On Friday I am opening The House That Swift Built at the Atheneaum in Chicago. If you get a chance come see it.
Anyhoo...I had to make a sacrifice for the show...I offered too, so, it was not forced...
Here you see me before...
Click here to see during...
Click here to see me after the sacrifice...
Jesse Jackson, love him or hate him, he makes sense here:
Messiah's message lost in shuffle
Early returns on Christmas are up, we are told. Are these reports on an increase in church attendance? Or a decline in the numbers of homeless? The spread of peace in the world? No, the reports are about sales, better than last year, particularly in the high-end luxury stores. Christmas -- the mass celebrating the birth of Christ -- is the biggest shopping season of the year.
But of course, that's not what the Christmas story is about. Nor is it about the right's newest goofy campaign -- the hyped up ''war on Christmas.'' The ideologues over at Fox News have decided that to save Christmas, we've got to insist that stores advertise ''Christmas sales,'' not holiday sales, and that cards wish people a ''merry Christmas,'' not a happy holiday. Behind their moralizing, these folks are trying to use Christmas for petty political purposes. But that's not what the Christmas story is about either.
It's about a couple -- Mary and Joseph -- forced by an oppressive government to leave their home to travel far to be counted in the census. They were homeless in a strange land. Christmas is the story of a child born in a cow's barn and placed in a manger, a makeshift crib. This was a working barn. Jesus had straw for a floor, fouled by the animals. The innkeeper had no room for the strange couple. If he had understood who the baby was, he would have offered them his bed.
The measure of Christmas can't be about Christmas cards or holiday cards, for Mary and Joseph had no address. It isn't about buying and selling things. Yes, wise men followed the star and brought gifts to the poor child. But their wisdom was not in the value of their gifts, but in their ability to see what the innkeeper missed: the power of the infant asleep in a wooden manger. The Christmas story instructs us to treasure every child, for even the poorest child of a homeless couple has limitless potential.
Unlike the reports on the business page, the reports on the moral page are grim. Poverty is up in this country -- more than 30 million now in poverty. Homelessness is up, with mayors reporting record numbers seeking shelter each night. More people go without health care for lack of insurance -- more than 45 million Americans now. The survivors of Katrina are being abandoned once more.
Reports from the values page are also pretty dismal as well. Inequality is at record levels, yet the administration insists on cutting taxes on the wealthy, while opposing any increase in the minimum wage. College tuition is soaring, but Congress voted to cut student loans to help pay for those top-end tax breaks.
What is Christmas about? It is about an oppressed people praying for a Messiah, a mighty warrior who would conquer their oppressors. The expectation grew so high that even Herod grew uneasy. But when the Messiah came, he came as the prince of peace, not of war. He taught love and hope and charity, not violence and vengeance. He was the greatest liberator of them all, but he carried no arms and provisioned no army. His army would be the legions of the faithful.
But this year, the reports from the peace page are also grim. Our soldiers are in armed occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Our cities are girded against the threat of terrorist attack. We possess the mightiest military that the world has ever known, but we are more insecure than ever. We turn our backs on the genocide taking place in Darfur. The fake moralists howl about the labels on our store sales, not the hunger of the poor.
A mass for Christ is not about shopping, whatever the name. Christmas should celebrate family and community. It should remind us to measure ourselves by how we treat the ''least of these.'' Today in America, millions of poor children head to school not ready to learn. They suffer from malnutrition, from inadequate health care, from mean streets and broken homes. One of five children is raised in poverty. We are failing the standard he taught us.
Let us all remember the true spirit of Christmas this year. Protect the babies in the dawn of life. Care for the elderly in the dusk of life. Nurture the sick; shelter the homeless. Stop for the stranger on the Jericho Road. Work for the promise of peace. Surely that is what Jesus would want under his tree. Merry Christmas everyone.
Rep. John Dingell of Michigan gave the following speech on the Floor of the House. It is brilliant response to House Resolution 597. A resolution designed to protect the icons of Christmas. The absurditiy of it is that it does not protect the menorah or the Kwanza candles, just Christian icons of Christmas. Anyhoo...here is the speech:Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House
No bills were passed ‘bout which Fox News could grouse;
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,
So vacations in St. Barts soon would be near;
Katrina kids were nestled all snug in motel beds,
While visions of school and home danced in their heads;
In Iraq our soldiers needed supplies and a plan,
Plus nuclear weapons were being built in Iran;
Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell;
Americans feared we were on a fast track to…well…
Wait--- we need a distraction--- something divisive and wily;
A fabrication straight from the mouth of O’Reilly
We can pretend that Christmas is under attack
Hold a vote to save it--- then pat ourselves on the back;
Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger
Wake up Congress, they’re in no danger!
This time of year we see Christmas every where we go,
From churches, to homes, to schools, and yes…even Costco;
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy,
When this is the season to unite us with joy
At Christmas time we’re taught to unite,
We don’t need a made-up reason to fight
So on O’Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter, and those right wing blogs;
You should just sit back, relax…have a few egg nogs!
‘Tis the holiday season: enjoy it a pinch
With all our real problems, do we honestly need another Grinch?
So to my friends and my colleagues I say with delight,
A merry Christmas to all,
and to Bill O’Reilly…Happy Holidays.
Over at Street Prophets I came across this diary. I probably should not be blogging right now because I am so angry.
If you remember back in March the President flew back to Washington DC from Crawford, TX to take care of the Terri Schivo issue. Dr. Frist had diagnosed her via a 3 minute video tape, and everyone was fighting for her. I am torn about what "should" have happened, but I think I would side with the husband, but that is not what this blog is about. This is about the classist, racist, hypocritical law in Texas that allowed a conscious woman to die. Ms. Schivo may or may not have been consious, but Tirhas Habtegiris, a legal immigrant from Africa, was, and she was told on Dec. 1 that the medical staff was pulling her life support plug in 10 days.
She knew she would not make it long, but wanted to remain on life support until her mother arrived from Africa. But that would take a little while. In the meantime she had become a burden to the Republic of Texas since she did not have insurance. You see, when Pres. Bush was Gov. he vetoed a bill that would have put the the sole decision of advance directive into the hands of the patient or proxy. Instead the bill remained the same and allows for the state to decide that they will no longer cover the patients medical expenses, and allow for the medical facility to pull the plug regardless of the patient/proxy's directive. So, because a person is poor, the state can decide when their life should end.
Where are the protesters with red tape over their mouths? Where are the high and mighty preachers? Where are the vacationing congress members flying back to Washington? Where the hell are they? Is not Ms. Habtegiris's life just as valuable as Ms. Schaivo's? Or is it less vaulable becasue she can not afford insurance? Because she is poor, and an immigrant?
If these two faced sons of bitches in Washington are going to slap us around with this "Culture of Life" mantra, they better be fighting for everyone, not just their base. White Christian good looking women are not the only people who suffer. They are the one's everyone pays attention to, but there are more. There is the poor immigrant in Texas, there is the laid off factory union member, there is the Arab American, there is the crack baby...these are lives, too! But what do we expect for a society that kills it's own in some sort of Divine Judgement.
If you care so much about a "Culture of Life", how about you proove it? Pass laws that protect the vunerable. Pass Healthcare. Ban the Death Penalty. Provide adoption outlets that do not cost an arm and a leg. Take care of the least of these. If you are going to claim the mantle of Christianity and shove it in the face of everyone you meet, you best well live into it fully. You can not pick and choose.
Noone...ever should know the day they will die.
