Wrong Headed Dogma

Bishops in Illinois have chosen to shut down a Catholic Charities program that refers foster children and assists with adoptions because in order to receive government money, they cannot discriminate against same sex couples. See the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/29/us/for-bishops-a-battle-over-whose-rights-prevail.html

It should be noted that the hands of the State of Illinois are tied. Now. I am nobody's constitutional scholar but it is my understanding that through precedent and case law, the 14th amendments protections have been extended to cover sexual preference. In other words, to discriminate against same sex couples in adoption services, by a government agency, is unconstitutional. Granted, Catholic Charities is not a government agency but the prohibition still applies to programs that utilize government funding. This is because if government funding is give to a discriminatory agency, it will be denied to a protected group. This same funding will be unavailable to organizations that operate within the law and serve all citizens without prejudice.

Nobody has forbidden Catholic Charities to operate in the manner that they say is in keeping with their interpretation of the faith. The Government simply refuses to support programs that operate outside of it's own laws. To deny these funds (which are involuntarily extracted from the tax payers) to same sex couples would constitute the state denying a class of citizens the "Blessings of Liberty" guaranteed in the preamble as well as "abridge privileges" specifically forbidden in the 14th amendment of the constitution.

The actions of the Bishops are clearly in conflict with the constitution but they are also theologically dubious.

In the New Testament, there is no reference to homosexuality in any of the Gospels so we can only assume that it wasn't an important issue to Jesus or the disciples. It is mentioned only three times by Paul: 1st Corinthians 6:9-10, 1st Timothy 1:8-11 and Romans 1:26-27. In all three of these passages it is mentioned almost just in passing among lists of other behaviors without any particular emphasis. These lists include trespasses such as idolatry and drunkenness, yet the Bishops single out this particular behavior and not the others in justifying the end of an important program that serves the children of the poor. If Jesus wasn't worried about it why are the Bishops so concerned?

There certainly are prohibitions against homosexuality, or rather homosexual behavior in some contexts, in the Old Testament. Genesis 19 springs immediately to mind. (Gn 19:5). The men of Sodom demand to have sexual relations with the angles under Lot's protection.

The legend of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of debauchery and deviancy in the ancient world. It would be quite a stretch to apply the same moral context to committed, loving couples who wish to raise children in the modern one.

The issue is raised in Leviticus as well.

"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman" Lv18:22

There is no escaping the fact that the passage is there nestled in a long list of other sexual prohibitions. Leviticus has many passages that are highly relevant to modern life. For instance there is an excellent treatise on the proper course of action to take if ones ox falls into a neighbors cistern. There is also excellent instruction on the proper method of smearing sacrificial blood on an alter.

The point here is that Leviticus is an extremely technical document written for a very specific time and situation. The Israelites were strangers in a strange land, constantly under attack with a brief from God to be prosperous and abundant. It stands to reason the child rearing would be a very high priority for the sake of survival. It is easy to see, and be sympathetic, to their reasoning. The simple fact is, given the technology of the time, same sex relationships were childless.

That having been said, the world has changed in the more then three thousand years that have elapsed since the time of Moses. We inhabit a planet with seven billion people. Reproduction has dropped in importance. Spiritual harmony and fulfillment are now what is needed. With spiritual wholeness comes joy. With joy comes peace. With peace comes prosperity. We simply cannot afford anything less. Like the smearing of blood on an alter, the prohibitions on same sex relationships simply are no longer valid. A committed and loving relationship between two consenting adults with a desire to raise a family cannot possibly be a sin.

This begs the question: Is the Bible a living document, that is to stay, relevant to the everyday life of human beings? Or is it to become just a dusty old book of superstition that is little more then a tool of repression? It is a matter of faith.

As a Catholic, I believe it is the duty of all Catholics to be of service to the poor. To deny the poor on the basis of vague scriptural dogma and declare that in so doing they are victims of a government "War on religion" is unconscionable and un-Christlike. It flies in the face of the Catholic tradition of service. It is yet another case where the Bishops lose their way in succumbing to reactionary dogma instead of glorifying the healing and forgiving nature of Christ.

I am a devout Catholic but I wish that the Bishops would at least once in a while just try to make it easy.

Canticle of a Lover

Alone with my thoughts
I contemplate a heart full of love
Love for no one person
But for all creation
I pledge my troth to the Giaa
My heart belongs to Terra
My affection I give to Sol
The origin of life.
I love the sick and dirty wretch
Crumpled in a subway entrance
I love the dying
Looking at mortality
I love the holy ones
And the whores
I love beasts of the field
The birds of the air
And every microscopic being
That are also a gift of the creator.
I love not one
But all
In so loving
My soul is a child of God

Blood Begets Blood

I am horrified by the Christmas bombings of Catholic Churches in Nigeria that have resulted in so much death and misery. I am angered that such a holy day was targeted and that such innocent people were destroyed. I am praying for the dead, the injured and the other survivors, but I am also praying for the perpetrators of this horror. I am praying that the pain of the victims is eased but I am also praying that the pain of the bombers is salved as well.

I find myself wondering what sort of pain and anger drives people to do commit such a heinous act in such a sacred place as a house of worship, all in the name of God. One does not just get up in the morning and decide to do something like this. There are many dynamics in play and all things are related. What caused this perfect storm of evil to happen in a people that are certainly no better or worse then anybody else all things being equal?

I am not a soldier or a policeman. I have the luxury of turning the other cheek. I do fervently hope that justice is done, whatever that may look like, but in my prayers I beg that that balance is restored and peace rules the hearts of all. I pray that justice comes in abundance to both sides of the conflict so that there ceases to be any "sides" at all. I pray for a time that everyone can worship as they please without fear of retribution or repression.

The Bible has many passages where Christ asks love and forgiveness of all especially when it isn't easy, and although my knowledge of the Qur'an is superficial at best, I would be willing to bet that similar messages are there too. How do people wander so far from scripture that it becomes an excuse for mayhem. Why are Christians and Muslims and others so quick to kill and terrorize in the name of God. We all pay lip service to the love of God yet when it comes to practical reality we pervert and bastardize the word to suit our own selfish ends. This is seen not only in the bombing of churches but in attacks on people for their race or sexual orientation and and even for differences of political opinion. Human beings have a habit of declaring that God is on their side whenever they use violence to achieve an earthly aim.

"Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt
and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance;
Who does not persist in anger forever
but delights rather in clemency,
And will again have compassion on us
treading underfoot our guilt?
You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins;"
Micah 7:18-19

I am not ignorant of the ways of the world. I know that there are harsh realities. I know sometimes people must defend themselves if they are to live. It is only human nature. What I am saying is that although we may sometimes need to use force, we should always be looking for a Christlike solution, one that includes wisdom, love and compassion. Most of all. it must include understanding, We must respect the calling of God to a worship that may be different from our own even when those that hate us do not. We must understand that it is in Gods love that we forgive. When we act in self defense, we should do so not in anger or hatred and never ever in revenge. If God calls us to cast the sins of our fellows into the sea, shouldn't we at least try?

