TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!!
THE WORDS THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD,
5.24.2007
JESUS DISCOVERED LIFE. ADAM SMITH - CANCER.
Jesus, according to Tolstoy and your own heart, gave us the Solution to Life: "Do unto others ALL that you would have them do unto you."
Adam Smith gave us Cancer / Death: Do unto others, within Man's law, all that you can BEFORE they can do unto you.
Smith said, it is impossible to effectively look after your brother. Take care of yourself and let the Hand of God worry about the rest. Hmm. Adam Smith overrode Jesus, Son of God. Smith had no malice or mal intent. CANCER WOULD SEEM LIKE A BRILLIANT INVENTION. SERIOUSLY! TRULY!
Adam Smith gave us Cancer / Death: Do unto others, within Man's law, all that you can BEFORE they can do unto you.
Smith said, it is impossible to effectively look after your brother. Take care of yourself and let the Hand of God worry about the rest. Hmm. Adam Smith overrode Jesus, Son of God. Smith had no malice or mal intent. CANCER WOULD SEEM LIKE A BRILLIANT INVENTION. SERIOUSLY! TRULY!
DIVORCE / NEGLECT / NON-FAMILY: OUR UN-NAMED RELIGION
See TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!! , THE WORDS THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD, and CANCER WOULD SEEM LIKE A BRILLIANT INVENTION. SERIOUSLY! TRULY!
Our western culture is based on our ability to divorce ourselves from concern for others under the guise of rugged independence, free market capitalism, and "family" values.
WE SHOULD EXPECT TO SEE, as an early and immediate indicator of the "body's" death from this cancer, a skyrocketing "Marriage Divorce" rate. Divorce from others is what we train our children in from the earliest age.
Our western culture is based on our ability to divorce ourselves from concern for others under the guise of rugged independence, free market capitalism, and "family" values.
WE SHOULD EXPECT TO SEE, as an early and immediate indicator of the "body's" death from this cancer, a skyrocketing "Marriage Divorce" rate. Divorce from others is what we train our children in from the earliest age.
CANCER WOULD SEEM LIKE A BRILLIANT INVENTION. SERIOUSLY! TRULY!
It would seem like the ultimate free lunch. Listen cells, the other cells can take care of themselves. It will build character; survival of the fittest.
Quit thinking about them, and look out for yourself, and for "your family."
My gosh, without the "burden" [Life, Love, Truth - the Almighty] of thinking about others, wow, just think of the growth, the wealth of resources available to you! Why, you could do as well for yourself as you were willing to sacrifice and work for!
But then the body would die.
Thank you Adam Smith. Thank you wester, free market, consumer capitalism. The body, the masses, are rapidly dying. And the Almighty is not to be found among the Cancer Cells. They are already all but Dead.
Quit thinking about them, and look out for yourself, and for "your family."
My gosh, without the "burden" [Life, Love, Truth - the Almighty] of thinking about others, wow, just think of the growth, the wealth of resources available to you! Why, you could do as well for yourself as you were willing to sacrifice and work for!
But then the body would die.
Thank you Adam Smith. Thank you wester, free market, consumer capitalism. The body, the masses, are rapidly dying. And the Almighty is not to be found among the Cancer Cells. They are already all but Dead.
TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!!
TOXIC WASTE OF THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY-TO-THE-LEAST-OF-THESE?
For much of the last six weeks or so I've felt much more enlightened with the new insight that all Error, all Sin is Selfishness. Much has been written of this; THE WORDS THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD, and see partial list below.
But now I think that Selfishness is the fruit of something deeper: the root of all evil - detachment / separation / distance / "divorce" from anyone; that is to say, the root of all evil is ANY VACUUM IN YOUR HEART, any space that is non-family, non-brotherhood-t0-ALL-of-the-least-of-these-MY-FAMILY. Is not this insight in line with Timothy 6:10 (King James Version): "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith [universal brotherliness], and pierced themselves through with many sorrows?" Yes. The love of money [Stuff, Superiority, Systems/Institutions] is the displacement of the LOVE OF "THE LEAST OF THESE MY FAMILY."
EVIL IS ANY MOMENTS OF ABSENCE OF LOVE OF EVERYONE - UNIVERSAL BROTHERLINESS / OTHERISHNESS / "FAMILY." SELFISHNESS IS THE RESULT / FRUIT. "GOOD" IS THE PREDOMINATION OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERLINESS... IN THE HEART.
The importance of this distinction? A FOCUS ON SELFISHNESS WILL ALLOW THE ROOT TO TAKE HOLD - NATURE ABHORS A VACUUM - A HEART JUST PARTLY FILLED WITH BROTHERLINESS WILL BECOME FILLED BY SELFISHNESS.
For much of the last six weeks or so I've felt much more enlightened with the new insight that all Error, all Sin is Selfishness. Much has been written of this; THE WORDS THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD, and see partial list below.
But now I think that Selfishness is the fruit of something deeper: the root of all evil - detachment / separation / distance / "divorce" from anyone; that is to say, the root of all evil is ANY VACUUM IN YOUR HEART, any space that is non-family, non-brotherhood-t0-ALL-of-the-least-of-these-MY-FAMILY. Is not this insight in line with Timothy 6:10 (King James Version): "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith [universal brotherliness], and pierced themselves through with many sorrows?" Yes. The love of money [Stuff, Superiority, Systems/Institutions] is the displacement of the LOVE OF "THE LEAST OF THESE MY FAMILY."
EVIL IS ANY MOMENTS OF ABSENCE OF LOVE OF EVERYONE - UNIVERSAL BROTHERLINESS / OTHERISHNESS / "FAMILY." SELFISHNESS IS THE RESULT / FRUIT. "GOOD" IS THE PREDOMINATION OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERLINESS... IN THE HEART.
The importance of this distinction? A FOCUS ON SELFISHNESS WILL ALLOW THE ROOT TO TAKE HOLD - NATURE ABHORS A VACUUM - A HEART JUST PARTLY FILLED WITH BROTHERLINESS WILL BECOME FILLED BY SELFISHNESS.
THE KINGDOM DEPENDS ON OUR VIGILANCE IN KEEPING CONNECTED TO ALL OTHERS / keeping from being diverted ["diversion" being worshiped in our western free market capitalist society.]
This puts Jesus focus on the "least of these my family" in new perspective for me.
This puts Gandhi's statement in a new perspective for me: "I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."
