Townsfolk to The Little Dutch Boy, "What can I do to help?"

Townsfolk to The Little Dutch Boy, "What can I do to help?"

Eureka!!!! "Let your yes be your yes, and your no, your no." I GET IT!

This is one of the last bits of Jesus' scripture that just wasn't clicking for me clearly.  Then...

Last night on my shift at the White House an "action" unfolded in front of me - "Christian Peace Witness," or something.  According to their papers they were there to end the war on Iraq.  200 of them.  Candles.  Singing.

I think I can best capture the sPIRIT of the whole thing with this - after their solemn walking and singing "cHRISTIAN" songs, out of the entire group of 200, maybe 20, only 20 as per pre-agreement moved to the sidewalk in front of the White House knowing that by being stationary they would be arrested (and held for an hour or so, then released without a record.  But hey, it is SOMETHING).  ONLY 20, in the, what, 7th year of a war that they "say" horrifies them?!?!!??!  But this is not the telling part!!!!!  It IS scary to be arrested (even if it is not your first time!)  Well, when it comes time for arrest, the 180 are SAFELY placed behind a police tape about 20 yards away - clear view of those 20 starting to suffer.  What do the do-nothings do?  Well, for a while these onlookers (not really, pretty self-amused and self absorbed) in a real self-absorbed way sing - TO THEMSELVES!   Having a real good time!!!!!  Zero empathy and solidarity, zero encouragement and service of the 20 actually DOING something, RISKING SOMETHING - SUFFERING!!!!!  AND HERE'S THE GOOD PART!!!!  With 3 left to be arrested and put in the van - these 180 ABANDON THE 3 LONELY "CHRISTS" RIGHT THERE ON THE CROSS!!!!  WHY?  THEY CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE TO ANOTHER PART OF THE PARK TO CONTINUE THEIR CIRCLE JERK, I MEAN, TO SING SOME MORE "cHRISTIAN" SONGS TO THEMSELVES.

Well, at least they didn't chant, "CRUCIFY THEM!"

If I'm being other than entirely fair, accurate and Truthful may God strike me dead.

These poor, blind, hideous creatures!!!!  "Let your yes be YOUR YES," let your LOVE be YOUR LOVE, NOT some crippled, perverted, tortured RITUAL ENACTMENT OF "LOVE!!!!!!!"  STOP THE DOING OF "CHURCH" IN STEAD OF THE DOING OF "LOVE!!!!!!"  OH MY GOD.

[Yes, I am upset.  I am horrified, disgusted and revolted.  This is so typical.]

"You must BE the [courageous action] you wish to see... to restore the weakest to control of their life." Gandhi mashup. Key to it ALL.

"You must BE  the [courageous action] you wish to see...
to restore the weakest to control of their life."
Gandhi mashup.

Perfect key to it ALL.

As the Arm and Fingers Draw Back the Bow, So the Activist Draws Out Conscience. And it Hurts.

Committed Bodies Comprise the Stairway to Human Progress

Life depends entirely upon Conscience / Humanity / Heart: Most powerful vision, motivation, and intelligence.

"Are you a Christian?" the lady asked. "Why would you say such a nasty thing to me?" Start smiled.

My forehead and crucifix prompt this question regularly.  Today the question came from a middle aged African American woman traveling with her friend. 

"Are you a Christian?" the lady asked. "Why would you say such a nasty thing to me?" Start smiled.  My answer is pretty much always this, unless I have some reason to think that the questioner couldn't handle the truth. 

Today, she was not put off, but inquisitive, as I had hoped.  I explained, "I love Jesus way to much to be a Christian.  Christians TALK about Jesus but they sure don't FOLLOW him...I totally want to walk along side him, with all of my being."  And I offered a few more very respectfully delivered words along these lines.

She began to cry.  She was so relieved to hear the Truth - that Jesus was not talking in riddles, and he was not trying to trick us.  Of course like so many "Christians," she and they suspect the truth, and THIRST to HEAR and SEE the truth.  I finished with - He died to Save us by Telling us and Showing us how to live.  "Do unto the LEAST of these ALL that you would have them do unto you."  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat....

She demanded a big, warm, long hug, and then off they went.

Living Waters.

We are born NOT to work for money. We are born to work for Life. Working for Life IS what Life does.

Tragically I lost the citation, but recently on NPR probably I heard that many decades ago the "American Dream" was to have meaningful work.  Today, the "American Dream" is to have - STUFF.  One IS in fact the right DREAM, the other is Humanity's worst nightmare.