Mostly we must strive to eliminate the need for self defense. We must look at the causes of hatred and accept that all people, on a deep spiritual level, share the same wants and aspirations. We must realize that there is so much more that unites us as human beings then divides us as subscribers to one religious belief or another. It starts with respect and understanding and continues with compassion and love.

"Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow"
Isaiah 1:16

Fanatics have always been with us, but the root of their power is planted in the unfilled needs of the people. People become destitute and desperate in their earthly existence so they are duped into acts of carnage to gain favor in the afterlife. What if we sincerely worked to meet the basic needs of all? To "hear the orphan's plea and defend the widow". Maybe take a little less and give a little more? Where is it written that the we are entitled to such unneeded luxury and material excess while most of the planet starves? Perhaps if we lived simply so that others might live, the less fortunate among us would be less inclined to strap bombs on themselves, and their children, in a misguided belief that they will exchange an earthly Hell for a Heavenly paradise.

God knows our hearts. We have nothing to prove to her through acts of bloodshed. She knows when we love and when we hate. In Genesis 22, Abraham stood ready to sacrifice his only son, whom he loved, to the Lord. God seeing his devotion had compassion and stopped him.

God sees our devotion as well. God sees our every act of compassion as a sign of our love for her. Let us feel the hand of God upon our shoulders that stays our sword arm as we prepare to strike in vengeance for it is not Gods will that we do so but merely our own. Let us not shed blood and exalt ourselves as having done "Gods work" when we have done nothing more then satisfy our own base desires.

Gods work is mercy and compassion. Gods desire is forgiveness and healing. God loves all her children, all of them even the ones we brand "Terrorists". We should defend ourselves if necessary but let us never believe that the shedding of blood is a holy act. At best, it is a necessity brought about by the short sighted folly and uncaring greed of human kind.

"Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy"

Thoughts On Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi is one of my greatest heroes. He was a soldier and a victim of war whose experience brought into sharp focus, Gods plan for him. While besieged by a fever as a prisoner of war, Francis had his first inkling that he should devote his life to God. Subsequently, some time later, he left well to do merchant family, taking nothing with him not even clothing, and set out on a life of Godly poverty and service. He devoted himself to service to the poor and peace on earth.

"Be praised my Lord, through those who forgive for the love of you, through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure peace for by you they will be crowned" -from "The Canticle of the Sun" written by Francis shortly before his death.

Francis not only wrote these words but lived them to the day he died. He happily wed the fair "Lady Poverty" and remained loyal to her all his days. He disdained wealth and traveled the land giving all he had, both materially and spiritually to the poor and to the outcast.

Once, during a group I was facilitating at the VA, a client who was drug addicted, depressed, recently homeless and had a chip on his shoulder like the Rock of Gibraltar asked me: "What Tenderloin doorway do you think Francis of Assisi would fall in today?"

I think he was inferring that good works and selfless acts were all well and good during the Middle Ages, but just do not happen today. I have to admit that I was at a loss for an answer as it is a tough and very legitimate question. I have spent quite a bit of time pondering it in the year that has gone by since it was asked.

Firstly, Francis and Clare are still very much with us through the orders that they founded that still exist today, but that is not the whole of the spirit of St Francis. In his desperation and frustration, that veteran didn't realize that Saint Francis is in every Tenderloin doorway where an act of kindness has ever been carried out.

I've seen Saint Francis on the "Thirty-eight Geary" bus at the VA hospital in San Francisco when a Fallujah veteran helps an Okinawa veteran into a seat. I've seen it when total stranger helps a lost child find her parents in a mall. I recently read of a woman, over one hundred years old, whose home was foreclosed on by a big bank and the movers and Sheriff's deputies assigned to evict her simply refused to do so. I have seen people just spontaneously buy a sandwich for a homeless person just out of God inspired impulse.

The point is this. Saint Francis and Clare live anywhere they are welcome. If you want to find Francis in a Tenderloin door way, then you have to take it upon yourself to put him there. We are all Saint Francis in our good works. When we strive to help others, or simply be kind, Then Francis is there with his hand on your shoulder smiling a gentle smile. It really doesn't take much, it only requires that you do what you can and we all know what that is for each of us. No grand gestures, nothing for show, just simple acts of kindness known only to you, Francis and God. That is how we make Saint Francis live. The bad news is that if we just wait around for somebody to step up and inspire us, it will never happen and the streets and the world will remain grim and heartless places. If we take it upon ourselves with Gods gift of generosity, then Saint Francis of Assisi comes alive and his good work continues. It is totally up to us. Not the Government, not the church, but us. We, as individuals, must take that first step on the pathway of Clare and Francis, in whatever way that is appropriate for each of us. Saint Francis lives in the heart, the trick is letting him out.

The Voice of God In The Songs of Birds

Save Now

"Why is the land ravaged, scorched like a wasteland un-traversed? The Lord answered: Because they have abandoned my law, which I have set before them and have not followed it or listened to my voice" Jeremiah 9:11-15

I can't help but reflect on the environmental calamities that beset the planet. The climate heats, crops fail, famine looms in more and more parts of the developing world. I truly believe that this is a sort of a divine retributions for our sins. I don't mean in the conventional sense, that is, lightning bolts tossed from heaven by an angry avenging God, but a retribution where human kind is the instrument of our own misery.

The planet is a complex organism that can take huge amounts of abuse and continue to live. but with each injury we inflict upon her, she grows weaker and less able to sustain us. When we slaughter her forests for timber and tar sands oil, she becomes less able to provide us with the oxygen we need to live. Terra's ability to cleanse the atmosphere of heat trapping gasses is eroded. These factors in turn impact soil and water and ultimately, food production. Storms increase in frequency and intensity causing widespread damage and death. Thousands die in floods and slides. Entire communities are buried alive.

The extraction/exploitation economy also produces huge amounts of waste, both solid and chemical. Water is fouled and huge tracts of ocean become little more then lifeless garbage piles. Combined with over fishing, a vital source of food is destroyed aggravating world hunger and killing the livelihoods of countless multitudes of human beings, not to mentioned the impact on animal and plant species.

We are witnessing a time of "Old Testament" wrath but it is not the wrath of an angry deity but the wrath of human folly. The good news is that the Lord is a forgiving God who loves her children. We can be forgiven and avert our deserved punishment if we repent. This repentance is more then a matter of fervent prayer (although that certainly would not hurt) it is more a matter of penance. We must live everyday as if it is Lent. To give up destructive luxury that deprives others of the basic necessities of life. To control our greed. To act with generosity not only to the other members of our human family but to the planet and her natural systems. To cease to rape and pillage our mother earth and start returning to her the health and beauty that was the gift of God to us for our enjoyment and survival. Our creed must be to give back, not continue to take. To live for life, not for profit. To live simply so that all, including the planet, might live.

