The Journey Inward

It has been a worrisome time here. While on our sibling zoom call last Sunday, my brother, who was in the States on R&R, got the call that he had to return to Beirut immediately with the announcement of a possible strike on Iran. We had not heard from him since. This is not uncommon for my brother, as he is not the best at communication and we also knew he would be quite busy.

But then I woke Sunday to the news that Hezbollah had attacked Israel. We knew Israel would not target the embassy, but right now there is so much confusion, anger, fear and aggression, as well as so many innocent lives lost, that there is no telling who, what and where.

I went to sleep worried last night, then woke at 4:30 am and reached for my phone, which I never do. My other brother had texted to say that CNN was reporting that Israel had retaliated against Hezbollah with rocket attacks in the southern part of Lebanon. My blood ran cold. I barely slept from there. I woke up and was near tears on my drive into work. When Eunine mentioned her friend in Dubai is teaching online, I started to cry a bit.

I knew the odds were in my brother’s favor, but then there’s my brother as a person. He is a civil servant through and through. He would risk his life for anyone. He would put himself in harm’s way to protect his people. This made me proud, but as his sister, it terrified me. His children and grandchildren would be devastated.

I did something that felt a bit uncomfortable, that felt like asking for help. I started to write to my friends and ask them to keep K in their thoughts and prayers. I got back amazingly supportive texts.

Tonight we received word that my friend and mentor, Mark, had heard from K and that he was safe. He said that the situation had gone from bad to worse and that he would communicate as he could. It was such a relief.

I set about letting my people know that after a week, on the very day I reached out to connect with them, we got word. I couldn’t help but feel that they had manifested this contact.

As always, I am so grateful to my amazing friends for their love, support and care and I am grateful for my strong and bonded family that we are here for each other, despite the miles.

I am hoping that level heads, open hearts, communicative mouths and listening ears prevail during this time and the senseless killing comes to an end. Surely there is another way in this day and age.