Tomorrow the 1000th person will be executed by the state since the Supreme Court reversed its decision on the death penalty.
Please pray for the soul of the victims of the crimes
Please pray for the soul of the executed
Please pray for the families of both
Please pray that we turn from the cycle of redemptive violence
Here is a prayer by Sister Helen Prejean
God of Compassion,
You let your rain fall on the just and the unjust.
Expand and deepen our hearts
so that we may love as You love,
even those among us
who have caused the greatest pain by taking life.
For there is in our land a great cry for vengeance
as we fill up death rows and kill the killers
in the name of justice, in the name of peace.
Jesus, our brother,
you suffered execution at the hands of the state
but you did not let hatred overcome you.
Help us to reach out to victims of violence
so that our enduring love may help them heal.
Holy Spirit of God,
You strengthen us in the struggle for justice.
Help us to work tirelessly
for the abolition of state-sanctioned death
and to renew our society in its very heart
so that violence will be no more.
Amen.
I love Clarence Jordan.
"Jesus said it is not enough to limit your love to your own nation, to your own race, to your own group. You must respond with love even to those outside of it, respond with love to those who hate you. This concept enables men to live together not as nations, but as the human race. We are now at the stage of history where we will either take this step or perish."
--Clarence Jordan from The Substance of Faith and other Cotton Patch Sermons
Get Your Hands Dirty
A Baptist Declaration in Opposition to Present U.S. Policies in Iraq We, in the United States, who are followers of Jesus and Baptist by conviction are perplexed by the spiritual conflict present between radically different visions for our nation, both at home and around the world. One is inspired by our interpretations and applications of the teachings of Jesus, while the other is based in a ruling ideology of the current administration and its supporters throughout government and society.
Jesus teaches that we should live with confidence and hope in a sovereign God who graciously makes it possible for us to return God’s love of us by being a loving neighbor to all of God’s creation, even those who are our enemies. For followers of Jesus, justice, reconciliation, and peace are based on the demanding commandment to love others.
In contrast, the government of the United States, in both its executive and legislative branches, including members of both political parties, has increasingly enacted policies that are based on fear and intimidation, hatred and manipulation. It has declared an elusive and unending war on terrorism to justify its own violent acts of retribution and to establish an American empire to be imposed upon the rest of the world.
Toward these ends, the government refused to delay hostilities until weapons inspectors in Iraq completed their work; it relied on discredited informants and distorted intelligence to build a case for war; it instituted preemptive military action that violated international law and the counsel of most nations, including longstanding allies; it pursued a military strategy of terror – of “shock and awe” – against Iraq, while failing to plan and provide adequately for the consequences of protracted war and the reconstruction of devastated land; it provoked insurgent activities with the rhetoric of bravado and policies of exclusion in the rebuilding of Iraq; it allowed or fostered a culture of abuse against prisoners that violated international conventions and our own nation’s fundamental values; it continues to demonize not just supposed enemies but nations who are perceived to be tolerant of those foes; it operates with a sense of America’s moral superiority while justifying its own crimes as necessary in an unbridled campaign against terrorism.
These national policies and practices based on fear and intimidation, hatred and manipulation, have brought devastating consequences. By conservative accounting, over 30,000 innocent Iraqi civilians have lost their lives, of which an estimated ten percent were children; untold thousands have been severely injured; and still more have suffered permanent impairment. Over 2,000 American soldiers have died and 15, 000 wounded. A military action to defeat terrorism on its “primary front” has drastically increased the number of insurgent terrorists in Iraq and networks of terrorism in other countries. The rebuilding of Iraq has slowed and civil war is an on-going threat in the near or long-term future. The United States is expending more than seven billion dollars per month on the Iraqi war and costs are expected to exceed $570 billion by 2010. National Guard and military reserves serving in Iraq are not available to assist in disaster relief at home. The vast appropriations for war are requiring cutbacks in domestic programs for those in need and limitations on aid that might otherwise be used to promote global well being and peace. The standing of the United States in the eyes of the world continues to deteriorate. The stance of the government is a cause of increasing division at home.
As Baptists in the United States, we have no desire to further the division in our nation or across the globe. But neither can we remain silent in the face of the policies and practices of our nation that are so diametrically opposed to our religious faith and what we understand to be the democratic values of the nation.
We ask, therefore, Baptists and all Christians, along with other citizens of good will, to join us in the following actions:
• Seek God’s forgiveness in private and public confession for our own complicity, through acts of commission and omission, in the unnecessary harm our nation is inflicting upon the people of Iraq and in the global war on terrorism. We encourage others, including religious and civic leaders, to make such private and public confessions. We trust this can occur in devotional life and public worship, as well as in civic forums.• Protect the fundamental freedom to dissent and hold opinions contrary to the dominant culture and government policies. We believe that this can occur in private conversation, peaceful public demonstrations, and raising our voices through the media, internet blogs, and other means of communication.
• Expose, in whatever means and opportunities are available, the intimidating and manipulative appeals to fear and hatred to justify and foster practices of coercion and military aggression adopted by our government. We believe this can happen in educational settings and through the public media.
• Challenge in spoken and written word our fellow citizens and our public leaders to reflect on the foundations and consequences of our nation’s policies and practices and to recommend and actively support alternative policies and practices that promote diplomacy, human rights and development, and the protection and just distribution of the earth’s resources. We suggest this take place in sermons, newsletters, op-eds, letters-to-the-editor, and through other means of communication.
Furthermore, because it appears that President George W. Bush and members of his administration are, and will continue to be, indifferent and unresponsive to the widening public desire to end the American military presence in Iraq, we as Christians and people of civic good will must communicate regularly and energetically – through letters, telephone calls, and face-to-face visits – with our elected representatives in the United States Senate and House of Representatives for legislative actions that will:• end the involvement of our nation in the Iraqi war;• provide for means that will allow other nations and international bodies to seek and implement a peaceful end to the Iraqi conflict and the reconstruction of that country; and
• support programs that mandate diplomatic solutions to international conflicts and the use of war as a last resort.
If, as a follower of Jesus, you share our deep concern about the policies and practices of our nation, we invite you to join us in casting off the fear that has bound us. We ask that you endorse this statement on the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America website (www.bpfna.org) or convey it to the BPFNA office by mail (4800 Wedgewood Drive, Charlotte NC 28210 USA), fax (704.521.6053), or e-mail (bpfna@bpfna.org).In the spirit of discipleship and Baptist freedom, we invite you to join in this endeavor.
Last night was a tribute show to Eddie Guerrero. It was a truly moving show. It opened with a 10 bell salute with all the wrestlers out on the stage. There is nothing as emotionaly jarring as seeing a 7' 500# man weeping.
It was followed up by a memorial video set to Johnny Cash's version of Hurt.
Throughout the night clips of Eddie's career were show. Interviews with his friends in the back. And matches in his memory.
The final match was with the world champ. At the end of the match he took off the t-shirt he was wearing, which was one of Eddie's, and laid it in the middle of the ring, and layed the belt across the waist.
This image is burned into my brain. It was so moving. And appropiate, as in amateur wrestling when a wrestler retires or passes, his shoes are set in the middle of the ring.
7:30 am yesterday, Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room in Minneapolis.
Many of you know that I am a pro-wrestling fan. Eddie was the epotime of the artist. He created a character who was fun loving, and determined.
Eddie struggled for years with additction to pain killers and booze, but just recently celebrated 4-years of soberity.