Caution! Mother Teresa's kind of LOVE - "Love [that] cannot remain inactive in the face of suffering." [paraphrase]
THE BOTTOM LINE!!! THE MOST TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT, THE GREATEST DANGER IS BEING NOT-ENTIRELY-BROTHERLY-TO-ALL-THE-LEAST-OF-THESE.
WHAT TO DO!?!?!?
- PRAY. "OUR FATHER..." PRAY. SELF-MONITOR. BE ACCUTELY AWARE OF WHAT IS ON YOUR HEART, AND IF IT IS NOT THE-LEAST-OF-THESE-MY-FAMILY, PRAY DELIBERATELY AND PRACTICALLY TO BRING THE-LEAST-OF-THESE-YOUR-FAMILY TO FILL, FILL, FILL YOUR HEART.
- BE VIGILANT, WATCHFUL FOR THE AVALANCHE OF "DIVERSIONS" AND DISTRACTIONS THAT OUR CULTURE THROWS AT YOU EVERY MINUTE.
- REMEMBER, YOU CANNOT ESCAPE LEADING THOSE DEAREST TO YOU WHERE YOU GO. LIFE OR PULSE? HEAVEN OR HELL? THE "GREAT" OR THE "GOOD?"
WHERE IS THE SELFISHNESS / SIN IN MY LIFE?
!!!!!!!!!! DEFINITION: "SAVED" !!!!!!!!!!
Exploitative U.S. "Family Values" will be its demise...
The Anti-Christ: American Capitalism and its Export
DEFINITION OF VIOLENCE - "Enemy," Non-Brotherly, Selfish, Not-as-you-would-have-them-do behavior
Take away Selfishness and Western Culture Vanishes
WE ARE IMMORTAL. THE ONLY DEATH IS SELFISHNESS
And many more posts. Search the blog with the tool a the top left of the site.
TOXIC WASTE OF THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!!
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TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!!
TOXIC WASTE TO THE SPIRIT: Selfishness? -or- NOT-BROTHERLY!!!
HEART: DOES NOT KNOW ITS OWN PAIN, SACRIFICE
This is a really important factor in our "wiring" to be aware of:
WHEN YOUR HEART IS IN CHARGE THE FEEDBACK LOOP OF YOUR FLESH IS EXTREMELY ATTENUATED. (You are racing to the hospital with your child in your arms. How much are you "feeling" the pain in your body?")
This is why those who follow Jesus, serve the Almighty "LOOK LIKE" they are in misery, but actually "THEIR JOY IS COMPLETE."
No?
WHEN YOUR HEART IS IN CHARGE THE FEEDBACK LOOP OF YOUR FLESH IS EXTREMELY ATTENUATED. (You are racing to the hospital with your child in your arms. How much are you "feeling" the pain in your body?")
This is why those who follow Jesus, serve the Almighty "LOOK LIKE" they are in misery, but actually "THEIR JOY IS COMPLETE."
No?
"Heart in the right place"
A long and wonderful conversation with my friend caused us to arrive at the thought that it is of monumental importance to have one's "heart in the right place." This is of monumental importance. THIS MAY BE THE ENTIRETY OF WHAT IS IMPORTANT.
Why do I feel however that this concept is incomplete? IT IS A MATTER OF DEGREE, I see now!!!
But as Dr. King showed us, HOW MUCH SPIRIT MATTERS!!!! (See Dr. King's idea: JESUS TAUGHT US: SPIRIT IS EVERYTHING.)
Let's say your mistaken idea was to value material riches (you don't do you?). If you valued this, and pursued it a little you might say your "heart is in the right place." But it does not stop there. HOW MUCH IS YOUR "HEART IN THE RIGHT PLACE!" HOW GREEDY ARE YOU!!!
It is really important to:
Why do I feel however that this concept is incomplete? IT IS A MATTER OF DEGREE, I see now!!!
But as Dr. King showed us, HOW MUCH SPIRIT MATTERS!!!! (See Dr. King's idea: JESUS TAUGHT US: SPIRIT IS EVERYTHING.)
Let's say your mistaken idea was to value material riches (you don't do you?). If you valued this, and pursued it a little you might say your "heart is in the right place." But it does not stop there. HOW MUCH IS YOUR "HEART IN THE RIGHT PLACE!" HOW GREEDY ARE YOU!!!
It is really important to:
- Have your "heart in the right place."
- Be extremely greedy!
Why?
- Why Jesus came: Abundant Life; Complete Joy. PERIOD.
- We build the Kingdom, or it does not get built. Most of your family is in torment. "HURRY," the still, small voice within says.
Why Jesus came: Abundant Life; Complete Joy. PERIOD.
Hmmm. How much longer will we continue to doubt what He told us - substituting instead our own thoughts or the thoughts of preachers, etc?
Was Jesus the most perfect of men, a genius by whatever name... or was he an imbecile in whose mouth we need to put words?
Jn 15:9-11 “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.”
John Chapter 10 I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
Was Jesus the most perfect of men, a genius by whatever name... or was he an imbecile in whose mouth we need to put words?
Jn 15:9-11 “I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.”
John Chapter 10 I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.
Guilt: Almost always a Sin / Error
Hmm. Picture it: you are up in the waiting room of the Pearly Gates. Jesus comes in to interview you. You tell him all that you did to try to follow him. One of the ones you speak of is guilt. "Wow, Jesus, I spent so much time in guilt." You are hopeful He is pleased at this.
"Did I suggest for you to be guilty? NO. I told you many things, but I did not tell you that. Why did you ignore what I told you:
"Did I suggest for you to be guilty? NO. I told you many things, but I did not tell you that. Why did you ignore what I told you:
- As you do unto the least of these my family...
- There is not greater love than to...
- Love God (the Almighty - Truth, Love, Life) with your whole...
- Love your brother...
- Love your enemies...
- Love your neighbor...
Do we think Jesus was careless in what He said?
JESUS; WE DO EVERYTHING BUT WHAT HE SAID
I know, DUH!
But wait a second. I've "known" this for all of my life. But reflect on this Eastern saying:
IF YOU KNOW, BUT YOU DO NOT DO, YOU DO NOT KNOW.
Only now am I starting to do. I DID NOT KNOW.
But wait a second. I've "known" this for all of my life. But reflect on this Eastern saying:
IF YOU KNOW, BUT YOU DO NOT DO, YOU DO NOT KNOW.
Only now am I starting to do. I DID NOT KNOW.
START, YOU HAVE SO MANY ABSOLUTES!!!!
An elephant absolutely has a rope-like tail!
An elephant absolutely has sheet-like ears!
An elepahnt absolutely has tree-trunk-like legs!
Etc.
Etc.