The voice of God is in the clean wind rustling through the trees. The pounding ocean surf as it performs her creative dance upon beach and rock. The song of birds and the buzz of insects. The call of coyotes, the elephants trumpet and the roar of big cats. The miracle of photosynthesis and life down to the smallest level. These are all the voice of God that has become lost in our wanton greed and mindless materialism. Not until we once again hear this voice in the very depths of our souls will we ever prosper, or even survive.

The Movement Lives

There seems to be a nationwide push by law enforcement to end the "Occupy" movement by force. I'm not worried about this because you can't kill an idea with riot batons and tear gas. It has been tried. You can kill the messenger but not the message.

Of more concern to me is the propaganda area of the class struggle. The "Occupy" movement has been accused of being directionless and without leadership. This is essentially true and that is the beauty of it. It is an expression of rage by the 99% who have discovered that in spite of a well funded and strategically executed campaign to divide working people, we have more in common with each other then with the oppressors and their paid mercenary cronies in government. It is an expression of class outrage, and yes, I said CLASS.

Leaders and organizations exists. Just spend a couple of minutes on the internet and you will find one to suit every outlook. What is needed, and is now occurring, is the communal expression of common outrage. A spontaneous uprising by working people that they who govern cannot ignore. It is not the place of the "Occupy" movement to install leaders, although that may be a happy side effect, it is the place of the movement to inform the leaders already in place of the popular will and our commitment to struggle. Having received that message, if they do not take the side of the masses then they will be removed, and until the political system is modified to reflect the popular will instead of that of the financial elite, we of the working class should continue to engage in civil disobedience, within the scope of our abilities as individuals, until it is.

Make no mistake, the elite will not surrender power without a fight. They will continue to blame the encampments for every social evil that already existed due to their greed, like homelessness and crime. Every thing that goes bump in the night near an "Occupy" encampment will be blamed on the movement even though the fault lies with the paradigm installed by the greedy few at the top.

There are actions all over the nation tonight. I, like many others cannot join them physically because I have to make a living, but I know they speak for me and they have my support and my love. Through there sacrifice and bravery, my chains are being broken and I welcome them as liberators.

The "Occupy" movement does not seek to bring down the system. It is a natural occurrence in a system that is already collapsing under the weight of it's own inequities. The people are awake. Let the loving outrage continue until we have retaken our planet for the good of all instead of the profit of a few.

Winter of the Heart

Grieving rain
Bathes anguished cheek
Thunder a mournful sob
Lightning agonized grimace
Of a familiar face twisted in pain
Gray skies weep
For joy stillborn
Never to be shared
For love that is not to be
Lonely vessels
In cold north wind
Gray iced sea
No hearth
To warm the spirit
Dark indigo night
Without end
Without hope
Wounded and alone

World's Embrace

Lightly tread
upon gentle earth
love and gratitude
stirs my heart
to deep grottoes
of soulful joy
touching untouchable spirit
praying at Terra's alter
in the cathedral of Giaa
nursed by the milk of compassion
love in the absolute
holy and pure
my love is everywhere
in every rock
in every tree
in every beating heart
in the moon
and in the stars
in the eyes of strangers
and in the embrace of one so sweet

Change Happens

Every once in a while an injustice occurs that you just can't let pass. Yesterday was one of those times.

The Oakland Police, in a rather heavy handed fashion, removed the "Occupy Oakland" protest from Oscar Grant Plaza (Frank Ogawa). An army of riot police, many from other cities, attacked the protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets. They destroyed the encampment and hauled scores off to jail There were also injuries among the among the occupiers including some that required hospitalization. I just couldn't let that go. I called off sick from my job (I'm not proud of that my boss is a good guy and I hated being dishonest with him but this is bigger then my job) and went to the march. There were a lot of people, at least a thousand and probably more. The cops were visibly tense. I'd like to think that it is because they share more identity with the protest then the corporate interests that put them on the line.

It was a very diverse crowd, all ages and ethnicities. There were the usual bunch of oddballs and anarchists but there were also a lot of older, middle class people. Unions were represented and I saw one woman wearing her Kaiser Hospital ID, (she is an RN). It was an interesting contrast to see the smiles and hugs and overall joy along with waves and honks of support from passing motorists, against the backdrop of stoney faced, helmeted riot police. It was truly illustrative of the disconnect between the ruling elite and the working people which have come to call themselves the "99%". I witnesses the occasional skirmish and I'm sure there were arrests but you have to expect that, we are fighting for our lives and the lives of our children. Emotions are bound to get intense.

They have stolen so much from us that we are starting to see a future that is becoming dark and scary. We have been fed so many lies that we are full to the bursting point. We have seen our tax dollars squandered on the mass murder of people who never harmed us at the expense of the lives, bodies and minds of our kids. They tell us how wonderful they are going to make things for us, invoking God and Country while they pick our pockets, rob our homes and rape creation. Now they have started an attempt to neutralize protest and kill the peoples ability to bring about change.

This is it, there is no tomorrow. We have to stand up and fight (peacefully and with love) if we are to have a future for ourselves and our kids. We have to show the lies for what they are and be bringers of truth. We have to reject the exploitation of the planet for profit and reject the rampant materialism that divides us and sets us against one another. We must look for spiritual health and happiness. I promise you won't find that at Wal-Mart.

It is our community. We built it. We keep it running. We must act with love and support to our working brothers and sisters, and that includes police officers who are part of our family too. If we are to have anything resembling a happy and livable future we must love our fellow beings and the cosmos as a whole first and put away the self centered worship of wealth. It is our only option.

Blessings and Praise

There is an ivory moon set against indigo skies in the company of stars that are the light of God smiling through from the cosmos. I thank our magnificent creator for the blessings that I have been gifted today and everyday. I pray that the peace in my heart finds its way to all beings and the love of God rules the day.

There is beauty in the contemplation of a blade of grass. There is grace in every bloom and in the hum of bees. There is joy in the song of birds, even the squawk of a raven. There is love in the sparkle of a dogs eye and in the plaintive bark of sea lions.

Gratitude is the light that illuminates a lonely journey and Gods love warms the coldest of hearts. Life is the gift of the spirit. Relish it, delight in it. Always remember that you are a child of God and through Gods love you are strong and you are fabulous.

Indestructable Love

"The attainment of freedom, whether for a man, nation or the world, must be in exact proportion to the attainment of non-violence by each"-Mahatma Gandhi.

Our nation is in the grip of bondage. We are slaves to a consumerism that is rammed down our throats through every sort of media imaginable and we have become bloated and addicted not only to wealth but the mere promise of wealth. Our addiction has become so acute that we have become savage and warlike out of fear of being cut off from that which we so desperately crave.

Now, in October of 2012 we find ourselves engaged in a war that has lasted ten years. Nobody seems to remember what our original mission was and nobody can think of anything good that has resulted in our involvement. We send our children overseas to kill and sometimes be killed or maimed and the only object seems to be corporate profit.