In a business that seems to claim many way too young, very rarely does it happen while the wrestler in in his prime. Eddie was on top of the mountain. Not only did fans love him, but he was a father figure to many of the younger guys in the locker room.
He found grace during the lowest part of the valley and allowed it to cary him to soberity, and that grace was shown to all of his fans and co-workers.
Eddie will be missed...
Viva la Razza
I readt Street Prophets everyday.
One of the best parts of it is the prayer closet. I try my darndest to keep the Koinonia Communities prayer hours. It is a good way to refocus my day. Since street prophets has begun, the prayer closet hast been such a blessing. It is amazing how the power of the holy spirit can move even through cyber space.
Make Dada Proud!
It make me all gibbley inside to know that dadaism has a 21st century outlet.
I received this beautiful piece of spam mail today, and, well read it for your self!
Ok, for those of us who are political junkies, we are following this Plame thing. It is looking like Scooter Libby, VP Cheney's chief of staff, will get indicted today for making false statements to a grand jury.
For all of my Republican friends, don't start cryin that this is a partisan attack and that indicting on making false statements is just a way to make the Grand July not look like a waste of time.
All I have to say to that cry baby defense is remember that making false statements to a grand jury led to the impeacment of the President of the United States.
Do not say perjury is a technicallity. Remeber it is what lying about ones personal sex life that led to the impeachment of the POTUS.
Also, remember Clinton lied about having an affair (which is awful), but Libby and probably Rove are lying about commiting TREASON.
_______________________
Update Noon: Scotter was indicted on 5 counts: 2 perjury, 2 making false statements, 1 obsruction of justice
Here is a link to a NASA time lapse photo of the Gulf of Mexico Region for this summer.
It is truly scary. Watch how hot the Gulf gets. Nothing but a power generator for hurricanes.
My friend Amy is in Palestine for the next 2 months.
I have added her blog of the trip my sidebar. She is there as part of The Christian Peacemaker Teams. Please remember her and her community memebers at Community of the Holy Trinity, as they miss her while she is gone.
It has been a while since I have posted first thoughts. No excues really, other than laziness. Well, here we go!
Readings for Sunday, Oct 9:
Exodus 32:1-14
Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23
Philippians 4:1-9
Matthew 22:1-14
Well, after reading the Matthew passage I am reminded why I have not posted the last several weeks. These parables are hard. They, at first read, present the Jesus that is mean and judging. He is not the one I like. "`Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen." Ouch. But, Tripp's sermon from last week helps me to look at these hard parables through a different lens. One of context. This parable comes right after the one from last week. Which comes right after Jesus clears the temple of the money changers. He is being punked out by the big wigs of the temple, and it doing what he does best...turning the tables and punking them out in return (pun intended). So, this parable continues that streak.
Jesus continued the conversation by speaking to them with Comparisons. "The God Movement is like a governor who gave a big dinner for his party chairman. He told his secretaries to invite the prominent dignitaries, but they refused to accept. So he told his secretaries to try again. 'Tell them,' he said: 'The banquet is all arranged for-the steer has been butchered and the hogs barbecued. Y’all come on to the dinner.' But they couldn’t have cared less. One left to go out to his farm; another went to his store, The rest of them taunted and insulted the secretaries. At that, the governor had a duck fit, and ordered the names of the scoundrels to be struck from the list of his friends. Then he said to his secretaries, 'Plans for the banquet are all made, but the people I invited aren’t fit to come. So go to the various precincts, and whoever you find there, invite them to the banquet.' Well, they went to the precincts and brought in everybody they could find, good and bad. The banquet hall was filled with guests, and the governor went in to greet them, There he saw a guy sitting at the table who looked and smelled like he had just come in from his farm. The governor said to him, 'Hey, buddy, how did you get in here, looking and smelling like that?' He just clammed up. Then the governor said to the waiters. 'Tie the bum up and throw him in the back alley.' Outside there’ll be yelling and screaming, for the big ones were invited but the little ones got in. (Cotton Patch Version by Clarence Jordan)
It takes on a whole different perspective. God invites everyone, but judges those who like the people in the previous lessons who say they are his, but then continue to disregard his invitations and instructions. (Please note that the Governor is the one who says to kick out the disinvited guest...not the secretaires)
Meanwhile back in the desert our recently freed friends are beginnig to miss Moses. He has been up in the mountain for a while, and well, without him to remind the people that the LORD of their ancestors is the one true God they want something to worship. So they approach Aaron (I had never realized that before this reading), the 2nd in command, and he says to give him all of their gold, and he will melt it and make an idol for them. Now, I don't know if this was Aaron trying to be sneaky and punish them for forsaking God [ed. I realized I did not finish this thought...Is Aaron punishing them by getting rid of their gold?] or if he was just as bummed out. But, anyway he makes an idol, and their ruccus worshiping it interrupts the nice conversation God and Moses were having. God is ticked and says, "Get down there and tell them that because they are so pig-headed and keep forgetting that I am providing them with food everyday, I am going to get rid of them. Screw 'em. I will make you the father of a great nation."
Moses replies, "Woah there buddy. I know you are ticked and all, but just take a second here. What will the Egyptians say? Huh? 'Oh, look, their God freed the only to kill them. We could have done that.' Come on now, LORD, you can change your mind. It is ok. Remeber what you told Abe, Issac and Jake? You promised them and yourself that you would make a great nation from their decendandts. You want to be know as a liar?" With that the LORD changed his mind.
God can change God's mind? There are countless times through out the Hebrew Bible that God does that. I think this just furtheres the argument my by Jesus in the parable. You see when the governor invites people to the party, he and only he decides who can come and who can not. Is this not the Good News we are to witness? We are to be the secretaires and invite all to the table. It is up to them whethere or not they come, and if they do not come, do not worry about it becasue the Governor will have other parties. Maybe, by being thrown out of this particular party, the big wigs are brought to their knees and humbled and will come to the next party as the least of these?
So, as the secretaires going out and inviting others to the party, we should follow Paul's advise and do it with a rejoicing heart. Do it with gentleness and humility, for we are but servants of the LORD. For if we do these things the peace of God will be with us. Let us go invite with a song in our hearts:
Hallelujah!
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, *
for his mercy endures for ever.
Who can declare the mighty acts of the LORD *
or show forth all his praise?
Happy are those who act with justice *
and always do what is right!
Remember me, O LORD, with the favor you have for your people, *
and visit me with your saving help;
That I may see the prosperity of your elect
and be glad with the gladness of your people, *
that I may glory with your inheritance.
We have sinned as our forebears did; *
we have done wrong and dealt wickedly.
Israel made a bull-calf at Horeb *
and worshiped a molten image;
And so they exchanged their Glory *
for the image of an ox that feeds on grass.
Wonderful deeds in the land of Ham, *
and fearful things at the Red Sea.
So he would have destroyed them,
had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, *
to turn away his wrath from consuming them.
The Balad of Serenity (an mp3 link)
by Joss Whedon
Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me
Take me out to the black
Tell them I ain't comin' back
Burn the land and boil the sea
You can't take the sky from me
There's no place I can be
Since I found Serenity
But you can't take the sky from me...
I have never been a fan of Sci-Fi. I prefer stories about human follies and triumphs versus those of aliens and laser gun toting superheroes.
I love Firefly; a t.v. show that was canclled after only 1/2 a season. I love Serenity; the movie that opened this past weekend and is a follow up to the tv show.
I love a sci-fi movie and tv show. Why is this? Well, I think it is because both are about people. Not about laser guns or spaceships. They follow flawed, real people.
anyhoo...
SEE THE MOVIE...
this was a wast of time post, but heck...your are reading it anyway
Katrina Help
Click Here for the list of Agencies I have come up with.
Thanks
jt
In honor of 9/30/05 Shepherd Derrial Book Zoe Alleyne Washburne Simon Tam Capt. Mal Reynolds The Operative Hoban 'Wash' Washburne Kaylee Frye River Tam Inara Serra Jayne Cobb
Serenity opens on Friday!!!
You scored as Shepherd Derrial Book. The Preacher. Out here, folks need a minister, if only to remind them that God hasn't forgotten them. It isn't about making them worship, it is teaching them to do right by themselves and other people. Why is that so hard for some to understand? 88% 81% 81% 75% 75% 75% 75% 56% 50% 19%
Which Serenity character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com
Here is the news from Baton Rouge as of 9/11
Yesterday, our entire team went to Plaquemine Civic Center. Our census is beginning to go down as we sent 20 people on a bus to Texas. It is so exciting to see these people pack up what little they have, clean up their areas, and line up for the bus. This shelter has been a safe haven for so many over the past couple of weeks, and as they move on, they face a life a uncertainty and new beginnings.
Our day was spent in ministry to this community. We played with the children, talked with the parents, and took care of medical needs. We have treated several wounds from the storm, but infectious disease has been kept at bay. We have been blessed with two wonderful doctors - Dr. Jack (from MN) and Doctor J (from NY). These two men came to help completely on their own, and will be staying at the center through the end of the week.
Today we will be going to Plaquemine for our last day. Our after school tutoring center opens this afternoon on the stage. Many volunteers have worked to clean, arrange, and stock the center with supplies for the children. Today, we are arranging volunteers to come in to tutor and read with these children. Some in our group will be going to other shelters much less fortunate that our run by churches. We have learned a lot about "bureaucracy" during this trip, and have seen firsthand, that not everyone has access to the same services. Continue to pray for all of these victims to get the help and support they need.
The Red Cross is now moving into the "transition phase" of caring for these people. Their lives are returning to whatever "normal" is going to be for them. Now that their immediate needs (food, housing, clothing, and medicine) have been met, it is time for them to transition into becoming self sufficient once again.
Most of the 9/7 group will be homeward bound for Northern Illinois this week. Donna, Sue, and Mary departed yesterday, as Donna hurt her leg. More groups are beginning to join our team, and we are now represented by volunteers from South Dakota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Virginia. We are not all working in the same areas, so we don't have as many updates about the other locations. We do know that a lot of tear down and rebuilding has been done, and that are workers have worked tirelessly to help this area. We have become our own "family" down here, and leaving will be difficult. Please pray for all of our team members for safe travel and emotional well being as we also begin to transition back to our "regular" lives.
A huge thank you for all of your donations, support, and prayers. A very special thank you to the Sunday School Classes of Trinity Lutheran Church for the wonderful home cooked (southern style of course) meal last night! Thanks Trinity! This church has taken on a monumental task of caring for the volunteers, as well as volunteering in the relief efforts themselves. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue to serve in the days to come. Lynn
I have hear/read the phrase "Claptrap" more times in the last 2 weeks than I ever have the previouse 28 years.
Did I miss the new Britney song or something? Why has this prase/word (which is it, by the way? Can something be both a word and a phrase?) become so used in the last 2 weeks?
Help me...i am a lost soul
Here is Lynn's update for 9/10
September 10, 2005
Today took our team to various shelters in the area. The Plaquemine group has now been on site since Thursday, and the residents are calling us by name. Our first baby "arrived" at the shelter this afternoon. She was born the 7th by C-Section. We have a crib set up next to a hospital style bed for mom. The rest of the family is sleeping next to her on a mattress. Just imagine what this family is going through bringing their new bundle home - to a homeless shelter with 411 people! Please pray that the mother and baby remain healthy until they can find permanent housing.
Our three year old who they thought had leukemia - has severe mono! Who would have thought you could be thankful for mono? Infectious diseases are being kept at bay. Treating boils, wound care, and dispensing meds was the order for today. Our medical clinic has now moved into an emergency care center now that the basic needs have been met.
Tomorrow, most of our team is coming with us. There is a tremendous need to play with these children. They have nothing to do on the weekend, and are beginning to go stir crazy. Our "non medical" team is going to play with the kids, scrub floors, and spray down beds and living areas.
Today a group of mental health workers arrived to help. The local school is having a difficult time with not only the influx of children, but behaviors as well. These children are given tons of candy, and are not getting enough sleep. They are in new schools that may be different than what they are used to. I hope to meet with the Supt. of Schools tomorrow, and together with the mental health workers we are going to start some parenting sessions, and an after school homework club. I hope to get into the schools on Monday to see what else we can do to help. Imagine that - me working with school children! (For those of you who do not know me, I am the Director of Curriculum for CCSD #46).
Our Fort Wayne Seminarians arrived safely tonight, after their bus accident in Memphis. Another group has arrived from Northern Illinois and will be joining us tomorrow. Volunteers are scheduled here through the 23rd and more calls are coming in. It is amazing to see everyone working together to help those less fortunate than themselves!
God Bless them all!
(NOTE: I am keeping this at the top of the page, scroll down for my normal updates.)
Donate to the Red Cross
Here are some other options:
ABC-USA Missions
Lutheran Church Charaties (From Cousin Rev. Andy)
ELCA Disaster Response
ECUSA Relief Fund
A comprehenisive list of other services is here at Daily Kos
Larry the ECC has specific pages let me know, and I will add it to this list.
I just got 2 emails from Rev. Andy, my cousins husband. My Cousin, Lynn is in Baton Rouge doing some relief work with Lutheran Charaties (photos and updates).
Here are 2 emails from here. One is from Thurs., Sept 8, and one is from this morning.
Thurday 9/8
Dear Andy,
Hi - Finally getting the last 6 people out into the field. Patience is the name of the game and change is the order of the day.
The hopitality is amazing - just had lunch with a displaced preK teacher whose husband is a synod worker - they have been evacuated since the Hurricane (to Houston) - their Lutheran School is closed and she was quite concerned about her students who she didn't know where her students were. She was allowed to come back to see her home today - but they have to be out by 6 pm. She was happy that they had not sustainged water damage. She had to clean out the rotting food from her refrigerator and people have been advised to bury their rotting food!
People are wandering the streets looking for food and clothing. We have a group on a work crew - a hospital group and a large group at the "Miracle Center" where the last of the evacuees are being brought. A local pastor runs the center. Next door to Trinity is a Baptist Church that the Red Cross is running a food distribution center. Thousands of meals are being served twice a day. I met the Baptist pastor helping with the distribution - and on top of all they are doing they are feeding our volunteers! Everyone is truly working together.
We have got things fairly well organized for our group for now. Changes are continuous based on the calls we receive to help. This church has been amazing! I visited the school at lunch time. They have received 63 new students this week. They have all received new uniforms, and look like they were fitting in well. The cutest little pre-schooler was having a major meltdown and when I asked if it was because of being displaced, I was told that she had been attending preschool the past three weeks here, and was having a difficult time adjusting to her new class size of 12 from a class of 22!
The guys unloaded the semi of medical supplies today at Covington-Slidell. Everywhere is in need of so many things.
Thanks for the prayers - please continue. I have never been so frightened as I was last night driving the last couple of hours into Baton Rouge. There is a mandatory curfew from 10 - 5, and no gas available after 10. We had 400 gallons of gas on the trailor, but stopping was risky because of our precious cargo. We had to stop and wait for a car that was running low, and we had to move three times so people did not realize what we had in our trailor. Finally made it in at 1:30 am and we were up and going at 5 today. We're on our way out to a hospital center now so will close for now. Hope to get a chance to update soon.
Love, Lynn
Friday Morning or Late Thursday night
Good Morning!
It's 11:00 and I'm about done for the night.
Our one medical team came back with incredible stories from the storm refugees. There is rampant pink eye, and various other diseases sprouting up. There is not enough medicine to meet the needs.
Part of our group is staying in a motor home in Covington. They are on a chain saw mission. They took our cook Ernesto along and are living in a motor home a parishioner donated. It sounds like that area was extremely hard hit. They are attempting to get other motor homes to make a camp for people to stay in. It is far from here so we won't see them until we get ready to leave. My driver, Scott is there so hopefully he'll decide to come back and pick me up.
I will be working at a shelter tomorrow from 7 - 7. The needs are tremendous and there is plenty of work to be done. At least we are doing what we came to do.
Went on a food run tonight. Stores were closed after 8. Finally, found an open WalMart. It was packed with people. Armed policeman at the door - and empty food isles!!! No milk or eggs. People had baskets full of food.
I assume these are people that have finally found housing and have had to start over. It took us over an hour to check out.
5:30 comes early. I'll call you tomorrow night. I love you. Lynn
Please pray for Lynn and everyone helping out.
Last Post for the Day
I just came across this diary at dailykos. It talks about a small miracle amdist the Hell in the Superdome. The story comes from the LA Times. Read the article for the Hell, but here is the miracle...i cried:
Suddenly, incongruously, the first notes of Bach's Sonata No. 1 in G minor," the Adagio, pierced the desperation.
Samuel Thompson, 34, is trying to make it as a professional violinist. He had grabbed his instrument — made in 1996 by a Boston woman — as he fled the youth hostel Sunday where he had been staying in New Orleans for the last two months.
"It's the most important thing I own," he said.
He had guarded it carefully and hadn't taken it out until Wednesday afternoon, when he was able to move from the Superdome into the New Orleans Arena, far safer accommodations. He rested the black case on a table next to a man with no legs in a wheelchair and a pile of trash and boxes, and gingerly popped open the two locks. He lifted the violin out of the red velvet encasement and held it to his neck.
Thompson closed his eyes and leaned into each stretch of the bow as he played mournfully. A woman eating crackers and sitting where a vendor typically sold pizza watched him intently. A National Guard soldier applauded quietly when the song ended, and Thompson nodded his head and began another piece, the Andante from Bach's Sonata in A minor.
Thompson's family in Charleston, S.C., has no idea where he is and whether he is alive. Thompson figures he is safe for now and will get in touch when he can. In the meantime he will play, and once in a while someone at the sports complex will manage a smile.
"These people have nothing," he said. "I have a violin. And I should play for them. They should have something."
A sense of beauty in the midst of Hell.
I just heard the G-Rod said that any child refugee can enroll in Illinois schools. They are considered homeless, and therefor do not need to meet residency requirements.
I have heard this going on in other states as well.
The last couple of days during lunch I have made my way over to the chapel in Northwestern Hospital to pray. Today, I was angry, fustrated and in no mood.
Instead of starting right off and praying, I picked up the Bible that was in front of me and opened it up. I opened to Psalm 40:
1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the desolate pit,*
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.
It is a Psalm of hope and promise. But what struck me and what I prayed on was verse 1.
Waiting patiently for the LORD. It is hard, but I pray for patience. I pray that the people of the Gulf have patience.
I keep praying on this.
This quote (found on page 3) made my stomach almost wretch. This is from Homeland Security Cheif Michael Chertoff:
"The critical thing was to get people out of there before the disaster," he said on NBC's "Today" program. "Some people chose not to obey that order. That was a mistake on their part."
Mr. Chertoff, have you seen the photos of the people who stayed? No? Well, most of them are the poor, the elderly, the unemployed, the homeless, those who have no way to get out of town, those who have not the money to catch a bus out of town. How about instead of blaming them for their state of afairs, you look in the mirror. There were 36+ hour of warning for this storm. There could have been convoys prepared for those who could not get out on their own. They could have been plans in place to move people from the Superdome in case something like this happened.
Urf...sorry to keep posting this stuff, but if I do not get it off my chest I will be ill.
Here is a link to a diary which is a snip of editorals from across the country.
Things are bad. Real bad.
Chris Jones in today's Chicago Tribune has a great article about the beauty of Chicago theater.
Here is my favorite quote:
t's easy to think other cities must have something like this wonder. They don't. Most of them cannot hold the community together. And they don't have our tradition - of edgy comedy, of actors who look like actual people, of grit on the stage, of the sweat of self-revelation on the performer's brow. They don't have the Chicago actor's stubborn willingness to go on with the show for 10 people in the house. They don't have our capacity and love of probing the dark underbelly of the art and of life. They don't have the sheer fun of being able to pick from scores and scores of live shows to see each and every Saturday night. We think the Chicago theater scene is a wonder. Unique. And the very life-beat of Chicago itself.
Bush said this morning, "Nobody anticpated the levees breaking."
Sorry Georgie, either you are uniformed or are lying.
Here is a link for you with a wonderful list of article, essays, and many other pieces, saying that BECAUSE YOU TRANSFERED MONEY TO IRAQ instead of keeping it HERE, they could not do necessary repairs...ass.
Before you think I am making politcs out of this...this goes beyond politcs into human decency.
Here is another great post with links about how uninformed or full of crap our leader is.
But then I came across this editorial in the New York Times:
September 1, 2005
Waiting for a Leader
George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual in this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed. He then read an address of a quality more appropriate for an Arbor Day celebration: a long laundry list of pounds of ice, generators and blankets delivered to the stricken Gulf Coast. He advised the public that anybody who wanted to help should send cash, grinned, and promised that everything would work out in the end.
We will, of course, endure, and the city of New Orleans must come back. But looking at the pictures on television yesterday of a place abandoned to the forces of flood, fire and looting, it was hard not to wonder exactly how that is going to come to pass. Right now, hundreds of thousands of American refugees need our national concern and care. Thousands of people still need to be rescued from imminent peril. Public health threats must be controlled in New Orleans and throughout southern Mississippi. Drivers must be given confidence that gasoline will be available, and profiteering must be brought under control at a moment when television has been showing long lines at some pumps and spot prices approaching $4 a gallon have been reported.
Sacrifices may be necessary to make sure that all these things happen in an orderly, efficient way. But this administration has never been one to counsel sacrifice. And nothing about the president's demeanor yesterday - which seemed casual to the point of carelessness - suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis.
While our attention must now be on the Gulf Coast's most immediate needs, the nation will soon as why New Orleans's levees remained so inadequate. Publications from the local newspaper to National Geographic have fulminated about the bad state of flood protection in this beloved city, which is below sea level. Why were developers permitted to destroy wetlands and barrier islands that could have held back the hurricane's surge? Why was Congress, before it wandered off to vacation, engaged in slashing the budget for correcting some of the gaping holes in the area's flood protection?
It would be some comfort to think that, as Mr. Bush cheerily announced, America "will be a stronger place" for enduring this crisis. Complacency will no longer suffice, especially if experts are right in warning that global warming may increase the intensity of future hurricanes. But since this administration won't acknowledge that global warming exists, the chances of leadership seem minimal.
Ok, I am back.
I have a couple of ideas that could win the good will of the people back.
1.) Assure those who are the poorest of the poor and the weakest of the weak (you know, the ones who could not afford to evacuate the cities) that they will be taken care of. That they will be loved.
2.) Bring home the national guard troops to help in the recsue/recovery efforts. Around 2/3 of the national guard of MS, LA, and AL are in Iraq providing woefully inadequate numbers for such a massive effort.
3.) Call for sacrifice amongst the American People. They want to help. They need to know how.
4.) Talk to the American people like they are adults, not chlidren. You are very condecening in your speeches. We are not as stupid as you think. While you are at it, work on not having that stupid smirk on your face that you get everytime Iraq is discussed.
5.) Give the American people updates on what is going on. Do not rely on the media. It is your job to lead the people. Do it.
6.) As rebuilding begins in The Gulf Coast, DO NOT contract out the jobs of rebuilding infrastructre to your buddies. Follow in the footsteps of FDR, create the GCRP (Gulf Coast Rebuild Project). Let the people who are now jobless work. Give jobs to them. Have the people take pride in their efforts. This can be co-oridninate through the Army Corps of Engineers.
7.) GET RID OF THE TAX CUTS. Right now the only people who need the relief are those directly affected by Katrina. The rest of us can Sacrifice the tax cuts (see number 3), and since they will not truly affect most of us we can handle it. Call on your buddies to pay more.
8.) Ignore the car lobby, and enforce CAFE standards. Make sure that our automobiels meet strict emissions and fuel comsumption standards.
9.) Regulate the utility companies this and the upcoming winters. Make sure that they charge honestly for heating fuel. There is no way people of even median income can afford the upconming $700 heating bills this winter.
10.) Act like you are in charge! Yesterday's speech did not do that. Yesterday, you pawned out every job. At least look like you give a damn!
I have uploaded a couple of wedding photos...most of them are the posed ones...i will add more candids as the days come
Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 149
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20
Man, I feel like Sonny, Robert Duvall's character in The Apostle, when he is in his bedroom yelling at God.
"I don't know who's foolin' with me, you or the devil. I love you Lord, but I'm mad at you!".
The readings this week, particualarly the Exodus and the end of the Gospel reading are full of such promise for the followers of God. They assure us of God's presence among God's people.
"The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."--Exodus
"Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."--Matthew
Tell that to the folks living down in the Gulf of Mexico. Tell that to the residents of New Orleans whose entire town is gone. 90% of Biloxi, MS gone. These folks have every right to say, "I don't know who's foolin' with me, you or the devil. I love you Lord, but I'm mad at you!". Mad at you for breaking the promise. There were more than two or three gathered in your name, where were you? Do you not see the blood of the Lamb upon us? We asked and it was not done. I'm mad at you!
I have been praying and meditiating on these readings over the last 24 hours as the news down south worsens. I have been trying to find the silver lining in the midst of the chaos and destruction.
I think I have something. This morning I heard the governor of Louisana, Kathleen Blanco, and what she said reminded me of the promise of baptism. Through the death, burial and reseurction of Lord Jesus we have live anew. She did not bring up baptism, but the analogy she used reminded me of it.
There is a sense of hope in looking at this destruction through the image of baptism. Though the destruction is unfathomable and there is a sense of hell on Earth, through the grace of Baptism we are reborn stronger than before.
Paul give us more hope in the Romans passage, "For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near."
But it is damn hard to trust that things will be ok. DAMN HARD.
Listening to first person accounts of the hell in Dixie it seems that things will never be ok. The man who's wife slipped from his hand in the rushing water, he can do nothing but asume she is dead [Update 11:24 a.m.: the man's name is Harvey Jackson...God be with you, Mr. Jackson and all others in your same situation}. To see bodies floating by, life snuffed out in an instant. God I am mad at you!
But through faith we have to be living examples of the healing power of God. "Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet"; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law....Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light."--Romans. We have to use the stregth and power the Holy Spirit enabled us with in baptism. We must be lights in this darkness. Full of grace and unconditional love.
We must take hope in the Lord:
"For the LORD takes pleasure in his people
and adorns the poor with victory."--Psalms 149:4.
May The Lord Give You Peace!
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Please feel free to leave your thoughs!
 You are elegant, withdrawn, and brilliant. Your mind is a weapon, able to solve any puzzle. You are also great at poking holes in arguments and common beliefs. For you, comfort and calm are very important. You tend to thrive on your own and shrug off most affection. You prefer to protect your emotions and stay strong. |
I fount this moving picture of Brother Roger in the Phillipines at the Taize Website.
Eternal Rest
Brother Roger
Here is a link to Brother Roger's funeral.
I found it at the Taize site.
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-27
If you look at the Romans passage, you have all you need. That is how you do it. That is what you need to know to be a good Christian. Simple enough. End of story.
It looks so easy on paper, doesn't it. Well at least the first part. "Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers." That is not too bad. But look at what happens in the second part of the passage:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Bless those who persecute you? Live in harmony with one another? Do not repay evil with evil? Feed my enemies? You mean I can not call for the assassination of them?
The first thing that struck me was the line, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Wow, let me bring up the political realm here. For 12 years prior to our recent invasion of Iraq the United Nations had sanctions against Iraq. We currently have an embargo against Cuba. North Korea is sanctioned. Burma, Iran, Libera, Balkans, Lybia, Sudan, Syria, Zimbabwe...all sanctioned. We are starving our enemies. We are breeding hatred toward our country because we are avenging for ourselves. We are missing the last part of the above quote: for by doing this [feeding] you are heaping coals upon their heads. The heaping of coals is purification. Cleaning. We are breeding hatred by imposing such draconian means of punishment. People hate us because we are not helping to feed them. Imagine this...A country , say North Korea which is in famine, is doing something we do not like, but instead of inhibiting trade and supplies, we increase it. Imagine what could happen to the people inthe country. Joy, happiness, looking at us as people who care.
This goes for me, too. On a smaller scale. I am selfish. Rude, and arrogant. I think that is human nature. I work at trying not to be, but when approached by someone asking for help, I tend to be a priest crossinng to the other side, instead of a Samaritan helping a Jew. I am aware of this and working on it.
This goes into what the Gospel reading says, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
"For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done."
Christ tells us to follow him with all we can. The image I have is of the traditional Mexican Cross. The cross is covered with items. Items from what represent life before Christ. Vices. When we take up our cross we are putting all of the junk on it. When we loose our lives to Christ, only the, can we begin to do the things Paul states in the Romans passage. There are still things that I want to keep in my pockets instead of putting on the cross. I am working on listening to the call.
This is where I totally understand Moses, Who am I that I should go to Pharoh? Who am I that I should love my enemy. But God's response is a response I need to trust. I, being a 21st Century American, a cynical, broken person have a problem believing it. I do, but I alway say but...God says, "I will be with you"...I just need to accept that.
God will be with us. We need not worry about what others think. God was with Moses when he confronted Pharoah. God was with Christ when Christ was nailed to the tree. God was with the apostles when they were beset with grief. God was with Paul in prison. God is with us when we act counter culturally and do the thinks expressed in the letter to the Romans.
May the Lord Give you Peace!
Please leave comments. Let me know where you sit with these readings.
I am going to be trying something as a spiritual discipline. I am going to try to look at the coming week's lectionary readings, and offer my thoughts on them. These will be gut reations, and probably ramble a little. They are me working through the readings. I have no theological training, just a life long church goer.