The Water of Life - I get it. I see it.

The Water of Life - I get it.  I see it.

I see it often when I speak to folks in front of the White House, when the conversation comes around to what I believe about Jesus, prompted by the Crosses on my forehead.

• When they hear that Jesus is my #1 hero, that I Love him, Adore him..
• When they hear that it is Jesus the Man that I care about, that I am entirely disinterested in whether he is some diety or not.
• That it is his teachings and example on how we are to Live - One Father, we are ALL One Family - GET ON WITH IT, NO DOUBLE STANDARDS.
• That whether or not there is Heaven in some life after this, there IS Heaven in THIS LIFE, cuz I LIVE THERE NOW.
• That the entire Path of Life / Love / Peace / Joy is "Do unto the least of these ALL that you would have then do unto you."  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat....
• That picking up my Cross HAS cost me EVERYTHING that our sick society values, and has given me  EVERYTHING that Jesus promised in abundance - JOY, LIFE, LOVE, PEACE... AND PERSECUTIONS! 
  
• That what distinguishes Jesus, King, Gandhi... is that OBVIOUSLY they lived this, that we are ALL one family....

Well, they just seem to be like one that was parched, aching for Water, and so desperately grateful to be receiving it.

I guess that is what has propelled me to this life Path - the conviction that there IS Living Water - not because Jesus Said so, but because I at times thought I tasted it when I was a kid, and I never lost the desperate Thirst for it.

Now I'm oh so greedy for this Living Water - but the supply is Infinite, and I know where to find it now, and I make it my business to ALWAYS stay at the Source.

The Water of Life - I get it.  I see it.  I SHARE IT NOW.  It is Heavenly.

You will work for Money or for Life. This choice will define you, your life, and your impact on others. Every minute. Cancer, or Health.

You will work for Money or for People.  This choice will define you, your life, and your impact on others.  Every minute.  Cancer, or Health.

THE SECRET OF JOY / LOVE / LIFE / PEACE: "Do unto [the LEAST of these] ALL that you would have them do unto you." Repeat. Repeat. Repeat....

THE SECRET OF JOY / LOVE / LIFE / PEACE: 
"Do unto [the LEAST of these] ALL that you would have them do unto you." 
Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat....

LOVE: Embracing resopnsibility for other(s); LUST: Coveting, "loving" stuff.

[This Easter season I've read through the Gospels. Has me pretty stirred up! I so desperately want to understand what Jesus so desperately yearned for us TO understand.]

Life-giving / Peace Making....

Universal Love - Gandhi, King, Jesus embraced responsibility for the wellbeing of all of humanity.

---

Death-dealing / Peace Destroying....

Conditional Love - Start embraced responsibility for the three in his"family," and NOT the other 6 billion in his Family. Cancer.

Universal Lust - the parasite, the freeloader, the megalomaniac - Bill Clinton, W, Cheney.

Conditional Lust - the lecher, the addict, those that "love" money the way Jesus Loved PEOPLE.

Exactly Cancer's Deadliness is its IRRESPONSIBILITY - the Ultimate Threat to Life

Exactly Cancer's Deadliness is its IRRESPONSIBILITY - the ultimate threat to Life / Peace / Joy / Love.

HYPOCRITE (the word): Death-dealing as "attack;" Life-giving as "diagnosis."

The greatest, most tragic mis-translation in the Gospel - suggesting that Jesus used the word Hypocrite as an "attack?"  I think so.  This mis-translation has cost me many decades of wasted Life.

HYPOCRITE (the word):  Death-dealing as "attack;" Life-giving as "diagnosis." 

The Ultimate Threat - Hypocrisy's (Chronic, Ongoing Dissonance between Word and Behavior) dual, ultimate malignancy / violence / destructiveness of Victim(s) AND Perpetrator.

[I received this portion of my Easter gift this morning. Please let me share.]

What most in all the world horrified Jesus, Gandhi's #1 Hero, was Hypocrisy. Here is why:

• The most toxic, damaging, destructive force on the mind is the "double bind," that is, being subject to an environment where WORDS express one thing and ACTIONS another. Among the only concepts upon which psychologists agree is this concept of double bind, and its preeminent destructive consequence. This, by other words, is the word and its impact - Hypocrisy.
• Sustained and or extreme exposure to Hypocrisy DESTROYS, DESTROYS, DESTROYSthe all important cognitive function of Conscience / Soul / Moral Navigation / Heart / Sociality / Community / PeaceMaking / Love. "My daughter, the reason I am raping you is because I Love you." Hypocrisy thereby amputates Humanity - the ULTIMATE VIOLENCE.
  
