Sunday, July 25, 2010
Words from Floyd Red Crow Westerman
.
From a video of Floyd Red Crow Westerman
The songs that follow are well worth the listen as well.
pax hominibus,agape to all,joel
From a video of Floyd Red Crow Westerman
The Europeans came with the Bible. And in the Bible, it says very little about Mother Earth as sacred. That's a very crucial absence of thinking on Earth, that they didn't think Mother Earth was sacred enough. The absence of that is government that has polluted the world. And our children have no future because of it.
To the Indian people, to all of us, the Earth is our Bible. In other words, our thinking and consciousness goes way beyond Christian thinking. Here is Christian thinking with their thoughts as very people-centric. It speaks some good things, as people should be to each other, but they haven't even lived up to that. Thou shalt not steal. Look who's got all the land, and look who's got the Bibles. The Indians got the Bibles and they got the land.
I think Christianity needs to be spoken to in a certain way. I mean, get out of the way. Let the Indian way of life speak to everybody.
pax hominibus,agape to all,joel
Labels: angry at organized religions, Christianity, heaven on earth, pax hominibus/bright shiny future, presence, theological sources
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Speech for Graduation from Starr King, May 20, 2010
Someone asked me if I might talk about the eschaton made immanent. That's hard to do in two minutes. Actually it's not hard to say, but it is hard to be.
I believe the eschaton becomes personally immanent with the enlightenment of knowing what we can know and then believing and acting from that awareness. It is engaged connection from our innermost selves. It means opening up to the world in a spirit of vulnerability and faith, confidence and grace.
The world you experience before you is the world as it appears.
I had a dream a couple weeks ago. I was looking at a highlighter marker with words printed like text messaging on the side: "We r 2 b.” I looked over and Dr. Parker was kind of snoozing in a rocking chair. A rare sight! [shrug]
And I am truly glad to be here among people who know that going forward, in order to be at all, to survive, and to thrive, we need to be beloved community, and ask questions toward that end. Glad to be among people who know that beloved community is not the goal, it’s a determined and self-evolving way.
You are me.
I am you.
You are you.
I am me.
We are us.
Our connections are the connections they are for the purpose of life.
All that is still just reflexive words -- open to interpretation. So I'll say it another way with the hope that today our inner angels might meet up in pre-worded existence.
[end with silence until bell]
pax hominibus,agape to all,joel
Labels: sermons, theology, Universalism
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
How to Eat a Tomato
today,
i ate a caprese salad,
made as simply as can be.
a glob of fresh soft mozzarella
an heirloom tomato,
and some fresh basil
from our own garden.
a sprinkle of salt, a sprinkle of pepper.
served in a small bowl.
later, a little home-made hummus.
so awesome, it broke the blender.
and some couscous from out of a box
left over from lunch 3-4 days ago.
with chopped red peppers and zucchinis cooked in.
the first part of the meal:
eating the tomato.
sliced into golf-ball size chunks,
a sprinkling of black pepper
a small shake of salt and....
taken to mouth either by hand or by fork.
or on the side of a butterknife or an upside down spoon
if you're "playing the boob" for your toddler.
kiss it as a prayer.
honoring its rich history and the components in the world that came together to make it to this sweet moment for your mouth (and your tummy and your renewed body energy).
honoring the soil that the tomato came from.
honoring the
honoring the potential, of all that you may do with this energy given from the life of this earth.
kiss the tomato with your lips, your teeth, your tongue, and your gums,
as a sensuous act.
awaken your body
deep down to the fact
you're alive in your body
to see hear touch and feel,
cherish scent and flavor
the tomato in your mouth,
know that it is in your mouth
it was from the ground
and now is becoming a part of the body you control
chew the tomato down into small bits,
swish it in your mouth like juice
and give thanks that it changes form for you.
give thanks that the earth offered it up
to the farmer who picked it,
give thanks for the sunlight, the water of rain,
and the worms and the robins,
the rabbits, the air and the soil.
know that humans have tasted tomatoes for millennia,
and will do so for millennia to come.
take three minutes and ponder life--
ponder one mouthful of life's beauty.
lyrics: "hey big bodhi!!!"
from Revolve, by the Melvins.
pax hominibus,agape to all,joel
(my blogspot template seems to have changed on me a few months back. it concatenated all three of my closing lines together. rather than fix it, i'm just going to leave it and stop wasting time editing it)
i ate a caprese salad,
made as simply as can be.
a glob of fresh soft mozzarella
an heirloom tomato,
and some fresh basil
from our own garden.
a sprinkle of salt, a sprinkle of pepper.
served in a small bowl.
later, a little home-made hummus.
so awesome, it broke the blender.
and some couscous from out of a box
left over from lunch 3-4 days ago.
with chopped red peppers and zucchinis cooked in.
the first part of the meal:
eating the tomato.
sliced into golf-ball size chunks,
a sprinkling of black pepper
a small shake of salt and....
taken to mouth either by hand or by fork.
or on the side of a butterknife or an upside down spoon
if you're "playing the boob" for your toddler.
kiss it as a prayer.
honoring its rich history and the components in the world that came together to make it to this sweet moment for your mouth (and your tummy and your renewed body energy).
honoring the soil that the tomato came from.
honoring the
honoring the potential, of all that you may do with this energy given from the life of this earth.
kiss the tomato with your lips, your teeth, your tongue, and your gums,
as a sensuous act.
awaken your body
deep down to the fact
you're alive in your body
to see hear touch and feel,
cherish scent and flavor
the tomato in your mouth,
know that it is in your mouth
it was from the ground
and now is becoming a part of the body you control
chew the tomato down into small bits,
swish it in your mouth like juice
and give thanks that it changes form for you.
give thanks that the earth offered it up
to the farmer who picked it,
give thanks for the sunlight, the water of rain,
and the worms and the robins,
the rabbits, the air and the soil.
know that humans have tasted tomatoes for millennia,
and will do so for millennia to come.
take three minutes and ponder life--
ponder one mouthful of life's beauty.
lyrics: "hey big bodhi!!!"
from Revolve, by the Melvins.
pax hominibus,agape to all,joel
(my blogspot template seems to have changed on me a few months back. it concatenated all three of my closing lines together. rather than fix it, i'm just going to leave it and stop wasting time editing it)
Labels: interconnected web, poetry, prayer, recipes, theological sources
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Jobs Creation: Public or Private Sector?
I am thinking. And that thinking is leading me to believe that there is something amiss with respect to the creation of jobs in the USA.
First, the US government is outsourcing our tax dollars by outsourcing formerly public sector roles to private companies so that they can efficiently get things done. Those companies tend to try to get as much worker productivity as they can, and hence aren't really increasing the labor force, unless the demand for their work increases. For example, private prisons can hire more people as guards, cooks, etc, if there are more people locked up. This is very backwards thinking. And of course, ultimately, these private companies are trying to earn money for their owners and shareholders. The fact that their revenue stream comes from the US government and goes to the investor class should raise alarm bells for anyone reading this.
Secondly, the US government could create agencies and "public corporations" invested by tax dollars to do the important work. Then our tax dollars would be going directly toward jobs creation and toward getting important things done--things that Adam Smith's invisible hand tends to wave past, until it's too late, or to deliver meager amounts to. Things like regulation, large-scale research projects, growing a commonwealth of resources like public parks, tree-planting, litter-reduction, economic welfare safety nets, and food banks. With the public taxpayers being the investors in this, the ROI shows up as benefits and security for us all, and the tax dollars can be efficiently used so that they go directly toward the equipment needed, and toward the people who are doing the work.
When more people are employed at fair wages, they will be able to spend more and grow the economy. When private corporations are making large profits for investors, in an unsteady economic environment, they will be hesitant to put their money back out there, and it will tend to pool (unless the government is willing to tax them heavily).
Regarding the US government revenue stream, consider this.... When oil companies are seeking to obtain energy/oil from the ground, they want to find the large underground pools. When the US government (with its power to levee taxes) needs to obtain energy/money, it should look for the large pools that have accumulated (in the investor class). Instead, it is still trying to squeeze oil out of the shale-rock of the middle class.
To jump-start the economy, the US needs to find major sources of money. There is ONLY ONE PLACE to find money like that, and it is in the abundance of wealth that has been siphoned off by the millionaires and billionaires in America. When Obama initially entered office, he said he was going to close the corporate loopholes, and tax-dodges for the rich. I wonder how effective he's been at that???
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
First, the US government is outsourcing our tax dollars by outsourcing formerly public sector roles to private companies so that they can efficiently get things done. Those companies tend to try to get as much worker productivity as they can, and hence aren't really increasing the labor force, unless the demand for their work increases. For example, private prisons can hire more people as guards, cooks, etc, if there are more people locked up. This is very backwards thinking. And of course, ultimately, these private companies are trying to earn money for their owners and shareholders. The fact that their revenue stream comes from the US government and goes to the investor class should raise alarm bells for anyone reading this.
Secondly, the US government could create agencies and "public corporations" invested by tax dollars to do the important work. Then our tax dollars would be going directly toward jobs creation and toward getting important things done--things that Adam Smith's invisible hand tends to wave past, until it's too late, or to deliver meager amounts to. Things like regulation, large-scale research projects, growing a commonwealth of resources like public parks, tree-planting, litter-reduction, economic welfare safety nets, and food banks. With the public taxpayers being the investors in this, the ROI shows up as benefits and security for us all, and the tax dollars can be efficiently used so that they go directly toward the equipment needed, and toward the people who are doing the work.
When more people are employed at fair wages, they will be able to spend more and grow the economy. When private corporations are making large profits for investors, in an unsteady economic environment, they will be hesitant to put their money back out there, and it will tend to pool (unless the government is willing to tax them heavily).
Regarding the US government revenue stream, consider this.... When oil companies are seeking to obtain energy/oil from the ground, they want to find the large underground pools. When the US government (with its power to levee taxes) needs to obtain energy/money, it should look for the large pools that have accumulated (in the investor class). Instead, it is still trying to squeeze oil out of the shale-rock of the middle class.
To jump-start the economy, the US needs to find major sources of money. There is ONLY ONE PLACE to find money like that, and it is in the abundance of wealth that has been siphoned off by the millionaires and billionaires in America. When Obama initially entered office, he said he was going to close the corporate loopholes, and tax-dodges for the rich. I wonder how effective he's been at that???
pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel
Labels: economics, interconnected web, politics, USA
