revjd -- - -- - - - -- -- - -- - --> Time for Timer.

Legalization: What about the Children? And the Users?

2012-02-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting and compelling reason for legalizing marijuana. The children. And the adult users.

Regarding children and young adults (and probably older adults as well), there are a portion of them that are going to want to escape, or just to try something new. You probably have somebody among your family and friends for whom this applies.

Here are a few of the dangers of NOT legalizing, and NOT regulating:

There is nobody checking for IDs, so at present, it is READILY available to any high school of middle school student if they want to get it.
It remains unregulated which has two inherent problems.

A user doesn't have a clue how strong it is, and may get too much effect. Would you do this with aspirin or alcohol? No--the strength is printed right on the side of the bottle.
Your children and friends could be breathing in dangerous molds and chemicals. Cannabis grown indoors attracts mold, and many growers use chemicals to combat it, and also to help the plants grow faster and bigger. In this world where the things we get at the grocery store are grown using pesticides, we've already lowered our standards of what we put in our bodies. If you wouldn't allow your children and friends to eat chemicals on apples, would you want them to get it here without regulation?

It's known that people, especially children who lack adult capacity for judgment) will try substitute drugs to get high if Cannabis is illegal.

One such substitute is huffing glue and gasses that can cause hypoxia which can permanently destroy brain cells.
Another substitute is the K2 stuff, a.k.a. "spice" which is incredibly dangerous, and has a variety of chemicals sprayed onto leaves. People are going to emergency rooms as a result of this. It's called "synthetic marijuana" but that's a terrible misnomer. A person cannot overdose on marijuana. K2/spice would better be called a variant of meth. In other words, prohibition is a gateway drug.

Let's face it. Healthy adults want their children to grow up healthy. And they don't want their kids to be using drugs.

I will continue to say this to my grave if necessary. Legalize it, and educate about it honestly--young people with growing minds would do well to abstain. But don't lock people up over it, and don't destroy their lives using political and legislative force. Grow it outdoors. Eschew smoking it, opting instead for vaporizing or ingestion, which are much safer and provide different benefits.

For people with serious medical conditions, it should be researched by pharmaceutical industries. There are terpenes and cannabinoids of astounding value that need to be researched and combined in the most effective combinations into medicine. There is plenty of money to be made for pharmaceutical industries without keeping it illegal for simple adult use.

We should do everything we can to stop people from driving while intoxicated in any form--whether the intoxicant is alcohol, marijuana, prescription drugs, a cell phone, or a hamburger. This requires major changes, and will require political will to create a powerful system of trains and busses for mass transit. It will also take a major attitude adjustment for Americans who want to be independent and free to drive whenever and wherever they want without prior planning. I think we can and must do this.

And finally, for God's sake... for GOD's sake (literally), legalize hemp and start weaving it back into the industries that it has been excluded from. The world won't come to an end if we cut back on tree-based paper production. In fact, it will tend more toward thriving. The world won't come to an end if we use hemp textiles. It won't come to an end if we use hemp oil in place of ethanol. The corn industry would decrease, but those very same farmers who grow corn could switch to hemp! Hemp produces more oil per acre/hectare than corn. The list of uses goes on and on, so for God's sake, we need to allow hemp to become a vital part of our economy.

And of course, this all needs to start from a place of LOVE. Do you love your neighbor? Then you want them to eat good food. You want them (if they choose to imbibe at all) to intoxicate themselves safely. You want them to transport safely to and from their work, play, and home. And you want them to have a clean planet. You don't want them in prison. You don't want their families devastated by being separated from their loved ones. You don't want their future employment opportunities destroyed by laws that do harm. It starts from a place of love. It starts from a place of love.pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Excerpt from Channing's Baltimore Sermon

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

A good retrospective of Politicians who have used or spoken out about Cannabis

2012-01-25T06:38:00.000-08:00

..lyrics: Love is the Law, by the Suburbspax hominibus,agape to all,joel

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

2012-01-21T10:10:00.001-08:00

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

New Thought Movement

2012-01-16T20:46:00.000-08:00

Just investigating this now, seeing how it correlates with my understanding of process theology....pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Hauser's Law

2012-01-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

I thought I posted about Hauser's Law before, but apparently not. I don't have much to say about this, other than that the US has far too low of a tax rate on the richest people and corporations. And that it's troubling and unfortunate that it's so easy for the wealthy to hide their earnings overseas, and not pay their fair taxes to this country (or any country, for that matter).Dawson's Rulepax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Welcome, 2012!

2012-01-13T19:18:00.001-08:00

Free Project Management Software Links

2012-01-03T22:01:00.000-08:00

I just had to post this, as this topic is near and dear to my heart.

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Is this art=?UTF-8?B?Pw==?=

2011-12-29T18:24:00.001-08:00

First Winter Solstice Reflection

2011-12-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

Delivered at First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh, Dec 21, 2011.
One brief note: This service included a performance by the congregation's Dance Choir, which was dedicated to solar waves, which upon viewing during rehearsal inspired portions of the latter half of this reflection.

Solstice Reflection – A Planet in Process

Here we are—a gathering of humanity, loving and striving together in this sacred space. Somehow we all found our way to this place, this evening. I pray that it has meaning. I believe it does have meaning.

The matter within our bodies could instead be rocks, or air, or perhaps plankton in the ocean, unable to understand our world in the way we do, without senses to observe the world to know that today is the solstice. But instead we are walking organic sensing machines, sometimes even thinking about this world.
Some of my reflections on this world are geometric. This planet Earth we live and travel on is pretty close to being a sphere, slightly squeezed at the poles, so it's actually a little bit of an ellipsoid. This planet travels around the Sun in a slightly elliptical pattern, at a distance varying between 91 million and 93 million miles. One journey around the Sun we call a year. This planet rotates around on an axis in a period we call a day. The axis is tilted 23 degrees in such a way that the equator is not parallel to the plane containing the Earth's path around the Sun. This produces an annual sine-wave pattern in which we have long days around Summer solstice, shortening days in Fall, long nights at Winter solstice, with Spring's daylight again lengthening to complete the cycle.

To further complicate this situation, we have our blessed moon that circles around the Earth, causing the Earth's rotation to wobble ever so slightly around the center of mass of these two. The moon also causes the oceans' tides to ebb and flow with regularity. The Moon has also provided humanity with a way of measuring out monthly cycles from new moon waxing up to a full moon then waning back to new again. I count myself among those who find this geometry of angles and light reflections absolutely fascinating. But the geometry alone doesn't do the story justice.

I believe there is a miracle that brought us here. Several weeks ago, in an interview on public radio, I heard a scientist proclaiming that this planet would not have been capable of creating and sustaining organic life without the tidal ebb and flow processes created by our moon's gravitational pull on the oceans. As I understand it, the hypothesis was that the continuous cycle between wet and dry at the ocean's beaches played an essential role in creating the single-celled organisms that got animal evolution started.

