I never even had the slightest interest in this part of the Our Father.
Now, it is quite significant to me - because it has become concrete and clear for me that it is absolutely and completely true.
We choose the Kingdom in which we reside. The vast majority of us select the Kingdom of Selfishness / Evil. This kingdom is a cesspool of pleasure, completely devoid of Joy, Life, Love, Peace, Hope, future.
Jesus died to get us to choose His Father's Kingdom - THE HEART - Love, Life, Joy, Truth, Peace, Hope, Future. I live there now pretty much. IT IS THE ONLY KINGDOM, the only place to Live. It is the greatest power in the universe- Love, Truth, Life ARE God - the all powerful. This is the Kingdom / Life of Glory, there is no other.
5.03.2007
FAMILY TO YOU? CARETAKERS OF YOUR LEAST OF THESE
What if your family is Darfur? Haiti? Congo? Palestine?...
Then it would seem you do not have a family to you. This is quite endurable, but profoundly tragic.
Oh God, we must "wake up and see we are all family;" Start Loving.
Yes of course you are always a family to all.
Then it would seem you do not have a family to you. This is quite endurable, but profoundly tragic.
Oh God, we must "wake up and see we are all family;" Start Loving.
Yes of course you are always a family to all.
JOB #1: CREATE PEACEMAKER COMMUNITIES FOR YOUTH
Whether imaginary or real, God will ask we who kinda get it: WHAT DID YOU DO TO CREATE "GREENHOUSES" FOR THE TEENS AND EARLY 20'S THAT HAD SOME HEART/LIFE LEFT? THEY WERE OUR ENTIRE HOPE.
Every week maybe two marvelous young souls find me. They don't have a chance. Who will encourage their Humanity? Who will shelter, encourage, train, teach, labor with them? They are completely at the mercy of the Beast - the US military industrial complex.
There is no hope until this changes. We must become the Church in fact, not name. We must protect our "children" from otherwise certain death.
Every week maybe two marvelous young souls find me. They don't have a chance. Who will encourage their Humanity? Who will shelter, encourage, train, teach, labor with them? They are completely at the mercy of the Beast - the US military industrial complex.
There is no hope until this changes. We must become the Church in fact, not name. We must protect our "children" from otherwise certain death.
We are killing our children by their late teens
I've said this before but my experience with the Darfur "activists," presumably the MOST alive of the college crowd is way past alarming.
Today for example a group of DC university student "activists" had a meeting with the Sudan Embassy Ambassador ostensibly to convince him to end the genocide. There were about 20 0f them. Most arrived late. Their attire, posture and demeanor said, "F--- man, kill the dude's if you want, I've gotta go party." Shorts, headphones, late, casual, jocular....
Oh my God, these children are walking corpses / consumers. They are screwed into The Matrix and loving it. Never has the status quo devoured our young at such an early stage in their lives. This is the mark of the Beast; a precurser of the end-times.
No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this Apparatus, and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others..." Reflections on War, Simone Weil
Today for example a group of DC university student "activists" had a meeting with the Sudan Embassy Ambassador ostensibly to convince him to end the genocide. There were about 20 0f them. Most arrived late. Their attire, posture and demeanor said, "F--- man, kill the dude's if you want, I've gotta go party." Shorts, headphones, late, casual, jocular....
Oh my God, these children are walking corpses / consumers. They are screwed into The Matrix and loving it. Never has the status quo devoured our young at such an early stage in their lives. This is the mark of the Beast; a precurser of the end-times.
No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this Apparatus, and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others..." Reflections on War, Simone Weil
Complete quote: "But the impotence one feels today—an impotence we should never consider permanent—does not excuse one from remaining true to oneself, nor does it excuse capitulation to the enemy, what ever mask he may wear. Whether the mask is labeled fascism, democracy, or dictatorship of the proletariat, our great adversary remains The Apparatus—the bureaucracy, the police, the military. Not the one facing us across the frontier or the battle lines, which is not so much our enemy as our brothers’ enemy, but the one that calls itself our protector and makes us its slaves. No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this Apparatus, and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others."
LIFE SERVICE NOT LIP SERVICE
For now this will have to do: ACTIVIST HYPOCRICY: LIP SERVICE BUYS NO MERCEDES. It is very worth the read.
GOD'S WILL: GATHER HEARTS FOR THE LEAST OF THESE HER FAMILY
Heart, Love, Global Family - It is astonishing to me that I've studied a lifetime only to see how simple and "childlike" is what God calls us to devote our lives to entirely.
Start, how can it be so simple? Trivial but apt analogy: You have 10,000 numbers to add; how can it be so simple as turning on a computer with Excel spreadsheet software?!??!
The Heart is God (Love, Life, Truth) - the all-powerful. The Heart is what is wise enought, strong enough, courageous enough, miraculous enough to create Heaven on Earth.
Start, how can it be so simple? Trivial but apt analogy: You have 10,000 numbers to add; how can it be so simple as turning on a computer with Excel spreadsheet software?!??!