• Hypocrisy quite literally burns out these circuits of Life, Love, Compassion, Joy, Humanity, Peace, Conscience, Truth.
  
• The dual, ultimate malignancy of Hypocrisy (Chronic, Sustained Dissonance between Word and Behavior) lies in the fact that Hypocrisy destroys the Conscience / Soul / Moral Navigation / Heart of BOTH the Perpetrator AND the Victim (s) (those in the environment upon which the Hypocrisy is imposed).
• AND THEREBY HYPOCRISY DESTROYS ALL KNOWLEDGE OF MORALITY / MENTAL HEALTH / SOCIETAL HEALTH... BY DESTROYING FOREVER THE PROPER DEFINITIONS OF ALL RELATED CONCEPTS (Orwell's dreaded DoubleSpeak)! "My daughter, the reason I am raping you is because I Love you." The meaning of the word "Love" is forever destroyed, is forever PERVERTED in both the Perpetrator and Victim(s).
  

W, Cheney, the Repugs, the risk-nothing Dems... are among our most recent, global current examples of Hypocrisy.

But far more destructive is Bill Clinton.

1. Why more destructive than even W, Cheney the Repugs...? Because of his extraordinary social skills, "Teflon," "Stealth," that multiply his ability to DEEPLY penetrate and destroy the very capacity for Humanity many, many, many fold beyond what the social cripples W, Cheney or Repugs, or risk-nothing Dems ever could do.
   
2. 'Ohhhhh, I care for people so much,' as he, Clinton, sanctioned the Genocide in East Timor, and sat and did nothing to stop the genocide in Rwanda lying that he knew nothing; deceitfully perpetrated the bombing of East Europe for oil while claiming it was for social reasons, starved 500,000 Iraqi CHILDREN for their oil; destroyed the of Hope and Life Support among Poor / Middle Class Americans and Billions in the Third world with his expansion of NAFTA (Mexico) and Free Trade more broadly; destruction of Social Support for moms on Welfare who themselves are society's victims; destruction of the US economy by de-regulating Wall Street.... There is a specail place in Hell for this man.
   

Extremely destructive also is the vast majority of what calls itself the Peace Movement / Peace Activists that is so impassioned in its/their words about the suffering of and threats to Humanity, Justice, Peace but is/are so SELF SERVING IN (in)ACTION - selfish, self protective, self serving, self centered, self indulgent, self promoting, COWARDLY.... "No one chose war. They chose selfishness and the result was war." David Dellinger.

The Ultimate Perpetrator - The CHURCH. This brings us to the ultimate toxin, the ultimate Perpetrator of Hypocrisy - the Church of Love - whose "Priests" bless aircraft carriers, sanction war, protect pedophiles, HATE queers, HATE "Free Choice" and those that support it, Torture the Poor with Over Population, love the poor while bleeding them to death of their resources for their own big houses, fine robes, elegant buildings, support of the rich....
Remember the story about Gandhi? A mother came to Gandhi with her child, having walked for many, many, many miles. ' Gandhi, will you please tell my child to stop eating sugar?' 'Hmmmm, please bring your child back to me next month.' Frustrated, the mother agreed to do so. She returned with her child that next month, and to her distress received the same answer, and then again the 3rd time the same thing happened a month later still. On the fourth visit Gandhi said to the child, 'You must stop eating sugar.' Well the mother was both delighted and enraged! 'Gandhi, why didn't you say this the first time? This would have saved me all the enormous time we spent traveling?!?!?!' 'I couldn't say this to your child until now, because I was still eating sugar myself.'

The Ultimate Threat - Hypocrisy's (Chronic, Ongoing Dissonance between Word and Behavior) dual, ultimate malignancy / violence / destruction of Victim(s) AND Perpetrator.

Good News!!!!!! Diagnosis is 99% of the way toward cure!

Happy Easter!

Jesus' greatest horror for us - lack of integrity (Hypocrisy), that is, WORDS say one thing, BEHAVIOR another (a chronic dissonance between the two).

This (above) is my big Easter present so far. It arrived as I was immersed in the Gospel of Luke on my morning shift at the White House.