There are so many other things peculiar to this planet not to be taken for granted. The Earth is not a perfect sphere. It does not follow a perfectly circular path around the Sun. It doesn't even rotate “perfectly” because of the wobble introduced by the moon. Its tilting axis produces seasonal variations. It has a magnetized core that surely plays a role. It has currents in the air and in the water that cycle like a giant Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning system. It recycles water through precipitation and evaporation. I encourage you to think about that joyful happening the next time you're caught outside in the rain without an umbrella.

The Earth acts as an eclipse between us and the Sun's light every night. Some nights the eclipses are longer than others, and tonight is the longest. This is an annual process that seems to matter for the quality of life on this planet.

The Sun, however, is another absolute essential for life. Somehow this relatively small star has established an equilibrium in which the outward forces of pressure from burning gases and plasma are matched by the inward pressure of gravity. Yet despite this stability, the Sun has peculiarities of its own, occasionally sending out wisps of solar flares and unexpected radiation that sometimes reaches as far as the Earth. These flares have the potential to cause major disruptions, as well as the potential to cause major transformations. Yet to be certain, even on a regular day, the Sun's processes give life to this planet, heating our globe to a sustainable temperature, and providing daily patterns of radiating light for plants to photosynthesize. As it reflects off of all we see, this light also provides a way for us to make our way through the world.
As sure as the rhythm of our hearts and our breathing, the Earth's rhythmic patterns sustain life. This life we live within provides so much for us, it's difficult not to be reverent unless we forget this providence. It is a mysterious source of love and an ongoing succession of further life. When we are mindful to appreciate and adore this astonishing gift, we can be found doing the strangest things.

We ourselves, in touch with our natural clocks, can bring a thrum of regularity to the chaos. We can learn to sway like ribbons in the fluid of time's processes. Now with the time we are afforded, we can be found connecting, and chanting, dancing intertwined, casting forth thoughts and emotions among ourselves in concert. We can be found opening and closing our hands, twirling and turning our bodies on axes above our feet, and we can be found stamping out the pulse of life, like music brought forth by a love untraceable. I will close this reflection with a quote from musician John Cage. “Everything you do is music, and everywhere is the best seat.”

So as we ride upon this magnetic tilted breathing planet, spinning daily as it annually courses around this local star, may we remember the profound miracle of our being here in this place, and of our being now in this time. And may we know that at the foundation of our lives in this very moment and in every moment, there lives a deep and indestructible joy. May we—at times—be still enough to find it. Amen.

chant/prayer/mantra: Wave--Light--Wave, Sun--Light--Sun, One--Light--One.

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Hello rainbow on the sidewalk

2011-12-08T06:58:00.000-08:00

Yet another reason Chris Hedges wins points in my book

2011-12-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

Considering what the OccupyWallSt movement will do to the future of Christian religions.

"The Occupy movement is the force that will revitalize traditional Christianity in the United States or signal its moral, social and political irrelevance."

He has seen a lot, and he does not mince words.

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

To the sound of Neil Young

2011-12-05T05:16:00.000-08:00

lyrics:
"Wishes come true
in the space between me and you
and our plans
in the sand have been swept away."pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Today's Sermon for the MFC

2011-12-03T09:46:00.000-08:00

Salvation Moment by Moment

I'd like to start by finding out how many of you are staying up to date with the Occupy Wall Street movement and to what degree. Please keep your hands down if this is the first you've heard about it. Raise your hands high if you're a part of the OccUUpy group on Facebook and check for messages over lunch on your phone's web browser. And somewhere in the middle if you're somewhere in between. Thank you.

For our nation and our world, this Occupy movement is timely, if not entirely overdue. On a personal level, it could not have come at a less opportune time. While trying to study and prepare for this interview, I have been riveted and driven to distraction by this movement's presence and its way of being in the world, and by the brutal responses from established powers.

I believe my attraction is because the occupy movement is so closely aligned with our UU principles and values. At a recent #OccupyWallSt General Assembly, they proposed a draft for a vision statement so rich and compelling (and unreported in the news),.... I'll devote some time today to share it: We envision: [1] a truly free, democratic, and just society; [2] where we, the people, come together and solve our problems by consensus; [3] where people are encouraged to take personal and collective responsibility and participate in decision making; [4] where we learn to live in harmony and embrace principles of toleration and respect for diversity and the differing views of others; [5] where we secure the civil and human rights of all from violation by tyrannical forces and unjust governments; [6] where political and economic institutions work to benefit all, not just the privileged few; [7] where we provide full and free education to everyone, not merely to get jobs but to grow and flourish as human beings; [8] where we value human needs over monetary gain, to ensure decent standards of living without which effective democracy is impossible; [9] where we work together to protect the global environment to ensure that future generations will have safe and clean air, water and food supplies, and will be able to enjoy the beauty and bounty of nature that past generations have enjoyed. [PAUSE]

I say this movement reflects us politically from our first principle to the seventh. Dignity, right relations, spiritual growth, search for truth, democracy, community, and our Earth. The movement and its process is both life-affirming and energizing—Rev. Jeremy Nickel of the Mission Peak UU congregation in Fremont, CA had this to say about his first experience at the Occupy Oakland general assembly: “What I experienced was something so much deeper and more meaningful than I could have ever expected. For the first time in my life as an American I experienced true democracy. The work had gotten underway about an hour before I arrived. Thousands of people gathered peacefully, centered on a raised area where one person at a time could speak. And since the crowd was far larger than the small speaker system could reach, all the words were repeated by those close enough to hear, and so they radiated out in a slow, gentle echo, a system called "the people's mic." It truly is the sound of people hearing each other.” Nickel later continues: “These General Assemblies are radical little incubators where hundreds of new ideas are being proposed, debated and researched. I have no doubt that a lot is going to come out of this. New people are being motivated and encouraged to participate in our democracy and that can only be a good thing.” [PAUSE]

In my view, this movement is seeking the realization of our Universalist theology. In the 19th century, Christian Universalists such as Hosea Ballou argued about the shape of universal salvation after death—whether everybody would be immediately saved, or whether there would be a limited period of punishment prior to salvation. In the early 20th century, Universalists like Clarence Skinner began moving the conversation away from “otherworldliness” toward a universal salvation during life. This matches my understanding of Jesus' message, “I have come that they may have life more abundantly.” And now as part of this centuries-long process, there is a new movement discovering its new message—and establishing a new voice—trying to democratically create a heaven on earth with room for everyone.

