Never think that a committed individual cannot change the world. It is the only thing that ever has.

A Lonely Voice of Protest, Standing the Test of Time. Philadelphia Inquirer; Front Page 6/7/09

Giving peace a chance, shift by shift.

Philadelphia Inquirer - ‎8 hours ago‎

By Konstanze Walther WASHINGTON - It is 6:15 am when Jay McGinley begins his work on the edge of Lafayette Park in a homemade tent made of white plastic. ...

Students swim through hell and high water to honor veterans

Students swim through hell and high water to honor veterans
CNN International - USA
Decker, 22, is one of five reluctant heroes who left Dover, England, around 10 pm Friday, and set out over the channel's choppy waters, accompanied by

Our Men and Women in Uniform - the One Group in this Country I Respect and With Whom I Feel Affinity. (Oh, Our Youth Too)

(... And too the folks that come to visit the Vigil.)  The one group I respect in this country is our men and women in uniform.  Yes, my life is dedicated to the elimination of folks killing others,  but Courage is the hallmark of Humanity, of Human Health.  That our men and women in uniform have been misled to thinking hostility is the answer does not deny their courage and humanity.  Our men and women in Uniform are the one group in the US that can be depended upon to lay their lives on the line for the stranger, and for what they believe in.  All the rest of us are on the take, doing unto others before they can do unto us; or just, self-righteously sitting on the sidelines criticizing others, aiding and abetting needless suffering through out criminal neglect.  "I consider myself a soldier."  Gandhi.  "Give me a military man to work with any day; do not give me any cowards."  Gandhi.  It is unmistakable the admiration and respect many of the Secret Service have for my efforts; as my admiration for them is also clear.  Quite a contrast with the near universal disrespect I receive from the "activist" community, and the "church" community; disrespect that I have come to experience as a powerful affirmation.  :-)

"...we owe our liberties to men of a type that today we hate and fear -- unruly men, disturbers of the peace..."

We are reluctant to admit that we owe our liberties to men of a type that today we hate and fear -- unruly men, disturbers of the peace, men who resent and denounce what Whitman called 'the insolence of elected persons' -- in a word, free men.: Gerald W. Johnson

NOT our relationship WITH, but our relationship TO others is what is crucial to Joy, Love, Peace, Life, Earth....

"I have seen the paradox that if you love until it hurts, there is no more hurt, there is only more love." Teresa of Calcutta

I can't figure how to stop all the needless suffering. And I can't stay on the sidelines. So I do what I do, every waking moment. And, this is what Life, and Love do. Yes?

Fw: "Know Jesus, Know Love." And for many of us, "No Jesus, No Love."

Thanks Bev

Blessed are the poor. Oh God.

There has been a soul in the Park these last 2 weeks, a pitiful lost soul. An African American man. 30ish? The little I can tell he is substantially if not severely mentally impaired, but I have little to go on. Had me worried the first 3 or 4 days, the way he was pacing around the park in the vicinity of the White House struck me as a bit menacing and possibly hostile, and angry. But this was a guess; it was not his demeanor, which has remained placid. I've made it my business to avoid eye contact because I sense that I am not called to divert from my work to attend to him, and I have zero sense that I can be of help to him, in any way. He has frequently paced very, very close to where I am, sort of violation the "space" of the vigil. I've respected his right to do so, and despite the fact that I realized he might be looking for kindness, friendship, attention, acknowledgment or someone to chat with, again, I've judged that, although he is my brother and I care for him, and I DO care, I DO have compassion for him, Triage, my duty to choose how to help the most people, dictates that I stay on task and NOT indulge my inclination to try and help him. To this very second tonight I feel that this is correct, that I am following Good's, God's, Love's Will in this. But I remain pained that he must feel hurt, maybe VERY hurt that I've given him ZERO attention. I can't imagine that he has literally two pennies to rub together. He sleeps on benches here in the park during the day (the Park Police sometimes allow DAY sleeping here) and as near as I can tell he is awake here all night long. He wears the same pair of slacks, shirt and sweater all the time.

My heart aches for him. I saw what appeared to be an uncharacteristiclaly humane Park Police officer in the park the other day. I approached her, and she was indeed humane. I know that there is little if anything they are equipped or likely to do, but I told her what I had seen regarding this fellow, and that I wished there was something that could be done for him.