The Heart is God (Love, Life, Truth) - the all-powerful. The Heart is what is wise enought, strong enough, courageous enough, miraculous enough to create Heaven on Earth.
OPEN HEART SURGERY
OPEN HEART SURGERY - this is how I conceive of the work I am called to do in front of the Sudan Embassy, and for the rest of my life 24/7. This is a way of naming what Jesus died to call us to - to open our own hearts and thereby maximize the chances of opening, "Saving" the hearts of our brothers and sisters.
4.28.2007
At the auction: "I bid my life for theirs!"
The point of this post is to share my thoughts within recent hours of how the actions of people set "value" in an extremely powerful way.
Example: Imagine that a knowledgeable art crowd is an auction. All feel that they have familiarized themselves with the pieces. Many note the odd ash tray and wonder whether it is a joke! When bidding begins on the items, the ash tray leads.
"I bid $1,000,000 on the ash tray," says a noted art expert. The crowd is electrified right? What is the enormous value of this that they overlooked?!?!??! The value of the ash tray just went from zero to millions!
Conversely, if the only bids on the astray were a few dollars then that is its value.
ALL WE ARE BIDDING SO FAR IS A FEW DOLLARS ON DARFUR.
ERIC REEVE OF SMITH COLLEGE IN THE FACE OF LEUKEMIA IS BIDDING HIS LIFE. I AM TRYING TO DO THE SAME... TRYING TO BID UP THE VALUE OF DARFUR LIVES.
Example: Imagine that a knowledgeable art crowd is an auction. All feel that they have familiarized themselves with the pieces. Many note the odd ash tray and wonder whether it is a joke! When bidding begins on the items, the ash tray leads.
"I bid $1,000,000 on the ash tray," says a noted art expert. The crowd is electrified right? What is the enormous value of this that they overlooked?!?!??! The value of the ash tray just went from zero to millions!
Conversely, if the only bids on the astray were a few dollars then that is its value.
ALL WE ARE BIDDING SO FAR IS A FEW DOLLARS ON DARFUR.
ERIC REEVE OF SMITH COLLEGE IN THE FACE OF LEUKEMIA IS BIDDING HIS LIFE. I AM TRYING TO DO THE SAME... TRYING TO BID UP THE VALUE OF DARFUR LIVES.
Living in the face of Emergencies - Where Jesus wants Start
Well, it seems that Start is called to live in the face of emergencies; not to say that we all are not. But certainly it seems that I am.
Strategically this makes sense that Jesus would want me / us to Live there - in the face of emergencies:
* Wake us up now to see we all are family (see post below.) The example that comes to me so frequently is that of a house fire with a community bucket brigade to fight it. The perfect example of how emergency can remind us all that we are family. An emergency can evoke this, wake up our sense of universal "family" as nothing else can.
* Where else besides an "emergency" in a world filled with them would a brother, Jesus want his brothers and sisters to be?
"As you do unto the least of these you do unto me."
"Do unto others all that you would have them do unto you."
Strategically this makes sense that Jesus would want me / us to Live there - in the face of emergencies:
* Wake us up now to see we all are family (see post below.) The example that comes to me so frequently is that of a house fire with a community bucket brigade to fight it. The perfect example of how emergency can remind us all that we are family. An emergency can evoke this, wake up our sense of universal "family" as nothing else can.
* Where else besides an "emergency" in a world filled with them would a brother, Jesus want his brothers and sisters to be?
"As you do unto the least of these you do unto me."
"Do unto others all that you would have them do unto you."
NEVER AGAIN DENY OUR FAMILY EMERGENCIES
I have throughout mylife: Nicaragua, Brazil, Civil Rights, Vietnam War, Rwanda, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, East Timor, Balkins, Katrina, Haiti, Poverty, Starvation, Aids....
Never Again for me, I hope; I expect; I desire. Life happens in the face of Emergencies.
Never Again for me, I hope; I expect; I desire. Life happens in the face of Emergencies.
WAKE US UP NOW TO SEE WE ARE ALL FAMILY
Well, when this phrase, when this mantra emerged in my mind Tuesday as I sought to distract myself from thinking about the reaction of passers-by to the new posters, I wept and wept. It was overwhelmingly joyful to finally, FINALLY understand what this Darfur call that has so long posessed me is all about, what Jesus is all about, what the hope for Humanity is all about.
WAKE US UP NOW TO SEE WE ARE ALL FAMILY
This is what Jesus attempted and pulled off for about 200 years. This is what Gandhi attempted and pulled off for years following the direction of Jesus and Tolstoy. This is what SNCC and King and a few others pulled off for several years in the 1960s.
Oh, sometime I hope to have the time and energy to give the references and sitations to back this up by if you search your own heart and recollections I think you'll see it.
The key notions are:
1. "We all are family" is written on our heart!