[slow] In stark contrast, we presently have heavens and hells side by side. Like John Calvin's theology made manifest before us, only an elect few enjoy an expanding abundance, while the rest of us are left behind with scarce jobs, wage slavery, and pervading anxiety. As Clarence Skinner wrote: “Vampires still live and grow fat on the blood of human beings—throwing the anemic, skeleton forms into the teeming city to crawl out a wretched 'death-in-life.' All this is hell—-social hell—-men suffering from instituted customs and practices for which society is responsible, which can be eradicated out of the world.”

The people of this occupying community are seeking to change the paradigm from singular competitive personal heavens marked by economic division and individual isolation to a cooperative universal heaven where we realize the interconnected unity of our shared fortune. The Occupiers choose to visibly not participate in an oppressive system reliant on economic and political abuse. That non-participation is a vitally important rejection of the paradigm. It's part of the process.

And process matters! I believe it's important that this movement doesn't miss the mark by seeking redress only for economic issues that generally affect us all. These words from Malcolm X serve as notice of loooongstanding economic oppression: “'Brainwashed blacks'...were raised to believe [in] pie in the sky…while right here on earth, the slavemaster white man enjoyed his heaven.” [fast] I believe Occupy is happening now because the recession and the class oppression are finally causing turmoil in white communities that formerly enjoyed more privilege. As near as I can tell, this movement does not commonly work to address oppressions specific to communities of color.

Until the stories of those long-oppressed are heard and brought to the center, the movement will not be democratically multicultural, and will be weaker as a result. I don't mean this as a condemnation of mistakes. I mean this as a process—an opportunity for learning and for practicing a beloved community with improving character. Unitarian Universalism is familiar with this story. We struggled in the civil rights era, and still do. Over time many of our congregations have begun the work of becoming anti-racist institutions. I believe that growing our anti-oppressive voices into the conversation—both as allies and people of color—will strengthen the movement and allow for a more diverse unity, and a wider heaven truly for ALL.

Because what is at stake? The very future of a common heaven. And the force of the Occupy movement is under attack and threat from several angles. Of course it is. The corporate system of power, greed and corruption will use every tool available in its arsenal to reassert itself. With militarized police, it attacks protesters and tears up camps that often include the only homes of some otherwise homeless people. It focuses its mass media on spin and PR, ignoring authentic conversation. It changes laws to push the struggle to its favor until the lie shines through.

Anti-oppression training teaches us that after a change agent or insurgency asserts itself, established power will reassert itself to clarify its values as primary. I hope with my heart that the Occupy movement is poised to reassert itself again and again through any means available. I look forward to bolstering their strength. I want to negotiate for the restoration of a loving mended fabric of connected humanity, fit considerately onto the natural fabric of this world. We stand to gain the realization of ancient dreams coming alive in our world....

In the words of author Charles Eisenstein, in his essay Who Will Collect the Garbage?: “One characteristic of this world will be that each person will have recovered a very basic, simple birthright: to wake up in the morning excited and happy [smile with eyes] about your work for the day. We will be in love with what we do; in other words, we will all... be... artists.”

In closing, I pray that we may each find our art and make it our livelihood. And may we find common ground to stand together. And may we see one another eye to eye [eye contact] in a diverse and loving community based on siblinghood and sustaining joy.

Amen, and blessed be.

pax hominibus, agape to all, joel

Illegalizing Hemp has contributed significantly to America's Downfall

2011-11-30T10:13:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting piece by a writer with a bit of a smarmy attitude. If you're interested and can get past the attitude, read his long "job interview" narrative. Otherwise, here's a good list he wrote at the end (Search on "Now for the point of the article").

So while the War On Drugs continues with no end in sight, did allowing this piece of [blanket illegalization] legislation to pass with no debate, actually lead to the down fall of America?
Consider for a moment what it has caused to happen;
• Pollution on a world wide scale, not just in America.
• Becoming dependent on a finite fuel source from mostly foreign imports.
• Inflation due to an inability to become self sufficient.
• Crime in our cities due to the criminalization of a natural resource.
• Farmers inability to raise a cash crop.
• The rise in health care mostly due to obesity and inflated drug prices.
• Deforestation from the need for trees in the manufacture of paper products.
• Millions of jobs lost due to the criminalization of one plant.
• Allowing the monopolies to continue to make policy in America.
• Cheaper more cost efficient products that actually biodegrade, cutting down on garbage.
• The rise in prices of pharmaceuticals.

Ask yourself, does anyone really know what is in those drugs? I know I don't, how many of your friends or family members takes some sort of pharmaceutical on a daily basis.
The bottom line is they want you to spend money on drugs, but just the ones they make and can control.

I include it here because that is one of the most comprehensive lists of simple economic injustices (not including the more obvious social injustices) created by illegalization of hemp and cannabis.
This all makes sense, considering the way that corporate America has turned any/all questions on codified morality into concerns for the growth of the economy and the profit motive's bottom line.

The legality of cannabis is most certainly debatable in a moral sense. However, simply put, for hemp (with little to no THC content) to be illegal in this dark hour is a repugnant abomination of blatant injustice.

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Excited about the recent #OccupyWallSt Vision Statement

2011-11-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

Pic from here.

"You can't evict an idea whose time has come!"

I first came across this OccupyWallSt list of points when Michael Moore copied it to his own post which was on a link from the OccUUpy group on Facebook. (Funny how information gets around.)

Anyway, here is the text of the most recent draft:

We Envision: [1] a truly free, democratic, and just society; [2] where we, the people, come together and solve our problems by consensus; [3] where people are encouraged to take personal and collective responsibility and participate in decision making; [4] where we learn to live in harmony and embrace principles of toleration and respect for diversity and the differing views of others; [5] where we secure the civil and human rights of all from violation by tyrannical forces and unjust governments; [6] where political and economic institutions work to benefit all, not just the privileged few; [7] where we provide full and free education to everyone, not merely to get jobs but to grow and flourish as human beings; [8] where we value human needs over monetary gain, to ensure decent standards of living without which effective democracy is impossible; [9] where we work together to protect the global environment to ensure that future generations will have safe and clean air, water and food supplies, and will be able to enjoy the beauty and bounty of nature that past generations have enjoyed.

What excites me about this? Any visionary counter-statement from those who would instead be corporate overlords will pale in comparison if it even dares to mention money. This vision statement, and this movement are an idea whose time has come, democratically and wondrously. Seems that the tyranny of "power-over" only knows how to respond with more and greater tyranny.

lyrics: "Home, home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play. Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day. How often at night when the heavens are bright with the light from the glittering stars, have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed if their glory exceeds that of ours.
(Thanks, Gramster Hamster!)

colors: red, white, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, black, indigo.
mood: really okay. a little stressed over an upcoming career interview.
chant/prayer/mantra: om, om on the range....

