Good morning, ladies and gentlemen Welcome to the United States Institute of Peace. I'm very pleased to have you here joining us We are very pleased to be able to host the senator Carl Levin the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Senator Levin Has been senator Levin has been a strong supporter of the United States Institute of Peace I would just say this right at the beginning In 1981 he was one of the co-sponsors of the legislation that established the Institute of Peace And in 1984 one of the bills out of his committee the Defense Authorization Act In 1984 was signed by President Ronald Reagan and established the Institute of Peace. So here we are 30 years later Very pleased to have Senator Levin join us Senator Levin has visited Afghanistan many times Most recently in July Before that in April when Shama Mood who senators right behind you organized Shama Mood is the head of our office in Afghanistan in Kabul he organized a Group of people for the senator to talk with and share experiences with I was talking to several of the senator staff and they said that was extremely useful session that We organized for for senator Levin in Kabul He was there at as he will describe at a time when the when the political crisis was still real He had something to do with having conversations with both sides of that of that crisis the political Focus at that time was intense and the senator played a major role Senator Kerry, Secretary Kerry followed up and we know that story Today Senator Levin will give his remarks Steve Hadley who is the chair of the Institute of Pieces Board? And also former national security advisor and knows something about Afghanistan during his time During that period will moderate the discussion that will follow senator Levin's comments So without anything further, let me welcome senator Levin to the to the podium and Steve will join him afterwards Please welcome the senator Carl Levin Well bill first, thank you for your Warm words. Thanks for the invitation to join with you here today. I As a matter of fact had a very wonderful visit with your folks in Kabul when they did brief me very very Helpfully on the situation there. I Won't report to Secretary Kerry your view that I kind of led the way with discussions and he followed up Cleaned up after me. I was delighted to be able to meet with the two candidates both of whom by the way I have great respect for both The new president and mr. Abdullah both. I just think that They I'm glad they came together It was essential that they come together and a government of unity or but it It was I think they were lucky Afghanistan was lucky to have two people As qualified as they are and as willing when the crunch time came to come together when I met with them I Guess it was now a few months back I told them that what what they needed to do was to be as brave as their troops and our troops and the Coalition troops and that they needed to be politically brave if they were going to work out a solution This was during the period. They were counting ballots And recounting ballots and re recounting ballots is like Chicago actually is That's a joke an inside joke by the way. Nobody from Chicago likes so I hope but it It was very Very tense. It was very tense moment, but the fact that they were able to pull it off Come together for the good of their country and show in a political way the kind of courage that the troops of Afghanistan and the coalition forces have shown to make it possible for there to be an election And then to have a resolution which under the circumstances was as Peaceable as you could hope for and again, I very appreciative of the Institute that Helped to brief me we appreciate the work of the Institute in many many ways you've worked hard to Find the wisdom that Can lead to peace the kind of wisdom that Sparky Matsunaga talked about in his famous Comment that he said quote We need more owls Not more hawks or doves and That kind of puts it all in one sentence. It was a well-known comment and Sparky was really beloved in in the Senate But today I do want to focus on Afghanistan and I'll have a Few remarks on another subject After I spend a few moments on Afghanistan Now I'm somebody who's hopeful About Afghanistan's future because of the progress That we've helped bring about there in the last several years, and I'm hopeful Because of that recent peaceful and democratic transition of power, which is a first in Afghanistan's long history the transition Offers increased reason for optimism that we have an essential ingredient for success In place in Afghanistan perhaps the essential ingredient and that's a unity government whose goals are Our in harmony with our goal of a free peaceful and unified Afghanistan with strong security forces and honest governance Afghanistan faces immense challenges from Taliban terror From corruption from poverty from ethnic and political tension but the progress That the country has made is also immense Too many people forget what Afghanistan was like before coalition intervention in 2001 Even in major cities access to food clean water and employment was extremely limited Women were barred from attending school Working outside the home or even leaving their houses Unless accompanied by a male relative media evil rules were enforced by armed thugs Using public executions and floggings television music and the internet were banned and today by Contrast there is vibrancy in Afghanistan society in just one decade life expectancy in Afghanistan has increased by 22 years infant Mortality or child mortality is decreased by 62 percent decreased by 62 percent Under the Taliban there were just 900,000 students in school all boys Now student enrollment is more than eight million Including about three million girls in 2001 Afghanistan had 20,000 teachers all male Today there are 200,000 teachers Including 60,000 women Universities are sprouting up including an impressive and inspiring American university in Kabul The Afghan security forces have exceeded our military commander's expectations successfully responding to Taliban attacks and Safeguarding two rounds of elections The Taliban threatened to prevent The peaceful transition of power in Afghanistan But failed spectacularly The Afghan people support their security forces now about 350,000 troops strong. I've always believed that our principal mission In Afghanistan is to help establish Afghan forces so they can protect its people And their hopes for a free nation That is the Taliban's worst nightmare And one of my early trips to Afghanistan when I asked a group of village elders whether they wanted us there Their spokesman answered Stay until you have trained our army and then leave and someday we will welcome you back as guests Afghans now have hope for better governance as well as President Ghani and chief executive Officer Abdullah have resolved their differences over the election and formed a unity government We have seen in Iraq where the Maliki regime's pursuit of a sectarian agenda left the nation vulnerable to the poison of ISIS That when leaders choose narrow political aims over the common good of their people They can do immense harm The fact that the new Afghan government's first official act Included the signing of security agreements with the United States and NATO and the reopening of an investigation of the Kabul Bank scandal gives the Afghan people reason to hope that the nation's new leaders are more interested in building Afghanistan's future Than in pursuing partisan or sectarian or corrupt agendas The progress that we and our Afghan allies have achieved in Afghanistan Has been built on adherence to a number of important principles First is the value of broad international support for our military efforts Second is the value of training local forces willing and able to defend their own people third is The value of pressing for unified inclusive governance. That is the value of a government worth fighting for fourth is the value of setting limits on our own military involvement in order to incentivize the development of domestic military and government institutions able to stand on their own Now while public opinion polls show the Afghan people think that we've accomplished much and Are glad that we came polls in the United States Show that Americans believe our involvement in Afghanistan has failed former secretary Gates Has made the pungent point that the Afghan war is the first that he's experienced The first war that looks better closer up than at a distance. I Believe the American public's failure to understand what we have accomplished in Afghanistan Is due in large part to the constant almost totally negative portrayal of events in the American press the press understandably reports on negative events a Taliban truck bomb and Kabul does make a more dramatic story Than a million girls go into school But it would be tragic if this negative focus Deprived the American people our men and women in uniform and their families of the sense of accomplishment that they deserve to feel About our effort in Afghanistan and The relentless negative focus of the press could have a serious negative effect on Afghanistan's future For two reasons first of all it could dampen the willingness of Congress to continually support Afghanistan If the American people think we failed and that we've wasted our resources It's less likely that Congress will do what we should do Which is to be steady and constant in our support economically and otherwise for Afghanistan but there's a second reason and That is that while Afghanistan's gains have been impressive They remain reversible Afghans continue to fear that the United