I will be using the RCL as found on the ABC-USA site. Although, the schedule will be determined by the ABC-USA RCL, you will see the readings coming from, here.
President Bush and the Wingers are doing what they do best. Sliming all in their way. They are trying to slime Cindy Sheehan, but it is not working. Now, anyone who opposed the war are weakening America and not what the majority of people...since when is 54% not a majoity?
Shoot, if your 51% election win was a mandate...wtf is this?
Oh yeah, Mr. Moyer above is harming America, too. You know..he was one of the people in attendance at your speech...the one where you are taking a vacation from your vacation.
"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of addaddination, but if he thinks we're trying to addaddinate him, I think that we really ought to go a head and do it...It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war...and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."
Go ahead and guess.
Yup...the stalwart of the pro-life, religious right...Pat Robertson. He said it about Hugo Chavez, Presidend of Venezuela.
Below is an email written to Larry Northern, the patriot who mowed over the memorial crosses at Camp Casey. The email was written by Iraqi war vet, Perry Jefferies from Operation Truth, the 2005 version of Vietnam Vets Against the War.
The email:
Mr. Northern:
I am a Veteran of the Iraq war, having served with the 4th Infantry Division on the initial invasion with Force Package One.
While I was in Iraq,a very good friend of mine, Christopher Cutchall,was killed in an unarmoredHMMWV outside of Baghdad. He was a cavalry scout serving with the 3d ID.Once he had declined the award of a medal because Soldiers assigned to him did not receive similar awards that he had recommended. He left two sons and awonderful wife. On Monday night, August 16, you ran down the memorial cross erected for him by Arlington West.
One of my Soldiers in Iraq was Roger Turner. We gave him a hard time because he always wore all of his protective equipment, including three pairs of glasses or goggles. He did this because he wanted to make sure that he returned home to his family. He rode a bicycle to work every day to make sure that he was able to save enough money on his Army salary to send his son to college. At Camp Anaconda, where the squadron briefly stayed, a rocket landed inside a tent, sending a piece of debris or fragment into him and killed him. On Monday night, August 16, you ran down the memorial cross erected for him by Arlington West.
One of my Soldiers was Henry Bacon. He was one of the finest men I ever met. He was in perfect shape for a man over forty, working hard at night. He told me that he did that because he didn't have much money to buy nice things for his wife, who he loved so much, so he had to be in good shape for her. He was like a father to many young men in his section of maintenance mechanics. They fixed our vehicles with almost no support and fabricated parts and made repairs that kept our squadron rolling on the longest, fastest armor advance ever made under fire. He was so very proud of his son-in-law that married the beautiful daughter so well raised by Henry. His son-in-law was a helicopter pilot with the 1st Cavalry Division, who died last year. Henry stopped to rescue a vehicle belonging to another unit on what was to be his last day in Iraq. He could have kept rolling - he was headed to Kuwait after a year's tour. But he stopped. He could have sent others to do the work, but he was on the ground, leading by example, when he was killed. On Monday night, August 16, you took it upon yourself to go out in the country, where a peaceful group was exercising their constitutional rights, and harming no one, and you ran down the memorial cross erected for Henry and for his son-in-law by Arlington West.
Mr. Northern - I know little about Cindy Sheehan except that she is a grieving mother, a gentle soul, and wants to bring harm to no one. I know little about you except that you found your way to Crawford on Monday night in August with chains and a pipe attached to your truck for the sole purpose of dishonoring a memorial erected for my friends and lost Soldiers and hundreds of others that served this nation when they were called. I find it disheartening that good men like these have died so that people like you can threaten a mother who lost a child with your actions. I hope that you are ashamed of yourself.
Perry Jefferies, First Sergeant, USA (retired)
Last night I went to the peace vigil outsid of St. Gertrude's Church up in Roger's Park. Last night there were 1,625 registered peace vigils outside of churches, schools, on street corneres, parks. Last night at least 100 people were gathered at the corner of Glenwood and Hood. Tears were shed. The Holy Spirit was present.
Ginger, who's son is currently in Iraq, organized the gathering, and we opened with a couple of songs and she told us her son's story. Then the meeting was run as a quaker meeting. People spoke if moved by the spirit. One person invoked the recent Peasant revolt in China as an example of what can happen, and how the peasants did what they did at the fear of death, at least we have the bill of rights to protect our actions. Another person invoked the saints and especially the late John Paul II. Though he did not agree with all of the pontiff's postitions, the one that was most overlooked during all the news stories surrounding his death was his ABSOLUTE horror at this war. A student from Loyola brought the sad news of the murder of Brother Roger, and invoked his name and the work of Taize as an example of living for peace and justice. After her, someone spontaneously broke into the the Taize song "Jesus, remember me/When you come into your kingdom." 100+ voices then joined. An older lady spoke on behalf of the children who are loosing brothers and sisters in this war, and how the death of her brother during WWII forever changed her life. Some one offered a prayer for all the innocent victims in Iraq. Someone offered a prayer to the Creator to send the Sprit upon us and make us instruments of peace.
Ginger will be joining Cindy Sheehan in Crawford, TX this weekend and will be taking a letter of support signed by all present to her.
The winds of change are moving. These kind of actions will do much more than the loud protests (which have thier place), but this meeting was different in that the Spirit was present and working. We ended with this song:
Well, I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield,
Down by the riverside,
Down by the riverside, down by the riverside.
I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield,
Down by the riverside,
I'm gonna study war no more.
I ain't gonna study war no more,
I ain't gonna study war no more,
I ain't gonna study war no more,
I ain't gonna study war no more,
I ain't gonna study war no more,
I ain't gonna study war no more.
Let me close with this verse from one of my favorite songs:
Cure Thy children's warring madness;
Bend our pride to Thy control;
Shame our wanton, shelfish gladness,
Rich in things and poor in sould.
Grant us wisdome, Grant us courage,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal,
Lest we miss Thy kingdom's goal.
Monday night when Mae and I got home from the Sox/Twins game we had a very cryptic message from our friend, Sherry. The message said, "I assume you have heard about 'S'. If not, stop by the [Uptown] ministry tomorrow and talk to Pastor Bob." Mae and I were trying to figure out who S was (I am not usinging his full name). She remembered he was one of the kids she worked with at the ministry.
Yesterday, she spent the day going through photos with Sherry for S's visitation and funeral this weekend. S was the victim of a drive-by shooting on Sunday. His mother, a dear friend of Mae, did not find out until 3 hours later. By the time she got to the hospital her son was dead.
Dead. 18 or 19 years old.
This is the war going on our own land. Gang warfare has taken so many lives so soon.
How can we confront this? How do we fight it?
I think a major thing that can be done is to make this news. I could not find any archival reports about this murder in any of the local newspapers.
The other is to continue the fight for civil rights. While Blacks and Latinos and other minorites have made great strides in the last 50 years, there is still much to be done. But, there is a new 'ism that is emerging. Especially in the urban areas. Classism. We have the super rich and the super poor. There is such a disconnect between the two groups that reconciliation seems impossible. We need to open our heart and minds and arms to those less fortunate than us. We need to be employing people from within our neighboorhoods instead of outsourcing jobs. We need to work to created community businesses instead of mega low marts opening up and putting all the mom and pops out of business. We need to work to developed poor areas, using people who will live there to build, union workers. We need to control housing costs.
