Peace is a Result of People Living for the 'Kingdom' (a 'Community of the Beloved')

Peace is not the product of terror or fear.
Peace is not the silence of cemeteries.
Peace is not the silent result of violent repression.
Peace is the generous,
tranquil contribution of all
to the good of all.
Peace is dynamism.
Peace is generosity.
It is right and it is duty.

- Archbishop Oscar Romero

The Greatest Work

For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of our tasks; the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.
-Rainer Maria Rilk

If there is love.....

If there is love, there is hope to have real families, real brotherhood, real equanimity, real peace. If the love within your mind is lost, if you continue to see other beings as enemies, then no matter how much knowledge or education you have, no matter how much material progress is made, only suffering and confusion will ensue.
- The Dalai Lama

Is Barack Obama the American Messiah?

The election of Barrack Obama to the Presidency of the United States of America represents something very good and long overdue.
The suffering of African Americans is a tragic blight on the history of the greatest nation on the face of the earth. Prejudice of any sort is to be condemned and overcome and we should rejoice when we see its power diminishing in our lives. I have been very gratified to see and hear how people of colour everywhere are celebrating this latest milestone on the march to the promised land. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream is closer to being realized. The symbolism in this event is powerful and important.

But this does not mean that an election victory will translate into lasting and concrete improvements for America and its citizens. Only responsible government of a responsible people will lead to an improved future. I hope that the commitments spoken of by Barrack Obama on the campaign trail will be realized. A good and decent life should be available to all citizens. The weak and disadvantaged should be assisted to a better life. Concern and compassion for our the fellow members of the human family should be our way of life. And fathers (black and white) should take responsibility for the children they sire.

A revolution of values is needed to see the Obama agenda realized. We will have to wait to see if this amazingly talented and charismatic man will lead us to that revolution of values or if it will be more of the same 'hedonism for all and damn the consequences' that has been the dark underside of our liberal/rights culture for several generations.

LH

When The Kingdom Seems 'A Long Time A Comin'.......

Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

- Martin Luther King Jr

Righteous Indignation

If we had been holier people, we would have been angrier oftener.
- John Templeton

dollar woes

What are they complaining about?
Our looney is worth only 87 of their cents today.

Let's Hope All Is Not Lost

When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.
-Billy Graham

Wall Street is proving that character lost can also lead to wealth lost. Unfortunately it is has too often been some-one-else's wealth lost when Wall Street barons become robber barons.

Some Quotes That Remind Me of HOW I, ONCE UPON A TIME, SAW THINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME

1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.





Your beliefs will be the light by which you see, but they will not be what you see, and they will not be a substitute for seeing.
- Flannery O'Connor



God does not have hands, we do. Our hands are God’s. It is up to us what God will see and hear, up to us, what God will do. Humanity is the organ of consciousness of the universe ... Without our eyes the Holy One of Being would be blind.
- Lawrence Kushner

Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what is the use of seeing?

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Sarah Palin and the Rabbi

An Open Letter to Sarah Palin
by Rabbi Nechemia Coopersmith
From one parent of a child with Down syndrome to another.


Dear Mrs. Palin,

I'm sure you're pretty busy juggling your home and new baby, the state of Alaska and running for vice president. But I thought a few words of advice are in order, from one parent of a child with Down syndrome to another. This is one area in which I've got four years more experience than you.

1. First of all, a belated mazel tov! You and your family will get tons of joy and nachas from Trig. Of the cases of Down syndrome diagnosed by prenatal testing each year, about 90% are eliminated by abortion. I bet most of those parents would choose otherwise if they knew the tremendous blessing entailed in raising such a child.

Enjoy all of his the triumphs, big and small. Our son Yehuda just started kindergarten; he is included in a regular class in one of Jerusalem's best schools. He speaks two languages, is learning the Hebrew alphabet, and is excited to be going to the same school as his two older brothers.

2. Realize that Trig is not defined by his disability; he is first and foremost a person like anyone else. Every person has a unique mission and purpose in this world. Trig does too, and your job as his mother is to help him bring out his full potential, whatever that may be.