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Transgender Day of Remembrance

2011-11-20T21:16:00.000-08:00

I saw it coming this year, and was barely able to get the word out before it zoomed by. Remembered my transgender friends today but did not go to any gatherings or events. Next year I will have/make more time.pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

I ought to watch this video every day

2011-11-20T12:45:00.000-08:00

When my faith and trust falters, this video is the paradigm shift I need to wake up my trusting self.

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Uploading for posterity's sake

2011-11-15T09:36:00.001-08:00

Can't wait for these monstrosities to become abandoned relics.

Joe Gerstandt on flying your freak flag

2011-11-09T12:58:00.000-08:00

Do you know who you are?

Do you know what you are here for? purpose, calling

Do you know what your gift is?

Wrestle with these if you want to live a life of truth.

Is there any evidence? If this is who I claim to be, am I acting accordingly? Am I doing something different? Am I downplaying playing it safe?

Freaks love to find other freaks. Others won't know how to respond. You'll scare some people by confronting them with your own freedom.

Difference is the genesis of conflict, and conflict is the genesis of change.

Be willing to be different. There is no progress without deviance.

Your odd piece of the puzzle will provoke the future that we want together.

You are now free to fly your freak flag.

Been so busy lately. Will post something more meaningful later in life.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Sermon: Imagine this City as Heaven

2011-11-08T21:41:00.001-08:00

Imagine This City as Heaven

Delivered to First UU San Francisco on Aug 8, 2010

During the several years between graduation from college and the time I stumbled upon Unitarian Universalism’s saving grace, I was on a spiritual quest. While studying for a Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics at the University of Minnesota, I had been a Bible study leader and a large group leader in a non-denominational evangelical Christian group. After leaving that group my senior year, I was left with some pretty big spiritual questions. Neither the theology nor the group’s way of being in the world sat right with me, yet I had only just begun to determine my own understanding of theology and of how I wanted to be in the world.

Part of my quest for a new understanding of spirit included the use of cannabis and other entheogenic substances. The word “entheogen” is similar in meaning to “hallucinogen” or “psychotropic” but implies a spiritual or religious use, contrasted to what some call “recreational use.” The use of these plants didn’t really provide me with many answers, though they did help me raise countless questions regarding matters of the spirit. I am not sure whether I would have thought of them (or focused on them as I did) had I performed my search steeped entirely in sobriety.

As a matter of caution, I must add that while the use of these substances aided me in my search, the use of awareness-altering substances can be harmful, especially under the wrong circumstances, and I do believe very strongly in preventive education and counseling. I will also add that I am very glad to be among Unitarian Universalists who understand that the United States’ war on drugs is ill-conceived and is overall more harmful than the drugs themselves. The UUA has issued several statements of conscience over the last four decades expressing that understanding clearly and showing a path to real justice.

Now, returning to my spiritual quest: One of the questions that came upon me and stuck was the one from today’s reading, from a song from a local band in Madison, Wisconsin. “What if you thought you were an angel?” Sometimes the effects of hallucinogens can include a heightened state of suggestibility. So I thought, “Yeah! What if?!” And then I came back down, and though I all too soon realized I am destined to remain in this human body, the question did stick with me. In what ways am I an angel? And when am I not? And what does it mean that I’m even thinking this?

Ever since, the question in that song has led me to a wide variety of questions, along with a few responses:

Q: Why do we tend to think of ourselves as humans with a spirit, and not the other way around?

A: Actually, since finding UU, interestingly enough, I have heard several people quote Christian writer CS Lewis on this subject. In response to the question, “Do you have a soul?” He replies, “You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.”

Q: What is a good working practical definition of angel?

A1: Simply put, an angel is a messenger from the divine source. An angel can also be a messenger to the divine, or between divine beings. (And to be clear, my understanding of “divine source” here is most definitely intended to be inclusive of theologies with different understandings of an ultimate source.) I have heard it said that sometimes with prophets and all the wrestling they do with the messages they are called to deliver, their identity as messenger gets all jumbled up with that of the angel.

A2: Whenever we speak prophetically--and I believe we each are capable of it on a good day, and our bold voices are so often needed these days—when we speak prophetically, in delivering the message to whomever needs it, we become the prophet and the angel, and the spirit of the message is released to another who needs it.

A3: I also believe that these angel-messengers share the words we hear from others to our innermost divine. This is shared ministry and pastoral care of the finest order. We are given two ears and one mouth for a reason—our ears are so often needed these days. There is not much in the world more healing than being heard, especially in the spirit of Namaste—the divine spark within me greeting the divine spark within you.

Q: Many Christians talk about everlasting or eternal life, as something that happens as an afterlife. This led me to another question: What about this universe, this life we share in the here and now—is there a difference between everlasting and eternal?

A: I say yes, and the distinction is important. Everlasting is one more followed by one more, implying living forever. A million years, then a million and one, then a million and two. You get the picture, and frankly I think after a million years, there’d likely be diminishing returns. But eternal is a sense of infinite wonder that we reside within. This universe we live in, for all practical purposes, has no beginning and no end. The eternal moment of life we live within is the here that includes every part of the universe, and the now that spans from the beginning of energy and matter in the universe until the end of the universe. We are living in eternal life right now. I won’t speculate about what happens to our consciousness after our bodies pass on, but as UU’s we believe in an interconnected web of all existence of which we are a part. Life is a part of that existence, and we are born into life, we grow into complex beings capable of being part of the universe, experiencing the universe, acting on the universe, and then eventually we must depart from it. But that life which we are enjoined into is eternal, given from one generation to the next, knit together like a chain.

And a final question: What would heaven be like, in a practical sense, here, on Earth, while we our spirits are alive in these bodies?

Heaven. I will call up another set of recent Christian imagery as leverage to pry open the pearly gates. Here is St. Peter at those gates, letting the good individuals enter into a life of bliss, and the bad people… they get the trap door—damned to hell forever! Well,… actually, that’s a story told upon a story told upon a story originating with Zoroaster in ancient Persia around the time of Moses, but there is something here from this story worth preserving. Yet since I’ve painted such an ugly picture for you (and I know it’s ugly) I will casually remind you that the Universalist theology of yore says that our creator is good and would not do such a dastardly thing to its creatures.

However, if this is actually “This-City-As-Heaven” we’re talking about, we need to bring up salvation and damnation, and there is the all-important question of spirits. If we let one bad seed in, that’s a recipe for spoiling everything. Our heaven will only be as good as the spirits that thrive there.

And some spirits must be damned. For the sake of justice, those spirits must have their energy diminished or extinguished. I am NOT talking about damning or diminishing the energy of people here, I am talking about the spirits that enter in and out of people’s personalities. Some spirits pass by gently, and others set in and take hold. And when I say “spirits” here, I am also NOT talking about apparitions or exorcist-type possessions here either.

