a fine essay by Bono on diplomacy and Sec. Kerry

[MBS]

This was posted (thanks, Karynnj) in the Kerry group yesterday, but I think it deserves a wider audience.

This is Bono's piece on John Kerry (who was chosen, so deservedly, as one of the "Times 100&quot .
I've now read several of the other articles in this year's "Times 100" issue, but Bono's essay stands out for its insight, both about Sec. Kerry and about the work of diplomacy.

http://time.com/4301293/john-kerry-2016-time-100/?

Here's an excerpt, but the whole thing is worth reading:

“Blessed are the peacemakers,” the Scriptures say. To which we might add: Sleep-deprived, coffee-stained and stubborn are the peacemakers. It couldn’t be less romantic, if we’re honest. Diplomacy is the art of getting people who disagree on everything to agree on one thing. There are meetings. Many of them. They are long, the rooms are cold, the sandwiches are bad. The white doves of peace rarely appear, and if they do, it’s only after a brutal process that very few have the skill or stamina to navigate.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is one of the few. He has a lot of things, but stamina has gotta be right up there. Under that hard hat of a haircut is a hard head. But there’s a powerful left-brain-right-brain thing happening in there, so uncommon among tough-minded men.
. . . .
The word diplomat retains its 19th century starched-collar gentility, but it’s a bruiser’s game today. Kerry, a lifelong hockey player, has shown he can take it. I had a cycling accident and spent six weeks in bed. Kerry had a cycling accident, and I don’t think he even noticed. The man falls off a truck every day. He gets thrown out of a plane every day. Yet he’s always where he needs to be. Blessed are the peacemakers.