A search at the site Start Loving would show that I've been wrestling over the last year or so to better understand what Hypocrisy, that which most in the world horrified my hero Jesus, means. Recent strides for me have been understanding that Hypocrisy has to do with lying to yourself - first. But that does not capture it fully. And, it is much more insidious than that. And, the pejorative connotation of the word "Hypocrisy" does not ring fully true regarding what Jesus was getting at. Cancer may be evil, but to get mad it, or to cast aspersions at it, to have a pejorative connotation associated with it is a dangerously needless distraction.

Well the leap for me, my Easter gift, was to understand that lack of integrity / inconsistency / impurity / chronic dissonance between word and deed, sentiment and action is more central to what Jesus was horrified by than anything else I have yet understood in association with the concept Hypocrisy. And centrally it is that dreadful, murderous, malignant capacity we have to feel / think / intend / say one thing, but do another. THIS was Jesus greatest horror for us.

I'm sure this breakthru for me was encouraged by some recent quotes I've encountered, and maybe shared with you already:

• "Sentiment without [commensurate] action is the ruin of the soul." Edward Abbey
  
• "We are doing what's right before God. That's what we are called to do, and what happens happens." Louis Vitale
• "You are what you DO, not what you say, think, feel, envision or intend." Start Loving
  

Good news!!!! "Jesus' greatest horror for us - lack of integrity (Hypocrisy), that is, WORDS say one thing, BEHAVIOR another (a chronic dissonance between the two)." The most virulent, malignant, deadly Error (sin).

Happy Easter!

If your life does not require great Courage, at this time, in this world, you are not aLive.

At Easter I often receive a number of gifts.  This year I received the sentence above.  Far and away the greatest psychologist is Alfred Adler. He identified courage as the hallmark of human mental / spiritual health and defined courage as - doing what needs to be done regardless of the likelihood of success.    Hmmmm.  This IS the way of life.  No?  Don't skin cells do this?  Your heart?  Your immune system?  Your eyes...?  Cats?  Dogs?  Birds?  Bees? Amoeba?...  This IS what Life does.

"If your life does not require great Courage, you are not aLive."  Tragically, we humans have the capacity to fall away from Life, to run in fear and cowardice from "what needs to be done," and to merely EXIST, and thereby to become a cancerous malignancy on the body of Humanity.  And the only cost to us personally, and to those we influence is our / their Joy, Life, Peace, and Universal Love.  But hey, the pleasure and safety we receive as compensation more than makes up for this, right?

Happy Easter!

Life is ALWAYS the PURSUING of the Perfection of Humanity; NEVER the ATTAINING of Perfection or Living thereof (which would be Death).

Gandhi's Beloved Brother

Both died to show us how to Live.  Period.  Period.  Period.  Period.  (did I mention - Period?)

Will we finally, these last 3 months of chance we've been given, will we finally follow their lead?  Or are we so willing to have our loved ones suffer and die needlessly?

>>>>>>>>>  The Way of Suffering  <<<<<<<<

Our Beloved Brother

Mary's Tears

Blogging will slow. Our Beloved Hero Brother is Cricified today, for us.

I'll be with Him as best I can these next 3 days, reading his words, and pondering  His imponderable Love for us.  Gandhi's #1 Hero; ML King's, Romero's, Teresa's, Start's....  Oh, He Loved us so.  I want that same Love within me for us all.  Always have.  My dad had it, pretty much.

The purpose of the Ideal is to enable us to Strive TOWARDS it; NOT to Caputre it.

Jesus, King, Gandhi, Romero, Teresa, Eleanor... accepted Start in their Foxhole tonight

My prayer life has been practically nil for months now.  Why?  The final battle for Humanity is so pitched, on so many fronts - Climate Disaster, Democracy, 28 Yr Vigil (dual shifts like Thomas endured all those years), Washington Peace House Integrity, War-De-funding, Connie, Nuclear Arms Reduction, Gaza/Palestine... there has not been time to Pray; just to be a Prayer.  Secondarily, Prayer is NEVER the end, but the means, the means to become the "change we need to be" (Gandhi), to become the "pencil in the hand of God," (Teresa) and my sense is that I've been good enough on these fronts these last months that it was wrong for me to indulge in further Prayer at the expense of using every moment to Wage all out Love at thise most crucial of all years in the History of the world. 