Today, we made a stand. Myself and what had to be at least a thousand other people took to the streets in San Francisco gave voice to our better natures and denounced the corporate exploiters that have brought our country to the brink of ruin. It was a joyful gathering of young and old, and all creeds and orientations. We came together and roared with a single mighty voice that we will no longer tolerate the violence and corruption that have become the hallmark of our political and economic system. No longer will we accept the hollow words of bought and paid for politicians that the carnage of war and the gutting of social services is in the best interests of we the people while a select group of moneyed corporate aristocrats profit on the broken backs and bodies of working people and do not carry their fair share of the burden of a healthy community.

I wish I could adequately describe the elation and joy I felt to be part of such a gathering. The unity of spirit and purpose was uplifting beyond measure. It was the breaking of chains that had kept me earthbound for so long. It was truly a liberation of the soul.

Violence is the province of the wealthy. Throughout history it has been their tool to maintain there grip on the throats of the people but they cannot fight love. They can kill or imprison the body but they cannot kill our love for our fellow beings, only we can do that. To live lovingly and peacefully is a victory nobody can take from us and I saw victory today in San Francisco.

The Criminalization of Protest

The Constitution of the United States guarantees the right of "Peaceable Assembly" but if a group of people does anything ,more then stand around sucking their thumbs, they will run afoul of one or more local statutes and risk arrest.

This afternoon I dedicated myself to speaking out against a system and a paradigm that is not only unsustainable but threatens the very existence of human kind: the exploitation/extraction economic system perpetuated by the global corporate elite. I spent some time with the incredibly courageous young people of "Occupy San Francisco", a group in solidarity with "Occupy Wall Street" in New York City.

For some time now, Occupy SF has been camped in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco on Market Street. Last night, the SFPD decided to act. According to the coordinators of the movement,leaflets were passed out by officers informing the protesters that although the SFPD respects their right to peaceably assemble, they listed six local statutes that the protesters had violated. One was the newly instituted "Sit/Lie" law. This law was created to prevent homeless people from camping in front of downtown merchants and frightening away trade. Now this law might be understandable, although dubious on a moral level, in a city that lives and dies by tourism, but now it has been used to stifle political decent.

The other violations cited also were generally laws that have to do with cooking, camping and food distribution, on the sidewalk that also were created to criminalize homelessness. To me this really pointed up the interconnectedness of all things, how harassment of those on the bottom of the social/economic ladder spreads to the rungs above. The biblical quote of Mathew 25:40 (one of my personal favorites) "What ever you do to the least of my brethren, you do unto me."

What this means on a secular level is that when one segment of society is repressed, society as a whole is at risk of the very same repression. These "Quality of Life" laws are more and more being used by local police agencies to harass and spread a feeling of insecurity among anyone who wants to stand against the injustices perpetrated by the moneyed elite

This is a direct result of "Corporate Person-hood". Since corporations have been declared to have equal rights to individuals, and money has been determined to be the same as free speech, it is a natural progression that corporate money floods the political system making the civil leadership dependent on it for reelection. Since civil laws are enforced by civil leaders through the police, it is not surprising that the law would be slanted in favor of the segments of society that have the most money.

"Peaceable Assembly" may be protected but if you say anything or do anything while you are assembled, you will likely wind up in the slammer.

Depression

Greif’s darkness falls
Like a curtain
Over my wounded eyes
No light
No succor

Stumbling blind
Through darkened wilderness
No joy
No warmth
Only enveloping gloom

I feign cry out
My voice is stilled
Becalmed in oppressive ooze
My wick quenched
My flame extinguished

Such is my want
Such is my desire
Dark corrosive specter
Searing Agony
That defiles my heart

Weary and wasted
I lie in clover
Scent playing my nostrils
Sweat perfume of life
In the sulfur stench of misery

Richmond

The cold wind blows in from the bay
The sirens that mark the tragedies of urban life
Scream behind the evening wind
As if shedding tears
For the wounded and the dead
As if grieving for the trapped
Freeway sounds
People flying past
East and west
Not knowing the stories
Not knowing the stories of a thousand victims
Of a thousand saints
Of a thousand heroes
Of a thousand villains
Of happy endings
Of sad songs
This my town
With her warts
With the smile of a thousand joys
Her beauty is ours to know
At the cost of the sadness
A cap and gown
A walk down the isle
A wedding dance
And a funeral march
A babes first communion
And the coffins of the fallen
Laughter punctuated with cries
Life to death and life again
The end of a story and the beginning of a journey.
It’s all here
Factory gray
The splendor of roses
Rundown
Yet renewed
The past fades into the future
Each day another chance

A Night On The Town in San Francisco

April 20th, 2011
San Francisco, California

In a swirling, misty wet wind, courtesy of the Pacific ocean, we stood across the street from the Masonic Auditorium atop Nob Hill in San Francisco. There were only a few hundred of us huddled up against, Grace Cathedral bundled up and shivering, but we were there nonetheless. With us was the growing gulf between "Haves" and "Have-nots" that has gone unchecked by this administration which began with such hope. Present were the torn and bleeding bodies of civilian casualties of drone attacks. With us were the thousands of military veterans in VA hospitals all over the country trying to put their shattered lives on a footing that is at least functional let alone "normal", (whatever that is). Standing with us in that frigid drizzle was the spiritual trauma of never ending war, environmental degradation and criminal neglect of the poor that the Democrat Party seems to be real unhappy about but have shown no inclination to mitigate.

I remember the night President Obama was elected. I was watching the returns in a deli standing next to an African American women in a wheelchair. She was beaming. I could see in her eyes that she felt that she was at the end of a very long road. She seemed to be feeling a huge joy in that she lived to see a black man elected president of the United States. I have to admit that I shared much of that joy and a part of me was very hopeful. However, I'm also pretty jaded after a half century of watching the political process in our nation. There was a voice inside that kept reminding me that no matter how good a person Barak Obama is, or how good his intentions were, he is just one man. He would be a single person in a morass of corporate dollar bought influence, greed based power and policy making for the elite. I knew, but did not want to acknowledge, that the election of Barak Obama would change very little beyond rhetoric, because that is all the Democrats seem to be able to offer. They were, and still are, very long on rhetoric and short on spine. Two years into this administration we have seen a lot of lip service but little action. In fact, we have gone backwards in many ways.

Standing out there in the wind and wet, I reflected on what was going on across the street. The great liberal elite of San Francisco was gathering to pay $38000 a plate for a meal and an audience with the president. These are what has been called the limousine liberals. The people with the wealth and influence to get a private concert with Stevie Wonder, eat free range chicken and organic wild rice (I don't know what was actually on the menu but you get my point)and be protected from the realities of urban life by legions of police officers surrounding the building. It was the great Northern California ATM machine. "Liberal" Democrats return to this well over and over again then pretend that we don't exist until they need a refill. The range fed rubber chickens were consumed literally within sight of a neighborhood where shopping means buying over priced milk at the corner liquor store (along with booze, porn and condoms) and the real possibility of getting shot by gangbangers or jacked up by the police on the way for no other reason then they happen to be there. There is no "Whole Foods" or "Trader Joe's" in Hunters Point. Capitalism has decided that neighborhoods like that are too much trouble.