There is so much that can come together to end this war, we just need to start.
Brother Roger, the founder of the ecuminical community Taize, was slain during a service yesterday.
Brother Roger and his Taize community are a strong influence in what my Christian walk has become.
This is a sad time.
Borther Roger touched so many, even Pope Benedict XVI:
Visibly shaken and speaking extemporaneously, the Pontiff said this morning that he “received very sad, terrifying news; that Brother Roger, founder of the Taizé communities, was killed in a knife attack, most likely by a deranged woman”.
“This most sad news strikes me even more because just yesterday I received a letter from him,” the Pope said, “a very moving and loving letter in which he was wholeheartedly one with the Pope and all those who were in Cologne” for World Youth Days, an event that to which he could not come because of his health conditions, but in which he was “spiritually present”.
Benedict XVI also noted that, in his letter, Brother Roger said he intended to come to Rome and that the Taizé community wanted to walk with the new Pope.
“In this moment of sadness we can only commend to the Lord’s goodness the soul of His faithful servant who has reached eternal happiness,” the Pope added.
Thank God for Brother Roger
There has been a good conversation going on over at Tripp's blog about Camp Casey in Crawford, TX.
For those who do not know about it, Cindy Sheehan is a mother of a KIA soldier in Iraq, Casey. She is staging a sit in at President Bush's Crawford ranch. She just want to meet with the president one on one to ask him some very important questions. "What is the nobel cause my son (our kids) died for?" and "Why did you kill my son?" She believes that the war is illegal and immoral...which it is.
She is the new face of the anti-war movement. Not the long haired radicals, but the sad eyes of a mother who lost a child for no good reason.
The discussion over at Tripp's turned to the effectiveness of such a protest. He see no use in it because the president will never meet with her, and even if he did would not take anything she said to heart...so why do it? This, I believe, is a short sited and lazy way to look at protest. (Tripp is far from lazy, but this argument is.)
I, on the other hand, believe what is going on is Crawford is one of the best things that has happened for the anti-war movement. I know, too, that President Bush will not meet with Cindy. I know that if he did he would sweep it under the rug. I have seen her being smeared by the right wing pundit class who know how to fight a war eventhough they have never been. I have seen her refute those smears with grace and love. Here is an example of an exchange that happened the other day as reported by Jodie Evans at CodePink:
The first question of the morning pool came from a young soldier who had just returned from Iraq. He was polite, addressing her as Ms. Sheehan. Surrounded by cameras he told her he was sorry for her son's death, he said he had lost many friends in the Iraq War also. "Death is a part of war and what we are doing is more important, bringing freedom to the world. Think of all the people who died for the freedom we enjoy. So your son's life is just a drop in the bucket."
Those of us standing behind the cameras gasp, but Cindy's face continued to listen to him calmly and openly. Forced by the gasp he quickly said "but I feel for your son."
At this moment Cindy put her arm on his shoulder and holding him to her side they walked out into the field together, she asked the press to give them some privacy. They honored her in a way that I have never seen before, they were still shooting photos as the 2 walked away. Cindy drew the young man close like a mother, they spoke for about 5 minutes during which the shift in his feeling was palpable. He stepped away and pulled a book he had written about his experiences in Iraq and gave it to her. Then they hugged a long deep embrace, you could see the conversation continuing.
She walked back towards us and the press as he left. Yet again, this woman had made me cry with her strength her love and her courage (oh I forgot to mention everyone else in the camp had tried to keep this young man from confronting her). As we walked back to our make shift office in Casey's camper I was pouring my heart out in awe of her, she stopped me and said "do you know what that young man said as we were hugging? He said his mother agrees with me. She told him that if he had been killed in Iraq she would have done the same thing ...and then he called me Mom."
This is the new face of the anti-war movement.
But, why do I think this protest is a good thing. I see something happening that has not happened since the war began. I see people talking about it. Really talking about it, not just lip service. No, I see and hear people talking about the wast of life. I see right wing people look begining to take off the rose colored glasses. I see the left wing people opening their arms and hugging those who need it. It see the middlle of the road people discussing it. This is what the protest is doing now. These discussions will come up again in 2006 when people go to the polls to elect members of congress. Remeber, the civil rights movement grew out of people in Motgomery, Alabama just wanting to change the way segregated seating was handled on the busses (not get rid of segregated seating, just change the was the ruels were enforced), but it grew from there to fighting for de-segrated seating to the voting rights act.
Ms. Sheehan is changing the direction of the wind. Something that has needed to be done for a long time.
There has been a lot of nay saying about Howard Dean and his leadership of the DNC and his courting of the Netroots community. Well, yesterday in Ohio they had a special election to fill a vacant House seat, and a repbulican won. But there are NO tears being shed by Netroots and Democratic party...well the party maybe, becausse the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee did nothing until it looked like Iraqi War Vet Paul Hackett might actually win. The Netroots were behind him from the begining raising over $30,000/day in the last week and a half of the the campaing. What does this have to do with Chaiman Dean? Well you see the 2nd District of Ohio is 70% republican. In fact the the reuslts from 1998-2004 have been about 75% for the Republican candidate and 25% for the Democrat candidate. That is why the DCCC did not give a hoot about this race. BUT, Dean's strategy is that every Republican seat in the House is up for grabs. He is giveing the power back to the states and allowing them to choose thier candidate and letting the people build the candidate. Not letting the establishment in DC pick the candidate (something they started doing in the Clintion era, and we see how good that has worked.).
So, what happend in a 70% Republican district when the people are allowed to run a campaing...The Democrat lost by less than 4,000 votes or about 4%...hell of a lot better than the 50% margins of the last elections...
This is a new democracy!
Dateline: According to the braintrust running our country we are no longer engaged in the war on terror. No, we are now involce in The Struggle Against Extremeism. Apparently the war on terror was not polling well. Either that or the word war was turning people off since we are not doing so well. We are, after all, used to kicking some ass and getting out and winning our wars. But now that we are engaged in a struggle, well, as Stephen Colbert says in this report from the Daily Show (hat tip crooks and liars for the link), "a struggle is something we can live with...like the weight on our hips."
This mess is going so well the damned adminstration has to re-brand it. What asses.
This is the poem that my friend Ziggy read at our wedding.
This is for Mae.
___________________
As the sun shines in the midday sky; and
The moon makes the tide roll in; and stars
Guide the sailor to the places unknown.
You are my light.
The stones that mark the place of time:
Unmoveable; solid; They tell the story.
Staying in their spot. Unmoving: eternal.
You are my rock.
The trees that give shade to those who tire, and
food to those who hunger; shelter to the
weak, and rest to the weary.
You are my refuge.
As the water falls down the rock and
Carves it story. As it leaves its
mark in the canyon floor, and brings forth beautiful life
You nourish me.
You are my light, my rock, my refuge, and nousihment.
You guide me when I have lost my way.
You are there; solid; unmoving; endless.
You wrap your arms around me; envelop me.
You fill me in body, mind, and soul.
The endlessness of the gifts of creation;
Tell the story of my love to you.
The pieces that have been in place since the
Begining of time are the reminders of
All you mean to me.
Brother Sun and Sister Moon;
Brother Wind and Sister Water;
Brother Fire and Sister Mother Earth;
All are gifts; since the begining
With the eternity of these gifts,
I give you my all. For as long as they
Have been on earth, and for as long as they remain;
My love for you will join them: everlasting.
We is Married.
I hope to have more pictures soon on Flick, but for the time being check out Si's Flickr.