It is 9pm Sunday. As I was working on the Laptop here in front of the White House at the Vigil a form (person) approached me from my left. It was this poor, lonely, lost soul. He reached out to me, and I saw a McDonald's bag at the same time he said, "Do you want a sandwhich? I have a fish sandwhich and a hamburger. You can have them." There was zero hint he was looking for anything, let alone in return I was happy to let my love for him shine his way, "Oh, thank you brother, but I've just had a snack. But thank you. Very kind" I instantly offered my hand and he responded with a wonderful warm, firm, human handshake, and then went on his way.

"Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

I have a frame of reference

Bev, Gerry, David, Mary Rachel... My beloved A_____n family,

As I return from this visit with you, I have a frame of reference:

• I was born and raised in Short Hills NJ, a NYC suburb, then and now one of the most over-privileged towns in the entire world, in the $2-3million house my self-made father built, exactly on the edge of an enormous 2047 acre, idyllic, untouched nature preserve - my personal playground Garden of Eden. Attended expensive private school. Belonged to not one, but two of the world's most desirable country clubs my entire youth including the world-envied Baltusrol Golf Club - the staff knew me by name as I played golf and dined there so often over the years; we were good friends.
• I've skied the Alps, Rockies, Canadian Rockies too many times to count.
• I've been to the worlds finest resorts throughout my life.
• My father* was a Saint and brilliant teacher, and my mom was a social butterfly that was the envy of all that knew her, both of whom spoiled me beyond imagination.
  
• My older sister* is the definition of loyalty and kindness to me.
• I had the privilege and Joy of attempting to contribute the the lives of two biologically related sons for many years.**************************
• I had the privilege and Joy of trying to be a good husband for many years to a woman I Love very much.***********************
  
• I spent most of my adult years in my $500,000 house in one of the most desirable suburbs in the Philadelphia area.
• Most of my adult life I rose within the fascinating, challenging, heady, exhilarating computer industry as an executive in new business development and business turn-around. Profoundly enjoyable, stimulating, emotionally, intellectually and financially rewarding. Worked with some of the brightest minds, from the world's great universities, over and over and over again.
  
• When the owner of a firm in Salt Lake City, and he and his family loved me, who wanted to woo me to move there as a partner with him in his firm, I was re-engineering his business for him, I lived with he and his family (I was commuting every other weekend back to Philadelphia) in the Park City Utah Ski Resort in their multi million mansion at the resort in the mountains, with the same, a mansion in Park City being offered to me as well.
• I've saved the jobs of hundreds if not thousands of folks when I was in industry, liberating them from crushingly oppressive mangers and management structures - putting themselves in charge of their own destiny and in the process watching them come aLive as never before they had been and turn their relations to many thousands of clients from predatory to that of radical Service.
• I've lived and worked with an incomprehensibly wonderful Family in their work / business / life, as a much Loved friend.
  
• ....

I have a frame of reference.

As God is my witness, for $100 million to be spent on my pleasure I would not trade the very worst single 1/10th of a second of my last 5 years in DC for a lifetime of the above (excluding the " * " items. Why? Pure, enlightened greed. Duh:

• Now, I am re-united with, and living every moment with my Entire family now; I live every moment with my family in Gaza, the West Bank; my global family in the lowlands at waters edge who face drowning, starvation, war and displacement by the 100's of millions from my/our US fossil fuel burning; with my family in Darfur; with my family in Haiti; with my family in the Niger Delta; with my 3 million displaced from Iraq; with my family in Sub-Sahara Africa, Congo, dying of desertification, and oil, and minerals, and war; my 20 million aids orphans; with my children in Chester PA, and DC and...; with my billions of fellow over-privileged (middle & upper class) zombies, who were born Human, and might become Human again, as I have after 30 long years of Death, by the Grace of God, and by Jesus, and by my biological sons, and my Father....
• Now, every moment I live with my dying forests, my dying fish populations, my dying Appalachian Mountains, my dying glaciers, my dying reefs, my dying ice caps, my 100's of species going extinct each week, my burning forests... my crucified and dying planet....
• Now, I am immediate "family," and co-laborer with some of the greatest sheroes/heroes in the world - Diane, Rick, Thomas, Ellen, Ann, Liz, Connie, Gael, Nancy, Timothy.
• I was too late to give my life in support of 1-5 Jesus, King, Gandhi, Lincoln, Roosevelt... but I've been given #6, Pres. Obama to give my life with, shoulder to shoulder on the field, battling for the future of all humanity.
• I was near-fatally narcissistic, self absorbed during the great battles for Humanity of the '60's but I've been given now the greatest battle, the final battle in the history of Humanity - Climate Change, the final battle for Civilization.
• And .........................................