States will abandon them and they believe as They believe that we did after the Soviets left in the early 1990s The Afghans have assumed responsibility for their own security and for their own political affairs But they continue to depend on international funding training and institution building in particularly In particular for sustaining the Afghan army and police The economic life of the country is far more vibrant than it was under the Taliban But it will take years for the Afghans to develop a sustainable economy And they won't be able to do it without substantial economic assistance From not just the United States, but from other allies and other members of the coalition And so if the public continues to believe That Afghanistan is a lost cause it may become a self-fulfilling prophecy Simply put if we don't understand what we and our coalition partners have gained in Afghanistan We risk losing it We've accomplished much Along with our Afghan and coalition allies and bringing more security and stability to that country and preventing it from Once again serving as a safe haven for terrorists who would attack us and others And while much remains to be done I believe if the Afghan people remain united and if we remain constant in our support of them That Afghanistan will take its place among the achievements of which our nation can be proud Before we move on the questions I want to touch briefly on something that Congress is going to face when it meets after the elections and that question is whether We should vote to authorize the president to use military force against ISIS In my view the answer is clear, but we should The poisonous ideology of ISIS is hostile not only to the region but to the world and there is a Real risk that the area that it controls could become a training ground and a launching pad For future attacks against the United States and our friends and our allies ISIS is terrorizing the Iraqi and Syrian people in slaving and slaughtering persecuting religious minorities attacking schools hospitals and cultural sites But if the fight against ISIS is to succeed it must be visibly an Iraqi and Syrian fight an Arab and Muslim fight against an internal Cancer and not be or be perceived as Principally a Western fight Though some have sought to minimize the contributions of Arab and Muslim nations in the battle against ISIS The open public participation of those countries is sending a powerful Political signal to their populations into the world we have a Unique opportunity at this crucial moment in history To bring the world together to confront a common violent enemy Our role should be to help bring together a broad Coalition and support of a unified Iraq and a moderate Syrian opposition By training and equipping them for the fight and as part of a broad coalition with the strong Visible support of Arab and Muslim countries by providing airpower that the Iraqis and Syrians lack Boots on the ground are needed, but they need to be Iraqi and Syrian boots I also believe that we should seek to establish a delineated buffer zone along the Turkish border in order to protect civilians a Zone which would be secured by Turkish boots on the ground if Turkey is willing Protected by a coalition no-fly zone both things will be necessary for Turkey to consider Turkish boots on the ground in that part of Syria along that border There must be a no-fly zone that protects that buffer zone and we should surely consider doing that and seek to do that So yes, Congress should vote to support the president in this effort Because it will be destructive to our drive to unite the world against ISIS If Congress and the president appear disunited We should vote because President Obama has organized a broad coalition that includes most critically Arab and Muslim nations who are public Open participants their publics know about their participation. I Do disagree with those who argue that the president cannot act Without an express authorization to use military force and that's really the other question Should he Should we should we vote on it the answer is yes If we don't vote on it, can the president act without that authority? And I believe the answer to that question is also yes The president has the authority on their article two of the Constitution to act where necessary to defend the United States and indeed presidents have used military force overseas on dozens of occasions and have received congressional authorization Only a handful of times to do that. So in the last 25 years, we have engaged in air campaigns To enforce a no-fly zone in Iraq To end the bloodshed in Bosnia To bring about a Serbian withdrawal from Kosovo and to protect civilians from Qaddafi in Libya all without congressional authorization Congressional support would strengthen the international fight against ISIS But the United States should continue in this effort with or without a vote on a resolution to authorize it Again my thanks for the invitation to be with you this morning and for the work that you do and now I Be happy to try to answer a few questions Thank you, Mr. Chairman I'm gonna start off with some questions. We will then throw it open to the audience And we will have mics that will be brought to you So let me begin miss chairman there was some reference to the Agreement that secretary Kerry negotiated between now president Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah you were of course there before it you had I think a catalytic role in achieving that agreement and one of the things as I understand it you emphasize the two leaders Was the need for a an audit of the election results? And that became a part of secretary Kerry's compromise proposal that audit has now been completed What is your assessment of how that process went and how the electoral process went? Putting aside the agreement now reached between the two leaders. Did it achieve what you had hoped when you made that recommendation? You know, I think it achieved as much as could be expected There and you know, you're you're an old hand in Washington. I think you understand the Necessity of reaching practical agreements and there was a practical agreement that was reached at the end of that audit Which is that the result would be announced, but not the numbers and that was essential for an agreement to be reached for all of the internal political psychological reasons that That drove it and so even though ideally on paper if we were teaching a civics class We'd say well, of course you announce the results, but that was not a perfect election to put it mildly there obviously had been fraud on both sides and in order to have an outcome which was acceptable which both sides could could subscribe to there had to be that practical resolution that the Result would be announced as to who won But because the numbers no matter what the numbers were that were announced would create Problems second guessing third guessing fourth guessing that they had to agree that the result would be there and That the numbers would not be Made public because they're very imperfect numbers at best in terms of the powers that were then going to be in the CEO position That is another practical resolution which both sides could Sign up to in which I think helped to help to pull a nation together You know, it's really quite a it's almost miraculous I mean people look in America because of the negative view the negative Way in which the press is treated Afghanistan They view something as a failure or don't view it at all in the case probably of the question you ask but It really is quite extraordinary Yet that outcome is really an extraordinary outcome that they could agree not just on whether or not to announce the numbers of the Votes in the ballot count, but also that they could share power and propose I guess it'll be to a Another lawyer jerker, which I believe is still going to be called that would ratify it It's sort of within the culture of Afghanistan that they were able to come together and when you compare that to what's going on in Iraq and What Maliki left in his wake the contrast is huge and it is a contrast Which is very very positive in terms of Afghanistan. They can be very proud I believe that they were able to come together after a bitter election campaign It is remarkable and I think a lot of Afghans felt they needed a unity government if they were going to go forward They have they now have one it creates a sort of a practical challenge for People in the administration and in Congress when they go to Kabul And it's a little bit reminiscent and I don't think the reminiscent but not parallel in any way but when President Medvedev was made president of Russia and Putin was then Prime Minister there was the old question. So who do we deal with? Do we do continue to deal with Putin? Do we go deal with Medvedev and the decision the Obama administration and the Bush administration made was Medvedev is president you deal with him now we have a sort of an Analogous but quite different situation. So who do we deal with if the United States government? Do you go to Ghani? Do you go to Abdullah? Do you do both? What is the sequence? That's not unusual By the way, that's true in many places in the world where we obviously deal with both but the sequence is that they've elected a president and the It's important that we obviously deal with both. They're both powerful figures, but one was elected president and That's the fact of the matter and I think I hope that both accept the sequence But I think both understand the necessity that Both be very deeply involved in discussions and hopefully agree We got a sequence problem in this country in a