3. Don't put a limit on Trig's potential and sell him short. Expect the most. As his best advocate, inculcate in him and in those around you the belief that with hard work and determination, Trig can do anything, until proven otherwise. Don't confuse accepting him as he is with resignation.

4. Don't feel sorry for him because he has a disability. Treat him like your other children, setting limits, giving discipline and lots of love.

5. Trig needs loads of early intervention that will strengthen his muscles and work his brain. Get started on this immediately. Too busy campaigning? Make sure Todd or some primary caregiver is spending hours a day working with him. Everything you do now pays off in the end.

6. Trig is going to have greater needs than everyone else in your family. But be sure not to neglect your husband and other kids (good advice for anyone running for vice president). Making sure your marriage stays strong and vibrant is your top priority.

7. Appreciate his strengths -- chances are he'll have an awareness of people's feelings and a compassion streak far greater than other kids his age. But don't overcompensate and turn Trig into some kind of saint. He's just a boy, with strengths and weaknesses like everyone else.

8. Things go a lot slower for a kid who has Downs. In order to enter Trig's world you're going to need an abundance of patience and force yourself to slow down. If you don't have that trait now, start developing it. God doesn't make mistakes; He gives us the specific challenges we need to bring out our own potential. You need Trig as much as he needs you. His birth can be a catalyst for personal growth for you and your entire family.

Your nomination has already challenged people's perception of Down syndrome. Whether you win or lose, we look forward to great strides in the advancement of benefits for the disabled everywhere.

With thanks to Gershon Lewis and Chaya Malka Abramson, two inspiring parents of children with Downs.

Author Biography:
Rabbi Nechemia Coopersmith is the co-editor of Aish.com and director of Research and Development for Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem. He is the author of Shmooze: A Guide to Thought-Provoking Discussion on Essential Jewish Issues.

What does it mean to be human? (view previous picture to see what it means 'not to be human' in our crazy culture!

"Whether we....... accept responsibility for the unborn child depends on our view of humanity. Do we believe that humans were created in God's image? Or do we believe, as the secularist does, that humans are just one more example of evolution's chance handiwork, no different in kind than lice and lungfish?
If we believe that life evolved by chance, humanity must invent its own reasons for being, and the ethics by which we govern ourselves. That means, whose lives we value become a matter of what can be done to produce the greatest happiness for everybody, but that is a deeply dangerous view—for unborn children, the handicapped, the elderly, or the simply inconvenient."

Chuck Colson



I believe we are a product of evolution just as televisions are the product of a manufacturing processes. That does not mean, as two polar opposite interpretation of the process would have us believe, there is no plan or intelligence behind the process.

The ultimate religious question, the one we all have to answer for ourselves, the question I believe is best answered by Jesus' life and teachings, is...........'WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN?'.

How we answer this question may well determine if our future will be better or unimaginably worse than the present.

LH

Life (according to Pablo Casals)

Sometimes I look about me with a feeling of complete dismay.
In the confusion that afflicts the world today I see a disrespect for the values of life.
Each second we live in a new and unique moment of the universe.
A moment that has never been before nor will ever be again.
But what do we teach our children in school?.
We teach them that two and two is four and that Paris is the capital of France.
When will we also teach them what they are.















We should say to each of them
"do you know what you are?
You are a marvel you are unique.
In all the world there is no other child exactly like you.
In the millions of years that have past there has never been another child like you.
And look at your body.
What a wonder it is.
Your legs, your arms, your cunning fingers, the way you move.
You may become a Shakespeare, a Michael Angelo, a Beethoven.
You have a capacity for anything.
Yes you are a marvel
and when you grow up
can you then harm another
who is like you a marvel.
You must work,
we all must work
to make this world
worthy of its children."


Pablo Casals

like or are? an important distinction

We should not serve the poor like they were Jesus. We should serve the poor because they are Jesus.
- Mother Teresa
In My Own Words

the future?

Give Me Back The Berlin Wall
Give Me Stalin And St. Paul
Give Me Christ
Or Give Me Hiroshima
Destroy Another Fetus Now
We Don't Like Children Anyhow
I've Seen The Future, Baby
It Is Murder"

leonard cohen

Honouring The Convenience of Death

The Order of Canada is being conferred on Dr. Henry Morgentaller. It is sad and strange that we should honour such acts as are performed thousands of times a year in this man's clinics.