A sort of chilled depression came over me when the President actually arrived. It started with a phalanx of police motorcycles, red and blue lights blazing, twenty of them at least. Then a long processions of vans and SUVs full of well dressed young men and women with ear pieces and bulges under there coats. There was an ambulance in the company and a mysterious black truck, driven by a couple of suited Secret Service types. God only knows what that truck was for. I reflected on how distant the President is and how many resources are used to keep it that way. While I certainly appreciate the need for presidential security, it was saddening nonetheless to see the disconnect.

I spoke to a number of people and listened to several speakers from organizations like the Gray Panthers, Code Pink, The World Can't Wait and, of course ANSWER who organized the rally. (all these organizations have websites and I would strongly encourage everybody to visit and at least hear what they have to say). The mood of these activists was one of betrayal and dismay. There was a real sense of the futility of continuing the meaningless process of moving political power from one wing of the same party to the other, all the while real control still resting with the same political elite, who squabble with each other from time to time, but always agree that real political power should be kept well away from working people. It is in their interested to keep us in continual, and profitable, war. It is in their interests that they duck their responsibilities for maintaining civil society by refusing to pay their fare share of the taxes. It is in their interests that the services that are essential for working class prosperity be obliterated to save them from these taxes. It is in their interests that the working class remain outside in the rain while they grove to Stevie Wonder at $38000 a pop.

After the rally, I had to make the trek back down Nob Hill to the BART station. The cops had blocked California Street so I had to go one block over to Sacramento and walk down there. This is China Town, but it's not the China Town one sees on postcards. This is the servant's quarters. It's a neighborhood where people work long hours at menial jobs for short money. It is a neighborhood where people live in tiny rooms and lie awake nights worrying about how they will care for their elderly parents. This is a place where, for many, public clinics are the only option they have for health care, and public programs are one of the only options to care for their kids when they work. Every bomb that is dropped on Libya also explodes in neighborhoods like this. It is an inescapable fact that the bombers fly at the expense of the poor. The "Government Waste" that the Tea Party vilifies is the only thing that keeps many in this area alive. These are the true Americans, working people who want nothing more then to take care of their families and have a grain of dignity in their lives.

I am starting to realize that we have a lot more in common with the people cowering in basements in the Gaza Strip hiding from Isreali shells or dodging Hellfire Missile (drones) in Pakistan or being neglected and brutalized on the streets of many US neighborhoods, then we have with the well heeled set that was just a few short blocks away at the Masonic Auditorium.

Last night, it was just a few hundred, but I long for the Day that we fill the streets. I dream of the day when working people all over join hands and with peace and love in our hearts refuse to participate in a system that is so opposed to our own interests. I long for a mass movement of non violent resistance dedicated to healthy communities, a healthy planet and an economic system based on the needs of creation, not the wants of materialism. These are the people and ideals that put President Obama in office and he seems to have forgotten. I don't mind standing in the rain for these ideals, I will to continue to do so as well as anything else I can think of.

Some links to check out:

www.worldcantwait
www.PSL.org
www.ANSWERsf.org
www.strikemay2011.org

You may agree with some and disagree with others but everybody should listen to the tune before they decide if they are into the music.

Lead On

Lead On

Shine light into places dark
On stormy seas of change embark
On all the light of justice shed
All become knowing to tyrants dread

People rise, peaceful might unleashed
From wars bondage we are released
The pain of war is eased
A world to bask in joyous peace

For the sake of our bloodied young
Peaceful hymns together sung
Rifle and cannon put away
War clouds part for the warm light of day

It’s only a dream lest we toil
Seeds of peace nurtured in human soil
The harvest of peace we shall not reap
Lest we commit and commitment keep

Lead On.

For Mercy's Sake

For mercy's sake
What do I have to do
To make you human
To make you feel
Does it please you
To cut and hack
The love that comes your way
Is the heart so vile
That you must lacerate, incinerate
And rip it asunder
What do I have to do
To make you see
To have a little empathy
A little sympathy
If you want to leave
Then leave
Just don’t cut me on the way out
And let me bleed
To die
With the sound of your laughter in my ears

Spiritual Practice

What a blessed day. I'm chillin listening to music (Jim Bianco-"Loudmouth". I am periodically jumping out of my chair and dancing around the house. (I'm the only one here and the pets are into it). Everybody should take the occasional "rock-out" break. Music and movement work wonders for the chakras.

The world still turns. Japan is melting down like the ice caps. People are still living on the streets, God loves them and so do I. The struggle for nonviolent revolution marches on. There are many challenges to meet and words to spread and I am dedicated to that. In a couple of hours I will rejoin the loving rebellion but right now it's R&R. This morning I'm dancing around the house in raggedy sweats and bedroom slippers. My soul soars with the music and everything is right with the world. God loves the poor, God loves the oppressed and once in a while, God loves a party. It's Wednesday, thank God for that.

Art and Revolution

"Oakland is Baby Baghdad and Richmond is little Falujah"-Poet Dre

Last night, I attended my first "Poetry Slam". It was held in a little restaurant in Downtown Oakland called "The Oasis". I was there to hear the featured poet, Drew Dellinger who I have grown to admire after attending a couple of his lectures at the Sophia Center, but I discovered a really cool side effect of going to Drew's gigs: Exposure to other poets.

One of the contestants at last nights slam was a guy named Dre. I don't know anything else about him, not even his last name, only that he is a hell of a poet. I found myself deeply moved by his words. They were a potent mixture of rage and grief that struck deep into the seminal places of my consciousness, that is to say the very heart of right and wrong, of good and evil, of just and unjust.

"We end each conversation with 'Be safe' and 'I love you' because we know where we're at" was a line that hit like a devastating blow. I could think of nothing else as I rode the BART home. It kept racing through my mind like a runner in a never ending 440 dash. I reflected on youth that should have their whole lives in front of them but they are not sure they will live to see another sunset for no other reason then the neighborhood they live in.

Now, I freely admit that I am a child of privilege. I'm white, middle class and educated. The system works for me and it has treated me well, but nothing bitters the sweet taste of prosperity like a look at the price tag. "Be safe and "I love you" is sticker shock of the first magnitude.

I cannot truthfully claim any great insight into the life of American, urban youth of color, at least not from personal experience anyway, but I have lived my whole life in the East Bay, most of that in Richmond and I have eyes. I see these kids everyday. I see them in the market and on the bus and on BART. I see them hanging out and walking to school. I've seen crowds of them filing out of funeral parlors as they bury yet another friend or cousin or sibling. You can feel the grief and the hopelessness is palpable. The wrenching brew of rage and sadness is right there in front of you, right there in there eyes if you only take a minute away from obsessing on your own trials and look. Look and listen, you will be disturbed by what you see and hear. Violence, especially gun violence, is a fact of life for these kids, and it is a way of life for far too many. Each one is all too aware that there is a strong possibility that there future is an early grave or a prison cell. It doesn't matter who you are or how hard you try, you might meet your end just standing on the wrong street corner or picking up a quart of milk for your baby sister or even in the school yard. Life is full of dangers and risks but for these children, the risks are exponentially higher then almost any other segment of the population, that they will meet a violent death. With that in mind, the sense of fatalism that is so much a part of these kids thinking is pretty understandable.