sense, too I don't know if anyone looks at it that way, but We're not very good at compromising these days I don't think we can lecture people with too much power about the importance of compromise. We don't have a lot of Ground to stand on in that. So it's with some We ought to have a little humility when we first of all we ought to congratulate them on what they've done because it's really extraordinary, but secondly, I think refrain a little bit from being too self-righteous about The need to work together. We could probably follow their lead these days instead of vice versa It is a remarkable achievement what they have done in terms of the election and the unity government As you know better than I there's a lot of fatigue in the United States with Afghanistan Compounded by as you made very clear in your remarks the sense from the media that it's not been a success But it's been a failure So Americans I think are going to ask the question is Afghanistan still important to us United States and if it is How do we rebuild the support within the country and within the Congress for the Afghan project? The Afghans have helped a great deal in their agreement and their unity government agreement and they're taking on the Kabul Bank again that issue in the working out a bilateral Security agreement with us and with NATO To the extent the American people have focused at all on those issues and I doubt that too many have But nonetheless the extent they have I think they'll be reassured by that But the bottom line is I think there's a lot of fatigue in this country about just about everything And that means leadership has to lead You know if you've got people who are kind of Hurt at all tired of the election tired of politics scared about Ebola Worried about ISIS. Let me just go down the list of things that happen It's where leadership becomes more and more important and that means hopefully That there's going to be greater unity in this country Particularly in the area of foreign policy by the way We have fallen short again, I want to avoid being too partisan but There's been a real shortfall of bipartisan foreign policy recently. I come from a state Where we had a famous senator who helped Truman's You know not just win a war but win a peace and he was an isolationist as a matter of fact This republican senator before the war and he became a Somebody who really became an internationalist After the war and helped Truman Win NATO and helped win Truman get Turkish You know Aver Turkey and Greece and a number of other things that were so important We've fallen Away from that recently and there's not been enough I think enough Critique of the falling short of that Goal of having politics stop at the water edge Water's edge That is so important in this country So important to our success And so I would hope somehow even if the Even if the Battles continue on the domestic front over health care or over The budget or all the other things that the battles go on that somehow or other there can be a coming together more In the area of foreign policy Senator let me press you on that because you've been in the senate now over 30 years been of a Real student of washington How do we get that back since the media seems to push us to the extremes the electoral system now With so many safe seats Republican candidates fending off challenges from the right democratic candidates challenges from the left It almost seems like the divisions have been institutionalized in our politics in our media How do we how do we get it back? Um, it's going to take leadership people who are willing to sit down Together just the way leaders have until recently and work things out. It may be just A matter of getting through an election this election and hopefully then there's a new environment But given the fact that a probably heated presidential election is next in line just two years away Which is like two minutes away in terms of political time I uh I think the odds are against it in the short term. It's going to be a fortuitous Combination of leaders that for whatever reason See it in their political interests To come together. I mean we're facing sequestration and I don't want to get way ahead off the subject You know, there's these mindless across the board cuts which nobody Who voted for him that I know have thought would ever take effect and they cut into everything Just about everything And they're mindless. It's not a way to budget. We all know it whether you're liberal conservative democratic republican 80 percent of us I think say it is crazy that we are now going to face in january and february another round First of three or four more rounds of sequestration and it it affects everything including whether we're going to support as we should Afghanistan's recovery and so Will we be able to find a course? To deal with that threat that that ought to be doable That is a budget issue and we've got our Deficits actually coming down to a level which is now lower than they were when president obama took office We ought to be able in a better budget environment to avoid these additional threats To some very important programs from everything from education infrastructure to national defense Maybe that would be the way if that can that needle can be threaded that one Budget needle called sequestration where everybody says they hate it just about not everybody 70 to 80 bipartisan Rail against sequestration democrats and republicans on my armed services committee Just rail against sequestration including me, you know, I've laid out a Way to avoid it and I won't go into it here because this isn't in the right setting But I've laid it out publicly and uh, maybe after an election in the lame duck session Our leaders can see it's in everyone's interest to do that and that maybe could set us on a better course You mentioned in remarks a comment conversation you had with some afghan elders And they said to you train our security forces and then leave and we'll welcome you back as friends Obviously the training of the security forces enabling them to take more responsibility for the security of the country is critical You followed it now for a long time on the armed service committee. How are they doing? And how much more help do they need from us? And the question a lot of americans will ask for how long they're doing Well better than we expected. I think they protected elections Um, I don't know of any area and there may be some where the taliban have been able to hold ground They've taken huge losses the army has taken huge losses the afghan army Uh, there's a willingness to fight. This isn't like that iraqi those iraqi divisions, which just disappeared when the isis showed up There's a willingness fight. There's a hatred of the taliban inside afghanistan most Afghans don't like the taliban and like the army Uh, and so they've done well. They're going to need continuing support And uh, they deserve continuing support training equipment Some they need training particularly with air force air power intelligence Logistics, I'd say those are three areas where they're going to need continuing support That we now have a goal of removing all forces by 2016, but both general camber and Um, general dempsi the chairman of the joint chiefs has said Well, if circumstances change By 2016 they're going to make recommendations to the president whoever the chairman of the joint chief is Chiefs is or whoever the our commander in afghanistan is they will Make whatever the Circumstances indicate they should make as a recommendation to the president when that time comes when all forces are pulled out But in the meantime, there are areas Including a left out counter-terrorism, which I should put in there, but counter-terrorism logistics intelligence And air power are the areas I would say they need particularly Special support, but they're doing well and they're well-liked And there's some local police too, which are well-liked by the way that are close to the inside the villages to the village leaders and that one is A pair of that efforts being apparently fairly successful as well And and one of the national police are doing better too. I mean years ago Everybody said the army's great clean afghan armies Got strong support, but the national police was corrupt. That's what you heard five years ago You haven't heard much about that because even the national police Seems to have cleaned up their acts somewhat I want to ask one last quick question and invite you a little bit into a potential controversy and then go to the audience for questions I think david sedney and and former ambassador ron newman in a piece they published here a few days ago Brought something to my attention that I said something which I had not understood which is that U.S. Air operations which continue in afghanistan are used to defend and david correct me if I get this wrong Used to defend u.s troops and coalition troops But not at this point in support of afghan security forces Since it's all one fight, uh That surprised me a bit. Is that it or do we have that right in terms of how we're using our air power? I'm not sure that's been decided by the way Hopefully not because I think they've got a good point I don't know that that's been Resolved yet, but I think they make a good point. So great Let's um have the questions from the audience Ma'am, we'll start with you in the back Thank you very much. I really appreciate for your good statements. My name is nazira azim karimi I'm correspondent for ariana television from afghanistan. Basically. I'm from afghanistan too Everything looks wonderful after the change big change in afghanistan But the only concern that everybody