I am referring to down-to-earth spirits we all can recognize. These spirits exist not only within people, but also within organizations, and within codified laws and policies. For heaven to be real in this city, some spirits need to be damned—to be weakened and starved for energy—the spirit of fear, the spirit of animosity, the spirit of stinginess; the spirit of cynicism, the spirit of mistrust, the spirit of ennui; the spirit of anxiety, the spirit of misunderstanding, and the adversarial spirit.

In heaven, in this city, we call upon the spirit of love, and seeking to save it, we add our energy.

In heaven, in this city, we call upon the spirit of a mighty kindness, and seeking its salvation, we add our energy.

In heaven, in this city, we call upon the spirit of realistic confidence, and seeking to salvage it, we add energy.

We call upon the spirit of beneficence, and seeking to save it, we add energy.

We call upon the spirit of enthusiasm, and seeking to save it, we add our energy.

We call upon the spirit of calm assurance, and we add our energy.

We call upon the spirit of samadhically clear perception, and we add our energy.

In heaven, in this city, we call upon the spirit of cooperative harmony and amiable rapport, and seeking its salvation, we add our energy.

Seeking the salvation of this city and of ourselves, we know these spirits must thrive. Fear and insecurity will have no place in heaven, and they should have no place here in San Francisco either.

I’ve been talking about this city as heaven. But I think you know how this can scale. The sixth UU principle talks about one world community, with peace, justice, and liberty for all. These spirits need to thrive in the world at large. These spirits need to thrive in this congregation of course—love, a mighty kindness, confidence, enthusiasm, assurance, clear perception, and cooperation.

And for a community or a world to attain a condition, that will be the case when the hearts of the people attain that condition, because the world (at least the human-centered social world) is made up of people. It’s been noted before, that as Unitarian Universalists, we are less about getting people into heaven than about getting heaven into people. So each of those good spirits--get them in you, and let them catch fire. As for the spirits of fear, animosity, cynicism and the rest, I ask that you not allow them a home in your person. And as ministers are often preaching to themselves as well, I include myself in that request.

As Unitarian Universalists, we have the capacity to make these changes in ourselves and our communities. While other religions are waiting for the return of their messiahs or for signs of the end of the age, we are getting busy building heaven, and turning the corner into that next age the others all are waiting on. And we need those in other religions to join with us. If we turn on all those spirits, I think our light will be bright enough to attract them. I think it will also attract those who have given up on spiritual matters, whose spirits are dusty or under-exercised. It will attract those who go to the church of the Sunday morning paper with coffee, to feel again the importance of coming together in community.

And I think this heaven needs to be concrete. Like a solid rainbow. Those good spirits--given energy--will bring a monumental paradigm shift.

In heaven, in this city, the energy we pour into the spirit of cooperative harmony will call people out of the individual boxes of isolation and into community, to share words of mighty kindness together.

In heaven, in this city, the spirit of compassion—zealously kindled—will call us away from a system of class oppression, so that all have physical and economic security and none are left behind to live in the streets, or to wonder where the necessities of life will come from.

In heaven, in this city, our energized confidence will restore our faith in that which we believe has capacity for good.

In heaven, in this city, our clear vision will call us to create a sustainable way of life for the sake of future generations.

And finally, in heaven, in this city, we will set the spirit of love alight and stand in the midst of it. The spirit of that love will stand forever: dynamic, indefatigable, and unwavering.

May it be so.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Sermon: Atonement as Humanity's Present Purpose

2011-11-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

Atonement as Humanity’s Present Purpose

Delivered to UUFLG August 1, 2010

Why are we here? Perhaps the easiest way to answer that question is to frame it within a context where “here” means “in this building at this time.” Why do we come to worship in this building? You may have your own answers to that question, and a few things come to mind for me as well.

We are here because we desire to be among a chosen community—not just family or work mates.
We are here because connecting with each other in this community energizes us.
We are here to dedicate ourselves toward a common purpose—a purpose that gives our lives meaning.

Having a purpose we feel good about is critical to happiness. Further, our purpose in this community need not be different than the purpose of humanity at large.

I began with the easy question of why we are here in this building. Regarding the question of why humanity is here, or even why this Earth is here, perhaps it’s just luck and there is no purpose, other than to live and to seek happiness. Perhaps there really is an ultimate purpose to this existence we find ourselves in, and we still have yet to discover it.

I do know that humanity has created a purpose for itself. Through the actions of the Homo Sapiens species, we have done immeasurable harm to the planet and to others in the same species—immeasurable harm, but hopefully not irreparable. I believe humanity’s present purpose is that of atonement for those harms. Of putting things right again, and returning into right relationship with the planet and each other.

For many people, atonement is one of those religiously tinged words, and some even call to mind the substitutional atonement, in which Jesus Christ died on the cross in order to atone for humanity’s sins. When I’ve asked people to explain how that works, almost invariably, the explanation requires a great leap of logic or faith. Unitarian Universalism doesn’t ask those giant leaps of us. We can see that Jesus (the man) died perhaps as a result of people’s sins—people in his present day, unwilling or unable to live up to the community he was trying to build. We can also see that today Christ (composed of the movement of people seeking to save humanity from its own disaster) is still dying as a result of unatoned sins, and harm brought on by powerful people and corporate forces.

I just mentioned “sin” and I realize that with our theology of people with inherent goodness, some may be uncomfortable with the word “sin,” so I want to define it clearly as “missing the mark.” And what is the mark that is being missed, again and again? Right relationship! With the Earth, and with each other.

Restoring right relationship is what atonement is about. Being “at one” with the Earth, and “at one” with the human community is the creation of harmony. The seventh UU principle upholds “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” And our sixth principle is similar, except it’s about nurturing the interdependent web of human community, specifically “The goal of world community, with peace, liberty, and justice for all.”

Humanity is such an interesting beast. Humans have completely dominated the planet—scraping its surface for minerals, abusing its topsoil, and poking it full of holes to find fossil fuels, continually missing the mark of Earth’s Sacredness. But that’s only part of what’s interesting. The other part is that most of humanity does not consent to this. Many would choose far different courses of action, yet the power of our collective decision-making is far from democratic. Those who benefit from privilege and positions of power make decisions based on what will keep them in privilege and in power. In its desire to acquire this planet’s resources, that system of privilege and power also seeks to acquire the planet’s human resources as well.

In the process, it oppresses the rest of humanity according to class, race, gender, and other categories, while seeking to label them as workers and consumers, not as citizens and as humans. I will also note that there is complexity here. As an example: We, the good people of UU are sometimes complicit members of this privileged class, and at the same time, we may be among the oppressed.