So, how can I add to this Heaven, this Nirvana I Live ??!!?!!??!?!??

I just did. These 8 hours I've just spent with you all. I once again basked in what you Give me, so impossibly often. And what is that? Well, I don't know for sure, and I probably never will. It might be Universal Love. It might be Acceptance. It might be Kindness. It might only be total Tolerance. It might only be sheer, Total Endurance of me. But it is a Miracle to me. And, it is a Miracle For my Work. It amazes me. It Awes me. It Feeds me for my work. It Supports me in my work. It Overwhelms me.

I think it is Universal Love. I Know it is Goodness; Yes. I Know it is God.

I have a frame of reference.

Blessed are the poor. Oh God.

There has been a soul in the Park these last 2 weeks, a pitiful lost soul.  An African American man.  The little I can tell he is substantially if not severely mentally impaired, but I have little to go on.  Had me worried the first 3 or 4 days, the way he was pacing around the park in the vicinity of the White House struck me as a bit menacing and possibly hostile, and angry.  But this was a guess; it was not his demeanor, which has remained placid.  I've made it my business to avoid eye contact because I sense that I am not called to divert from my work to attend to him, and I have zero sense that I can be of help to him, in any way.  He has frequently paced very, very close to where I am, sort of violation the "space" of the vigil.  I've respected his right to do so, and despite the fact that I realized he might be looking for kindness, friendship, attention, acknowledgment or someone to chat with, again, I've judged that, although he is my brother and I care for him, and I DO care, I DO have compassion for him, Triage, my duty to choose how to help the most people, dictates that I stay on task and NOT indulge my inclination to try and help him.  To this very second tonight I feel that this is correct, that I am following Good's, God's, Love's Will in this.  But I remain pained that he must feel hurt, maybe VERY hurt that I've given him ZERO attention.  I can't imagine that he has literally two pennies to rub together.  He sleeps on benches here in the park during the day (the Park Police sometimes allow DAY sleeping here) and as near as I can tell he is awake here all night long.  He wears the same pair of slacks, shirt and sweater all the time. 

My heart aches for him.  I saw what appeared to be an uncharacteristiclaly humane Park Police officer in the park the other day.  I approached her, and she was indeed humane.  I know that there is little if anything they are equipped or likely to do, but I told her what I had seen regarding this fellow, and that I wished there was something that could be done for him.

It is 9pm Sunday.  As I was working on the Laptop here in front of the White House at the Vigil a form (person) approached me from my left.  It was this poor, lonely, lost soul.  He reached out to me, and I saw a McDonald's bag at the same time he said,  "Do you want a sandwhich?  I have a fish sandwhich and a hamburger.  You can have them."  There was zero hint he was looking for anything, let alone in return  I was happy to let my love for him shine his way, "Oh, thank you brother, but I've just had a snack.  But thank you. Very kind"  I instantly offered my hand and he responded with a wonderful warm, firm, human handshake, and then went on his way.

"Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

Labor Dept Pays More Than $500M To Ill Uranium Plant Workers Wall Street Journal

Labor Dept Pays More Than $500M To Ill Uranium Plant Workers
Wall Street Journal

Universal Love - Everything else is FAILURE

Universal Love - Every alternative is inferior.

Priests come to Obama's defense Chicago Sun-Times - ‎

Notre Dame Valedictorian: Obama Practices Catholic Values

Priests come to Obama's defense

Chicago Sun-Times - ‎

also...

Poll: Minority of Catholics Oppose Notre Dame's Obama Invite

U.S. News & World Report

Those who change the world have made the attempt NOT because they could succeed, but because the couldn't not make the attempt; because it was the right thing to do.

Those who change the world have made the attempt NOT because they could succeed, but because the couldn't not make the attempt; because it was the right thing to do.