It's no great mystery why this is. It doesn't take any particular genius to see the inequalities of our culture. The global capitalist industrial economy, by it's very nature, is based on exploitation where the "haves" use the "have nots" as fodder and fuel for the system. At first it was in agriculture and industry. The poor, primarily people of color but also immigrant Europeans were exploited as labor. Soon the great industrial behemoth that was once the USA faded to a shadow of it's former self. Jobs were outsourced overseas and opportunities have become more and more restricted to the ruling elite.

The black and the brown have ceased to be a labor pool, with the exception of the military and the police, and have become the raw material for a new industry: the prison industrial complex.

Prisons are a growth industry in the US and is becoming more and more privatized. Huge profits are made by contractors, institutional caterers and even entire prisons run by profit making enterprises. In California, the Correctional Peace Officers Association is a king maker in state government. Nobody can expected to elected to high office without there blessing.

The prison industrial complex can be seen as a wealth creating process. Young people on the bottom of the social scale, who are not inclined to military service, are processed through the system over and over again through incarceration, re-offending and re-incarceration. This is made acceptable to the middle class through the use of institutionalized racism. Working people are much easier to control when divided along race lines and taught to despise each other. It would be tough to prove that a conspiracy actually exists but it sure works out well for the ruling elite. It also works out well if these oppressed people commit crimes against each other. After all, that's what marginalized communities tend to do any way, turn on themselves. The problem is that if you want to keep a people in a sewer, somebody had to climb into that sewer to make them stay. When injustice is inflicted on one community then society as a whole is poorer for it.

So what does that leave us? It leaves us with the intentional neglect of youth, the exploitation of immigrants, a pervading sense of hopelessness in the neighborhoods and carnage on the streets While this poverty and exploitation rages on in the cities, the denizens of salons and country clubs of the suburbs get fat on the wealth created by this injustice.

One miscalculation of the oppressors is an underestimation of the intelligence of urban youth. They see whats happening to them and they have a good idea who's behind it, and they are not going to take it lying down forever. In clubs, in galleries, on street corners they protest through art.

So there I was, the oldest person in the room by at least twenty years and a product of the white middle class to boot. Was I nervous? Actually no. Firstly, I was warmly greeted and made to feel welcome from the minute I walked into the joint. I sucked down a couple of Red Stripes which added to my festive mood. Mostly I got the feeling that these young people all had had a stomach full of violence and were done with it. This shows their wisdom as violent revolution results in more exploitation and a destroyed society that will take years to rebuild. Peaceful resistance is the "neutron bomb" of societal change. It destroys the structure of oppression and leaves the people. standing. I also felt shielded from the anger and hatred that is the neo-conservative right that is flooding into our institutions and rotting our leadership. I was able to take comfort in peaceful non-violent resistance which is the only truly effective weapon that the progressive forces of change possess.

I am thankful that there are such dynamic and talented young people to carry on this struggle. It was a joy to witness it last night.

It's You

Gazing into long lost eyes
Gentleness returns
In memories soaked in tears
Yet brightened by a smile
The bittersweet recollections of long ago

Parted in youth
Different roads journeyed
Reunited at the crossroads
In a time of transition
In a time of renewal

Late in the evening
At a dining room table
Fighting fear and worry
With milk and cookies
For a friend near death

Solace
Eases teenage pain
A gentle presence
to my fractured heart
The hand of freindship

It all comes back
years later
in middle age
so much has happened
yet she is still an angel

What Did I Do? (with thanks to Drew Dillenger)

This was inspired by the poem "Hieroglyphic Stairway. You can check it out on "You Tube". Just search "Drew Dillenger" and it will come up. I also posted in Facebook. In fact, if you spend any time with me at all, you can't avoid this particular work. It was and still is a great inspiration to me.

What did you do once you knew?
Awake aware
No place to hide
Knowledge, blessed but heavy
In the severe light of consciousness

What did I do once I knew?
I loved, all I could
I walked, through hill and meadow
I embraced, even they who despise me
I armed myself with plow shares and pruning hooks

What did you do once you knew?
Joyful terror
A mission in the learning
a long journey
that continues beyond mortality

What did I do once I knew?
Speak out
Anyway I could
In poetry
in action, expression, resistance

What did you do once you knew?
No place to hide
No cleft to shelter
Its laid out before us
no luxury of ignorance

What did I do once I knew?
Break the satin bonds
Cast off the chains of ivory
Trade the gilded cage
For the hard ground of freedom

The Rain

It's raining again. It has been a very wet winter. We all have spent a lot of time confined indoors and our backyard is a quagmire. Every day I seem to have a conversation with somebody along the lines of "God I wish it would stop raining" or "Gee, whats up with this weather?" One can hardly be blamed for being a little stir crazy.

I take comfort in looking at the rain in a different light: Imagine the journey of a rain drop. Imagine how atmospheric moister condenses and forms into droplets which join with other droplets as it free falls towards the earth. Imagine how in hits the ground and soaks into the soil where it is absorbed into the roots of a plant that becomes food for an animal. That animal becomes food for another animal which expels the drop as waste where it once again journeys into the soil. Eventually the drop will evaporate and continue it's sojourn in the wind to once again condenses in another part of the globe and start the adventure all over again.

Each drop of rain is the gift of life. Each drop of rain is a gift of God.It is certainly true that the rain sometimes causes problems like floods and mudslides and the like, but these catastrophes are usually indicators of the folly of man. In our greed, we sometimes build where we shouldn't or try to change the course of nature or otherwise fool around with what is already perfect. The rain can hardly be blamed for our own lack of foresight and caring.

The rain will come and go in it's own time and of it's own authority. How wonderful it would be if we looked at the rain as the gift that it is, not as a nuisance. Get some good rain gear and take a walk in it. Celebrate it, embrace it. The sun will shine soon enough and springs explosion of life and color will be the legacy of the rain. Praise the creator for this wonderful blessing.

Transition

I am a security officer in a high rise condo. It's a thirty story building with 583 units. To put it in perspective, imagine serving a neighborhood of 583 homes in a variety of ways. I have a great many persons to person contacts with a great many people on a daily basis and I am often in a position to observe the full circle of life. I am sometimes in the lobby when newborn residents make their first trip up the elevator and it is procedure for a security officer to escort residents down when they make their last, either to hospital, hospice or mortuary. We try to remain detached and professional because that is what we are paid to be but we are also human. We develop relationships with the residents and it is never easy to see someone you know on a gurney.

