Kindness...

I sit here, between my twin brother's and my father's graves,

(who died at age 26 and at age 60)

and reflect on many things. Among them is the saving grace

of kindness...

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At Pine Lake Cemetery, Bloomfield Township, Michigan

June 20, 2010

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is

you must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt in a weakened broth.

What you held in your hand,

what you counted and carefully saved,

all this must go so you know

how desolate the landscape can be

between the regions of kindness.

How you ride and ride

thinking the bus will never stop,

the passengers eating maize and chicken

will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,

you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho

lies dead by the side of the road.

You must see how this could be you,

how he too was someone

who journeyed through the night with plans

and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,

you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.

You must wake up with sorrow.

You must speak to it till your voice

catches the thread of all sorrows

and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,

only kindness that ties your shoes

and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,

only kindness that raises its head

from the crowd of the world to say

it is I you have been looking for,

and then goes with you every where

like a shadow or a friend.

~ Naomi Shihab Nye ~

(Words From Under the Words: Selected Poems)


Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive/Kindness.html

Our Son Brian's Blog: Wanderlust

Warmest Greetings

I am moved to share our son Brian's blog. There is depth reflected here in Brian's glimpses into other worlds, his larger questions, beautiful photographs, reflections and links. What a gift to experience a little greater understanding and connectedness with others so far away in miles and in how it is that we know our world. And ourselves... My heart is touched in being witness our son's travels, which is very much both an outer and an inner journey. I have also been deeply enjoying our conversations since Brian's recent return, and find myself consistently inspired to go deeper myself. Inspiration is contagious. And so is courage. Perhaps something here will also touch you. Sharing these heartfelt questions, soulful reflections, and glimpses into different cultures, religions, people and ways of life sends out the kinds of ripples which, I believe, our world deeply needs. Thank you, Brian.

Namaste ~

Molly-Mom

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Brian in Morocco

Wanderlust
http://brianrhyolite.blogspot.com/

Reflections on religion, symbols and tolerance

inspired by a two-month journey through

Nepal, Switzerland and Morocco.

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Moreover, I see more of the nuance and complexity of the world. Of course the world is complex you say from the comfort of your home. But it is something else entirely to feel that complexity, to smell it, to taste it. Television cannot do that. Google cannot do that. Wikipedia cannot do that.

There is such a drive to categorize, to quantify. To place people in nice, clean boxes. To stereotype. To turn people into others. But we are all human. We all feel. We all matter. We are all part of us.

~ Brian Murray

What I Have Learned So Far

What I Have Learned So Far

Meditation is old and honorable, so why should I

not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside,

looking into the shining world? Because, properly

attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.

Can one be passionate about the just, the

ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit

to no labor in its cause? I don't think so.

All summations have a beginning, all effect has a

story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.

Thought buds toward radiance. The gospel of

light is the crossroads of -- indolence, or action.

Be ignited, or be gone.

~ Mary Oliver ~

(New and Selected Poems Volume Two)


http://www.panhala.net/Archive/What_I_Have_Learned_So_Far.html

Questions Before Dark

Questions Before Dark

Day ends, and before sleep

when the sky dies down, consider

your altered state: has this day

changed you? Are the corners

sharper or rounded off? Did you

live with death? Make decisions

that quieted? Find one clear word

that fit? At the sun's midpoint

did you notice a pitch of absence,

bewilderment that invites

the possible? What did you learn

from things you dropped and picked up

and dropped again? Did you set a straw

parallel to the river, let the flow

carry you downstream?

~ Jeanne Lohmann ~

(The Light of Invisible Bodies)


Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive/Questions_Before_Dark.html

Documentary - BLUEPRINT AMERICA: BEYOND THE MOTOR CITY

See how Detroit may represent the future of transportation
and progress in America.