2. "Wake is up now" is the strategic opportunity and the only strategic hope!
How?
A. Find it and deliberately awaken it within your self
B. Live it
C. Repeat! In living universal "family" you will demonstrate a way of being that we all have experienced at one moment or another and remind us. Do this enough and it is awakened in others!
Be the change you want to see.
WAKE US UP NOW TO SEE WE ARE ALL FAMILY
This is what Jesus attempted and pulled off for about 200 years. This is what Gandhi attempted and pulled off for years following the direction of Jesus and Tolstoy. This is what SNCC and King and a few others pulled off for several years in the 1960s.
Oh, sometime I hope to have the time and energy to give the references and sitations to back this up by if you search your own heart and recollections I think you'll see it.
The key notions are:
1. "We all are family" is written on our heart!
2. "Wake is up now" is the strategic opportunity and the only strategic hope!
How?
A. Find it and deliberately awaken it within your self
B. Live it
C. Repeat! In living universal "family" you will demonstrate a way of being that we all have experienced at one moment or another and remind us. Do this enough and it is awakened in others!
Be the change you want to see.
4.25.2007
SOLIDARITY: PERFECT ENCAPSULATION OF JESUS
Solidarity. I think this may be the perfect, complete encapsulation of what Jesus died to teach us. PLEASE MASTER THIS! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE:
JESUS TAUGHT US: SPIRIT IS EVERYTHING
Not for me, but for you and God. It is the single biggest reason He/She/It put me here.
Please.
JESUS TAUGHT US: SPIRIT IS EVERYTHING
Not for me, but for you and God. It is the single biggest reason He/She/It put me here.
Please.
Friends of the Darfur Hunger Strike campaign recently
In no particular order (Oh, PLEASE, PLEASE forgive me for all of you I've overlooked or unappreciated at 4:41am this morning!):
- Ellen - OK. She is the lifeline on the whole thing. God, thank you for sending Ellen. Loving, cheerful, courageous, brave, relentless, thoughtful, resourceful, skillful....
- Will - basically homeless and without funds I think - supplies and pays air time for a cell phone he has put at my disposal. God, thank you for Will. Bless his heart.
- Mary Rachel and Dave - Always there for Start's Cross carryings. Unimaginable courage, kindness, faith and goodness. I must not get in the way of their all important now finding and carrying their own Crosses. Angels.
- Evelyn Clark - Well, you all need to know her. An Angel - a channel to God's love, life, and understanding. Did you see Dogma? Evelyn is God in Dogma.
- Delphine Schrank - Simply sent by God to publicize the Hunger Strike. A miracle of talent, will, heart, understanding, articulation....
- Frank LaRusso - just showed up! I'll sit in for four hours. I was just being picked up so it didn't work out, but it may in the future.
- Alex - A young architect that lives 2 miles away. Bought some Ensure, and Vitimin water for the campaign that he brings from time to time.
- Andres and friend - Amnesty International. Came by for spiritual / moral support the other night. I suspect and hope they will be back.
- Anthony - Amnesty international. Nice kindness and moral support so far. Brought V8.
- Rebecca - seeking so ardently a community truly of Jesus. A great friend. Brings V8, love, passion, excitement, sun screan....
- Beverly - my pit-bull of love.
- Timothy - My South Africa freedom fighter friend came through well for the crucial Washington Post article.
- Graham - A young Med student at Howard deeply concerned in a healthy way for my physical well being. Extremely sensitive, wise and searching for how to live in the face of Genocide. Will I suspect become a Dr. that helps the world.
- West European friend - 40ish man that wants me to have a medical attendant. Is seriously and intelligently trying. God bless him.
- Ace - Young refugee from Congo at Grafixx that donated the tattoo. A warrior needing a family.
- Fellow at FedEx/Kinkos - My credit card bounced today, and a young fella would hear only of accepting the cash I had an "handling" the rest.
- Parelles - Anthony had just been a ridiculously generous supporter and brother all through the winter. God, bless his heart.
- Thomas - Moses in our midst, when he chooses to bless us / me.
- Save Darfur ladies - I distance myself from these groups of chatty, laughing, poster holding folks that unthinkingly are a desecration to our Darfur family in the 4th year of a genocide. Several ladies have crossed the divide to the extent of opening dialog and providing water. God, encourage and bless them.
- Sister Each - My beloved Buddhist Nun sister that fights for peace with relentless courage, loves me, and drummed next to me at the Embassy for hours last week.
- Mike Walli - A guest at the Dorothy Day house that came by to visit several days ago. One of the great Warriors of Revolutionary Brotherhood I've ever met - much jail and prison time in the service of the least of these. Courageous search for the real teachings of Jesus.
BE THE SUFFERING AND GRIEF YOU WANT TO SEE ELIMINATED
"BE THE SUFFERING AND GRIEF YOU WANT TO SEE ELIMINATED," Start Loving.
Companion to Gandhi's: "Be the change you want to see."
Companion to Gandhi's: "Be the change you want to see."
4.24.2007
YOUR OWN CROSS: YOUR BEST GIFT EVER!!!!
Oh, so often over the last five years since Chester I have been pleading with our Father, begging him, BEGGING HIM:
Father? You have given me so many gifts to share - courage, compassion, vision, hunger to act, hunger to serve, articulation, wisdom, independence, technical skills, leadership abilities.... PLEASE GIVE ME A PLATFORM THAT CAN ENABLE ME TO BE OF SOME SERVICE WITH THESE GIFTS.
The only great psychiatrists/psychologists in their own way entirely predict this deep, overwhelming yearning among all humans that have not been brutally dehumanized / pathologized - Maslow, Adler, Csikszentmihilyi, Rogers. But in this case Frankl comes to mind:
"Man's Search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a 'secondary rationalization' of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone; only then does it achieve a significance which will satisfy his own will to meaning... Man, however, is able to live and even to die for the sake of his ideals and values!" Holocaust survivor, psychiatrist Dr. Victor Frankl (Man's Search For Meaning)
The last time I had such a platform was as school counselor at Columbus Elementary in Chester, PA. Possibly the largest, lowest performing elementary school in the country. Possibly the most important work I've ever done in my life was there, voluntarily 2-4 hours per day cleaning all scraps of mountains of trash from the grounds before students and staff arrived in the morning. It was an enormous lift to the 1,200 students and 100 or more staff members. I never thought I could be so FULFILLED - WELL USED again.
DARFUR HUNGER STRIKE - SUDAN EMBASSY - EMBASSY ROW - MASS. AVE CORRIDOR - WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE.
This is quite a cross: I'm sure I have never been so physically suffering as the 4th-12th hour of marching, and the next 8 hours attempting to rest with joints that are just screaming.
This is quite a cross: The agony of my Western brothers and sisters with their brutally and cruelly starved, grotesque and emaciated Hearts. The agony of my spiritually and materially starved masses worldwide.
A reporter from a Spanish twice weekly paper interviewed me the other day. "You have taken the whole world on your shoulders," he observed. That thought had never occurred to me. I have, with no expectation of succeeding, but every desire to give my life to the attempt.
THE CROSS IS AGONY. YOU DON'T WANT TO SHARE YOUR CROSS. IT IS A BENEVOLENT GREED. "THIS IS MY OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE; I'VE PRAYED FOR IT. THANK GOD I'VE GOT IT. I WANT EVERY SPECK OF IT."
Father? You have given me so many gifts to share - courage, compassion, vision, hunger to act, hunger to serve, articulation, wisdom, independence, technical skills, leadership abilities.... PLEASE GIVE ME A PLATFORM THAT CAN ENABLE ME TO BE OF SOME SERVICE WITH THESE GIFTS.
The only great psychiatrists/psychologists in their own way entirely predict this deep, overwhelming yearning among all humans that have not been brutally dehumanized / pathologized - Maslow, Adler, Csikszentmihilyi, Rogers. But in this case Frankl comes to mind:
"Man's Search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a 'secondary rationalization' of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone; only then does it achieve a significance which will satisfy his own will to meaning... Man, however, is able to live and even to die for the sake of his ideals and values!" Holocaust survivor, psychiatrist Dr. Victor Frankl (Man's Search For Meaning)
The last time I had such a platform was as school counselor at Columbus Elementary in Chester, PA. Possibly the largest, lowest performing elementary school in the country. Possibly the most important work I've ever done in my life was there, voluntarily 2-4 hours per day cleaning all scraps of mountains of trash from the grounds before students and staff arrived in the morning. It was an enormous lift to the 1,200 students and 100 or more staff members. I never thought I could be so FULFILLED - WELL USED again.
DARFUR HUNGER STRIKE - SUDAN EMBASSY - EMBASSY ROW - MASS. AVE CORRIDOR - WASHINGTON POST ARTICLE.
This is quite a cross: I'm sure I have never been so physically suffering as the 4th-12th hour of marching, and the next 8 hours attempting to rest with joints that are just screaming.
This is quite a cross: The agony of my Western brothers and sisters with their brutally and cruelly starved, grotesque and emaciated Hearts. The agony of my spiritually and materially starved masses worldwide.
A reporter from a Spanish twice weekly paper interviewed me the other day. "You have taken the whole world on your shoulders," he observed. That thought had never occurred to me. I have, with no expectation of succeeding, but every desire to give my life to the attempt.
THE CROSS IS AGONY. YOU DON'T WANT TO SHARE YOUR CROSS. IT IS A BENEVOLENT GREED. "THIS IS MY OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE; I'VE PRAYED FOR IT. THANK GOD I'VE GOT IT. I WANT EVERY SPECK OF IT."
New posters
Two will show at the Embassy at a time (front and back laminated 28/25".)
With any luck I also will, like Auschwitz victims be fully shorn today sometime.
DARFUR GENOCIDE WILL STOP WHEN THE WORLD WEEPS
Someone or something must enable the world to weep from deep in the soul at the grief and suffering of that Darfur part of our body, a part of our body from which we are so pathologically divorced.
Me and anyone else that wants the Genocide to end - this is the goal we must serve - enabling the weeping by the world from deep in the soul at the grief and suffering of their Darfur body.
Jesus did this. Gandhi did this. Teresa did this. Virtually every Hero real and imagined does this - sees, becomes, embodies and thereby spreads the grief and suffering - RECONNECTING / REUNITINE ALL PARTS OF THE BODY OF HUMANKIND; A SURGICAL RECONSTRUCTION / REPAIR OF THE MOST PROFOUNDLY HEALING KIND, if you will.
I'm off! It is a race against time. There are about four of us weeping now. Four must become eight, sixteen.... Must try to sew us all back into one body, one family.
Me and anyone else that wants the Genocide to end - this is the goal we must serve - enabling the weeping by the world from deep in the soul at the grief and suffering of their Darfur body.
Jesus did this. Gandhi did this. Teresa did this. Virtually every Hero real and imagined does this - sees, becomes, embodies and thereby spreads the grief and suffering - RECONNECTING / REUNITINE ALL PARTS OF THE BODY OF HUMANKIND; A SURGICAL RECONSTRUCTION / REPAIR OF THE MOST PROFOUNDLY HEALING KIND, if you will.
I'm off! It is a race against time. There are about four of us weeping now. Four must become eight, sixteen.... Must try to sew us all back into one body, one family.
If you know, you cannot NOT act
"If you know, you cannot NOT act," Start Loving. This is a correlary to a post of several days ago. Old Eastern wisdom: "If you know and you do not do, you do not know."
Teresa of Calcutta spoke in a similar veign: "Love cannot remain passive in the presence of suffering."
Teresa of Calcutta spoke in a similar veign: "Love cannot remain passive in the presence of suffering."
WHAT PARENT WOULD FAVOR ONE CHILD OVER ANOTHER?
WHAT PARENT WOULD DIVIDE THE FAMILY, SPLITTING OFF ONE OR TWO FAVORED CHILDREN, THEREBY DIVIRCING THOSE FROM THE MASS OF THEIR REAL FAMILY / SIBLINGS / AUNTS / UNCLES...????!?!?!?
No good parent would do this. But this is exactly what our American Values have is do regarding non-bionically related folks.
Even with a fresher brain than I have now at 2:30am I usually cannot think of an example as good as Evelyn Clark and her family (http://clarkid.blogspot.com/) of how to Live as a family in this most toxic of all times in history.
The essence of what I witnessed was a young family, the Captains Clark of the Chester Salvation Army, lovingly, courageously, simply, unwaveringly, humbly bringing up their young family (daughter about 7, son about 12 at the time) in, at and around blighted Chester Salvation Army. The Catholic Workers are a distant second and some of the healthier Amish, Mennonite and Brethren Communities a more distant third in my limited view of how to be community / family and raise children.
No good parent would do this. But this is exactly what our American Values have is do regarding non-bionically related folks.
Even with a fresher brain than I have now at 2:30am I usually cannot think of an example as good as Evelyn Clark and her family (http://clarkid.blogspot.com/) of how to Live as a family in this most toxic of all times in history.
The essence of what I witnessed was a young family, the Captains Clark of the Chester Salvation Army, lovingly, courageously, simply, unwaveringly, humbly bringing up their young family (daughter about 7, son about 12 at the time) in, at and around blighted Chester Salvation Army. The Catholic Workers are a distant second and some of the healthier Amish, Mennonite and Brethren Communities a more distant third in my limited view of how to be community / family and raise children.
WHEN NO LONGER A "GOD" LIGHTENING RECREATED US
Because, then, when we got past being blinded by the awesomeness of lightening, we felt empowered to understand and work with that great force. Ancient tribes did little besides experience the "wonder" of lightening and there is MUCH to be gained from that. But when Franklin combined the "wonder" with desire for the Truth there was the release of an explosive potential.
“The day will come when after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire." This is a quote of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
"We must finally harness, and be harnessed by Love, Life and Truth or tomorrow will be inescapable Hell," Start Loving
“The day will come when after harnessing the ether, the winds, the tides, gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire." This is a quote of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
"We must finally harness, and be harnessed by Love, Life and Truth or tomorrow will be inescapable Hell," Start Loving
"Love/Life/Truth is God" tells us more than "God is Love/Life/Truth"
"Love / Life / Truth is God," Start Loving
"God is love, life, truth," Gandhi. With this Gandhi might be understood to imply that these things are PART of God, right?
My best estimate is that these ARE the ENTIRETY OF GOD, and as such are infinitely awesome, utterly ungraspable, breathtaking and miraculous in their power.... They are indeed:
* Truth - trivial example but think of the movie "Twelve Angry Men." As Dr. King said, "Truth crushed to earth will rise again." Our defenses against the truth rival anything the Pentagon has yet devised because if and when the Truth makes it past our defenses our old self dies a certain death. There is no resisting the Truth once it hits the heart.
* Life - "Life" of the Divine/overwhelming/awe-inspiring sort actually "has" us, not the other way around right? "Life" of this sort "has," Lives / Owns / Possesses / Moves us, right? It is the power of God. Life is the all powerful God.
* Love - Love, NOT LUST (that is what today we totally equate to Love in ENTIRE ERROR - they are OPPOSITES!), is like a raging river on which we are but a leaf, no? Love is God - an all powerful force that when we let ourselves enter in carries us with a force, wisdom, brilliance, intelligence... that we never will be able to fathom. Love is God - the Magnificent, always beyond our comprehension, Divine God.
"God is love, life, truth," Gandhi. With this Gandhi might be understood to imply that these things are PART of God, right?
My best estimate is that these ARE the ENTIRETY OF GOD, and as such are infinitely awesome, utterly ungraspable, breathtaking and miraculous in their power.... They are indeed:
* Truth - trivial example but think of the movie "Twelve Angry Men." As Dr. King said, "Truth crushed to earth will rise again." Our defenses against the truth rival anything the Pentagon has yet devised because if and when the Truth makes it past our defenses our old self dies a certain death. There is no resisting the Truth once it hits the heart.
* Life - "Life" of the Divine/overwhelming/awe-inspiring sort actually "has" us, not the other way around right? "Life" of this sort "has," Lives / Owns / Possesses / Moves us, right? It is the power of God. Life is the all powerful God.
* Love - Love, NOT LUST (that is what today we totally equate to Love in ENTIRE ERROR - they are OPPOSITES!), is like a raging river on which we are but a leaf, no? Love is God - an all powerful force that when we let ourselves enter in carries us with a force, wisdom, brilliance, intelligence... that we never will be able to fathom. Love is God - the Magnificent, always beyond our comprehension, Divine God.
Not JUSTICE! GOD'S WORK IS HUMANITY/BROTHERHOOD!
The writers keep getting me wrong.
Justice is of the head. Not enough wisdom, strength, courage or heart there.
Why does everyone get this wrong about me? It is global "Humanity," "Live," "Brotherhood," and our complete "Joy" that I starve for. These are things of the Heart. I starve for our Hearts to come alive! I starve for us to wake up and see that we are all family. :-) NOT JUSTICE. Justice is a thing largely of the mind, of Thinking. Thinking is killing us. Start Loving. Dan Hardy that did that blessed Phila Inquirer article did the same. Others that know me and respect me much more frequently than not - "Oh, you love Justice more than anyone I've ever met!" (an African American Methodist pastor from affluent West Chester.) No! It is PEOPLE, my brothers and sisters that I love.
Justice is of the head. Not enough wisdom, strength, courage or heart there.
Why does everyone get this wrong about me? It is global "Humanity," "Live," "Brotherhood," and our complete "Joy" that I starve for. These are things of the Heart. I starve for our Hearts to come alive! I starve for us to wake up and see that we are all family. :-) NOT JUSTICE. Justice is a thing largely of the mind, of Thinking. Thinking is killing us. Start Loving. Dan Hardy that did that blessed Phila Inquirer article did the same. Others that know me and respect me much more frequently than not - "Oh, you love Justice more than anyone I've ever met!" (an African American Methodist pastor from affluent West Chester.) No! It is PEOPLE, my brothers and sisters that I love.
Save Darfur? Make people grieve from their souls.
Hunger Strike.
Who is the biblical character, women, whose son was killed by the King and by decree his body was left unprotected so the wild beasts would descerate it?
Well, she defied the king and protected the body of her son with her life all summer. Finally the king's heart melted.
She became, BECAME God's grief embodied and this the King's cold heart cold not withstand.
Someone must do this for Darfur to melt the cold hearts of we US brothers and sisters.
Vicarious learning.
Who is the biblical character, women, whose son was killed by the King and by decree his body was left unprotected so the wild beasts would descerate it?
Well, she defied the king and protected the body of her son with her life all summer. Finally the king's heart melted.
She became, BECAME God's grief embodied and this the King's cold heart cold not withstand.
Someone must do this for Darfur to melt the cold hearts of we US brothers and sisters.
Vicarious learning.
Ultimate Attention Getters: Risk of Death/Suffering
Hunger Strike.
No wonder I've been drawn to this.
Now, have we all honed defenses against just about EVERYTHING? Yes.
No wonder I've been drawn to this.
Now, have we all honed defenses against just about EVERYTHING? Yes.
4.23.2007
THE MORAL IMPERATIVE/OBLIGATION OF A WITNESS
KNOWLEDGE /VISION IS RESPONSIBILITY. Unknown author.
