The Whole World Is Watching

Iran.
Neda.
The whole world is watching.

And I don't know what to think. I feel. I feel many things: sorrow, horror, doubt and hope.

None of us can know how this will end. Or when.
Sometimes I think that nothing much will change.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has sanctioned and apparently conducted a recount and has acknowledged "voting irregularities."
In fifty cities, more votes were cast than there are inhabitants. This is insufficient to invalidate the election. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the lawfully elected President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And the Supreme Leader should know. It is within his power to declare the winner of the election and to depose the lawfully elected President if he sees fit.
Then there are the Mullahs of the Guardian Council, ironically also known as the "Council of Sages." Its members are appointed by the Supreme Leader.

This evokes both hope for and doubt about any real change in Iran's government. For some of the senior clerics publicly back Musavi. Former President Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani and his family - his daughter was arrested and released - are Mousavi supporters.
Yet, I am also aware that the impetus for the protesters was not to change the system of government, depose the Supreme Leader or abolish the Council. And I wonder, if Mir Mousavi had been eleted and ratified what if anything would have changed in Iran and in the world?

Now, in spite and because of the atrocities perpetrated by the Basij militia, I believe that it is possible that fabric of Iranian society and government is being rewoven. As in the case in most societies, the weavers are primarily women. The theological sacred canopy that has covered the decisions of the Supreme Leader, President and Guardian Coucil of Iran has been shifted from its base and may come tumbling down.

At my most optimistic, I believe that anything is possible. I remember the end of Apartheid in South Africa. That felt like a miracle.

And I remember all of the troubled places yet on the face of the earth: Palestine, North Korea, Darfur, Congo, and many, many more.

I hope and I pray for the people of Iran. Sometimes for I know not what. But I know that God knows, hears and answers prayers. Even those that we are unable to articulate. And I know that the Holy Spirit interprets and intercedes for us.

Let there be peace on earth. And let it begin in Iran. Inshallah. Amen.