Without a doubt, this way of life misses the mark and begs for restoration and atonement. So how do we atone? First, we certainly can’t do this alone. If all 200,000 UUs engage with our seven principles, and get into right relationship with humanity and the Earth, we do not have the critical mass to do the trick, especially since this all is interconnected. We need to invite everyone. We will do this by living our moral lives out loud, and by inviting others to do likewise—even sharing our faith as we find the occasion arises.

We must empower the part of humanity trying to save itself. This will require a concerted effort, because it means getting a strong voice in the public sphere. Often it seems that those who work to be a voice for the voiceless against the power of oppression find their voices squelched.

Three days ago, Unitarian Universalists in yellow “Standing on the Side of Love” shirts flocked to Arizona to protest the new profiling law SB1070. Twenty UU ministers and 63 others were arrested by the sheriff in Phoenix as a result of their intentional civil disobedience. These are people using the power of their voices and their bodies to serve justice. As Rev. Susan Frederick Gray said as she was being arrested, ‎"Love is where our future is. Not fear, and not hate." And to help draw a clearer picture, this was not just a joyless protest of shouting at police dressed in riot gear. There was also a vigil for those arrested, including singing, salsa music, and dancing.

You may not be able to travel to Arizona or anywhere for events like this. To be sure, there are justice actions that we can and ought to make happen right here in the neighborhood Los Gatos. And we also must remember that efforts like these, to be sustainable, need economic power, also known as money. It cost these protesters quite a bit to travel to Phoenix, and also there is the question of bail money for those arrested.

Most important is that we engage, that we use our bodies, our hands, and our voices to do things that further impassion our lives. I do not know what actions can and ought to happen here in Los Gatos, nor do I know which actions are the best fit for you as individuals or for this congregation. I do not know which of you could become leaders, but I sincerely hope that none of you think, “I can’t be a leader. I’m not that extraordinary.” Leaders are often ordinary people who see a need and have a passion to fulfill that need. As Howard Thurman, an author, theologian, and long-time minister at the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples says:

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

Coming alive now is what we each must do, as it’s obvious that NOW is the time! That’s not just a handy phrase for the UUA fundraising campaign. In each of our lives, every day is a gift, and an opportunity to make the world better. Perhaps there is some longstanding unfinished conversation in your life that you’d like to have, which has been emotionally blocking you from moving forward. Perhaps there is something you’ve always wanted to try, but never have. Perhaps there’s something in your life you want to give up. Today is always the only day in which we can make changes. You can never do it yesterday or tomorrow.

I recall musician Warren ZEvon, living the last few months of his life with cancer, responding to David Letterman’s request for wisdom on life and death. He said simply, “Enjoy every sandwich.” That, to me, translates as, “Don’t waste a single heartbeat.” Uneventful days could become a habit, but we are called to make every day count, in some large or small way.

More and more people are awakening to an understanding of what the leak in the Gulf of Mexico really means about our relationship to the Earth. With the end of easy petroleum resources upon us, humanity struggles to get enough oil to energize the world it’s made.

By whom? By us!—we can call on them! We are at that time, one-third of the Earth, one-third of the water. The Gulf of Mexico is just one of many oil spills, and raw sewage makes its way into our streams and oceans. Don’t forget the giant growing collection of plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We are in a time of much needed change. We can either have the change happen to us, or we can shine our light and work in concert to make the necessary changes in a controlled fashion.

So what is the light we hold? Our theology of a loving God is one of real saving grace that can help people get past the guilt, shame, and anger, and onto serving the world as love and justice-bearers. We have a growing religious inclusivity that is learning to make way for the many theologies and worldviews people bring upon first entering our doors. We each carry our own copy of truth and meaning, and know to value each other’s spirituality. And we know that community and action are every bit as important as having right beliefs, if not moreso.

In fact, in religious terms, it’s safe to say that the light we share when our words and deeds are at their best is nothing less than an expression of the divine working from within us. I believe that the light of our reason is critical in our conversations, because it helps to orient and focus the lights of others like a Fresnel lens (the really bright amplifying one you find spinning slowly in lighthouses). If we hold back our light (or are unable to deliver) when it’s expected or needed, the absence of our voices will be like an inactive lighthouse, which is more dangerous than a reef. We do not need more ships running aground. We want them not to miss the mark of right relationship.

Our nation, and some of its religious bodies, tend to think in terms of war. There are the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our government has declared a war on terror, a war on drugs (which is also a war on people of color), there was a war on poverty (and now it seems there is a war on the poor). Some Christians have labeled the penchant of merchants to say “happy holidays” as a war on Christmas, Fox News has been labeled a war on journalism, and the band Wilco has even declared a war on war. It’s rare for the US government or people to declare peace on something.

The peaceable people of this country have tried to declare peace many times, but it seems their overtures have been outright rejected. Last week, I mentioned Faithful Fools Bible Stud, part of a UU-affiliated community outreach ministry in downtown San Francisco. David, a regular at the Bible Study, introduced to me the concept of declaring LOVE on someone.

When you declare love on somebody and mean it, they can’t fight you as they may be in the habit of doing. It is love that comes from the heart level. Intellectual arguments and our search for truth have their place, but the way the light we carry is going to reach people is going to be when we complement it with a declaration of love. Perhaps that’s the key to our atonement

To the glory of light! Blessed be.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Sermon: It's a Rorschach Test

2011-11-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

"It's a Rorschach Test"

Delivered for UU Fellowship of Los Gatos, July 25, 2010

Introducing the Rose

This is a rose. [hold up rose]

As Gertrude Stein said almost a century ago: “A rose is a rose is a rose.”

Yet it is so much more!

This rose is yellow.

It is visually pleasing.

It is fragrant.

This rose is from my next-door neighbor’s garden.

It is dangerous. So please be careful of the thorns, as you pass it around.

As it makes its way to you, I encourage you to reflect upon any associations that may come to mind.

According to Shakespeare:

“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Ultimately, this thing exists independently in a pre-verbal existence before we ever had words to name it.

Ultimately, it is just this. [hand off rose]

Metaphor Everywhere: For many people, similes and metaphors are just figures of speech, reserved for poets. But when we consider the translation from pre-verbal existence into words, we’re always defining one thing in terms of another. This is this. In the dictionary, words are always defined in terms of other words. They don’t ever give the direct experience of the word. And almost every sentence has some form of the word “is” in it, which places some form of metaphor between our stories and the underlying world those stories are trying to tell us about.

Henry Learning Names: Our 14-month-old child Henry is getting to the age now where he’s just learning to talk. The only words I can make out reliably are “S’at?” and “S’is?” which I interpret to mean “What’s that? What’s this?” He points at anything and everything, wanting to know its name. Now that he’s communicating, and realizes that things have names, he’s soaks it all in like a sponge.

“Sa?” – “A kitty cat.”

“Sa?” – “Grapes.”