Last night was one of those occasions. A resident that I have known nearly twenty years (he's 95) had a serious stroke. I rode down the elevator with him and the paramedic team that was transporting him, as is procedure, but I couldn't help feeling an overwhelming sadness. He has always been so kind to me, greeting me by names and occasionally sharing a joke or story. It is those constant little signs of respect that a service worker remembers. It was hard to see him clinging to life, barely conscious and unresponsive connected to an oxygen bottle. At age fifty-one it was a real moment for me to reflect on the concept of mortality.
By the end of my shift last night, I had heard that he was still alive but had a brain hemorrhage and the prognosis was grim. His wife was with him. I am deeply saddened but, upon reflection, I am feeling a profound sense of gratitude.

I like to think of myself as a very spiritual person. Prayer and meditation are a regular and important part of my spiritual practice particularly when I am in an enhanced emotional state. In times like this I think about others in my life who have transitioned. My parents, my old friend Dana, family and friends whose time in the mortal journey has come to an end. I find myself grateful for the wisdom of life.

My greatest joy in life is walking in nature. I love the redwoods and the boreal forests and the roiling grass covered hills near my home. I love the wisdom of nature. I love watching the never ending pageant of life and death in the wilderness and how it all comes together and makes such sense. Everything and every creature has a purpose and nothing is wasted. From death springs life which ends in death which brings about life.

I am grateful that the loved ones who have passed on have taught me such a valuable lesson. We grieve the loss, that is natural and proper, but we must always remember that we are part of something huge: the universe. We all have are part to play during our time on this earthly journey.

One of the constants of life is impermanence. Life is letting go and to not allow yourself to do so is not love but merely attachment. The wisdom of creation is the ultimate beauty and it is pure love that we are a part of it. Transition is a vital part of the role of beings, let us embrace it. Live to love and love to live and when it comes time to move to the next place, rejoice in the continuing adventure. Peace to all.

The Scone Zone

It was a gray and rainy day at work today so I thought I would take a time out and enjoy a cup of coffee and a raspberry scone from Roya's. My tongue and taste buds cuddled beneath a crumbling blanket of cookie like pastry while the bright flavor of raspberries waltzed throughout. Then, a rich warm bath of coffee washed the entire mixture joyously down my throat into my rejoicing tummy with all of the glee of a child on a water slide. Then, the process repeated over and over again until the scone was gone and only the celebration of it's memory remained. How wonderful life is and what a gift it is to be able to, once in a while, enjoy a really good scone.

Note: Special thanks to Roya's Garlic Garden, the provider of the celebrated scone. Thanks Roya!

Late At Night

Late at night
is when I see her clearly
Colored with blue longing.
When I miss the music of her voice.
Late at night.

Late at night.
When my world is cold.
When my arms are empty.
When my heart is heavy.
Late at night.

Late at night.
When my gardens are dormant.
When I quietly mourn.
When I miss her warmth.
Late at night.

Late at night.
A hole in my heart.
An emptiness unfilled
and desire unslaked.
Late at night.

Values

The man wrapped in the flag said:
"Vote for me because I believe in traditional values."
The woman in rags said:
"My husband was killed in the war."
The man wrapped in the flag said:
"Vote for me because I believe in traditional values."
The woman in rags said:
"I have no home."
The man wrapped in the flag said:
"Vote for me because I believe in traditional values."
The woman in rags said:
"I have no job."
The man wrapped in the flag said:
Vote for me because I believe in traditional values.'
The woman in rags said:
"My children are hungry but I cannot afford food."
The man wrapped in the flag said:
"Vote for me because I believe in traditional values."
The woman in rags said:
"My children are sick but I cannot afford a doctor."
The man wrapped in the flag said:
"Vote for me because I believe in traditional values."
The woman in rags asked:
"What if I don't share your values?"
The man wrapped in the flag said:
"Then you have no value."

Resistance is Christ Like

Satan tempted Christ three times in the wilderness. First he challenged Jesus to turn stones to bread in order to satisfy his hunger. Second he took Christ to the top of a temple tower and challenged him to leap so that angles would break his fall. Third he took Jesus to a mountain top where they surveyed all the great Kingdoms of the world and offered them to him if he would worship and venerate Satan. In these temptations we find a metaphor for our relationship with creation.
Temptation I: Turn stones to bread.
In our extraction/exploitation economy we have reached the point where we have harvested the “low hanging fruit” in terms of natural resources. This is especially true of fossil fuels. We have gotten everything that is easy and we are now forced to resort to more radical techniques in order to extract enough supply to meet demand. Some of these techniques are truly mind boggling in their brutality to the environment. In short, environmentally speaking, we are now trying to get blood from a turnip, or turn stones to bread.
In the North Eastern United States they have resorted to “fracking” to extract natural gas from rock. Water and chemicals are injected under high pressure into subterranean rock formations, literally pulverizing them in order to free the gas. The extent of the damage caused by this procedure is unknown but many experts see dire threats to ground water and wells with contamination. This process goes on nearly unchecked by cash strapped local governments seduced by the revenue produced. It seems we have sold ourselves for manna from below.
In the great northern forests of Canada, petroleum is extracted from tar sands. This is done by clear cutting the forest then injecting superheated steam into the earth that literally melts the oil and forces it to the surface. What is leftover is nothing short of an environmental apocalypse; A land naked and poisoned.
In Appalachia, coal is mined with a technique known as “mountain top removal”. This is done by literally bulldozing an entire mountain top into the valley below. In the process, streams and forests are obliterated and all manner of harmful by products and metals are released into the watershed. What is left is an ugly and scarred wasteland that is of no use to anybody. People both indigenous and non-indigenous who have made their way on fishing and tourism for generations are suddenly left without livelihood. The process is highly automated so that very few locals are employed in the extraction.
In the bible, Jesus resisted this temptation and said that man does not live by bread alone. Obviously, our culture is imperfect and falls short of the glory of God. We rose to Satan’s bait and have severely wounded God’s gift of nature in the process and, as is always the case when one cavorts with the Devil, the end result is tragic: the loss of beautiful and valuable natural resources as well as the displacement of a great many people.

Temptation II: Satan challenges Jesus to throw himself from the tower.
Creation is the Temple of the Lord.
As a son of the American West, I have walked the meadows and forests of the High Sierra. I have scrambled among the great rocks of the South Western deserts. I have meditated with the old and venerable Redwoods of California’s North Coast. In all of these places I have been awestruck by the powerful presence of the creator.
When Satan challenged Christ to leap from the tower so that Angles may break his fall, Christ replied “Thou shalt not put the lord your God to the test.
When we so brazenly and arrogantly rape and pillage the temple of the Lord, are we not truly testing the Lords patience? We rely on the earth for sustenance, water and the air we breathe. How long can the planet possibly support us under the weight of such abuse? For every tree felled and every river fouled, we put God to the test. How much can the temple withstand before it collapses completely. Every eco-system, every species represents a brick in the structure. Every time we lose one or the other, a brick is removed. At what point will we remove one brick too many and bring the whole structure down around our ears. With every crime we commit against the environment we tempt fate, and faith.

Temptation III: Satan promised all the great kingdoms if Jesus would worship him.
When Satan offered magnificent kingdoms to Jesus if he would prostrate himself and worship him Jesus replied: “The Lord your God shall you worship and him alone shall you serve”
The industrial extraction/exploitation economy offers us many material temptations. We are promised happiness and fulfillment through material things in a continual barrage of marketing and advertising through every medium imaginable. It has become almost a heroic struggle to remember God at all. The saddest part is this it is a promise that Satan cannot keep. The more we get the more we want and the emptier we feel. We become so embroiled in the pursuit of career and wealth, the kingdoms promised by Satan, that we forget our neighbors, our families and our communities. Riches become the object of our worship and our planet suffers for it. We destroy the environment, exploit our brothers and sisters and even distort the word of God to justify our behavior. Again we fall short of Christ’s example. We have not told Satan to be gone, but have invited him into our hearts by buying into the corporate illusion of “prosperity”. The lust for riches has embroiled us in war, steeped us in greed and has taken us further and further from the kingdom of heaven. This lust has imperiled our very existence on earth with the threat of environmental collapse and nuclear war.
Whether you call it temptations of Satan or just the dark side of human nature, the danger exists. If we don’t start acting for the common good with an eye to the future, we are in great danger. The time has come to start acting out of love for the planet and the human family. We must conduct ourselves with an eye to the future and an orientation of sustainability. We must endeavor to be Christ like.

This is also posted at www.jesusradicals.com

The Theft of War

It's been a week of gentle reminders of just how much I detest war. Firstly, we had a very heartfelt session in the Viet Nam Vets support group that I help facilitate at the VA. They are such tough, brave guys yet they are still in so much pain even these many years after they came home. They are hurt and isolated and it breaks my heart. Thank God they have each other to help with the healing because nobody really understands what they are feeling that wasn't there. They are good people that were forced to do some bad things and because they are good people they hurt because of it.
Another reminder was an article in National Catholic Reporter about women who serve in combat. They come home physically and spiritually maimed as well. War doesn't end for the soldiers just because they leave the battle field. They bleed for years right to the end of their days.
We love to glorify war in this country. We cheer and pontificate about our "cherished way of life" and "democracy" and "Freedom" and all manner of other high sounding hyperbole in order to keep the guilt of causing so much carnage at bay. I really wonder if the wars we fight are really about any of those things. It's a tough pill to swallow when you consider that no matter what the justification for war, somebody always gets rich off the bloodshed. Patriotism is easy when you are lining your pockets and you don't have to fight. Our gated communities and country clubs are full of fat cats getting huge paydays while are kids bleed and lose limbs.
War is the most theft driven process in the human experience. Firstly, look at the military lexicon. The objective of most tactical actions is to "take" something, It might be a town or a hill or a valley. Once taken then the objective is to "deprive". That is to say, deprive the enemy of said town, hill or valley. Consider the common law definition of theft: The taking of the goods of another with intent to permanently deprive.
Then there is the looting. No army in the history of the world refrained from rewarding itself for victory with an orgy of theft, among other things, at the expense of the vanquished. Crops, cattle, household goods, artifacts, possession is determined by the sword. The victorious swords get the spoils. Only war makes this twisted moral lapse lawful and acceptable.
Then of course, there is the taking of life, No human life is spared, men women and children. Today, it is noncombatants that now make up the bulk of wars casualties. Villages are destroyed and civilians killed indiscriminately either by suicide bombers or air strikes or a thousand other instruments of destruction.
There is also the theft of national treasure. No process more efficiently siphons money from public coffers into private bank accounts like war. Oceans of tax payer dollars go to arms manufacturers and support service corporations at a rate that boggles the mind. At no time in our history has war been more privatized then it is today. Food service, transport, security and all manner of other services are being farmed out, at considerable cost, to private companies. These companies are reaping huge profits and the citizenry is footing the bill. Do you really think that it is an accident that this war has gone on for nearly ten years? It certainly is not. US business knows a good thing when they see it and they will keep it going as long as they possibly can. After all. it's not their blood being spilled.
Lastly, there is the theft of our morals. war is glorified, fears are played upon and children are taught from a very young age that to serve the nation as a soldier is glorious. Killing and maiming becomes okay if it is in the name of "National Security" or our precious "way of life". Hate also becomes a virtue, words like "Kraut" and "Jap" evolved into "Gook" then "Towelhead" or "Hadji". Hate is a vital ingredient of war. As soon as a people stop hating "the enemy" then the jig is up. Peace ensues and the corporate gravy train comes to a screeching halt. No more profits for stockholders and politicians lose a golden opportunity to be "heroes". After all, how can you be a "hero" if there is no "enemy" and it is a lot easier to sell military hardware in a shooting war then in peace. In peace time, the people have a nasty habit of thinking of their own communities instead of killing people they don't know.
The time has come to stop this. War is unsustainable militarily, economically and morally. We need to reevaluate what the threats realistically are and examine alternatives in dealing with them besides the deployment of troops. War is the killer of cultures and civilizations and ours is in danger.

This is also posted at www.jesusradicals.com

Peace Within

In creation I find love. From green rolling hills to deep dark forests there is love. I walk lightly through the fields with each step being an act of appreciation for the gift of God that is bestowed on all who walk here. What a wonderful gift each life is. What wonderful company are our fellow creatures. What a blessing it is to be given the opportunity to love. On every street corner, at every bus stop and train station. In cafes and restaurants or just walking down the sidewalk. We can love at every turn. Why would we choose not to? Why would we choose violence and fear. Why would we waste precious energy on rage and hatred? It is an affront to our loving God that we throw the gift of love into the gutter and spit on it. It's a blasphemy to produce weapons of war instead of places of healing and learning. It is a sin to make our lakes and oceans sewers of fetid waste instead of the cradle of life and the sustainer of us all that they were meant to be. Tears come to my eyes when I imagine the pain we put our earthly mother through but the tears are sweet, born of love.
I have no enemies. Granted, there may be misguided people that consider me their enemy, but that is their burden, not mine. Each day I pray that my spirit will not be weighed down with hate, only lifted by love. In my love, I find my peace and I will not surrender that. In the end, our inner peace is all we have. It cannot be taken, only given. It is only they who have lost their peace that seek to destroy it in others. It is them who are tormented and I try with all my might to feel compassion for them for it is they who need it most but appreciate it least. This is the greatest burden of compassion, to love those who only hate.

With the love of God
In the heavens of my mind
Flight
Thoughts so beautiful
Serene within
Peace Heart
Flight

Pastoral bliss
Creations joy
Flight
All is one
Mind unfettered
Spirit soars
Flight

So many stars
Blades of grass
Flight
Tenor birds
Soprano thunder
Rhythmic rain
Flight

My love is endless
My joy not bound
Flight
Earths heart mine
Rivers, oceans, tides
Shifting plates
Flight

I am all
One with one
Flight
Gods touch fills
All my being
Communion of galaxies
Flight