has that this is a policy of pakistan Do you think that After the new government in afghanistan pakistan able to change their policy towards afghanistan? Well, we've been pushing them to change their policy for As long as I can remember I used to uh I've made maybe a dozen trips to afghanistan in the last 10 years or so and I Used to always add pakistan Go to pakistan But I've received so much false information baloney In afghanistan about their policies that I just finally don't even go there anymore. I don't I don't want to Hear their line anymore Frankly about What they're doing to and I at one point I had the head of Intelligence saying if you could point out to us Where in pakistan the people are That are supporting The taliban in afghanistan will go after them and I looked at them like are you kidding? You know where they are You know absolutely where they are you're supporting them So I I've sort of Just given up in terms of trying to change their policy towards Afghanistan we shouldn't give up the fact that I'm frustrated is not a policy by the way It's just a fact of life, you know, it's I'm just being honest with you But now there may be some additional ways in which we can encourage pakistan to Really go after the people who are Creating trouble inside of afghanistan there may be and we talked about a little earlier In the meeting we had there may be some new ways of persuasion Towards pakistan to really go after the problem That's being created in afghanistan But created in pakistan So we just got to keep looking for ways and not Be frustrated by my frustration Sir morning senator Excuse me, you know, we have a saying in our part of the world that If mountain doesn't come to muhammad muhammad will go to the mountain you sir are the mountain So we are here to talk to you. I know I'm overweight, but I haven't been My name is ali staraj. I'm an afghan-american for 10 years I have been the president of the national coalition for dialogue with the tribes of afghanistan. I've been dealing with Afghan tribes from all over the past 12 years. I came here for some medical treatment recently First of all, I want to Extend our people's appreciation for the partnership that has always existed between the united states and afghanistan especially the tribes of afghanistan We were partners in fighting the soviet union You supplied us with the military Equipment and we supplied the manpower And after a loss of three million of our citizens one and a half million on the battlefield in one and a half million, which I call migratory genocide We managed together to bring the soviet Empire down to its knees. Although afghan people are not getting the credit for that Secondly, we as two nations partnered together to to fight against terrorism in the united states first entered afghanistan 2001 with 500 soldiers It was the ground forces of the freedom fighters Supported by the air support from the united states that we managed to get rid of the taliban and the al-khayda Since denser I see a strain in our relationship Up to 2005 it was okay, but when the iraq happened afghanistan started getting in the back burner and Today, we do not see the strength of the partnership that we had in the past As the facts are that you being in the position that you are You cannot play marbles with the pakistani isai the pakistani isai is blatantly supporting The haqqani group the la shkara taiba group. They have established bases and inside afghanistan and nuruslan They send rockets into kunar killing our people driving our people out But I do not you know, we have a partnership. We just signed the bsa Does this include the united states bringing action against the pakistani government through the united nations By by imposing sanctions against them to stop this this carnage that they are imposing on our people I I appreciate the fact that we want to develop afghanistan and we want to bring peace and prosperity to afghanistan But the people of the united states, sir. You said how do you bring the people? We bring the people of the united states back into the arena by informing them and letting them know That the battle is not between afghanistan and pakistan or between afghanistan and iran This is a battle that the al qaeda and the born and the new kids on the block terrorists the Isis are fighting against the west using afghanistan as a battleground and as long as we Keep the door open for these people to come in and do this battle against you I extend my my condolences and my appreciation to over 2000 american soldiers that have sacrificed their lives in afghanistan But they have not sacrificed their life for afghanistan alone They have sacrificed their lives for the children of the united states so that their futures are secure So so people like that cannot Make trouble for you, sir. I just want the united states to Voice As opposition to what the pakistani isai is doing in in afghanistan, sir. Thank you There was a question in the back. Yes, ma'am Thank you leandra bernstein rea novosti I have a question about uh counterterrorism efforts in iraq right now. There have been some contradictory reports about us and russian counterterrorism Collaboration, uh, so i'd like to i'd like for you to clarify what what that collaboration looks like and then also in terms of Terrorist financing What is the current status of saudi arabia? Are they moving toward countering that terrorist financing the way They promise in the way we expect I don't Know any more about the us russian collaboration if real Then you do because I just Saw For the first time we're we're not in session now. So we don't get the briefings. We usually do but I only know what i've read about it. We'll know a lot more when we get back about it If it's real in the intelligence area, I hope it is by the way There ought to be Common ground on some things And it ought to be isis audio night the world Including people who now have kind of a Unhappily a chili relationship, which is the case with the russian Us and russian the west because of their activities in ukraine and other places But there's still our areas where there should be A working together and if isis can't unite the world nothing can If nice if isis can't unite the arab and muslim world Then I don't know what would It isis is an opportunity I I it's hard to use that word With isis But it can unify people It is unified the world how many countries now 60 70 countries are signed up To support in some way the effort against isis There's a real there's a real coalition that involves now arab and muslim countries openly Not quietly openly Participating in the campaign against isis That could have a a major impact among their populations a recognition that a tiny percentage of islam Is is Is Conducting in the name of islam horrific acts And the other 98 percent of islam. I think is seeing that that is not what islam They all already know that's not what islam is about, but they don't want it islam to be perceived in that way And so you're going to find a coming together over time and the president's Pointed out this is a going to be a long battle But I think now that there could be a turning point in the world in the islamic world in the non islamic world Against a common threat And so I hope the stories are true, but I don't know anything more about it than what I've read In terms of sharing of intelligence Between russia and the united states, but if true would be I think a good sign of the power of horror and terror To unite people against it Your second question had to do with iraq I'm sorry, saudi financing and I know that the issue has been raised constantly and we think We think that there's been progress in that area. We hope Because it's been a real problem Even though it's not the government. It's what the governments look the other way when it happens It's not just saudi's either. It's other countries in the gulf that Have looked the other way when some of their wealthy people have Thought they're buying peace or supporting some cause that they believe in I'm not sure which is more prevalent by Providing funds for terror Sir in the back there and then here Mark schneider international crisis group First if I can personally and I suspect for most of the people here Say how sorely your voice is going to be missed in the u.s senate My wife would not join you in that Two questions quickly By the way, we're going to have a report coming up today or tomorrow on the afghan political transition Uh, one of the things you mentioned was the importance of sustaining the coalition government by in fact continuing to support the strengthening of the ansf And one of the questions that we have and a recommendation in the report and previous reports Is that to do that we need to provide what they're calling the the combat enablers Close air support Over the horizon intelligence and thus far it's not clear how that's going to be provided after 2014 so i'm wondering whether or not you could speak to that issue in the second you spoke about the importance of supporting the moderate rebel forces in syria They're getting clobbered in a lepo at the moment And while your suggestion along the for action along the border would relieve what may be a An massacring kovani. The question is how do you provide more support for those moderate rebels now? Well the key word in that sentence is now Because there is going to be support and the Hope is that it will Be able to be provided earlier than Later, I mean, but it's going to take some time now I can't comment on covert support There have been reports that there's been covert support And so I I can't confirm that even though they're on the press So