“Sis?” – “A shoe.”

“Sis?” – “A Pedometer.”

“Sa?” – “A handle.”

“Sa?” – “A housing for the handle.”

“Sa?” – “A blue star.”

“Sis?” – “A toy car.”

“Sis?” – “A product of China.”

“Sis?” – “A molded piece of plastic large enough that it’s not a choking hazard for you.”

“Sa?” – “It’s a Rorschach test.”

“Sa?” – “A Rorschach test."

Rorschach as a Method of Perspective Recognition

Also known as an Inkblot Test, the Rorschach Test is a tool in which psychologists show subjects several cards with non-descript inkblot pictures. They then ask the subjects to describe what they see, in order to determine a person’s personality characteristics. A person obsessed with one thing or another will tend to interpret the images in terms of their obsession.

The basis of this method of analyzing what people see in an image can be extended and applied to people’s subjective interpretations of experiences and events.

When presented with any object or event, if we step out of the way of standard thinking, of naming things as they come, we realize that in a sense, anything capable of being interpreted or named is a lot like a Rorschach test, giving an opportunity to learn about where our thinking is rooted.

Here’s an example: A few weeks ago, I was attending the Bible Study at Faithful Fools’ Street Ministry program in downtown San Francisco, and the topic of study was Jesus’ “Parable of the Great Feast,” in Luke 14. In this parable, a man prepares a great banquet, and sends out his servant to summon all of his friends to come. Each of his friends comes up with an excuse of why they can’t attend. So he sends his servant back out to invite all the ailing strangers in off the street, and there turns out to be plenty of food and entertainment to go around. One member of the Bible study, who had been having a rough go of it lately, said, ‘I think a better name for that story is “The Parable of the Rude Friends!”’ He saw that story from an entirely different perspective.

Another example: On the day of the protests regarding the trial outcome over the killing of Oscar Grant, as I was walking into Whole Foods Market in Oakland, I overheard one woman talking to another. She said, “I’m going to avoid the idiocy happening downtown.” I wondered what her perspective was that she would use words describing 1000+ justly angry people assembling to convey that anger as “idiocy?”

One final example: Proposition 19 is going before the voters of California in November, regarding the legalization and taxation of cannabis (marijuana). Those in favor say that by treating cannabis more like alcohol, our cities will be safer, our state will save and earn money, and non-violent people (especially young males of color) will be much more free from police harassment and unnecessary incarceration. Those against the proposition say legalization will cause a big upsurge in use, it will cost the state money, and it stands against current federal law.

“Parable of the Great Feast,” or “Parable of the Rude Friends?”

“Idiocy?” or “An expression of anger?”

“Liberation?” or “Status Quo?”

Perhaps in these cases, both views have merit.

Maybe neither is all that accurate.

Whether it’s a rose, a parable, a protest, or a proposition, there is the thing in and of itself, and then there are the words that describe the thing. The words naturally reflect the perspective of the speaker, and rarely do full justice to the actual thing. A person experiencing only descriptions will necessarily experience something different than the actual thing.

The Mirrors of Conventional Reality

How is this spiritual?

Where does this fit into worship?

The words we use on ourselves, on others, and on our world, help to shape and form the spirit. Likewise, the words that others assign to us can shape our spirits as well, sometimes for the better, but often for worse.

In Mahayana Buddhism, there is an understanding of the world existing in two primary realms. First, there is ultimate reality, which is the underlying nature of all the events and matter in the world. Ultimate reality is the actual events that occur, and the matter that does exist, prior to anybody speaking a word about it, or even thinking upon it.

In contrast, there is conventional reality, which is composed of the stories that we tell. Conventional reality is the books and magazines we write, and the media we produce and consume. Conventional reality has a tendency to feel “consensual” and shared within cultures. Yet each of us has our own conventional reality stored within the frameworks composed in our own minds. The story we each think about the world is not accurate. Often, it’s inconsistent, and it’s impossible for our worldview to be comprehensive.

The two relate like this: Conventional reality is the mirror that we use to try to obtain a view of ultimate reality. When a story is blown out of proportion, that mirror may be curved like a clown mirror, making our midsection look 4 feet long. Or our conventional reality may be a make-up mirror, allowing a close-up view so we can focus really deeply on some aspect of life. The mirror may be really choppy like a wavy lake reflecting the sky on a windy day, so it’s difficult to make sense. And sometimes the mirror is mostly dark, or there is no mirror at all, because there are parts of reality that receive little to no attention.

Ultimate reality is the whole truth. Conventional reality is the story we use to make meaning out of some portion of that truth. Our fourth Unitarian Universalist principle speaks to this: “We, the member congregations of the UUA, affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.” A lot of this world we live in centers around meaning. We see the stories in the news and then a pundit explains what it means. Events happen in the world, or in some sacred text, be it the Bible or a Kurt Vonnegut novel, and we want it to mean something, to make sense.

Breaking our Bodies Free: We live in bodies abundant with stories. When you look in the mirror in the morning, whether you think it’s a bad hair day, or it seems you’re looking extra snappy, that story has a tendency to stick with you all day. Now imagine that the mirror tells you a categorical story about the quality of your sexuality compared to others, the quality of your skin color compared to others, of your gender, of your physical ability, and the quality of your economic location. There are also stories told onto your lifestyle, your culture, and your nationality.

I think most of those stories have about as much meaning as eye color and shoe size. Our first UU principle—the inherent worth and dignity of every person—tells me this. As part of this beautiful creation, we are a part of ultimate reality. Our bodies and our lives exist prior to the words. Whatever these things “body” and “life” are, they exist even before and beyond these words we sum up as “body” and “life.”

Now where does that leave us??? It leaves us with our feet on the ground (another metaphor), and with a lot of power. When we intentionally determine which stories we will allow upon our selves, and which stories we will tell upon others and the world, we gain a great deal of control. We can decide to step out of the story and analyze the story to find out more about the storyteller. We can ask questions about why they’re telling that story, and how close it is to our understanding of ultimate reality. We can ask how well it correlates to our own actual experiences. Then we can confirm, edit, or dispel the stories as they’re told.

During an interview with the UK Guardian in 2002, Richard Gere shared this wisdom: “I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe, and someone said I was a snake, I'd think, no, actually I'm a giraffe.”

Who are we then? Who am I? Who are you? On our spiritual course, we may identify ourselves as one thing or another, or we may find ourselves telling a story such as, “Oh, that’s not me. I just couldn’t do that.” Who is this me? If we are part of a larger community, there is a responsibility to remove our self-imposed limitations and go beyond our self. After all, in addition to all the ways we might describe ourselves, we are also possibility. And we are the breath of our ancestors. And we are dust. We are great visions. We are lovers of life and builders of nations. We are nothing less than beautiful, and we are whole, and perfect in our imperfections.