Warm Greetings

I am grateful this morning to have heard on KPOJ about the documentary playing tonight at the Bagdad Theater here in Portland. As I listened to the interview with the filmmaker, I knew that this was a film I would not want to miss. Tonight my oldest son, Brian, and I went to see BLUEPRINT AMERICA: Beyond the Motor City. This is an important film! If you haven't already seen it, please consider checking it out and spreading the word. And although everyone anywhere in our country would benefit from seeing Blueprint America, my Michigan friends and family will likely be especially moved. The entire documentary can be viewed here:

http://video.pbs.org/video/1409024983

For a video of the documentary made one year ago - BLUEPRINT AMERICA: Road to the Future, which includes footage in Portland, Denver, and New York - please go here:

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintamerica/reports/road-to-the-future/video-full-documentary/648/

Peace & blessings ~ Molly

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Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.

On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

~ Arundhati Roy

There are now Bankster Sharks in the Water...

From Thom Hartmann's blog:

In his New York Times column, economist Paul Krugman is ringing the warning bell and saying we are in the early stages of a “third depression.” “This third depression,” he writes, “will be primarily a failure of policy” as the world’s leading governments focus “about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending.” It's truly bizarre to watch country after country across Europe fail to learn the lessons of the past and hang tight to the economic policies of Herbert Hoover and Milton Friedman when both have been tried - and failed - repeatedly in countries all over the world over the past 80 years. The only reasonable rationale for why these national leaders are willing to destroy their social safety nets, throw their working people into serfdom, and drain the resources of their tattered middle classes to reduce their national debts is that - unlike other times in the past - there are now sharks in the water. Those sharks are the banksters, liberated in 1998 and 2000 by Phil and Wendy Gramm and Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, and Robert Rubin. Now that the banksters have been deregulated and can run trillion dollar gambling casinos, one of their easiest targets are the countries that have a lot of debt - just like the corporate raiders and so-called "private equity" companies look for companies with lots of debt to take down, disassemble, fire all the workers, and ship the jobs to China. Because these bankster sharks are now fully empowered in the waters of international finance, the traditional tool used to get countries out of Depressions - stimulative spending funded by debt - places a country at a huge risk of a shark attack (known in banking as a naked short attack), which can quite literally destroy the economy of a nation. Until the banksters are brought to heel, the wealth of nations will continue to collapse while the wealth of the banksters themselves will continue to explode.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2010/06/there-are-now-bankster-sharks-water

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Action is the antidote to despair.
- Joan Baez

The Third Depression

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Recessions are common; depressions are rare. As far as I can tell, there were only two eras in economic history that were widely described as “depressions” at the time: the years of deflation and instability that followed the Panic of 1873 and the years of mass unemployment that followed the financial crisis of 1929-31.

Neither the Long Depression of the 19th century nor the Great Depression of the 20th was an era of nonstop decline — on the contrary, both included periods when the economy grew. But these episodes of improvement were never enough to undo the damage from the initial slump, and were followed by relapses.

We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost — to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs — will nonetheless be immense.

And this third depression will be primarily a failure of policy. Around the world — most recently at last weekend’s deeply discouraging G-20 meeting — governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/opinion/28krugman.html

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A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history. ~ Mohandas K. Gandhi

Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. ~ Robert F. Kennedy

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin

THIS IS AMONG THE MOST EXCITING AND HOPEFUL POSTS I HAVE DONE TO DATE: THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION

More than all else, my spiritual path is rooted in compassionate action. I imagine and envision that each and every moment will find our beautiful world growing in those who are committed to the values and calls for action reflected in The Charter For Compassion. Namaste.... Molly

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is among the Charter members

THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION

The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women ~ to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community.

PLEASE GO HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

AND TO ADD YOUR NAME TO THE CHARTER:

http://charterforcompassion.org/share/the-charter/

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Compassion is not just a feeling, not just an emotion. It can include feeling and emotion but for compassion to be authentic it needs to translate into action so that it becomes a social reality, a reality in daily life. ~ Tho Ha Vinh, Charter For Compassion Member and Head of Training, Learning and Development, International Committee of the Red Cross

Compassion is not hereditable. It can and therefore must be taught. The teaching of compassion, the exercise of the soul, will open the heart. And then nothing will be impossible.
~ Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, Charter Member and Rabbi of the Reform Jewish Community of The Hague

In a world where force is too often the response to differences of opinion, culture and ideas of the divine, compassion is its one universal antidote. This Charter gives spiritual voices the opportunity to unite in this most authentic cry for peace. ~ Sister Joan Chittister, Charter Member and Founder and Director, Benetvision