but you have to if that's true that there's been covert support You've got to factor that in to some extent you don't know to what extent And I do know but I can't say Okay, so but but that is a if it's true Is a factor okay now on the on the overt support which is the department of defense support The president has laid out a course of action. I just hope it can be speeded up And I think that's your point as well in terms of the enablers that you made reference to Those are not Except in general terms. I don't think the precise nature of each area of Enabling has been Worked out. Maybe it has and maybe I don't know it But that's going to be determined by the circumstances and events and capabilities On the ground And I don't know that in any area that they've been fully worked out And if they have been particularly in the area of intelligence If I didn't know I wouldn't be able to say but I doubt that those have been really fleshed out yet If they have been for and if it's Something I could publicly talk about then I have to apologize for not being able to fill you in But my hunch is that that's being worked on as we speak all of them so Here in the front room I'm at magi there from the american enterprise institute. Uh, you rightly pointed out before that About pakistan that being frustrated or just hoping for pakistan to change its policy for better is not a policy Do you think that one way to change pakistan policy would be to Demonstrate a long-term and strong commitment to afghanistan stability in future Uh, to convince the pakistani security officer military officials that the taliban will not be just isn't or not the future of afghanistan And this current establishment will remain in place based on my own experience based my own discussion with some pakistani military officials. They are not convinced about that Before 2014 they were saying that They were raising some legitimate and sometimes exaggerated concerns and when I asked them that's why you're not Pursuing your concerns through the current legitimate government of afghanistan They were saying very frankly that they are not sure that this would remain in place America is leaving but we are in this region And whether it was about the surge or whether it's about now post 2014 Approach they have this time frame now. It's ending end of 2016. Do you think changing that will change pakistan's policy? And you did mention before that if situation is bad, perhaps we might reconsider Keeping a residual force even post 2016, but is that realistically possible? Given that we see that it's so difficult to do that in iraq. Thank you Oh Well, there's a totally different situation in iraq than there is here here the afghan government wants us There except for putting aside karzai was a sui generous Um The people of afghanistan want us there and their candidates wanted us there both of them So unlike iraq or their prime minister Said there's no way that your troops can stay here after that deadline I mean, I know there's a big debate as to whether or not the president could have tried harder But if you if you read gates's book What gates said in his book is that politically Excuse me the prime minister of iraq was not going to allow any american troops to stay there Beyond the deadline which president bush had negotiated And I believe that's true that politically he was not going to do it period. He wished now that he had Agreed to american troops staying there, but that's what he may wish now That's very different from afghanistan Where the government wants us to continue to answer your question. Um, I believe that, uh Yes, if if they sense con Excuse me if if pakistan senses Constancy A continued commitment on the part of the united states not just militarily But economically that we're there For the long term And we are and I hope we are That that will affect their calculus. I think that's true that will affect their calculus And if they think that yes 2016 is now what is the goal that's now what is set but As dempsi said and as cambell said That if circumstances are such at the end of 2016 that that's got to be reconsidered that they would recommend because it's only a recommendation Whoever the president is in 2000 end of 2016 I guess of 2017 would would make the decision as to whether or not to follow a recommendation By our commander or by a chairman of the joint chiefs of staff to continue some military Presence beyond the end of 2016 But given the fact that both of those leaders military leaders have said they would of course Make a recommendation to continue some military presence if circumstances are such That that Leads them to make a recommendation that they're going to do that because that's their duty so That possibility is real as far as I'm concerned. It's real even though. It's not now the plan Or the hope We have time unfortunately for just two more questions Ma'am here and then shaman would last question. How's that? Marie Zipansky from may rock. Thank you very much for your service. You started your Talk with we don't need doves. We don't need hawks what we need are owls Could you speak to the characteristic of the owls that you envision? Thank you Eyes open mouth shut You know thoughtful wise not jumping to conclusions understanding history Learning from history. I don't know if that's what your question is seeking but you know We we've got to understand the history a lot better. We got to understand the iranian history Iranian us history You know what happened in the 50s in iran? That still drives iranians or at least their old Leaders not the young people of iran who apparently want a major change in iran by the way But those the leaders who are alive in the 50s when the cia deposed a Freely elected president in iran. We we got to understand that history Is part of a whole picture we've got to understand the history in asia And i don't i don't want to go beyond that but So i think an owl the characteristics would be that they would really Understand history keep their eyes open And not You know not reach any prejudgements understand our limitations By the way as well as our power understand the limits of power Understand the capabilities of power and when you decide to use it use it wisely and effectively the power of coalitions I think a wise owl understands It's critical particularly in that part of the world unless there's some immediate threat to our Interest like one embassy that you act with countries in the region Far more powerful than to just have a western Effort militarily which plays into the hands of the terrorists They that's a propaganda fuel for them that it's a western occupation. Hey, this is not a western Thing that uh, this is not a western effort that's going on right now in iraq and syria This is a worldwide effort against these guys And that takes away a propaganda club from isis that wants to talk about another crusade so I don't know if i'm addressing your question Yeah, I like the language importance of language. That's what you're talking about speaking language and I think it was When when president bush began he talked about humility I think that was a word, you know, whether or not he lived up to his own Standard or not. Uh, there's a different issue, but uh, but I I liked it when president bush. I think started his uh, office talking about we need some humility So So you just mentioned about the progress in afghanistan You are right because afghanistan 2001 and 2014 is a huge differences election show that The people of afghanistan, you know rejected the status quo. They voted for You know For improving governance and reform agendas and also rejected the thaliban, you know ideas or Their influence, which was you know, the people were facing threats, but they came out. They voted So they don't want to go back. So we want to leave election behind We have a new government there Which is have a political will determination and ideas how to mend relationship With international community especially the u.s. Signing b says a good sign for that So my suggestion my question is What more steps are needed to strengthen this relationship between afghanistan in the u.s and continuation of support because We need support for a while because from one extreme We were giving a lot of money to afghanistan or spending. There are a lot of money without You know conditionality, but now we would like to Less money with with more conditionality how to balance this kind of relationship It's Not sure this is directly responsive to your question, but in terms of american support Which i believe is important desired and important And other countries i think the same thing is true that have been supportive either with troops or money That what our publics believe in a democracy such as ours is important And that's why i spoke about that issue if there's one part of this whole picture that i could change it would be That there'd be more balanced coverage in america Of afghanistan its pluses not just its minuses and not just that the bomb's going off or where the taliban is making progress in some parts but the amazing Amazing progress under these circumstances in afghanistan including the elections that's going to affect Our congressional Response to what should be done in afghanistan in order to strengthen the relationship And it's not really responsive to your question, but it's what i believe is so important and i Not just today. Did i spoken about the importance of the media? in terms of what the impact of its reporting is on the typical americans view of afghanistan if that Doesn't become more balanced if somehow or other the press can't See the the the glass not only half full in afghanistan, but getting fuller If they can't visit a university or a school in a village where girls are going to school or a health clinic Which is now providing health service or whatever it is if they can't cover that and say look what we have helped helped Produce obviously the afghan people have produced it we keep saying We want to open a door for people, but we can't walk through that door Well, the afghan people are walking through that door now. They risk their lives I mean, I don't know how many afghan soldiers have lost their lives Huge numbers have lost their lives in this fight And if the american people could sense that i think it would really On our side of the relationship be the most important thing that could happen because then there'd be a much greater willingness to To really be a true partner with afghanistan, which is so important I think we've seen today an example of this sound steady leadership That senator has shown in his years in the senate and particularly in the senate armed services committee Afghanistan is only one example He has if you will been largely an owl on foreign policy thoughtful wise steady He has been a supporter of usip And when you step down from your responsibilities in january, you will be sorely missed On all whole range of issues and I think if you could join me in appreciation for the senator being here and his wonderful service