But tonight I couldn't sleep, my body is not yet adjusted to my morning and evening shifts at the 28 Year Vigil, so I had some time for one of my few Prayer techniques - to put myself, to Imagine myself, in the company of Jesus, King, Gandhi, Romero, Teresa, Eleanor, Dellinger, Joan... and to examine their reaction to my being there, for whatever guidance, positive or negative, that this will yield me regarding "how am I doing?"

Well, tonight as I came to them there was no applause, no high-fives, no warm cheers, no warm "Family" embrace... and I want this from them, very much.   But I'm not worthy of this.  Yet.

But they were in the midst of this desperate, to the death, final battle for Humanity.  And they were entirely accepting of me joining them in the fight.   I take this as acceptance enough, for now; affirmation enough, for now.

Remember the final battle of the Lord of the Rings trilogy?  All our (s)heroes are encircled by a totally overwhelming hoard of Evil, remember?  That is the circumstance in which tonight I found Jesus, King, Gandhi, Romero, Teresa, Eleanor....  And their reaction told me that they felt that I belonged along side them in this fight.  I was sufficiently worthy for that. 

This is good.

"Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul." Edward Abbey !!! URGENT !!!

Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.

Edward Abbey, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness,US radical environmentalist (1927 - 1989)

URGENT >>>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQW1kf05Yyk 
DN!!!! 10 yrs PRISON for HERO of Utah Parks!!!!!!
 YOU will do WHAT?

Slowing down on posting for a while. Double Shifts at the White House

Troy, who with Connie and me have been maintaining the Vigil is away for several weeks.   Hence my computer time is cut to nil.  I'm sure I'll sneak some time in, but not much.

 

***** A Progressive Budget Alternative

Our budget starts with an ambitious agenda to address the most pressing matters facing America today. We invest $991 billion in non-defense discretionary spending for fiscal year 2010, which is $469 billion over the President's budget.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynn-woolsey/a-progressive-budget-alte_b_182001.html

Truth is, I "get" Jesus; and currently I've got a powerful pulpit (in front of the White House)

Well, if I don't "get" Jesus it is time to lock me away. 

But I've no shred of a doubt that I do "get" Jesus.  It is just so obvious to me because my understanding of what he taught and how he lived is the perfect-fitting cornerstone integrating seamlessly with all I've studied and learned these many years now in the realms of psychology, literature, cinema, sociology, neuro-biology, religion, philosophy... and PERSONAL MINUTE BY MINUTE LIFE PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE for decades now.  I was a world-class skiier in my youth.  Not so much because others said so, which they did.  But because the Truth said so - the Truth of how my understanding and action interracted with the Mountain and Snow.  Undeniably I had become an Authority.

Last night was not atypical at the White House ( prop1.org ).  A crowd of high school age students from around the country with a group called Close Up came by.  Somewhat uncharacteristically the conversation was turned by them from the topics of nuclear disarmament and climate change that I stressed, to the crosses on my head, and Jesus.  As typically happens one of the students took the role of asking me questions and commenting.  In this case she was from a fundamentalist Christian viewpoint.  Obviously she was honestly concerned / disturbed as my beliefs unfolded before her in our dialog:

*  The man, not some mysticism is what I am inspired by, as was the Hindu Gandhi;
*  Jesus concern was Heaven IN THIS LIFE for us, not some later life.
*  Of course the Bible is fallible - a hazy window at best back through 2000 years and thousands of authors with who knows what agendas.
*  Jesus is the most perfect model we have of Universal Love.
*  Yes we are born with an evil spirit (conditional love), AND the Spirit of Universal Love.
*  Jesus died that he might save us from the evil spirit, and win us for Universal Love.
*  And if there is a Heaven after this life, that's not my business.  My business is to "do unto the least of these (NOT the Lesser of these),"  "lay down my life for my brother," "do unto others ALL that I would have them do unto me"....

My interrogator was not upset, and even was moved somewhat by my views.  But the crowd with her was deeply encouraged by and grateful for the views I shared, as they made an impassioned and aggressive effort to communicate their agreement to me as they were departing.  "Oh, I sssooooo agree with everything you said!"

What did Jesus say about being the "salt;" the "levin?"

A friend I used to have said, "Start, why don't you become a priest?"

I'll settle for Appostle / Disciple,
at the gates of the Global Empire,
at the dicisionpoint for the future of all Humanity.

:-)

Wana bankrupt warmaking???? ACT TODAY (Tues): Congress votes on global warming budget this week!

