask this to be cynical, but rather to expand the reach of what […]
Tearing Down Our Emotional Walls
By Robert C. Koehler War, war and more war. It’s only possible for one reason: the belief that only some people are fully human. Those who aren’t . . . well, they can be killed when necessary. My inner scream at this false reality we feed ourselves — via the media, via mainstream politics — […]
Loving Life, Honoring Roe
By Robert C. Koehler As Christian nationalism, the political right and Trump-mania seem to tighten their grip on the country, maybe now is the time for me to take a deep dig into the complex preciousness of . . . life itself. Hey, guess what? I’m “pro-life” — by which I mean, you know, pro-life […]
Post=Election: Bringing Hope Back to Life
By Robert C. Koehler If you want to play the game of politics, here’s step one: Reduce everything to a linear political viewpoint: “right” or “left.” No matter how deep and large and complex that viewpoint is, politicize it, turn it into something that’s either right or wrong. It’s all about winning or losing. Did […]
Can Politics Merge with a Sane Future?
By Robert C. Koehler “America is for Americans – Americans only!” The words are those of Stephen Miller, speaking last month at the infamous Madison Square Garden rally, but they define Donald Trump. This is the message – the cry from the mountaintop – he brought to the country . . . at least to […]
The Nation Just Lost the Election
By Robert C. Koehler I guess I’d call the Trump victory an “expected” shock. In the deepest core of my being, I was unhappy with virtually everything about the election: unhappy with the Kamala Harris campaign and her unrelenting support of Israeli genocide, unhappy with the Democratic Party and its contempt for progressive voters’ values […]
Creating Human Garbage
By Robert C. Koehler “I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the ocean. Yeah, I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” This racist pseudo-joke, uttered by Tony Hinchecliffe at the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, has been virally shamed. It’s even been […]
A Terrifying Choice Awaits Us
By Robert C. Koehler Early voting’s underway. My voting site is the Willye White Park fieldhouse, a mile north of where I live — a place I have enormous affection for, even though I only ever go there for one reason, every two years or so: to vote. It feels like a sacred ritual — […]
War’s Victims Speak the Deepest Truth
By Robert C. Koehler “The past carries unforgettable trauma and pain across the land and among generations of refugees; yet we choose to transform victimhood into agency. We want to be the authors of our future.” Let these words resonate. In a sense, they’re all we have — if we oppose war and envision a […]
If Only Some Lives Matter, No Lives Matter
By Robert C. Koehler Colonialism is hardly a thing of the past – it’s alive and vibrant as ever . . . from the Middle East to Western Europe to the United States to India and God knows where else. And it can be profitable as hell, at least for the right industries. Be afraid. […]
The Fragments of the World Seek Each Other
By Robert C. Koehler “Driven by the forces of love, the fragments of the world seek each other so that the world may come into being.” These words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, from his book The Phenomenon of Man, may well be worth meditating on every day. The forces of . . . love? […]
Voting Beyond Our Pseudo-Democracy
By Robert C. Koehler Is it possible to expand the stakes of this election beyond the nation’s two-party pseudo-democracy? I have to write this. I have to express solidarity with all the other lost and torn voters out there, who are struggling with the question of the moment: Who should I vote for? Israel’s genocidal […]
Transcending the God of War
By Robert C. Koehler “The man suspected in the incident . . . camped outside the golf course in West Palm Beach with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours, according to court documents filed Monday. He is accused of lying in wait for the former president before a Secret Service agent opened fire, […]
Who ‘Won’ the Debate?
By Robert C. Koehler If nothing else, Donald Trump is forcing mainstream America out of its jailcell of clichés and political correctness – even though his apparent “vision” for America is primarily a dark comedy of lies. Yeah, I watched the debate. Was the Trump character played by Rodney Dangerfield? Maybe Don Rickles? He could […]
Defending Ourselves from Our Own Militarism
By Robert C. Koehler “As I said then, I say today, Israel had a right — has a right to defend itself.” This is militarism set in stone. The words are those of Kamala Harris, of course, in her extensive CNN interview last week – quick words that lead the charge and spew the glory, […]
Beyond the Cliches of State Is the Blue Pearl
By Robert C. Koehler Can politics be equal to the deepest of who we are? Can humanity evolve beyond war? Such questions — I know, I know — are never officially asked during a presidential campaign. That’s not the point of the election: to plunge philosophically and spiritually into who we are. And thus, as […]
Countering the DNC: A Vigil for Gaza
By Robert C. Koehler The Democratic National Convention was happening here in Chicago — my city — and I sat frozen at my desk, staring at my computer. Earlier in my life, yeah, I’d have gone down to the United Center, linked arms with the sane and outraged, joined the cry: Stop funding genocide! Instead, […]
Living — and Dying — in the Moment
By Robert C. Koehler I stroke the unknown . . . Bear with me as I finish my short walk. I was ambling through my neighborhood the other day, wielding a pair of walking sticks, “forcing myself,” you might say, to enjoy the beautiful afternoon but actually just plodding forward, in a hurry to get […]
Putting War and Peace on the Ballot
By Robert C. Koehler The corporate media report on elections — especially the biggie coming up — as though they were sporting events. If you win, hurray! You get the gold cup or whatever. The election process is a matter of shrewd strategy combined with, uh, likability. Thus, as per the New York Times: “Tim […]
Project 2025 and Some Poison Gas for the Future
By Robert C. Koehler The right-wing Republicans . . . the Christian nationalists . . . have hoisted their flag: Project 2025, a.k.a., Project Hell on Earth, and it’s coming to a future near you. Or so they believe (and hope). But the Democrats are on our side! They won’t let it happen, right? While […]
Gratitude and Truth at the Rhubarb Lounge
By Robert C. Koehler In the morning, thank you, thank you In the evening, thank you, thank you In the middle of the day, thank you, thank you In the deep dark night, thank you, thank you Yeah, I’ll second that. The words are from the Sara Thomsen song “Rhapsody of Rest,” but more specifically, […]