and welcome to the First Unitarian Society of Madison. My name is Kelly Crocker, and I'm one of the ministers here. Today I'm joined by my colleague, the Reverend Kelly Asbruth Jackson, and the worship team of Linda Warren, Heather Thorpe, Drew Collins, and Daniel Carnes. The vision of First Unitarian Society is growing souls connecting with one another and embodying our Unitarian Universalist principles in our lives, our community, and our world. We're so glad to be able to connect with you virtually today, and we hope you will be able to join us for our virtual coffee hour immediately following our service. The information for joining can be found on the homepage of our website, fussMadison.org, as well as on the slide that will be seen again after the postlude. Our announcement slides will also be shown briefly after the service, and we encourage you to take a moment and learn about our upcoming programs and activities. And now I invite you to join me in a moment of silence to center ourselves and bring ourselves fully into this time as we join together once again in community. A diverse group of proudly kindred spirits, here not by coincidence, but because we choose to journey together. We are active and proactive. We care deeply. We live our love as best we can. We are one, working, eating, laughing, playing, singing, storytelling, sharing, and rejoicing, getting to know each other, taking risks, opening up, questioning, seeking, searching, trying to understand, struggling, making mistakes, paying attention, asking questions, listening, living our answers, learning to love our neighbors, learning to love ourselves, apologizing and forgiving with humility, being forgiven through grace, creating the beloved community together. We are one. Now I'll invite you to join me in the words of aspiration on your screen for the kindling of our chalice playing. We light this chalice knowing our congregation as a church dispersed across communities, not bound by walls, but connected through the web of life. Break not that circle. And singing him number 128 for all that is our love. There is a whole set of stories about a town called Helm. This is not to be confused with the actual real modern city of Helm. This is a mythical imaginary place. And in this imaginary town, everyone is a fool from the oldest, wisest elder to the newest newborn babe. Everyone in Helm consistently makes the silliest, most foolish choice you could possibly imagine a person making. So I wanna tell you a story about Helm today and you can play along at home if you like. Try to guess just what their solution to their problem is going to be in each instance. We'll see if you can find one quite as foolish as theirs. So this is a story actually about the beginning days of Helm when the village was first being founded. People came together and started building houses, of course, places for themselves to live. But one of the very first priorities had to be to build a synagogue. This was a Jewish community. They needed a place to meet together, to worship, to study, to hold meetings and events. So everybody got together to build a synagogue all as a group. And they realized that the first thing they were gonna need to do was to make a great big pit in the ground so they could put the foundation of the building down deep so it would be sturdy and stand up well to the test of time. So they started digging until they had a great wide rectangular pit large enough for a very generous synagogue space. But then someone asked the question, what are we gonna do with all this dirt?  That doesn't seem right. So they started to talk about what it was be that they would do with this great pile of dirt. And there were many different solutions, but the one that everyone applauded when they heard it was a very elegant way to address the problem. They decided they'd build another pit, you see. They dig another pit out, same dimensions as the first one. They could put the dirt from that one, from the first one, into the second pit. There you go, problem solved. So they were digging the second pit. When someone said, wait a second, what are we gonna do with the dirt from this pit? That caused another conversation, as you can well imagine. And people were debating about this thing and that thing. And finally, someone came up with the answer that the whole village agreed was the wisest possible solution. They would dig a third pit, twice the size of the first or the second so that it was big enough to hold the dirt from both of them and just be done with it. And this they did. Now after the synagogue was completed, it was almost time for the winter. So people finished setting up their houses and they helped their neighbors hang their doors and get everything as secure as they possibly could before the winter came on. They came on early and it lasted late. It was cold the whole way through with snow piled up to the tips of the icicles hanging down. It was like yesterday, but for five months in a row. It got so cold that the people ran out of firewood and they had to start breaking up their chairs and their tables and bed frames, all the furniture in their houses until by the end, they were sitting on the floor. So when the winter finally did come to an end, they had a meeting in the synagogue. This was a terrible problem.  They talked long into the night about what it would be that they should do. But finally someone came up with the solution that everyone agreed was the best possible plan. They would build a wall, a tall brick wall all around the city and in that way, they would keep the winter from ever coming back into town again. Now, there are many possible lessons you could take or not from a story about the foolish people of hell, but here's mine for this morning. There are a lot of different ways that you can fill in a pit, but there are some things that you can't keep out with a wall. I invite you now into a time of giving and receiving where we give freely and generously to this offering which sustains our community here and also supports the work of our outreach offering recipient. This week, our recipient is Centro Hispano which is a local nonprofit devoted to serving the Latino community of Dane County by empowering youth, strengthening families and engaging the community. Each year they reach more than 2,500 families with services including mentoring and tutoring for youth, immigration assistance, career training and health education. You will see on your screen that you can donate directly from our website, fussmedicine.org and you will see our text to give information there as well. We thank you for your generosity and your faith in this life we create together. And see that all what is a room without a door which sometimes locks or spends a jar. What is to keep out sight and sound from all? Something there is that doesn't love a wall that sends the frozen ground swell under it and spills the upper boulders in the sun and makes gaps even two can pass a breast. The work of hunters is another thing. I have come after them and made repair where they have left not one stone on stone but they would have the rabbit out of hiding to please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean, no one has seen them made or heard them made but at spring mending time we find them there. I let my neighbor know beyond the hill and on a day we meet to walk the line and set the wall between us once again. And dwellers in each room should have the right to choose their own design and color schemes to suit their own. Though differing from mine each door has its own design to suit the owner's state of mind and those who'd want them all the same. Don't understand. We keep the wall between us as we go to each the boulders that have fallen to each and some are loaves and some so nearly balls we have to use a spell to make them balance. Stay where you are until our backs are turned. We wear our fingers rough with handling them. Oh, just another kind of outdoor game one on a side. It comes to little more. He is all pine and I am apple orchard. My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines. I tell him he only says good fences make good neighbors. Spring is the mischief in me and I wonder if I could put a notion in his head. Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it where there are cows but here there are no cows. The choice is ours to share this earth with all its many joys abound or to continue as we have and burn God's mansion down. My father's mansion has many room with room for all of his children and sees it all. Before I built a wall I'd asked to know what I was walling in or walling out and to whom I was like to give offense. Something there is that doesn't love a wall that wants it down. I could say elves to him but it's not elves exactly and I'd rather he said it for himself. I see him there bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top in each hand like an old stone savage armed. He moves in darkness as it seems to me not of woods only and the shade of trees. He will not go behind his father saying and he likes having thought of it so well. He says again good fences make good neighbors. About three years ago the artist Andy Goldsworthy began a major art installation at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. The project was simple enough he and a small team of workers were going to build a wall. They started by collecting stones for it hefty mostly flat hunks of limestone gathered from the prairie of Kansas's Flint Hills. Then they set to work placing those stones into a long slim wall with an even height of about four feet. They used no mortar instead just laying the stones into place carefully. The wall first took shape in a field adjacent to the museum campus and weaved and meandered back and forth so that it looked like the jagged lines of an EKG from overhead. But once they built the wall from one end of the field to another they'd only just begun the project because the purpose of their project was for the wall to move. The first step would be getting across the road taking stones away from the back of the wall they hauled them by hand and wheelbarrow to the front end inching the line forward until it extended into and eventually completely straddled two lanes of traffic. Obviously the road had to be closed while the wall made its migration across the asphalt that took about two weeks. Once on the grounds of the museum proper the wall continued to zig and zag cutting across lawn space winding in between buildings and working its way up to one of the museum entrances where it blocked the doors entirely for a little while. The next challenge was for the wall to descend a flight of outdoor stairs and this is where the stone workers had to break their rule about building only from the front forward to comply with gravity's restrictions they took stones from the rear of the wall as usual but brought them all the way to the base of the stairs building an essentially new section of wall upwards until it met the main body then they were able to continue on largely as before. The final stage of the project or at least where it stands today brought the wall to rest on the opposite side of the campus from where it started winding across a sloping lawn and tripping down a much smaller set of stairs to come right up against a large pane in the wall plain of glass in the wall of the museum. They set the stones with careful precision there and they kissed right against the glass then they took several last loads of stone inside of the building and built more wall two or three feet out from that same piece of glass on the inside. To anything other than the most up close inspection the wandering wall appears to be literally protruding into the museum a barrier of another wall in order to wind wherever it will the entire process took nine months in photographs the wall always appears static frozen in time but the process of constructing deconstructing and reconstructing it made clear what a fundamentally transient thing it was and is the signs at the museum today have to remind guests not to move or remove any of the stones something that someone with the necessary inclination and upper body strength could easily do because the stones have not been sealed with any sort of mortar they were put in place by human hands and they could be taken away by the same means tomorrow or the middle of next week on a more realistic work schedule the placement of the wall throughout its journey and still today feels variously playful arbitrary inconvenient or bizarre depending on the viewer's perspective and priorities and absolutely everything about this one wall its illusion of permanence its reality of transience its inconvenient placement and arbitrary layout even the way it sometimes appears to work with the landscape and other times against it all of these things are true on some level of every other wall that ever has been or ever will be some years ago I spent a week on a service a business trip to New Orleans it had then been almost two years since the storm that flooded, crushed, burned and drowned that city one of the many projects which our little group of volunteers were enlisted in was the gutting of houses it's a practice that on the face of it seems even more distasteful than the name gutting would imply the water that filled much of the city stayed high and still for days after the storm long enough to leave buildings drenched to their rafters walls and floods and ceilings no longer offered surety or support they were now simply crumbling derelicts left untended for months or years waiting for their owners to pull together enough money to return from wherever they had fled to for survival they soaked wood and drywall and became a breeding ground for hazardous mold the walls themselves had turned against their owners in cases like this the hope of saving even the bones of the structure lay in tearing out everything rotten and compromised in the building some folks managed to do it on their own many folks in New Orleans even watching their own house be gutted was too painful and too raw it was a scene of violence against something they loved but just like the violence of a life-saving surgery hope motivated the work when the worst of the rot and the mold were gone the work of healing the house could begin again ceilings and floors and walls could be rebuilt and rooms filled with new belongings as much as the insurance might cover or the kindness of friends and strangers would allow the water that scoured New Orleans swept over the levees in some places and broke through them entirely in others it poisoned the walls of the city so that they had to be torn down but in the breaking of those walls new possibility also came through I don't mean this in a rose-colored glasses sort of way it was an apocalyptic loss for poorer and majority black segments of the city it is a wound that has hardly even had time to scar over for a huge number of people and families but also life persists in that great city and it has done so by cutting out some of the worst of the rot in its wounded body and beginning to grow anew as painful as it sometimes is as inconvenient as it almost always is we need the barriers that we live with and depend on to be impermanent and breakable because the line between the security we need to flourish and grow and the comfortable complacency we crave but do not need is very hard for us to see on our own the walls we build to keep us safe too easily become battlements strung with barbed wire and set with watch posts and spotlights we become afraid to ever step beyond them and paranoid about anyone else who might cross the same lines inside the walls that encircle our identities the pieces of ourselves that matter most to us that sneaking, dangerous, mistaken idea that whatever I happen to be is the best sort of way to be begins to creep in and woe to anyone who lives beyond our walls and even more so to any who would enter or leave our hollowed ground if the self-appointed gatekeeper does not feel that their papers are in order we need our walls to crack sometimes so that we can see through to the other side and be shown the barriers and the blockades that are holding back life rather than protecting it there's a story in the Quran about the Prophet Moses and how in order to serve his community he sought wisdom from a great mystic called al-Qidr the green one in the story the two go on a journey in which Moses sees Qidr do some strange things the trip begins when they board a ship to set off across the sea and the green one breaks a hole in the side of the boat later their journey ends during a visit to a foreign town they receive no hospitality and are treated very poorly by the people there and yet Qidr takes the time to repair a wall in the village that was beginning to crumble with age his companion is bewildered and dismayed by all of this until the green one finally explains the ship belonged to a kind hearted man al-Qidr broke its hull to save the vessel if it had sailed on towards its original destination it would have been seized by a wicked king and its owner left with much less than a damaged ship the crumbling wall belongs to no one but buried underneath it was a great treasure which rightfully belonged to two orphans they were so young and vulnerable now they suddenly came into a great sum of money the unkind villagers would surely swindle them out of it but because the wall had been repaired their treasure would not be found for several years enough time for the children to grow to maturity and be ready to defend their birthright we cannot always see for ourselves which of the lines that shape our lives need to be reinforced which need to be washed away the mental and sometimes the physical wall that constitutes the border between this nation and all other nations has been a national mania for some time now that line cuts through towns and hearts and