How can abortion be celebrated?











Has it become a virtue?

Is it worthy of praise?


Abortion may be a choice but how can we be so callous as to celebrate and promote it?


http://www.informz.net/pfm/archives/archive_693793.html
Once you get past the rhetoric of choice, what’s left is a bloody and, for most people, disreputable business.
Someone who understands what abortions really mean is Stojan Adasevic, a Serbian doctor who performed 48,000 abortions in 26 years. Studying medicine in communist Yugoslavia, he was taught that abortion was simply removing a piece of tissue.
Then he began to have nightmares about a field filled with children playing and laughing. When they saw him, they ran away in fear. In the dream, a man in a black and white habit explained to Adasevic that these were the children he had aborted. The man in the habit was St. Thomas Aquinas.
Adasevic insists that he had never heard of Aquinas. In any case, he knew what he had to do. He stopped performing abortions.

taken from
Walking and Talking
Pro-Choice as Rhetoric
by Chuck Colson
Break Point


May Henry M. receive this mercy also.

the gospel is social...how did we ever forget that?

It is not a matter of engaging in both the gospel and social action, as if Christian social action was something separate from the gospel itself. The gospel has to be demonstrated in word and deed. Biblically, the gospel includes the totality of all that is good news from God for all that is bad news in human life—in every sphere. So like Jesus, authentic Christian mission has included good news for the poor, compassion for the sick and suffering justice for the oppressed, liberation for the enslaved. The gospel of the Servant of God in the power of the Spirit of God addresses every area of human need and every area that has been broken and twisted by sin and evil. And the heart of the gospel, in all of these areas, is the cross of Christ.

- Christopher J. H. Wright
International director of John Stott Ministries (from Knowing the Holy Spirit Throught the Old Testament)

ONE

Hi,

I just signed a petition asking the G8 take urgent action against extreme poverty, and I'm hoping that you'll join me.

Sign the petition now at: http://www.one.org/international/g8

There has been a lot of progress against extreme poverty in recent years, but, as recent headlines about the global food crisis and natural disasters like Cyclone Nargis in Burma will tell you, there is still much to be done.

When we unite with one voice and call upon our leaders to take action, we can and will solve these problems.

Thanks

LH

http://www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com/

http://www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com/

James Dobson doesn't speak for me.

He doesn't speak for me when he uses religion as a wedge to divide;

He doesn't speak for me when he speaks as the final arbiter on the meaning of the Bible;

James Dobson doesn't speak for me when he uses the beliefs of others as a line of attack;

He doesn't speak for me when he denigrates his neighbor's views when they don't line up with his;

He doesn't speak for me when he seeks to confine the values of my faith to two or three issues alone;

What does speak for me is David's psalm celebrating how good and pleasant it is when we come together in unity;

Micah speaks for me in reminding us that the Lord requires us to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him;

The prophet Isaiah speaks for me in his call for all to come and reason together and also to seek justice, encourage the oppressed and to defend the cause of the vulnerable;

The book of Nehemiah speaks for me in its example to work with our neighbors, not against them, to restore what was broken in our communities;

The book of Matthew speaks for me in saying to bless those that curse you and pray for those who persecute you;

The words of the apostle Paul speak for me in saying that words spoken and deeds done without love amount to nothing.

The apostle John speaks for me in reminding us of Jesus' command to love one another. The world will know His disciples by that love.

perhaps you would like to go to the website
http://www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com/
to sign the document and to let the Right Wing of our faith know that they don't speak for many of us.

Future Wisdom.

The Future always looks impossible when viewed from the present.

George Gilder
Wealth and Poverty

Give Me Christ Or Give Me Hiroshima (hyperbole?, probably?). Love's The Only Engine Of Survival(Straight up? I think?)

Leonard Cohen
The Future (1992)
The Future

"Give Me Back My Broken Night
My Secret Room, My Secret Life
It's Lonely Here
There's No One Left To Torture
Give Me Absolute Control
Over Every Living Soul
And Lie Beside Me, Baby
That's An Order!