Turns out that Jesus (Universal Love) can only be found in the desert

Going to the desert, the unknown, the strange... itself opens the otherwise closed mind of the Lost.  Speaking in riddles/parables, having face tattoos, a lifestyle out of bounds of "normal" are all forms of desert. "And who did you go to see, a reed blowing in the wind.  And who did you go to see, a man in fine clothing?"  Jesus, Universal Love it seems cannot be found in plain sight.  This is why Holy WomenMen wind up in the desert.

The Earth Wrecking / Peace Wrecking Addiction: Churchoholism, Cathloholism, Islamoholism, Judeoholism.... They are all the same addiction; just differnent brand names.

The Earth Wrecking / Peace Wrecking Addiction:  Churchoholism, Cathloholism, Islamoholism, Judeoholism....  They are all the same addiction; just differnent brand names.

Our hope is not in people giving. THE hope for humanity is that people will greedily embrace that GIVING ALL is the ultimate human Life; and that giving just some, is our Death.

Our hope is not in people giving.  THE hope for humanity is that people will greedily embrace that GIVING ALL is the ultimate human Life; and that giving just some, is our Death.

The single greatest responsibility of the parent is to live a life of radical Universal Love - radical service to the LEAST of these. Failure in this is to entirely fail the child.

The single greatest responsibility of the parent is to live a life of radical Universal Love - radical service to the LEAST of these.  Failure in this is to entirely fail the child - mutilating / amputating / crippling herhis Humanity, probably beyond recovery.

The single greatest responsibility of the NEIGHBOR is to live a life of radical Universal Love - radical service to the LEAST of these.  Failure in this is to entirely fail the neighbor, and the world- mutilating / amputating / crippling herhis Humanity.

Happy Mothers Day

You can't drop your selfishness. But you CAN take on the needs of the-least-of-these, and then your selfishness will fall away. Start Loving.

"Is it ever unpatriotic to not be irritating?" Start asks the students as he describes the dire need for Climate Legislation. They smile. They get it.

US man swims to Aung San Suu Kyi

A United States citizen, John William Yeattaw, has been arrested in Myanmar after swimming across a lake to see Aung San Suu Kyi. 5/8

"Did it [tattoos] hurt?" the students always ask. "That hurts [Start points to the Hiroshima, Nagasaki photos.] The thought of that happening to you hurts. The tattoos are nothing."

"Did it [tattoos] hurt?" the students always ask.  "That hurts [Start points to the Hiroshima, Nagasaki photos.]  The thought of that happening to you hurts.  The tattoos are nothing."

The kids get it.


This is the Truth.

StartL here. Please look at this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SObuXFv-qAw

 

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GANDHI:   "BE THE [COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP] YOU WISH TO SEE."
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Blessed are the poor [IN SOCIAL STATUS/SKILLS/ADVANTAGES]...

Blessed are the poor [IN SOCIAL STATUS/SKILLS/ADVANTAGES]....

My estimate is that Jesus meant the "poor" in SOCIAL STATUS/SKILLS/ADVANTAGES; that in this case material wealth was NOT what was on Jesus mind, although usually these go hand in hand.

What brings this to my mind is the student groups of this morning.  It is rainy, rainy, rainy today.  This subdues the student groups, decreasing the likelihood they will stop by the Vigil to talk, and dampening their Spirits if they do.  The 4 groups or so that stopped by were subdued, distracted; almost not worth my spending time with.

The kids as a whole today were pretty brain dead.  But as each group left there was one, or three, or four kids that made it a point to straggle behind.  They were among the shy of the group, pretty clearly not part of the in-crowd; sometimes with piercings; not that well dressed, not pretty or handsome, physically.  But they were moved.  They were touched.  Their Humanity was EnCouraged by the Vigil. And they wanted to show Kindness, support and Thanks. It was pretty clear to me that these kids that lingered behind were economically challenged as well.  But they would place a dollar in the collection dish we have (the same amount as the well healed wealthy adults that on occasion donate), or press a dollar into my hand and say, "What you do really makes a difference.  Thanks." or something along those lines.  Each time it surprised me; and touched my heart.  Maybe I'm here just to touch one, just one of them - casting a lifeline to their Starving Humanity; feeding Living Waters to their Parched Souls.  That would be worth my life.

"Blessed are the poor [IN SOCIAL STATUS/SKILLS/ADVANTAGES], for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

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.