	Dear Start,	March 30, 2009
	Thanks to your efforts this week, both the House and Senate Budget Committees managed to fight back a serious lobbying push to strip global warming from the President's budget. This was a major hurdle, but the fight is far from over! The budget will head to the floor for a vote this week, and we have to act now. This is such a critical vote, because without budget funding, we won't likely see global warming legislation pass this year. We can't procrastinate about global warming any longer. We MUST take bold action THIS YEAR. We don't have much time - Congress will be voting any day now on the President's budget, including action on global warming - we have to act NOW. Call Congress right now and tell your Representative to pass a budget that includes limits on global warming pollution. Making a call is easy, fast, and extremely effective. Simply follow the steps below: 1) Call (202) 224-3121 . 2) Ask the operator to put you through to your Representative's office. If you don't know who your Representative is, then give the operator your zip code and they will let you know and put you through. 3) Someone will either answer the phone or you will be able to leave a message. Here's what you can say: "I urge the Representative to support the President's budget, including action to cap global warming pollution." 4) Let us know that you made the call by clicking the button below. Greenpeace activists just like you have already sent more than 34,500 letters to Congress urging them to keep action on global warming pollution in the budget. With the vote coming up any day now, we need you to go a step further and call now. Please make your voice heard today. For our future, Samantha Rodgers Greenpeace Field Organizing Director 702 H Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20001 (800) 326-0959 You received this mailing because Start_Loving@yahoo.com is subscribed to our mailing list. If you prefer not to receive these mailings in the future click here. We value your privacy. If you have any questions about how we use your information please read our privacy policy.

StartL here: Status Report

Hi.  I'd like to offer you an update on what's up with Start.  Here's a stream of consciousness with a touch of organization.  :-)   

*  The last month, sans laptop, has been tough, in large part due to the devastating systems-shock of being sans-laptop at precisely a time when I needed to be away from a desktop computer due to the daily commitment at Peace Park I've assumed ( prop1.org ).  For me this is like having my hands amputated, or being placed in solitary confinement precisely at the time my loved ones needed my full presence and attention.  It has also been a devastating, healthy shock to face the truth of how little my work is valued by others, that there was virtually no concern that my work was devastated by the absence of a laptop.  But, without exception in my life the following is True:  "If it does not kill you, you grow."  I regret nothing in my life that at the time I experienced as a mortal body-blow.  Without these devastating blows, the things that within myself I find hopeful for the world, would not exist.

*  Late last week, an Angel has ordered a laptop for my use!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Even though this has not yet arrived - next week, this has been an enormous shot in the arm for me; like receiving a transfusion - not just the fact of a laptop to be available, but the fact of the kindness, thoughtfulness, caring, support, comradeship... that the offer and execution represents.  Like lying in your hospital bed and learning that a surgical team is going to attempt to re-attach your hands, in time for you to return to work on saving your family.  Did you ever see the movie "The English Patient?"  It is not unlike that movie for me without a laptop.

*  For the foreseeable future my #1 priority will be supporting and sustaining the 28 Year Anti-Nuclear Peace Vigil at the White House.  If there is such a thing as the Divine, the Sacred (and at least in psychological terms there is, with absolute certainty) this Vigil, and the commitment is embodies on the part of Thomas, Connie, Ellen, Troy and others - is Divine, Sacred.  God clearly is calling me to do my part to make certain it endures.  With Thomas up fighting for us on a new terrain, it falls to me to join Connie, Troy, Ellen and others to directly and indirectly sustain this unique, Life giving, Hope giving Monument to Peace Building of such importance to millions around the world who are educated, inspired and engaged by its existence.

*  I yearn to be back on Capitol Hill at this crucial time.  Whether Congress backs the Budget put forth by Pres. Obama, will entirely determine the future of Humanity / America / Planet Earth.  The next 30-60 days are entirely crucial - what Congress signs or shirks is monumentally crucial.  But I cannot be two places at once - The Hill and White House Vigil.

*  Tragically, very few folks have yet subscribed to the new blogs I maintain:  http://HomeearthSecurity.blogspot.com and http://AmericasBleedingWars.blogspot.com .  Any success in life I've had has been based on a rare ability to cull through mountains of information and "see" the really strategic, crucial information.  For my personal role - my Peace Work - I need to do this now.  These sites are my personal repository.  And I'M FINDING THAT THEY ARE UNIQUELY VALUABLE REPOSITORIES.  I cull through the results of about 40 google spiders I've activated every day and post just the deeply strategic articles that are available.  I barely have time to study these articles due to my laptop-less time at the White House.  But in the moments I can steal to study these sites - THEY ARE A GOLD MINE.  And this weekend I've started a 3rd:  http://BarackObamaBeyondOMG.blogspot.com .