Give Me Crack And Anal Sex
Take The Only Tree That's Left
And Stuff It Up The Hole
In Your Culture
Give Back The Berlin Wall
Give Me Stalin And St. Paul
I've Seen The Future, Brother
It Is Murder

CHORUS
Things Are Going To Slide In All Directions
Won't Be Nothing
Nothing You Can Measure Anymore
The Blizzard Of The World
Has Crossed The Threshold
And It Has Overturned
The Order Of The Soul
When They Said Repent
I Wonder What They Meant
When They Said Repent
I Wonder What They Meant
When They Said Repent
I Wonder What They Meant

You Don't Know Me From The Wind
You Never Will, You Never Did
I'm The Little Jew
Who Wrote The Bible
I've Seen Nations Rise And Fall
I've Heard Their Stories, Heard Them All
But Love's The Only Engine Of Survival
Your Servant Here, He Has Been Told
To Say It Clear, To Say It Cold
It's Over, It Ain't Going
Any Further
And Now The Wheels Of Heaven Stop
You Feel The Devil's Riding Crop
Get Ready For The Future
It Is Murder

CHORUS

There'll Be The Breaking Of The Ancient
Western Code
Your Private Life Will Suddenly Explode
There'll Be Phantoms
There'll Be Fires In The Road
And The White Man Dancing
You'll See The Woman
Hanging Upside Down
Her Features Covered By Her Fallen Gown
And All The Lousy Little Poets
Coming Round
Trying To Sound Like Charlie Manson

Give Me Back The Berlin Wall
Give Me Stalin And St. Paul
Give Me Christ
Or Give Me Hiroshima
Destroy Another Fetus Now
We Don't Like Children Anyhow
I've Seen The Future, Baby
It Is Murder"





I love what this guy does.
He is a Jewish Mystic,
a Bhuddist Monk,
a Christ Loving poetic genius
and
a Sensulaist (who aches in the places he used to play)....
which makes it hard for me not to be intrigued by him.

The Future

Our faithfulness will depend on our willingness to go where there is brokenness, loneliness, and human need. If the church has a future it is a future with the poor in whatever form.

- Henri J.M. Nouwen
Sabbatical Journey

Hopeful Healing in Him whose "name" is both Love and Justice

Psalm 72:

7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.

8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

Malachi 4:2
But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.

Dealing with the past, healing the future.

Some Long Unfinished business is finally addressed.

A shameful legacy in Canadian history is being acknowledged today. Let's hope it leads to reconciliation and new future for Canada and its aboriginal peoples.

From Cape Breton Post

11/06/08

Canada apologizes for trying to ’kill the Indian in the child’
After more than a century of torment that saw the federal government strive to silence their languages and snuff their culture, aboriginal people packed Parliament to hear the prime minister say it for all Canadians: “We are sorry.”
Stephen Harper made the historic apology Wednesday in the House of Commons for generations of racist policy meant to “kill the Indian in the child.”
Eleven aboriginal guests of honour sat before him on chairs arranged in a native restitution circle, some trembling with emotion.
Above them, survivors of unspeakable abuse in federal schools geared to “Christianize” them clasped each other’s hands, bowed their heads, and cried.
“The treatment of children in Indian residential schools is a sad chapter in our history,” Harper told the extraordinary session of the Commons, reading from a text he helped draft with input from native advisers.
“The government of Canada sincerely apologizes and asks the forgiveness of the Aboriginal Peoples of this country for failing them so profoundly. We are sorry.”
Applause repeatedly rained down on aging survivors of the church-run schools as they sat a few steps from Harper.
But the most thunderous ovation was reserved for Assembly of First Nations national chief Phil Fontaine, who endured repeated sexual attacks as a little boy at the Fort Alexander residential school in Manitoba.
Wearing full Ojibway regalia and headdress, Fontaine was belatedly allowed to respond to the apology in the Commons after days of contentious resistance by the Conservatives. He made it one of his finest moments.
“Brave survivors, through telling their stories, have stripped white supremacy of its legitimacy,” he said to jubilant shouts and the rhythm of drumbeats. “Never again will this House consider us the Indian Problem just for being who we are.
“We are, and always have been, an indispensable part of the Canadian identity.”"Finally, we heard Canada say it is sorry," Fontaine said.
Fontaine said. "We heard the government of Canada take full responsibility."
He said the apology will go a long way toward repairing the relationship between aboriginals and the rest of Canada.