IF YOU KNOW AND YOU DO NOT DO, YOU DO NOT KNOW. Eastern saying. (Millions "say" they "know" of the Darfur "Genocide," but they do not "DO." I "KNOW" and "DO." I AM OBLIGATED TO CONTINUE UP UNTIL THE PRICE OF MY LIFE.
Ok, please, PLEASE truly and thoroughly follow this through.
Your dearest loved one is in Intensive Care. I am the nurse. Somehow the entire hospital staff goes deaf and dense. Your loved one goes into attack, an attack I am expert in seeing and that others under the best of conditions has extreme difficulty seeing. An attack that will be fatal unless I can get the full attention, understanding, vision and belief of the staff.
I AM A WITNESS RIGHT? I HAVE A MORAL OBLIGATION TO LAY DOWN MY LIFE IF REQUIRED AS A BROTHER TO SAVE THIS LIFE RIGHT?
What must I do? DO UNTO OTHERS ALL THAT YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU. JESUS ONLY "SIN" WAS NOT, NOT TO BE A BROTHER WILLING TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE - SELFISHNESS OF ANY AND ALL FORMS.
What must I not do? BE ANYTHING LESS THAN A FULL BROTHER TO THAT PATIENT AND TO ANYONE ON THE STAFF.
Can I use enormously tough love on the staff? IT IS A MORAL IMPERATIVE TO DO SO EVEN UP TO THE POINT OF RISKING OR SACRIFICING MY OWN LIFE, UPSETTING THEM, RISKING THEM KILLING ME THROUGH IGNORANCE, NEGLECT OR EVEN MISTAKEN VIOLENCE.
Would you really want me to protect my own life at the risk of YOUR DEAREST LOVED ONE? No. And I would not want you to.
Now, do I really love Darfur that much?
We'll see, I pray. Pray for me in this respect only.
This post should really, really help us all.
Your Loving brother, Start
IF YOU KNOW AND YOU DO NOT DO, YOU DO NOT KNOW. Eastern saying. (Millions "say" they "know" of the Darfur "Genocide," but they do not "DO." I "KNOW" and "DO." I AM OBLIGATED TO CONTINUE UP UNTIL THE PRICE OF MY LIFE.
Ok, please, PLEASE truly and thoroughly follow this through.
Your dearest loved one is in Intensive Care. I am the nurse. Somehow the entire hospital staff goes deaf and dense. Your loved one goes into attack, an attack I am expert in seeing and that others under the best of conditions has extreme difficulty seeing. An attack that will be fatal unless I can get the full attention, understanding, vision and belief of the staff.
I AM A WITNESS RIGHT? I HAVE A MORAL OBLIGATION TO LAY DOWN MY LIFE IF REQUIRED AS A BROTHER TO SAVE THIS LIFE RIGHT?
What must I do? DO UNTO OTHERS ALL THAT YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU. JESUS ONLY "SIN" WAS NOT, NOT TO BE A BROTHER WILLING TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE - SELFISHNESS OF ANY AND ALL FORMS.
What must I not do? BE ANYTHING LESS THAN A FULL BROTHER TO THAT PATIENT AND TO ANYONE ON THE STAFF.
Can I use enormously tough love on the staff? IT IS A MORAL IMPERATIVE TO DO SO EVEN UP TO THE POINT OF RISKING OR SACRIFICING MY OWN LIFE, UPSETTING THEM, RISKING THEM KILLING ME THROUGH IGNORANCE, NEGLECT OR EVEN MISTAKEN VIOLENCE.
Would you really want me to protect my own life at the risk of YOUR DEAREST LOVED ONE? No. And I would not want you to.
Now, do I really love Darfur that much?
We'll see, I pray. Pray for me in this respect only.
This post should really, really help us all.
Your Loving brother, Start
Going to Court: Judges are a Starving child, Mutilated girl...
Per the "Going to Court" post down a few, as I wallow in my new all-day discomfort I also find promise, hope, humility and self-deficit in holding my selfish intersts in the light of my suffering Darfur family.
It will really be intersting to see how much I really do Love them, how real they are to me, how real is thier suffering to me, AND HOW REAL THEY BECOME WITHIN ME.
Pray for me.
It will really be intersting to see how much I really do Love them, how real they are to me, how real is thier suffering to me, AND HOW REAL THEY BECOME WITHIN ME.
Pray for me.
4.22.2007
!!!!!!"BREAD SERVED"/THERAPY PER MINUTE!!!!!
See posts below regarding "Bread" and "Mass Therapy."
I've been aching (hmm, intersting choice of words) to begin to see the metrics that can enable us to begin to quantify and thereby optimise our progress toward a global revolution of Brotherhood.
Within the last two days I'm getting my first vague glimpses. Crude yes, but finally something.
I can sit in front of the Embassy and there would be significant impact, and it would be quite pleasant and easy for me - reading, prayer, no or little pain. Impact? h (hours) x n x st = n umber of souls receiving s ignificant t herapy.
I can march the intersection furiously with great pain, no reading, and little prayer. Impact? 8n X 3st = 24 times more impact - ROUGHLY!!!!
Now, this will be interesting to see how I grow or not. H Hours. How much to I let myself sleep and rest - how much do I push myself into pain.
CAN I LEARN TO LOVE THE ELIMINATION OF MY FAMILY'S PAIN (FAMILY I WILL NEVER SEE, FEEL, TOUCH) MORE THAN MY OWN?!!?!?!?!?!
The point? "Unearned suffering [as a natural byproduct of "doing unto the least of these"] is redemptive," said Dr. King. I can control the amount of suffering here. In this case the more hours per day I suffer, the more people I impact per hour. This is a simple fact. How much to I love my Darfur family? Hmmmm. We'll see.
I don't recall ever being afraid of dying. I have since a little child been extremely afraid of suffering. Now, I've sacrificed to the extreme all my adult life - working, dedicating, producing, focusing, being disciplined to the extreme! But this is relatively easy and very fun for me. But physical suffering hour in, hour out, week in, week out, month in... I've never really been faced much with that. I'VE NEVER BEEN FACED WITH THAT! The nausea and weakness of earlier hunger strike days are nothing compared to the pain of the walking now and the consequences when I do have time to sleep at night.
How much "bread" am I willing to be, at what price? Well, I know what Jesus, Beko, King and others were willing and able to be. Start Loving? Hmmmm.
This is great!
Pray for me. Pray for Darfur.
I've been aching (hmm, intersting choice of words) to begin to see the metrics that can enable us to begin to quantify and thereby optimise our progress toward a global revolution of Brotherhood.
Within the last two days I'm getting my first vague glimpses. Crude yes, but finally something.
I can sit in front of the Embassy and there would be significant impact, and it would be quite pleasant and easy for me - reading, prayer, no or little pain. Impact? h (hours) x n x st = n umber of souls receiving s ignificant t herapy.
I can march the intersection furiously with great pain, no reading, and little prayer. Impact? 8n X 3st = 24 times more impact - ROUGHLY!!!!
Now, this will be interesting to see how I grow or not. H Hours. How much to I let myself sleep and rest - how much do I push myself into pain.
CAN I LEARN TO LOVE THE ELIMINATION OF MY FAMILY'S PAIN (FAMILY I WILL NEVER SEE, FEEL, TOUCH) MORE THAN MY OWN?!!?!?!?!?!
The point? "Unearned suffering [as a natural byproduct of "doing unto the least of these"] is redemptive," said Dr. King. I can control the amount of suffering here. In this case the more hours per day I suffer, the more people I impact per hour. This is a simple fact. How much to I love my Darfur family? Hmmmm. We'll see.
I don't recall ever being afraid of dying. I have since a little child been extremely afraid of suffering. Now, I've sacrificed to the extreme all my adult life - working, dedicating, producing, focusing, being disciplined to the extreme! But this is relatively easy and very fun for me. But physical suffering hour in, hour out, week in, week out, month in... I've never really been faced much with that. I'VE NEVER BEEN FACED WITH THAT! The nausea and weakness of earlier hunger strike days are nothing compared to the pain of the walking now and the consequences when I do have time to sleep at night.
How much "bread" am I willing to be, at what price? Well, I know what Jesus, Beko, King and others were willing and able to be. Start Loving? Hmmmm.
This is great!
Pray for me. Pray for Darfur.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MASS THERAPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is really shocking and amusing to me how long it takes me to "get it."
Only in the last two days have I come to the realization that what Jesus was, and what we are all called to be is Mass Psycho therapeutic Therapy (see !!!ADLER!!! post below.) This is what I am doing furiously marching and occupying the Sudan Embassy / Embassy Row sector.
All the Saints saw this potentiality, that something could mass shock us out of our manic selfishness into the clinical health of mass Brotherhood and Otherishness. There is no question that they saw this and dedicated their lives accordingly. For a brief time we saw Jesus, King and Gandhi have this mass impact. We all have had moments, days, weeks, months when something (book, movie, event...) or someone had this mass therapeutic mental health impact on us.
This is what Jesus and Life call us to do, to learn, and to dedicate ourselves fully to.
Only in the last two days have I come to the realization that what Jesus was, and what we are all called to be is Mass Psycho therapeutic Therapy (see !!!ADLER!!! post below.) This is what I am doing furiously marching and occupying the Sudan Embassy / Embassy Row sector.
All the Saints saw this potentiality, that something could mass shock us out of our manic selfishness into the clinical health of mass Brotherhood and Otherishness. There is no question that they saw this and dedicated their lives accordingly. For a brief time we saw Jesus, King and Gandhi have this mass impact. We all have had moments, days, weeks, months when something (book, movie, event...) or someone had this mass therapeutic mental health impact on us.
This is what Jesus and Life call us to do, to learn, and to dedicate ourselves fully to.
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