Compassion doesn’t come naturally…people have to learn about being compassionate. And so for me, [the Charter] reflects what we can do in our educational systems, and generally in society, to educate people about the notion of compassion. I actually do not believe that there is a clash of civilizations. I think there is what is better termed a clash of ignorances. ~ Ali Asani, Charter Member and Professor of the Practice of Indo-Muslim Languages and Culture

Beyond Us and Them by Sheikh Jamal Rahman

Warmest blessings... I am not religious, but I experience this and the following article as speaking powerfully about remembrance of the core essence of the great religions and how it is that we can bring forth greater love, understanding, respect, caring, and compassion toward ourselves and all beings through these different traditions. Peace...

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Rabbi Ted Falcon, Pastor Don Mackenzie, and Sheikh Jamal Rahman, known collectively as the "Interfaith Amigos," have been learning and teaching together since 2001. They blog weekly for YES! Magazine.

Beyond Us and Them

As a relatively recent U.S. citizen, I sometimes despair at the polarization of Democrats and Republicans and the angry vitriol that erupts from this divide. As a Muslim, I tire of the mean-spirited campaigns of fear mongering and hate that religious extremists direct at those with different beliefs. This incessant appeal to the basest elements of our nature—our fear of the Other, our easy refuge in Us vs. Them divides—is disturbing.

Guidance in the Quran

This issue, I realize, is not so much about the Other as it is about me. The issue is a deeply spiritual one, and I look for guidance in the Quran. A verse repeated several times in the Holy Book tells me that God will not change the condition of a people unless they change what is in their hearts. This verse reaffirms the age-old insight, found in all traditions, that a problem cannot be solved at the same level where it was created. We humans can be reconciled only by rising above the issues that divide us, by becoming aware that our disparate personalities and philosophies are actually parts of the same whole. Our sages tell us that such awareness leads to peacemaking—the art of restoring love and compassion to a relationship that has been torn apart through fear and hatred.

More: http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/interfaith-amigos/beyond-us-and-them

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The Quran lets us in on God’s little secret: “We have created some of you as a trial for others: Will you have patience” (25:20). Meditating on this verse, I have begun to understand that the Glenn Becks, Christian rapturists, Israeli settlers, and Taliban and Al Qaeda members of this world are an invitation for me to grow and expand. In a hadith that anticipates our 21st century understanding of human psychology, the Prophet said, “The faithful are mirrors to each other.” Very often, what we dislike in others is something that we need to acknowledge, heal, integrate, and empower in ourselves. ~ Sheikh Jamal Rahman (very true!)

Back to Shore: Remembering the Healing Substance of Religion

This article can be found in YES! Magazine. Peace & blessings...

The "Interfaith Amigos"

by Pastor Don Mackenzie

A drift from substance is a recurring pattern in religious life. What will it take to call ourselves back to the essentials?

Imagine for a moment that you have climbed a very high mountain. You are finally at the top. Looking back, you can see the road behind you: You can see back through time all the way to 2000 BCE—the time of Abraham the patriarch. And if we look closely, one of the most vivid patterns we find is that of religions coming into being to contribute to healing—the healing of people, of communities, and of the planet. They are like a glass that holds water: The water is spirituality—that sensibility that bears within it oneness, unconditional love, and compassion. All of these things contribute to healing. Religions, then, are institutions and conveyances for healing substance.

Then why does religion seem to play such a major role in violence?

The pattern that I’m suggesting we recognize looks like this: A religion is formed, but soon the substance starts to leak out. Sometimes we end up with hollow shells—institutions totally emptied of substance. We end up taking care of the glass, and not noticing that the water has evaporated. Becoming aligned with institutions bent on violence instead of healing represents an evaporation of purpose.

More: http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/interfaith-amigos/back-to-shore?utm_source=wkly20100625&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=titleMackenzie

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Somewhere in our history, the link between inner spirituality and its expression in the world as loving social action grew faint. To renew that connection, we can draw deeply on traditions that call attention to our Oneness. ~ Paster Don Mackenzie