"Prime Minister, Chief Justice, members of the House, elders, survivors, Canadians, for our parents, our grandparents, great grandparents, indeed for all of the generations which have preceded us, this day testifies to nothing less than the achievement of the impossible."

The End is Nigh!

One day Sven & Ollie, local pastors, were seen pounding a sign into the ground, that said: "DA END ISS NEAR! TURN YERSELF AROUND NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE"

As a car sped past them, the driver leaned out his window and yelled, "Leave us alone, you religious nuts!"

From the curve we heard screeching tires and a big splash...

Rev. Ole turns to Pastor Sven and asks, "Do ya tink maybe da sign should yust say 'Bridge Out'?"

The yearbook entry for these guys said "Most Unlikely to Succeed."

What a bunch of low draft picks



Henrik Zetterberg#40Left WingDetroit Red Wings Height: 5-11
Weight: 195
Shoots: Left
Born: Oct 9, 1980 - Njurunda, Sweden
Draft: 1999 - 7th round (210th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings


Pavel Datsyuk#13CenterDetroit Red Wings Height: 5-11
Weight: 197
Shoots: Left
Born: Jul 20, 1978 - Sverdlovsk, USSR
Draft: 1998 - 6th round (171st overall) by the Detroit Red Wings


Valtteri Filppula#51CenterDetroit Red Wings Height: 6-0
Weight: 189
Shoots: Left
Born: Mar 20, 1984 - Vantaa, Finland
Draft: 2002 - 3rd round (95th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings



Nicklas Lidstrom#5DefenseDetroit Red Wings Height: 6-1
Weight: 193
Shoots: Left
Born: Apr 28, 1970 - Vasteras, Sweden
Draft: 1989 - 3rd round (53rd overall) by the Detroit Red Wings


Johan Franzen#93CenterDetroit Red Wings Height: 6-3
Weight: 218
Shoots: Left
Born: Dec 23, 1979 - Vetlanda, Sweden
Draft: 2004 - 3rd round (97th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings


Tomas Holmstrom#96Right WingDetroit Red Wings Height: 6-0
Weight: 202
Shoots: Left
Born: Jan 23, 1973 - Pitea, Sweden
Draft: 1994 - 10th round (257th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings





And retreads and prodigal sons who had hit bottom


Darren McCarty#25Right WingDetroit Red Wings Height: 6-1
Weight: 210
Shoots: Right
Born: Apr 1, 1972 - Burnaby, British Columbia
Draft: 1992 - 2nd round (46th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings
(Addicted, Broke and Divorced...he was given a second chance)

Daniel Cleary#11Right WingDetroit Red Wings Height: 6-0
Weight: 210
Shoots: Left
Born: Dec 18, 1978 - Carbonear, Newfoundland
Draft: 1997 - 1st round (13th overall) by the Chicago Blackhawks
(high draft pick that some said was washed up and uncomitted...he was given a second chance)

Kris Draper#33CenterDetroit Red Wings Height: 5-10
Weight: 190
Shoots: Left
Born: May 24, 1971 - Toronto, Ontario
Draft: 1989 - 3rd round (62nd overall) by the Winnipeg Jets
(purchased for the princely sum of $1 from the Winnipeg Jets...how humiliating)


Chris Osgood#30GoaltenderDetroit Red Wings Height: 5-10
Weight: 176
Shoots: Left
Born: Nov 26, 1972 - Peace River, Alberta
Draft: 1991 - 3rd round (54th overall) by the Detroit Red Wings
(underrated, underappreciated, seldom respected...this 3 time Cup Winner may yet be a Hall of Fame Goalie)



Humble beginnings for many and almost humble endings for others
yet they all found a way to make it happen for themselves and their fans.


What a Team.


According to some this is the house that love and humility built (by an unassuming Papa Ken Hollands).

Long may she stand.