If you get the Almighty / God (Life, Love, Truth) you get a whole bunch of things together - aways. It is important to understand each element. But you cannot get just the element.
Maslow wrote of this phenomena, admitting that he couldn't further explain it. In his study of self-actualizing humans he found that in highly self-actualized people, one in millions, if you get one of the following, you get them all in abundance:
Truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness dichotomy-transcendence, aliveness, uniqueness, perfection, completion, justice, simplicity, richness, effortlessness, playfulness, self-sufficiency - THE ALMIGHTY / UNITY / SINGULARITY... LIFE - The "Bread" of Life.
An elephant absolutely has sheet-like ears!
An elepahnt absolutely has tree-trunk-like legs!
Etc.
Etc.
If you get the Almighty / God (Life, Love, Truth) you get a whole bunch of things together - aways. It is important to understand each element. But you cannot get just the element.
Maslow wrote of this phenomena, admitting that he couldn't further explain it. In his study of self-actualizing humans he found that in highly self-actualized people, one in millions, if you get one of the following, you get them all in abundance:
Truth, goodness, beauty, wholeness dichotomy-transcendence, aliveness, uniqueness, perfection, completion, justice, simplicity, richness, effortlessness, playfulness, self-sufficiency - THE ALMIGHTY / UNITY / SINGULARITY... LIFE - The "Bread" of Life.
The movie "Rudy." SPIRIT IS THE ONLY SUCCESS.
More and more I glimpse what never before I could - Jesus teaching that what man (not the Almighty) makes is so futile / trivial / wasteful / meaningless. Napoleon: "Do you know, Fontanes, what astonishes me most in this world? The inability of force to create anything. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the spirit."
So, what role is left for us? To be the dwelling place of the Almighty - Truth, Life, Love. This was RUDY. And look at how he was an instrument to build the Kindom.
King, Jesus, Teresa, Gandhi... all were ademant that EVERYONE can be great. "Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve," ML King.
There is no other service than than done by Rudy. "They Kingdom comes as thy will is done."
God calls us to be faithful, not successful.
So, what role is left for us? To be the dwelling place of the Almighty - Truth, Life, Love. This was RUDY. And look at how he was an instrument to build the Kindom.
King, Jesus, Teresa, Gandhi... all were ademant that EVERYONE can be great. "Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve," ML King.
There is no other service than than done by Rudy. "They Kingdom comes as thy will is done."
God calls us to be faithful, not successful.
BE FAMILY / BROTHER / SISTER FOR THE JOY OF IT
For the joy of it - no other reason.
Jesus came "to give... life more abundantly," and "to make joy... complete.
Jesus gave us the SOLUTION TO LIFE:
Jesus came "to give... life more abundantly," and "to make joy... complete.
Jesus gave us the SOLUTION TO LIFE:
- Do unto others all that you would have them do unto you.
- Love your brother as yourself.
- The Good Samaritan
- As you do unto the least of these MY FAMILY you do unto me.
- A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.
99% OF MY LIFE HAS BEEN ERROR. YAHOO!
99% of my life has been organized around the society of western free market capitalism - SELFISHNESS. This was the best I knew.
Yahoo?!?!?!?
1. Shall I feel guilty for doing the best I knew?
2. Can feeling guilty or bad help me reclaim those decades?
3. Now that I recognize the error / the missing Joy, YAHOO I CAN AVOID THOSE ERRORS BETTER!
Yahoo?!?!?!?
1. Shall I feel guilty for doing the best I knew?
2. Can feeling guilty or bad help me reclaim those decades?
3. Now that I recognize the error / the missing Joy, YAHOO I CAN AVOID THOSE ERRORS BETTER!
How much toxic waste for your mind / Soul per day?
Every waking moment that is not attached / connected to / organized around / directed toward "the least of these my family" is Toxic Waste for the Soul / Selfishness / Sin.
How much toxic waste for your soul each day?
How much toxic waste for your soul each day?
Start, what is all this Revelation, etc crap?
Revelation, Divine Inspiration, Epiphany, Vision.... This "religious" language, believed classically to be from some external being, remains the best language available to identify certain phenomenon. It comes from beyond our control and we in that important sense can take no credit for it.
Pitirim Sorokin's notion of Supra Intelligence best captures what I experience and believe on the subject. Essentially Sorokin views that the terms I not above come from that portion of our brain that by far is the most powerful, but that is not directly accessible to us through conscious manipulation.
Maybe what Sorokin and E.O. Wilson in his book "Consillience" and I sense is some sort of portal to an external "God." I don't know. I don't care. It is AWESOME. IT IS ALMIGHTY.
Pitirim Sorokin's notion of Supra Intelligence best captures what I experience and believe on the subject. Essentially Sorokin views that the terms I not above come from that portion of our brain that by far is the most powerful, but that is not directly accessible to us through conscious manipulation.
Maybe what Sorokin and E.O. Wilson in his book "Consillience" and I sense is some sort of portal to an external "God." I don't know. I don't care. It is AWESOME. IT IS ALMIGHTY.
CANCER: ADAM SMITH'S DISCOVERY - CAPITALISM
Neither cruel of cynical. How could he know. But he unleashed the opposite of life - he released Cancer. It grows phenomenally! It works for the cancer cells! But, it eventually kills the body.
Jesus gave us the solution to Life: "Do unto others ALL that you would have them do unto you."
Smith gave us Cancer: Do unto others before they can do unto you. Forget the Golden Rule. Leave that to God. Hmmmmm; God left that to us.
Other posts here on the Revealed metaphor of CANCER:
Exploitative U.S. "Family Values" will be its demise...
CANCER IS ONE OF THE TWO POSSIBLE STATES OF ORGANIC STUFF
The most feared killer - cancer. Neglect by another name.
Jesus gave us the solution to Life: "Do unto others ALL that you would have them do unto you."
Smith gave us Cancer: Do unto others before they can do unto you. Forget the Golden Rule. Leave that to God. Hmmmmm; God left that to us.
Other posts here on the Revealed metaphor of CANCER:
Exploitative U.S. "Family Values" will be its demise...
CANCER IS ONE OF THE TWO POSSIBLE STATES OF ORGANIC STUFF
The most feared killer - cancer. Neglect by another name.
FROM A CANCER'S PERSPECTIVE, WHAT DOES HEALTH LOOK LIKE?
Please think this through. It is very interesting and important.
Cancer would "cure" the body of:
Cancer would "cure" the body of:
- Dying
- Seeing Cancer as other than the ideal to be supported
- Any attitudes other than delighted service and support
- Any and all unwillingness to be fully exploited
- Etc.
- Etc.