*  Among the few things I deeply, authoritatively understand is Strategic, High Stakes Leadership.  I've studied and practiced this my entire adult life.  Every day my head spins at the brilliant Leadership Pres. Obama demonstrates.  "Greatest leader in the history of the world," I tell people every day.  He is.  God damn us if we remain on the sidelines while he fights with his life for ours.  I refuse to.

*  Here at the Peace House Ellen and I, with the vaccuum presented by Thomas' moving on, have undertaken to strengthen the sense of mission, purpose, and meaning among we here.  We now have a brief House Book that articulates what we stand for, who belongs here, what behavior DOES NOT BELONG HERE.  This is an enormous step forward in terms of building on what already has been done, and as Ellen says, necessarily moving even beyond "the high standards that Thomas set."

*  Spring is the highest impact time to be at the White House Vigil - it is then that the middle and high school trips flow through.  The Vigil is an enormously powerful pulpit.  You can imagine.  Yes, probably 80% of the groups are carefully steered entirely away from the vigil by their Censors (teachers).  But another 20% escape this fate - some carefully steered exactly TO the vigil by their teachers.  It is an extraordinary and sacred opportunity to be able to have 3-15 minutes to deliver into these open, pliable, receptive souls.  Sacred.  15 years ago I'd have had little to offer.  35 years I'd have had much to offer, and finally, today I have much to offer again - Humanity, the Truth of Humanity.  Is it making a difference?  None of us can ESCAPE making a difference; direction and degree are the only variables for any of us and any and every moment of our lives.  For Start Loving, in this day, at this time, this is an enormous, a Sacred Channel for what I have to offer, to deliver.  In the minutes I have with each group I deliver along the following lines:  we work here, for 28 years now, to get nuclear weapons off of your planet; we also work here to confront the other threats to you, my brothers and sisters - the brutalization of Palestine, the theft of oil from the Middle East; AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - the 400 BILLION TON METEOR HURTLING TOWARD EARTH - THE CO2 WE'VE PUT UP THERE, that will destroy civilization if we don't stop it;  that it is always the youth that have led humanity out of the darkness, that they can succeed, and that if they do not succeed Hell will reign on their planet; that what we at the vigil do is a different kind of soldiering - the only kind that ever has or ever will advance the Human agenda items like - women having the right to vote, ending child labor, ending slavery, ending the Vietnam war....  Clearly some of those in each "audience" are profoundly touched by our brief interchanges.  Worth my life?  Duh.  Oh, yes, sometimes our conversation goes to Jesus, prompted by the Crosses on my head, and I share, and frequently they eagerly identify with:  the Man Jesus is who I care about, my #1 hero, Gandhi's too, our Einstein of how to be actualized Humans, how to escape Hell-on-earth.  So often, they "get it."  This is pretty Sacred.  This is profoundly Sacred.

*  When there are not receptive "audineces" at the Vigil, via radio (NPR news, CSPAN) and MP3 (Thomas') I study DemocracyNow, books on Climate Change, Anti-Nuclear and key articles I haven't time to read otherwise.  There is not a second to waste.

*  My sift at the signs is 5:15-10:15pm.  All waking seconds that I am not there I am on a desktop computer at the Peace House (thinks to Ellen and our House benefactor) researching Global Warming, US War Making or republishing segments of DemocracyNow! pertaining to either of these subjects.  Additionally, on the rare occasion when there is an important citizen action in DC (Power Shift for example) I video that with equipment Ellen has provided me) and get that up on YouTube for the purpose of encouraging the participants and educating others as to what is possible.

*  My other pulpit of some considerable power is http://youtube.com/StartLoving1 where I now have over 330 "Subscribers" and where I publish a dozen or so new videos every day; and where there is some level of daily dialog with folks from around the world regarding what is posted there.

Hmmmm.  Well, I've forgotten some things, but this will have to do for now.

Near-perfect Joy-finder. Gandhi's Talisman.

"I will give you a talisman. [At random moments throughout your day,] 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 [time-wasting, Life-wasting] melt away

[and Meaning / Life / Joy flood in]."

- One of the last notes left behind by Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought.