Start L.'s Tattoo, Hair, finances, etc.

5/5/07 4:34pm

I posted this title yesterday. Since 10:15am this morning I've been sponging free wi-fi and coffee refils off of Panera bread while my Phila family does their retail business. Panera is a pretty upscale, sophisticated clientelle.

45 minutes ago the manager came over to my table. One might have expected a bit of irritation at a "sponger," "wierdo" in an orange sweatshirt with a TATTO ON HIS HEAD!

The manager is maybe 25. A big, handsome fella. Slight baby face. Strong people skills. Well suited to managing a pretty big, prestigeous business like this.

Well, he did come over because of the tattoo. HE WANTED TO TALK JESUS. And we did for about 20 minutes. No hold barred. He was pleased and excited by the tattoo. He knows scripture 100 times better than me. Obvously he is not nearly as radical as me, but he is a genuine seeker - not a dogmatist.

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If you and I were sitting together at this moment within feet of one another and I was bouncing, shaking, jerking, rising, falling... you'd be pretty concerned and freaked out! In fact, under conditions that we in this sick society consider "normal" I too would be freaked out!

Unless we were sitting together in a raft going down Class 5 Rapids. You would not be freaked out because of course you could see that I was being acted upon by forces way beyond my control (unless I chose to steer over to the bank and got on dry land).

Well, not Class 5 Rapids have I thrown myself on, but rather the ultimate force of Jesus / God / Love / Life. RESULTS INCLUDE:

• My hair is extremely long.
• My clothes are border getto / sloppy.
• Homeless, pennyless living on the street.
• The tattoo!??!? Oh my.

There has not been one nano second since I took these on that they have felt other than totally normal and appropriate. I find this amazing. There have been seconds in my own imagination when I have "seen" that to others they could be shocking, horrifying, absurd, wierd, freaky....

You who know me know that I am a pretty observant, sensative guy. You who do not know me can somewhat assume this when you consider that my livelyhood (pretty big bucks) has depended on such traits - executive management, sales, retail.... Well, these characteristics have only improved and using them I'll report that since the tattoo, clothes, hair... what encounters I've had these have not yet been any sort of negative! Yes, it is possible that they have prevented encounters that otherwise would have happened; AND DOUBLESS THIS WILL BE THE CASE AS MONTHS AND YEARS GO ON! But those are by definition encounters I don't have time for now, and for the role I need to play on earth, I never will have time for (See post: STARTING A MOVEMENT? EXCLUDE THE MASSES!!!!!!!!).

• And, would there have been a sectional front page big spread, highly favorable article in the Washington Post (A Hunger For Justice - washingtonpost.com) if I had NOT had these new, abnormal attributes? WITH 2 HUGE PICTURES? WITH FEATURING ON THEIR WEB PAGE?
• And would the Panera manager have come over for an important, Sacred encounter?
• Would a handful of the finest young souls imaginable, real Truth seekers, have at significant effort made and maintained contact with me?
• Would a woman in Camden on the bus have come and sat next to me having seen the tattoo to ask about it, smile, and deeply enjoy the encounter?
• Would several of the most heroic activists in the world be deeply in support of my efforts (Ellen, Thomas, Dianne, Anne).
• Etc.
• Etc....

It proves nothing, but I find it more than an interesting comparison:

MatthewChapter 11 6 Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, "What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. 9 Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? 7 Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: 'Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.' 11 Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist....

• Marines are a specialized role. They do not look "normal" except in the context of being a Marine.
• Bouncers do not look normal, except in the context of their jobs.
• M.D.'s are usually in scrubs and nurses in uniforms.

Start Loving is a would be Saviour.

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That Panera manager just came back and we talked Jesus for another 20 minutes. :-)

SATAN NOT JESUS WOULD BLOCK "HEAVEN" WITH DOGMA

An honest dialog with some "Christians" elicited comments from me including the following:

"What do you think Jesus, our Brother, or God our Father will examine us regarding when they are deciding whether for us it is Heaven or Hell? From your site in my reading last night it seems you believe They will focus on what we believed - whether we ascribed to the right dogmatic beliefs [professing Resurrection, "Son of God," etc]. Do you think God and Jesus are gamers? Are they so narrow, bored, twisted, sadistic... that you think they have set up some sort of Beliefs Obstacle Course and if you obey the right few rules, recite the correct Dogma, have the right few "beliefs" you win; otherwise hell forever. Come on folks, that is Satan! Satan would do that.

God is our Father/Mother. Jesus is our Master and Brother. They love us. They don't need anything from us. Like all good Family they only WANT FOR us.
They want us to LOVE OUR BROTHERS AS OUR SELF, for our Joy of it, for the Kingdom Coming of it. This, THIS is the only thing they will discuss with us, examine us regarding as to our destination of Heaven or Hell. 'Did you love your brother as yourself? Did you do unto the least of these All that you would have them do unto you,' THIS is all they will discuss with us.

To decide anything else from Jesus words is to decide again that He is a trickster, with an enormous ego that wants to be amused and flattered by watching us writhe around trying to guess what He wants to please / pleasure Him. If that is what they are, God and Jesus, I'll take their Hell any day.

But that is not them. The are pure love for us as Father / Brother / Mother / Master. Like all such, they want Heaven on Earth for us that as they promised is guaranteed: THY KINGDOM COMES AS THY WILL IS DONE. Doing Their will as best we can imagine it for the least of these their family...
1. Gives the doer complete Joy, Peace, Love, Life exactly as Jesus promised;
2. Moves the material world in the direction of what our Father's Kingdom here should be - Perfect Brotherhood.

Your always Loving brother, Start

The "Kingdom" never can be forced

The "Kingdom," the Heart never can be forced. Attempts to Force, Coerce or Trick at best will long delay, if not forever prevent the movement from Hell / Flesh into the Kingdom / Heart.

PARABLE OF: "DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT YOU WILL EAT...."

THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT.

Matthew 6 25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?

Probably for every person that goes hang-gliding (wind surfing, parasailing, parachuting, skiing, mountain climbing, whitewater rafting...) 1,000 thrill to the idea because their nervous system resonates positively, but do not try it for a variety of related reasons: too dangerous, too scary, too hard, too weird.... They just cannot imagine doing it themselves: deficient VISION, IMAGINATION, COURAGE, PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH... and yes, maybe physical, financial or moral reasons!

Hay START!!!!!!!! to the point please!!!! Hmmmm.

FOLLOWING LOVE / LIFE / JOY (JESUS / GOD) IS LIKE THESE OTHER "DANGEROUS," "TERRIFYING" ACTIVITIES. IT REQUIRES TREMENDOUS VISION, IMAGINATION, COURAGE, PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH!

WHY? BECAUSE FOLLOWING JESUS / GOD DEFIES ALL THE COMFORT-ZONE ISSUES OF THE FLESH / BODY / SELFISHNESS!!!

BUT I AM DOING IT NOW, FOR MONTHS NOW (and really pretty extremely for going on 12 years now). OH MY GOD, IT IS AWESOME:

1. It looks like you will literally starve, but you do not. You have everything you need!!!!!!!!!
2. It looks like your life will consist of misery, but it is nothing but Joy / Life / Love every second. Yes, and Agony (but in the background).
3. It looks like you will be alone, but you have true family / friends in abundance for the first time, or to an extreme for the first time.
4. It looks like you are leaving behind the ability to impact the world (no resources, transportation, technology, connections...) but actually you gain participation in / partnership with Life / Love - GOD - the greatest power in the universe!
5. Etc.

Why would I lie about this? THERE IS NOTHING FOR ME TO GAIN SELFISHLY BY LYING TO YOU.

Parable of the 'seed falling on the path, rocky soil...."

Mark 4 3 "Hear this! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots. 7 Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain. 8 And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

Well duh, but for me only within recent days is this scripture coming alive for me. It is coming alive as I watch / experience the results of various encounters I have with folks as they encounter what is up with my walk / path / Life:
* Someone says after asking what I need: "Oh, I'll bring you water!," and then never comes back. SEED ON THE PATH.
* Another says: "I'll be back!" and is, once, and never again." SEED ON THE ROCKY SOIL.
* Another says: "Wow, this guy might be the most courageous guy, Jesus following guy, I've ever heard of!" But their friends say different and contact ends. SEED AMONG THE THORNS.
* Another says (though their behavior): "What an irritating jerk!" And then brings water and whatever is needed every day, day after day." SEED ON FERTILE SOIL.

And there are many cases I am experiencing and recognizing in these four categories as the days go on.

How long will we choose Hell by ignoring the directions to Heaven that Jesus gave us?

Ransom. Redeem.

"A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act," Gandhi

As always in my life of recent years, I'm doing stuff led by Love (God) and therefore my Head can't make sense of what I am doing till quite a bit afterward. This occurs almost daily - beginning to realize way after the fact what sense there is in this or that decision that I've made or path that I've been walking.

That Jesus somehow Ransomed our Lives and Redeemed us is written of in the Bible.

Now this is beginning to make sense to me as I see what Love / Life / Truth (God) has me doing.

THE ONLY WAY TO ESTABLISH THE PRICE / VALUE OF SOMETHING AND TO ACQUIRE IT IS TO PAY THE PRICE WHEN NECESSARY / REQUIRED. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. RIGHT? A PHYSICAL IMPOSSIBILITY; OR AT LEAST VIOLATING THIS TRUISM IS AN EXTREME IMPRACTICALITY. [In other words how to you establish the fact of extreme Love / Unconditional Love without - SHOWING COMPLETE, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE; THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.]

The point?!?!?! To show us how desperately important it is to purchase our lives back from Selfishness / Lust / Flesh in order to return us to the health of our "home" state / condition of Love / Life / Joy... Jesus had to PAY THE PRICE / REDEEM US / RANSOM US - BY GIVING HIS LIFE FOR US.

Well, the price (ransom, redemption) in such matters does not have to be either set or paid in 100% of the transactions. (Ahh, that this were true in the purchase of AIDS drugs for example; that we could purchase one prescription and then get refills for a lifetime!) But it DOES have to be done (Set, Paid) in some %: 1%? 10%? For example, for a child to truly know that his/her parent loves them to the extreme, the parent does not need to surmount an emergency out of love for them every hour. But it probably does need to happen several times within the child's youth!

We shouldn't need a Jesus in our lives sacrificing His life for us to the extreme every day or year. But WAY MORE THAN ONCE EVERY 2,000 YEARS IS NEEDED!!!!

[Start, you are rambling!] Hmmm. I'm called to BE Ransom, the price of Redemption... for Chester children, Darfur.... and maybe many causes in the future. And, YOU are AT A MINIMUM called by Love / God to be the price Ransom / Redemption for some Loved one(s) in your life in an obvious emergency.

ALL HUMAN BEINGS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO ATTAIN RELATIVELY FULL PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH (a tiny minority of us in today's ultimately TOXIC CULTURE tragically) are called to be Redemption / Ransom for Humanity pretty extremely as a mainstay of our lives until the planet begins to get back on track.

By the way, being called to a life of extreme Redemption / Ransom within the realm of Joy / Love / Life is the equivalent of winning the $1 billion Lottery in the world of Selfishness / Flesh / Mammon. Life does not get better than this.

[I hope you stayed with this post. Sorry I couldn't do better with it. Yet.]

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE TO GOD, NOT TO PEOPLE.

"Love / Life / Truth are God," Start Loving (paraphrase of Gandhi, Paul, Teresa, Jesus....)
"I will admit but one tyrant in my life, the still small voice within," Gandhi.

If I am inebriated out of my mind, hit by a car, bleeding to death on the side of the road, an MD walks by and in my stupor I yell that I do NOT want help, what is the moral / humane responsibility of the M.D.? She, the M.D. is obligated by her independence, knowledge, ability and humanity to help, TO DIAGNOSE THE NEED AND ACT TO HER BEST ABILITY, DESPITE MY STATED WISHES.

YOU ARE IN NO DIFFERENT OF A POSITION. You can never defer your responsibility to another. If you defer to the desires, wishes, judgement of another, including your dearest (spouse, child, parent...) THAT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.

YOU AND ME must always judge what is best for our brothers and sisters and to act accordingly, exactly as the M.D. is obligated to do. We can never escape this.

We must keep ourselves before (what we can imagine or pretend of an all knowing, all Loving) God as judge of what we do.

Clearly God will never accept from me or you, "Well Father, I did it because it is what so-and-so wanted!"

Pretty lame, huh?

YOU ARE A LEADER. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THAT FACT.

We all influence others, we all lead others. This is the meaning of our lives - how we influence others.

Even in death, even after our individual death, our life will go on influencing everyone that was influenced by us in life, and everyone and everything that they influence.

This is an awesome, wonderful opportunity.

YOUR LIFE HAS MEANING. You cannot escape this. What will the meaning be for your "dearest," for "the least of these," etc, etc....

"Never think that an individual cannot change the world. It is the only thing that ever has," Start Loving.

HER BABY'S LIFE IS WORTH $10 TRILLION

Everything I live and preach comes down to this central understanding and belief - HER BABY'S LIFE IS WORTH $10 TRILLION - and that "she" makes this choice out of preference - it feels better than the $10 trillion would make her feel.

What this situation proves is that Joy (that comes from advancing the life of "the least of these" - her baby in my example) trumps Pleasure ($10 trillion). THIS IS ROOTED IN OUR DNA.

What I give my life to lead people to is - all waking hours experiencing Joy / Life / Truth fully. Experience of Joy / Life / Truth happens with certainty, and only happens at all when one keeps theirself, acting from from their heart Heart / Soul, in the service of "the least of these (their baby, Darfuries, Palestinians, inner city youth....)" When the nervous system senses that service of "the least of these" is happening, the chemical cocktail Joy is released. Unlike the cocktail "pleasure" the Joy cocktail can flow with undiminished effect the waking part of 24/7 X 100 years!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and [that] your joy may be complete. (Jn. 15:9-11)

PROSTITUTION: "DEVOTING ONE'S TALENT TO UNWORTHY CAUSE..."

PROSTITUTION: 2. The act or an instance of offering or devoting one's talent to an unworthy use or cause. American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source

"History is made by... people who commit their lives..." Dave Dellinger

"History is made by people who commit themselves, their lives, and their energies to the struggle." David Dellinger

"Witness;" this word is applied to me. VISION is meant?

The first time I remember hearing the word "witness" was from the writer that did the 12/31/01 Phila Inquirer article on the work I was doing for the children in Chester, PA. Months before the article come out he was interviewing me at a diner and told me I was a "witness." I had no idea what he was talking about. I did not understand it then. I am just beginning to understand.

The next times I recall hearing "witness" was from the God-send of a writer of the Washington Post article Start Loving, Day 64 Sudan Embassy Hunger Strike (A Hunger For Justice : Darfur Becomes One Man's Cause for Deprivation Delphine Schrank, C01 (Post) Washington Post, April 14, 2007). She frequently spoke of "witness" in conjunction with me.

Now, what I HAVE long associated with myself is Vision - seeing things that others don't: crucial situations, dire threats, enormous opportunities, paths toward achievement of those opportunities. I suspect that what these others have called "witness" corresponds closely to the capacity I seem to have for Vision.

I'm guessing that their word "witness" captures an aspect of behavior - the "witness" becomes a moral captive of what they have seen - knowledge is responsibility. The witness is obligated to act.

This is how I feel when a Vision developes within me and captivates me. Currently the Visions that captivate me are of:

1. The easy and crucial Rescue and Restore of Darfur;
2. The Redemption of our lost Humanity by the crying need of our Darfur family before so little Humanity is left on earth that entropy finishes us off;
3. That "global family" must finally and immediately come to reign or it is game over for InHumane earth;
4. That Heaven on Earth is immediately available to each and any person that dedicates themself to being "family" to all of Humanity.

10. "For Thine is the Kingdom, Power, Glory...."

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

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."

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."

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.

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."