Normally I find waterfalls terribly happy places. I love their music. They change the air and that changes us.

But when I saw this beautiful photo of these falls and the cairn built in front of it, now when we grapple with homophobia, hate, gun violence, and from what we’re beginning to hear, we must perhaps also think self-loathing… it seemed such a strong symbol for Peace.

In this picture the music I hear in my head of the water falling is elegy… it is also demand that our prayers be those of action. Let us pass laws about guns. Let us interrupt hate speech. And please, please, please, let us stop repeating the hate that spews from the mouths of ignorant people. Let us be constructive…

Let us be people of Peace. Let us remember that Peace is not passive. When I co-opt Peace to be a verb and say, “Let us Peace,” it is an active verb.