Memories of... and Lamentions for Lebanon
Ah Beirut and Lebanon!
Twenty years ago, this summer, I was introduced to you...
I remember you; alas I have never forgotten you.
You created in me a new sense of place and possibility.
You asked only for relationship in return.
Your earth was dusty, your land sensational, your history complex, your people exquisite.
Perhaps you sensed our lack of knowledge and understanding of your ways and history?
You were patient with your pupils as you thoughtfully pursued our enlightenment.
We learned from you as we sat under your grape arbors and olive trees, shared your schwarmas and zaatar delicacies, cleaned your weary war cracked walls, moved among your masterpieces and your ravages, received your hospitality.
We had arrived, perceiving ourselves as the providers and do-gooders.
Yes, there were some mutual benefits... but primarily, you were the true givers.
I brought you home with me as you had stuck to my skin, filled my senses, intrigued my intellect, and broadened my imagination.
After witnessing your wilderness, listening to your stories, and being touched by the tenderness of your people, I was smitten.
Lebanon laments.
Lebanon languishes.
Lebanon longs.
Lebanon lingers.
I asked then... Just how do you hang on?
How do you maintain hope?
I sensed then, your compounded PTSD...even though I couldn't articulate it.
Still, you persevered as you have always done down through the ages...each time as you were plundered, conquered, torn apart, abandoned, factionalized, subjugated, dispelled, exploited and betrayed from both the outside and the inside.
I cannot begin to do justice in sharing the injustice you have experienced for decades and centuries.
But I can join you in your historical and present day laments.
You laid bare to me how complicated everything is...
You exposed me to the shadows and the ever present grays of life...under your blue skies, craggy mountains, green valleys, mysterious grottos, white sand beaches, Ancient Cedars, and magenta sunsets.
Because of my twenty years with you tucked away in a special place in my heart, I can join with you in your lament at a personal level. These laments might appear to others as sentimentality or nostalgia on my part... because of the style of my reflections, my sensitive nature, or tearfully expressed emotions, but I assure you, they are not! Per usual, people can see the news and the hype and the sensationalized sadness... and say... here we go again... why can't there just be peace in the Middle East? Why can't they just get their act together? There should be a simple solution somewhere... That's part of it! Rarely, are there simple solutions! There are unavoidable and unescapable grays in this world! There are unavoidable and unescapable grays in our individual stories and in the stories of Lebanon.
A year ago today, there was no gray! Negligence, corruption, and greed on a grand scale united, corroborated, and exploded in your port and on your people.
Lebanon laments.
Lebanon languishes.
Lebanon longs.
Lebanon lingers.
and I ask even more now... how do you hang on? how do you hope? all I can offer... you are not alone. You are not forgotten.
Resources and Photos: personal experiences in the country of Lebanon 2001, 2003, 2005.