ALMIGHTY = LOVE, TRUTH, LIFE = GOD.
Please ponder this. There may be no more important insight on this site.
"ALMIGHTY:" this word has escaped my attention until now. Love, Life, Truth ARE Almighty. Of course they are God.
Woe to us that continue to side against the Almighty, as is our Western Religion to do so.
Over time I expect to find and add more quotes like this one, the first I've seen of its kind, today on 5/29:
Dr. King: "Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: "Let us love one another, for love is God. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love." "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us." Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day."
"Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source." "The understanding of Life is God." "“Life is God. Everything changes and moves and that movement is God….To love life is to love God.” Leo Tolstoy
Gandhi: "I claim to be a votary of truth from my childhood. It was themost natural thing to me. My prayerful search gave me the revealingmaxim Truth is God, instead of the usual one God is Truth. That maxim enables me to see God face to face as it were. I feel Him pervade every fibre of my being." And, "Ahimsa [unconditional Love for all] is my God, and Truth is my God. When I look for Ahimsa,Truth says, ''Find it through me.'' When I look for Truth, Ahimsasays, ''Find it out through me.'' 'Truth alone is eternal, everything else is momentary. It is more correct to say that Truth is God, than to say that God is Truth. ... All life (and truth) comes from the one universal source, call it Allah, God or Parmeshwara.'
"ALMIGHTY:" this word has escaped my attention until now. Love, Life, Truth ARE Almighty. Of course they are God.
Woe to us that continue to side against the Almighty, as is our Western Religion to do so.
Over time I expect to find and add more quotes like this one, the first I've seen of its kind, today on 5/29:
Dr. King: "Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: "Let us love one another, for love is God. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love." "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us." Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day."
"Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone. Love is God, and to die means that I, a particle of love, shall return to the general and eternal source." "The understanding of Life is God." "“Life is God. Everything changes and moves and that movement is God….To love life is to love God.” Leo Tolstoy
Gandhi: "I claim to be a votary of truth from my childhood. It was themost natural thing to me. My prayerful search gave me the revealingmaxim Truth is God, instead of the usual one God is Truth. That maxim enables me to see God face to face as it were. I feel Him pervade every fibre of my being." And, "Ahimsa [unconditional Love for all] is my God, and Truth is my God. When I look for Ahimsa,Truth says, ''Find it through me.'' When I look for Truth, Ahimsasays, ''Find it out through me.'' 'Truth alone is eternal, everything else is momentary. It is more correct to say that Truth is God, than to say that God is Truth. ... All life (and truth) comes from the one universal source, call it Allah, God or Parmeshwara.'
1 Israeli Life worth 24.074 Palestinian Lives in '06
Headlines for May 24, 2007Democracy Now - New York,NY,USA
For Israel and the Occupied Territories, Amnesty says Israel killed more than 650 Palestinians last year, three times the number of Palestinians killed in 2005. Half of the Palestinians killed last year were unarmed civilians. The Palestinian death toll included 120 children. During the same period, Palestinian militants killed 27 Israelis – including 20 civilians and one child.
For Israel and the Occupied Territories, Amnesty says Israel killed more than 650 Palestinians last year, three times the number of Palestinians killed in 2005. Half of the Palestinians killed last year were unarmed civilians. The Palestinian death toll included 120 children. During the same period, Palestinian militants killed 27 Israelis – including 20 civilians and one child.
Sudan Embassy / Darfur Vigil PARTNER ELLEN THOMAS
Sudan Embassy / Darfur Hunger Strike Vigil PARTNER - ELLEN THOMAS
Ellen is absolutely incredible. I don't know how she can continue another day with her heroic support of the vigil. No one else can even seem to imagine it, besides me, so far. I just came across this interview. It captures the Ellen I'm coming to know, wonderfully.
The following is an interview of Ellen Thomas by Marita McCloskey:
>How did you become so committed to issues of peace?
As a child I became aware through Life magazine photos about Hiroshima, Auschwitz, starving children in Africa, which launched me on a lifetime search "Why?" and "How can we stop this?" I couldn't understand why my kindergarten teacher taught us to dive under our desks during bomb drills in California in 1952; I remembered the photographs of Hiroshima, and wondered what good it would do me to curl up in a ball with my hands over the back of my neck if someone dropped a bomb on Palos Verdes, my home town.
It took me 37 years of testing society's shoulds and shouldn'ts to understand that my earliest reactions were correct. By the time MY children no longer needed me, I was convinced that I was paying huge taxes (the equivalent of working from January to May without pay) to a government which was not only inefficient and corrupt, but downright evil in its building, selling, developing, and using all sorts of horrible weapons. I decided to reduce my income below the poverty level so I would no longer fund the war machine. (I had twenty years' experience in the corporate and legal worlds.) But dropping out wasn't enough. Somebody had to DO something.
That was when I encountered the (then) three-year-old peace vigil outside the White House, where a few volunteers were braving nonsensical regulations, hostile police, irresponsible news reporters who interviewed only the police, and Washington Times editorial cartoonists painting the vigilers as lunatics, bums, and communists, none of which were true. (Ronald Reagan's favorite paper was the Washington Times. You can read more of this story by going to our website, http://prop1.org, then click on the buttons "Peace Park" and "Park and the Presidents."
I decided, since my kids didn't need me any more, and these people did need me, that a change in lifestyle was in order. I quit my cushy, redundant job, gave all my property to my grateful daughter (how else does a young adult get microwave, wok, tv, stereo, music collection, cookbooks, queen size bed, sofa, car, etc.?), and asked her if she was really sure she wanted the burden of things. (I felt guilty, knowing how relieved I was to be free of STUFF.)
>What was your family background?
Father a successful commercial artist living in California since 1949, loves to travel, fought in World War II in the Pacific, used to kill animals for food, now only shoots them with a camera (special gift to me). Says he's "a Marine till the day I die." Curious fellow, ultra sensitive, ultra macho hybrid, WW-II walking wounded who says "I know you're right in principle, but I can't believe it'll ever happen." My mother was a housewife, stabilizing influence. I was blessed (and, like most kids, didn't know it). As an only child I was able to travel with my folks to such exotic places as Tahiti, Bora Bora, Vancouver, and live outdoors in the redwoods, at the seashore, in mountains....
>religious training?
Catholic girl's school (Marymount) in California during early '60's; mother would drive me to different denominations on Sundays so we could check out different perspectives and styles. I was turned off by Christianity because of the collection plates and what seemed (to my skeptical eyes) hypocrisies. Kids went to church to see each other, I assumed grownups did the same thing. I saw advertisements for drug stores, liquor stores, etc. on the back of Sunday morning programs. I saw people dressing in fancy duds they only wore for each other. California's full of phony kissing, and churches seemed like cocktail parties or dungeons, depending on the denomination. I found myself fainting in Catholic services; getting sick to my stomach with the Baptists; having uncontrollable cramps with the Latter Day Saints. Finally I took all this to mean that I wasn't going to be comfortable or find God inside a church.
>political training?
None to speak of, on-the-job during the past 13+ years. California taught "The Constitution" (you couldn't move on from 8th grade without passing the test), which gave me a belief in and knowledge of our rights.
In 1990 we incorporated Proposition One Committee, in 1993 brought the idea to the voters and won the election, and it's now a bill in Congress for the third time, the "Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act." (See http://prop1.org/prop1/prop1.htm)
>world events? personal contacts?
I'm not sure what you mean. Whom did I know who was important? (Nobody.) Or how was I affected by world events around me? Let's see. There were Vietnam, the folk musicians who raised our consciousness about it and war in general, Kennedys' and King's assassination, Joe McCarthy, Eugene McCarthy, starving children in Africa, "Dr. Strangelove," "Gandhi" (the movie). Will ponder this further if you elucidate further.
>How did your activism influence the everyday activities of your family life?
I didn't become an activist until after my children left home. My (now) husband of 13 years founded the vigil; I met him three years later. I married him because we think alike. Our family life is sporadic but loving. The kids and folks are very pleased I'm happy. We're getting closer as they get older. Probably true of most families. Neither of them are activists (yet, I keep thinking). I wonder about that. If I had been active when they were young, would they be now? I think maybe so, as I see the kids of activist friends grow up and join the demonstrations, keep open minds. I know now how pivotal those earlier years are in planting life-long seeds. Too late to change the past. Just got to keep setting a good example now and in the future, and maybe someday they'll have time to care about something other than what they've been taught.
>How did having a family/ being a parent, influence your activism?
I probably wouldn't have devoted myself to a round-the-clock vigil for the future generations if I hadn't felt the intense responsibilities of parenting.
-----
Ellen Thomas is working with the Proposition One Committee Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil in Washington -- http://prop1.org)
Ellen is the Chairperson of the Washington Peace Center.
Ellen maintians the world class anti nuclear site nucnews.net.
Ellen is absolutely incredible. I don't know how she can continue another day with her heroic support of the vigil. No one else can even seem to imagine it, besides me, so far. I just came across this interview. It captures the Ellen I'm coming to know, wonderfully.
The following is an interview of Ellen Thomas by Marita McCloskey:
>How did you become so committed to issues of peace?
As a child I became aware through Life magazine photos about Hiroshima, Auschwitz, starving children in Africa, which launched me on a lifetime search "Why?" and "How can we stop this?" I couldn't understand why my kindergarten teacher taught us to dive under our desks during bomb drills in California in 1952; I remembered the photographs of Hiroshima, and wondered what good it would do me to curl up in a ball with my hands over the back of my neck if someone dropped a bomb on Palos Verdes, my home town.
It took me 37 years of testing society's shoulds and shouldn'ts to understand that my earliest reactions were correct. By the time MY children no longer needed me, I was convinced that I was paying huge taxes (the equivalent of working from January to May without pay) to a government which was not only inefficient and corrupt, but downright evil in its building, selling, developing, and using all sorts of horrible weapons. I decided to reduce my income below the poverty level so I would no longer fund the war machine. (I had twenty years' experience in the corporate and legal worlds.) But dropping out wasn't enough. Somebody had to DO something.
That was when I encountered the (then) three-year-old peace vigil outside the White House, where a few volunteers were braving nonsensical regulations, hostile police, irresponsible news reporters who interviewed only the police, and Washington Times editorial cartoonists painting the vigilers as lunatics, bums, and communists, none of which were true. (Ronald Reagan's favorite paper was the Washington Times. You can read more of this story by going to our website, http://prop1.org, then click on the buttons "Peace Park" and "Park and the Presidents."
I decided, since my kids didn't need me any more, and these people did need me, that a change in lifestyle was in order. I quit my cushy, redundant job, gave all my property to my grateful daughter (how else does a young adult get microwave, wok, tv, stereo, music collection, cookbooks, queen size bed, sofa, car, etc.?), and asked her if she was really sure she wanted the burden of things. (I felt guilty, knowing how relieved I was to be free of STUFF.)
>What was your family background?
Father a successful commercial artist living in California since 1949, loves to travel, fought in World War II in the Pacific, used to kill animals for food, now only shoots them with a camera (special gift to me). Says he's "a Marine till the day I die." Curious fellow, ultra sensitive, ultra macho hybrid, WW-II walking wounded who says "I know you're right in principle, but I can't believe it'll ever happen." My mother was a housewife, stabilizing influence. I was blessed (and, like most kids, didn't know it). As an only child I was able to travel with my folks to such exotic places as Tahiti, Bora Bora, Vancouver, and live outdoors in the redwoods, at the seashore, in mountains....
>religious training?
Catholic girl's school (Marymount) in California during early '60's; mother would drive me to different denominations on Sundays so we could check out different perspectives and styles. I was turned off by Christianity because of the collection plates and what seemed (to my skeptical eyes) hypocrisies. Kids went to church to see each other, I assumed grownups did the same thing. I saw advertisements for drug stores, liquor stores, etc. on the back of Sunday morning programs. I saw people dressing in fancy duds they only wore for each other. California's full of phony kissing, and churches seemed like cocktail parties or dungeons, depending on the denomination. I found myself fainting in Catholic services; getting sick to my stomach with the Baptists; having uncontrollable cramps with the Latter Day Saints. Finally I took all this to mean that I wasn't going to be comfortable or find God inside a church.
>political training?
None to speak of, on-the-job during the past 13+ years. California taught "The Constitution" (you couldn't move on from 8th grade without passing the test), which gave me a belief in and knowledge of our rights.
In 1990 we incorporated Proposition One Committee, in 1993 brought the idea to the voters and won the election, and it's now a bill in Congress for the third time, the "Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act." (See http://prop1.org/prop1/prop1.htm)
>world events? personal contacts?
I'm not sure what you mean. Whom did I know who was important? (Nobody.) Or how was I affected by world events around me? Let's see. There were Vietnam, the folk musicians who raised our consciousness about it and war in general, Kennedys' and King's assassination, Joe McCarthy, Eugene McCarthy, starving children in Africa, "Dr. Strangelove," "Gandhi" (the movie). Will ponder this further if you elucidate further.
>How did your activism influence the everyday activities of your family life?
I didn't become an activist until after my children left home. My (now) husband of 13 years founded the vigil; I met him three years later. I married him because we think alike. Our family life is sporadic but loving. The kids and folks are very pleased I'm happy. We're getting closer as they get older. Probably true of most families. Neither of them are activists (yet, I keep thinking). I wonder about that. If I had been active when they were young, would they be now? I think maybe so, as I see the kids of activist friends grow up and join the demonstrations, keep open minds. I know now how pivotal those earlier years are in planting life-long seeds. Too late to change the past. Just got to keep setting a good example now and in the future, and maybe someday they'll have time to care about something other than what they've been taught.
>How did having a family/ being a parent, influence your activism?
I probably wouldn't have devoted myself to a round-the-clock vigil for the future generations if I hadn't felt the intense responsibilities of parenting.
-----
Ellen Thomas is working with the Proposition One Committee Peace Park Antinuclear Vigil in Washington -- http://prop1.org)
Ellen is the Chairperson of the Washington Peace Center.
Ellen maintians the world class anti nuclear site nucnews.net.
U.S. Justice? Sentences: Enron 24 yrs. Eco Activist 13 years
Consider: Enron Skilling bankrupting thousands vs an Eco Activist
Oct. 23, 2006, 7:54PM
SKILLING GETS 24 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ENRON FRAUD; By TOM FOWLER
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling was sentenced today to 24 years in prison for his role in the energy company's 2001 collapse in what has become one of the nation's biggest corporate scandals.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake ordered Skilling to home confinement with an ankle bracelet to monitor his movements. He told the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to recommend when Skilling should report to prison and suggested he be sent to the federal facility in Butner, N.C.
"This is not an easy decision,'' Lake said. "Sentencing is the most difficult and least pleasant part of my job Mr. Skilling has a family who loves him.''
He added, however, "His crimes have imposed on hundreds if not thousands, a life sentence of poverty."
Lake's sentence, more precisely 292 months, also ordered Skilling to participate in alcohol and mental health programs. He also approved the forfeiture of $45 million to be distributed to Enron employees.
That money will be distributed via the civil shareholder case going on before U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon.
Defense attorney Daniel Petrocelli argued for a 10-month reduction, so that the 52-year-old Skilling could serve at a lower-security prison. Lake refused.
Skilling's sentencing marks vindication for some and a capstone to an era of corporate crime for others.
Victims of the company's downfall hope it will provide a satisfying coda to their search for justice and retribution.
"I want him to see life without parole, for all the lies he told us and others," said Charles Prestwood, a former Enron pipeline employee who lost his pension.
==========================
Headlines for May 24, 2007Democracy Now, NY - 19 minutes agoStanislaus Meyerhoff was arrested in 2005 and admitted to being a member of the Earth Liberation Front. Meyerhoff faced up to 30 years in prison, ...
Oct. 23, 2006, 7:54PM
SKILLING GETS 24 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ENRON FRAUD; By TOM FOWLER
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling was sentenced today to 24 years in prison for his role in the energy company's 2001 collapse in what has become one of the nation's biggest corporate scandals.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake ordered Skilling to home confinement with an ankle bracelet to monitor his movements. He told the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to recommend when Skilling should report to prison and suggested he be sent to the federal facility in Butner, N.C.
"This is not an easy decision,'' Lake said. "Sentencing is the most difficult and least pleasant part of my job Mr. Skilling has a family who loves him.''
He added, however, "His crimes have imposed on hundreds if not thousands, a life sentence of poverty."
Lake's sentence, more precisely 292 months, also ordered Skilling to participate in alcohol and mental health programs. He also approved the forfeiture of $45 million to be distributed to Enron employees.
That money will be distributed via the civil shareholder case going on before U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon.
Defense attorney Daniel Petrocelli argued for a 10-month reduction, so that the 52-year-old Skilling could serve at a lower-security prison. Lake refused.
Skilling's sentencing marks vindication for some and a capstone to an era of corporate crime for others.
Victims of the company's downfall hope it will provide a satisfying coda to their search for justice and retribution.
"I want him to see life without parole, for all the lies he told us and others," said Charles Prestwood, a former Enron pipeline employee who lost his pension.
==========================
Headlines for May 24, 2007Democracy Now, NY - 19 minutes agoStanislaus Meyerhoff was arrested in 2005 and admitted to being a member of the Earth Liberation Front. Meyerhoff faced up to 30 years in prison, ...
5.20.2007
WHERE IS THE SELFISHNESS / SIN IN MY LIFE?
Hmm. What is the big deal about selfishness? A fair amount is posted on this site regarding the subject, but for here: "Few people in the world chose war (WWII). They chose selfishness and the result was war," David Dellinger.
Germany was in agony after WWI and all we in the west could think to do was further exploit, "benignly" of course, through our U.S. corporations. In that most sacred of all essays by Rabbi Heschel in 1938: "Let modern dictatorship [Hitler pre WWII] not serve as an alibi for our conscience. We have failed to fight for right, for justice, for goodness; as a result we must fight against wrong, against injustice, against evil. We have failed to offer sacrifices on the altar of peace; thus we offered sacrifices on the altar of war."
Hmmm. What selfishnesses would we-the-people of the 1920's and 1930's needed to have sacrificed? What if, to avoid the carnage of WWII, and to avoid the heinous suffering of Germany post WWI it would have cost us almost every single one of our luxuries? Would it have been worth it?
Gandhi offers us these on the subject of finding the murderous selfishness in our lives:
"The golden rule is to steadfastly refuse to have what millions cannot have."
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away." - One of the last notes left behind by Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought.
Or... there is always simply turning a blind eye and allowing WWIII or its equivalent to continue to unfold unopposed. Hey, who will point the finger at me? NO ONE; except me. I do not want to view myself as impotent, incapable, insignificant, irrelevant, helpless.... And, I am not.
[to be continued. SL]
Germany was in agony after WWI and all we in the west could think to do was further exploit, "benignly" of course, through our U.S. corporations. In that most sacred of all essays by Rabbi Heschel in 1938: "Let modern dictatorship [Hitler pre WWII] not serve as an alibi for our conscience. We have failed to fight for right, for justice, for goodness; as a result we must fight against wrong, against injustice, against evil. We have failed to offer sacrifices on the altar of peace; thus we offered sacrifices on the altar of war."
Hmmm. What selfishnesses would we-the-people of the 1920's and 1930's needed to have sacrificed? What if, to avoid the carnage of WWII, and to avoid the heinous suffering of Germany post WWI it would have cost us almost every single one of our luxuries? Would it have been worth it?