families it has been used to divide people and communities against each other and to reduce millions of human beings whose lives and work benefit this country to the level of disposable abstractions and the obsession with that line has also inspired some wonderfully creative methods of protest in one that has been going on at least since the 1970s games of volleyball periodically break out between teams on opposite sides of the 21-foot border wall between the state of California in the U.S. and Baja California in Mexico no matter how we divide ourselves one from another our natural curiosity and interest in one another will eventually reveal itself we humans have an innate understanding of our connectedness even when something appears to be in the way it is not that good fences make good neighbors as Robert Frost's neighbor beyond the hill would claim it is rather that good neighbors make good fences when a relationship of trust and compassion exists between two people or two groups or two nations they build only the barriers that they truly need between themselves the wall that is just as strong as it needs to be to keep your cows from wandering into my orchard and tripping over the roots or the fence that is just as tall as it needs to be to keep my dog from digging up your bushes but not so strong that we cannot take it down together if its purpose is ever through and not so tall that we cannot meet on either side of it some spring day and chat about the weather and the news in town and how has your mother been lately I will keep her and you in my prayers in the year 105 of the common era the Roman Emperor Trajan ordered that a bridge be built over the Danube River near what is today the city of Kledovil in Serbia the Danube is one of the earth's great rivers and it is both very wide and very deep building a stable structure across it was almost unprecedented in the history of human bridge building up to that point so far as we know and Trajan's bridge remained one of the top five or so longest bridges in world history for at least a thousand years after it was decommissioned late in the third century less than two decades after Trajan's bridge was built the very next emperor of Rome, Hadrian ordered that a wall be built across a narrow section of the island of Britain running from the North Sea on one end to the Irish Sea on the other ultimately both of these were military projects Trajan wanted to make it easier for his legions to invade and occupy Dacia the region across the Danube and Hadrian determined that there wasn't much value in further conquest of the northern end of Britain and so ordered his forces to make a clear line between Roman holdings and the world beyond there's a popular slogan from recent years that declares build bridges, not walls but this small anecdote from Roman history reminds us that empires are always in the business of building they build bridges where they are advancing and walls where they are in decline so more important than any moral value we might assign to the constructs themselves is the purpose for which each particular wall or bridge is intended when we are constantly on guard caught up in our personal walls as though we are lost and amazed we miss out on the opportunities to learn and to grow the seeds of hope and love and justice that we may discover in another person there is a story in the Jewish tradition about a great rabbi who was very wise and renowned in his community he was a holy man and always seeking after new degrees of holiness that he had not yet achieved himself one night he dreamt of the world to come the age when the universe shall be whole again and all shall be justice and peace in some traditions it is held that when that day has arrived a great meal will be served to satisfy those who toiled in the world before it was perfected in his dream the rabbi beheld this meal he saw the wonderful colors and smelled the fragrant spices of the food he felt the soft comfort of the grand chair in which he was seated at the table of the righteous just before his dream ended the rabbi looked around and into the face of a man who was seated next to him a man he did not know but as he awoke he heard in his mind the name of the man and the town where he lived the rabbi was filled with joy to receive such a wonderful and prophetic dream and he was very curious to meet this man whom he was destined to sit beside at the banquet for the healing of the world knowing himself to be a deeply wise profoundly holy and very important man the rabbi greatly wished to know what sort of exalted figure he would be honored to sit beside at the blessed meal to come so the rabbi set out for the town where this man lived on the way there he had to cross an old decrepit bridge over a loud river he arrived near sundown on a Friday a time when any observant Jew would need to be at home preparing to welcome the Sabbath he found the man's simple tiny house empty besides this it was filthy and clearly it had not been cleaned for many months the rabbi waited and waited until well after sundown before the stranger from his dream the owner of the house arrived he was the same man to be sure but his face was dirty and his clothes were tattered the poor man accepted the rabbi into his home but with none of the honor and ceremony to which the important holy man had grown accustomed he was offered food but he quailed to eat it for although his host was clearly Jewish it seemed he kept none of the commandments and the food from his kitchen was visibly not kosher the rabbi's heart sank for now having met the stranger he was destined to share the bread of the restored Eden with he felt that there must be some terrible flaw in his own heart how else could he explain the shame of being placed on the same level as this lowly borderline apostate in the morning the rabbi set out back to his own village in despair again he crossed the same rushing river its water even higher and faster than the day before and no sooner did he touch the far bank than the water surged even higher and swept away the old rickety bridge the rabbi began to continue on almost glad to be cut off from his future dinner partner when he realized that he was not carrying his coat he must have left it behind in the home of the stranger but there was no hope of reclaiming it now that the bridge carried away by the river the rabbi turned back to look once more in the direction of his lost coat when he saw something across the river the shape of a person striding towards him it drew closer and closer to the river and the rabbi swung his arms in warning that the bridge was out but the figure just kept coming until the rabbi recognized it as the man he had been so disappointed to meet he was carrying with him the rabbi's coat the man came to the edge of the water and he did not break stride he only took off his own meager jacket and threw it before him onto the water as the man from his dream began to walk almost run really across the water holding out that lost coat towards him the rabbi realized that he was witnessing a miracle he was humbled to have met this man clearly so holy that he could walk across a raging river supported only by his jacket and so kind he would travel far to return a lost coat to a stranger who had judged him so harshly no wall can last forever no wall built of steel or stone and no wall built of feeling or thought the walls which endure are the ones we maintain which we devote ourselves to building and rebuilding again and again some of these hold up our houses or hold up the necessary appropriate boundaries we set with others others block us off from meaningful connection and close the way to the possibility of relationship just like Andy Goldworthy's walking wall the barriers that shape our lives can be reshaped by our choices and by our hard work whether the line of a wall is truly necessary or it no longer serves a healthful purpose you will eventually find a crack the first choice then is whether to fill it in or to make it wider each week we gather in this space bringing with us the cares of recent days in our own lives and in the lives of those we love we bring all these here in the spirit of support and acceptance and care this week a member asks us to light a candle of gratitude that her kidney function test this week shows improvement so her pain meds can be restored we send our hopes for healing and strength and that your spirits stay high in the days to come and we light a candle for one who wrote may I remember to stay grateful for my blessings and give what I can to those who are struggling with historical or present burdens and Kelly and I light a candle of deep sorrow and loss for our colleague the Reverend Jean Pupke beloved minister and leader in our movement who passed away suddenly on Wednesday we send our love to her wife Regina all their family and friends to the first Unitarian Universalist Church of Richmond, Virginia where Jean has been serving since 2006 and to all those within our faith and beyond who were touched by Jean's remarkable life may the fruits of her ministry continue to inspire us all and we light one last candle for all the joys and all the sorrows that live in the silent sanctuaries of our hearts may we hold them all in gratitude in love and in hope an addiction for Super Bowl Sunday come from my colleague may whatever gatherings or activities we engage in this Sunday afternoon help restore us our connections to one another our sense of hope, beauty and fun in this world our deep knowing that we have to take care of ourselves and each other with love and joy if we are to soulfully survive the world's mayhem Go in peace and amen