Gandhi offers us these on the subject of finding the murderous selfishness in our lives:
"The golden rule is to steadfastly refuse to have what millions cannot have."
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away." - One of the last notes left behind by Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought.
Or... there is always simply turning a blind eye and allowing WWIII or its equivalent to continue to unfold unopposed. Hey, who will point the finger at me? NO ONE; except me. I do not want to view myself as impotent, incapable, insignificant, irrelevant, helpless.... And, I am not.
[to be continued. SL]
PROFOUND ALONENESS
In this extremely important post, "PAY ATTENTION" LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT I share how at the top of my game, at the top of my Spiritual / Humane / Loving success in just four days I became ALMOST totally lost; this in early May 2007 after months of unblemished success!
In the days of recovery that followed I felt PROFOUND ALONENESS. Some of this was important and correct insight - Darfur, and the few of us that have been adopted by Darfur - ARE TRULY ALONE IN THE WORLD.
But the degree to which I felt this was entirely because I was off the path which is intense connection with and attachment to "the least of these."
I hope that I remember in the future that if I feel, if I FEEL such ALONENESS it is an indicator that I have stepped off of the path; I have moved into my Flesh, and abandoned "the least of these my family."
In the days of recovery that followed I felt PROFOUND ALONENESS. Some of this was important and correct insight - Darfur, and the few of us that have been adopted by Darfur - ARE TRULY ALONE IN THE WORLD.
But the degree to which I felt this was entirely because I was off the path which is intense connection with and attachment to "the least of these."
I hope that I remember in the future that if I feel, if I FEEL such ALONENESS it is an indicator that I have stepped off of the path; I have moved into my Flesh, and abandoned "the least of these my family."
ADMIRING INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING
Methodist Pastor John Schol preached that one about Jesus. I'll always be grateful.
That is what we do, right? We ADMIRE Jesus (Gandhi, King, Teresa, Assisi...) not FOLLOW him.
To add insult to injury, THEY DIED TO HAVE US FOLLOW THEM!
That is what we do, right? We ADMIRE Jesus (Gandhi, King, Teresa, Assisi...) not FOLLOW him.
To add insult to injury, THEY DIED TO HAVE US FOLLOW THEM!
"FROM MY SOUL, IN SOLIDARITY, SERVING"
This is the closest I may have yet come to a concise encapsulation of the "Gate," "Path," "Pearl" and "Treasure" Jesus spoke of. It is from the all important: JESUS TAUGHT US: SPIRIT IS EVERYTHING.
If everything else on this site, that now contains everything I've learned of any value, if it all vanished from the Internet, and from my mind, with the phrase, "From my Soul, in Solidarity, Serving," I could find my way back quickly to a place that has taken me a lifetime to attain.
If everything else on this site, that now contains everything I've learned of any value, if it all vanished from the Internet, and from my mind, with the phrase, "From my Soul, in Solidarity, Serving," I could find my way back quickly to a place that has taken me a lifetime to attain.
"Start, you are nothing more than a walking sign..."
"...unless you actively reach out to people walking by!" A particular concern was stated that I was not reaching out to the Save Darfur "protesters" that have been coming out for an hour once a week for an hour.
This was put to me recently by one of the people that have stepped up to support this campaign. It hurt deeply, the thought that all this effort and time has been wasted. It hurt deeply empathically, because I could see the frustration and hurt that this supporter feels after all this time and effort with nothing to show for it.
Out of love, respect and concern for this supporter and the views of this supporter I've spent many hours marching in prayer and contemplation over the above assertion. Doubtless I will continue to do so.
I find no opposition within myself to the assertion put forth, but I fully disagree with the idea and the notion that I would become more effective, not less, if I changed my approach. Much of my thinking follows:
* There are orders of magnitude difference between what I am doing and "being a walking sign" in any form. Yes to some, to most, to the vast majority I may be some sort of joke. But the Truth (the Almighty) is that out of love for my children I am on day 81, marching at great effort and pain, on a severely reduced calorie diet to drive my weight to skeleton level. It is such Truth, genuine-Lovebased-heroic-commitment upon which I have based all attempts in my adult life to spawn miracles; something at which I have experienced success, approaching matters with the same maniacal focus of my own role as I am now doing. "Truth crushed to earth will rise again," repeatedly asserted by Dr. King suggested a similar reliance on his part. I was looking for a different Gandhi quote than the following, one in which he speaks of paying with one's life for the Truth, but the following will do: "There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all, i.e., the voice of conscience even though such obedience may cost many a bitter tear, and even more, separation from friends, from family, from the state to which you may belong, from all that you have held as dear as life itself. For this obedience is the law of our being." I pray many hours per day, every day to attempt this obedience.
* The Save Darfur bunch is the last place I would look for "supporters" of committed activism. Save Darfur has clearly established that they are a place to "buy" absolution from any real responsibility for the Genocide, purchased through monetary or token time contribution. They have repeatedly run from any chance to become a real, committed, necessarily sacrificial effort.
* The bunch that shows up at the Embassy, more so. It is sometimes all I can manage to avoid screaming as they laugh, joke, and talk about everything, EVERYTHING under the sun except Darfur, for the entire, THE ENTIRE HOUR. It defies comprehension. We have become sick in so many ways. There is one exception, and I will speak with her, but if she had the "readiness" that Bonhoeffer correctly speaks of below, she would have approached me with suggestions for involvement (as you have.)
* I have a moral obligation to the Save Darfur bunch (and to all my 6 billion brothers and sisters.) My job is to be a wakeup call. Now not our first wakeup call mind you. We've received tens of thousands in the four years of this genocide - a media avalanche. I must try to be the miracle of at the same time a laughably underfunded, understaffed "call" AND one that actually wakes someone, ANYONE up to the depths of their soul. This calls for a willingness to wait for the right recruit - one of great readiness and spiritual depth. (Bonhoeffer: "Action comes not from ideas, but from a readiness for action." He does not explain where that readiness comes from. He might never have figured it out. "Many are called but few are chosen," Jesus said. Maybe Jesus never figured it out. Me neither, yet.) It also calls for the most powerful possible behavior - purely "being" the pain, suffering, Love, and Commitment of a "real Darfur" father - in front of the Sudan Embassy - for an extremely, extremely long time. And yes, that probably will not be enough, either. Our Father calls us to be faithful, not successful.
* Regarding Save Darfur, or anyone that does not "hear" the "wake up" call and approach me the following comes to my mind. If we need desperately to launch a moon rocket, it matters not if I am swimming in trillions of gallons of automotive fuel, if all that will successfully fly the rocket is a paltry few gallons of rocket fuel that seem not to be available. Rocket fuel, or crash.
* I have all I can do to "be" that wakeup call. Maybe others will be called to attempt to do outreach to Save Darfur or others, beyond what has been done. For me to do so would be to cloud my role, dilute my "call" and extend beyond my mental and physical capacities that are receding more and more under the strain of these last 80 days, and this last 12 months.
Any and every supporter of this campaign must follow their own "small voice within" as I must follow mine, IF WE ARE TO HAVE ANY PRAYER OF SAVING DARFUR. We must fully rely on the Almighty. It IS for me to listen to all honest souls. But ultimately each of us must do as Gandhi said, "I will admit but one tyrant in my life; the still, small voice within." At the moment that your small voice says, "ENOUGH, Start is not undertaking a campaign I should further back," then at at that moment the voice must be obeyed! With my full Love, support and blessing from me!
Start Loving
This was put to me recently by one of the people that have stepped up to support this campaign. It hurt deeply, the thought that all this effort and time has been wasted. It hurt deeply empathically, because I could see the frustration and hurt that this supporter feels after all this time and effort with nothing to show for it.
Out of love, respect and concern for this supporter and the views of this supporter I've spent many hours marching in prayer and contemplation over the above assertion. Doubtless I will continue to do so.
I find no opposition within myself to the assertion put forth, but I fully disagree with the idea and the notion that I would become more effective, not less, if I changed my approach. Much of my thinking follows:
* There are orders of magnitude difference between what I am doing and "being a walking sign" in any form. Yes to some, to most, to the vast majority I may be some sort of joke. But the Truth (the Almighty) is that out of love for my children I am on day 81, marching at great effort and pain, on a severely reduced calorie diet to drive my weight to skeleton level. It is such Truth, genuine-Lovebased-heroic-commitment upon which I have based all attempts in my adult life to spawn miracles; something at which I have experienced success, approaching matters with the same maniacal focus of my own role as I am now doing. "Truth crushed to earth will rise again," repeatedly asserted by Dr. King suggested a similar reliance on his part. I was looking for a different Gandhi quote than the following, one in which he speaks of paying with one's life for the Truth, but the following will do: "There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all, i.e., the voice of conscience even though such obedience may cost many a bitter tear, and even more, separation from friends, from family, from the state to which you may belong, from all that you have held as dear as life itself. For this obedience is the law of our being." I pray many hours per day, every day to attempt this obedience.
* The Save Darfur bunch is the last place I would look for "supporters" of committed activism. Save Darfur has clearly established that they are a place to "buy" absolution from any real responsibility for the Genocide, purchased through monetary or token time contribution. They have repeatedly run from any chance to become a real, committed, necessarily sacrificial effort.
* The bunch that shows up at the Embassy, more so. It is sometimes all I can manage to avoid screaming as they laugh, joke, and talk about everything, EVERYTHING under the sun except Darfur, for the entire, THE ENTIRE HOUR. It defies comprehension. We have become sick in so many ways. There is one exception, and I will speak with her, but if she had the "readiness" that Bonhoeffer correctly speaks of below, she would have approached me with suggestions for involvement (as you have.)
* I have a moral obligation to the Save Darfur bunch (and to all my 6 billion brothers and sisters.) My job is to be a wakeup call. Now not our first wakeup call mind you. We've received tens of thousands in the four years of this genocide - a media avalanche. I must try to be the miracle of at the same time a laughably underfunded, understaffed "call" AND one that actually wakes someone, ANYONE up to the depths of their soul. This calls for a willingness to wait for the right recruit - one of great readiness and spiritual depth. (Bonhoeffer: "Action comes not from ideas, but from a readiness for action." He does not explain where that readiness comes from. He might never have figured it out. "Many are called but few are chosen," Jesus said. Maybe Jesus never figured it out. Me neither, yet.) It also calls for the most powerful possible behavior - purely "being" the pain, suffering, Love, and Commitment of a "real Darfur" father - in front of the Sudan Embassy - for an extremely, extremely long time. And yes, that probably will not be enough, either. Our Father calls us to be faithful, not successful.
* Regarding Save Darfur, or anyone that does not "hear" the "wake up" call and approach me the following comes to my mind. If we need desperately to launch a moon rocket, it matters not if I am swimming in trillions of gallons of automotive fuel, if all that will successfully fly the rocket is a paltry few gallons of rocket fuel that seem not to be available. Rocket fuel, or crash.
* I have all I can do to "be" that wakeup call. Maybe others will be called to attempt to do outreach to Save Darfur or others, beyond what has been done. For me to do so would be to cloud my role, dilute my "call" and extend beyond my mental and physical capacities that are receding more and more under the strain of these last 80 days, and this last 12 months.
Any and every supporter of this campaign must follow their own "small voice within" as I must follow mine, IF WE ARE TO HAVE ANY PRAYER OF SAVING DARFUR. We must fully rely on the Almighty. It IS for me to listen to all honest souls. But ultimately each of us must do as Gandhi said, "I will admit but one tyrant in my life; the still, small voice within." At the moment that your small voice says, "ENOUGH, Start is not undertaking a campaign I should further back," then at at that moment the voice must be obeyed! With my full Love, support and blessing from me!
Start Loving
5.19.2007
LOVE / COMPASSON / EMPATHY FOR STRANGERS: THE NARROW GATE
"PAY ATTENTION" LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. As I reveal in this post at left, after months of being on the "narrow path" to Joy / Love / Life at the Sudan Embassy Darfur Campaign, in just four days working with friends in the "normal world" I was almost completely lost. My recovery came quickly because thank God I had the presence of mind to focus on the posters I was carrying - dying children from Darfur.
I'll explore this at greater length in later posts - that THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL IS DETACHMENT FROM "THE LEAST OF THESE." And, the purpose of money is to allow transactions to take place in the absence of ATTACHMENT TO ANYONE! It is the specialty, it is the obsession of our Western values, of free market capitalism to "distract" us, divert our attention from, "the least of these."
[Note: The musical "The Fantastics" that shows this magnificently in the song "Round and Round." ]
I'll explore this at greater length in later posts - that THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL IS DETACHMENT FROM "THE LEAST OF THESE." And, the purpose of money is to allow transactions to take place in the absence of ATTACHMENT TO ANYONE! It is the specialty, it is the obsession of our Western values, of free market capitalism to "distract" us, divert our attention from, "the least of these."
[Note: The musical "The Fantastics" that shows this magnificently in the song "Round and Round." ]
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