Please take a moment to pick up your hymnals. Actually, the hymnal you’re holding is not yours. It is a hymnal, technically owned by this community. Yet, even ownership is just another part of the stories we tell. The receipts and titles we hold that say we rightfully own something are part of a story told onto ultimate reality. As with much in this world, we are only stewards of these hymnals during our shared time here on this planet.

I believe it’s critical that as Unitarian Universalists, we tell our stories into that conventional reality, because it provides a dynamic mirror for people that they may not get elsewhere. Tell them about our search for truth and meaning. Tell them about inherent worth and dignity. Each of the principles we promote has a story to tell about the condition of the world, and about our vision for how things ought to be.

Is vs. Ought: This brings me to a very important spiritual point. In addition to telling accurate stories about the way things are, and have been, we also must share our vision of the way they ought to be. By sharing the stories of possibilities, of how this world can and ought to be in community together according to a democratic process, and by including the totality of the Earth’s interconnected web in our decision-making, we affirm a direction, with an energy both positive and inviting. That same energy may even draw people into this fellowship.

This Community: So, when Alice’s caterpillar comes to this congregation, wanting to know more, and asks that tough question, “Who are you?” What can you say to draw them in? Would “We are the UU Fellowship of Los Gatos” suffice? What if we tell them we’re inclusive and welcoming? Does that give them a mirror reflecting our deep meaning? We might tell them that we are transforming ourselves into a band of love and justice bearers, so that we might prophetically influence the direction of the community-at-large. Any of those may bring meaning. Perhaps the deepest thing we can share with them is the inadequacy of words to describe the passion we have for justice based on love and compassion, followed by sharing that deeper part of ourselves that comes before all other words. [long pause].

Amen.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Sermon: A New American Dream

2011-11-08T21:28:00.001-08:00

A New American Dream

Delivered to Napa Fellowship

Sunday, July 4, 2010 11:00 a.m.

I would like to begin by thanking you for inviting me here. It is an honor to be here among this fellowship of Unitarian Universalists in such a beautiful part of the world to worship together this morning on such a wondrous yet complicated holiday. I feel truly blessed.

I recall back when I was a child--probably around kindergarten age-- my sisters and I would go out in our pajamas and sit on the curb of County Road B. We were joining many of the neighbor kids to watch the nightly fireworks display held at the Minnesota state fair grounds. Every Summer, for the week leading up to labor day, we did this faithfully every night that the Minnesota state fair was happening. And they also had fireworks on the 4^th of July as well. I figured out that was just for the one night, though the fireworks display was markedly more impressive that night.

Until about a decade ago, my favorite of all the fireworks had been that one that stands out because it’s so different. Most of the fireworks explode into showers of beautiful patterns of glittering color. I enjoyed these as well, but my favorite was the one that just exploded as a big gray dot. Given that the fairgrounds were about 3 miles away, we’d see them and then it would be several seconds before we’d hear the sound, and I always looked forward to that one for it’s louder POOMPH! sound.

I miss those carefree innocent days sitting in my pajamas on the curb. Now when I experience the fireworks, I think not only of their glorification of war and war patriotism, but I think also about this country’s multitude of combat veterans with PTSD, for whom that loud POOMPH! sound brings dread and horror. And I am shocked that our country, even during times of ongoing wars, and shellshocked soldiers, continues this practice wholeheartedly. In my dream for America, I can see a place for fireworks, for people to remember the wars long-past. Such a commemoration could be a thing of beauty, but with our nation actively engaged in two major wars, it seems to me that this part of the American dream is in need of change.

At this year’s General Assembly, our delegates said YES to a statement of conscience committing ourselves to the path of creating peace. More than ever, I know that Unitarian Universalism is a good home for me, and I hope you do as well. In this mission, we truly are anointed by God to create peace.

This is about peace not just for our nation, but also in our lives. Peace in our lives is at the heart of my American dream.

War is an American way of life. Correction: War has been an American way of life, but it need not continue to be so. When war is firmly embedded in the greater culture, it affects each of us in the way we live our lives. This includes the foods we buy--when our nation went to war in 2001, the prices at the grocery store rose dramatically. A culture of war affects the transportation we use, especially when our wars are associated with national energy policy. It affects the housing we purchase (or are unable to purchase). A looming budget for war also greatly affects the budget available for education, social welfare programs, and energy research, just to name a few. With war as this nation’s top priority, I believe each of us struggle to keep warlike “us and them” thinking from finding a place in our own psyches.

War comes thundering for resources, garnering them for its own uses. When we think like war, we clutch our wallets tight when asked for money, look for the highest return on investment, and cling to individual bank accounts, even as the banks dream up ever more novel and insidious reasons for charging fees.

War operates on fear of retaliation, always seeking to have the upper hand. When we think like war, we want to be in control of whatever situation, lest we be wounded or taken down a notch.

War has a tendency to leave a trail of decimation in its wake. In our own lives, how often do we find ourselves unable to engage authentically with another person because of the economic decimation that has been visited upon them, often through no fault of their own.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can’t survive this way in the long term (even if some people might do well in the short term), so another way of life is necessary. A new vision is necessary, focused on a new center. I recommend that that center needs to be peace. One might imagine our world leaders and corporate leaders all coming to a decisive conclusion that “enough is enough” and declaring an end to this competitive system of resource acquisition, where billions of lives are on the line. While most definitely welcome, such a change would be a discontinuity of the first order.

No, that center needs to be peace in our own lives. The trickle-down theory didn’t work in economics, and indications are that it likely wouldn’t work for peace. Peace needs to follow the bubble-up method within each of us, and we need to share it. I believe it will start small.

Peace on the individual level begins when we realize that we can and must forgive ourselves. Whatever it is that we think we’ve done, or what we’re thinking or feeling, it starts with a big breath in and letting our shoulders release. It begins when we take our first principle to heart, for ourselves. The inherent worth and dignity of every person—that includes each of us here in this space.

Once we’ve done that, that basic level of inner peace can open us up to search for our path of personal peace. We can build our lives around that peace path. I feel that a good next step is a little reflection on where our lives are at and where our energy is directed. Reflection is always important, and often a critical step that gets skipped. Three important steps in discerning action are to:

First, figure out what’s happening;
Second, to reflect on the meaning of the event at hand.
Third, decide what to do.

Many people skip that second step of reflection.

Upon reflecting on the fact that by some miracle I’m alive and have forgiven myself, I believe a high priority ought to be establishing sufficient dedicated time and space for quiet fellowship with our divine source. That source may be from the divinity within each of us, or it may mean the divinity between you and a friend, or the divinity that wends its way among you and your community of friends. Or it may be the divinity beyond what you’ve thus far known. Your seeking soul may want to know other cultures, or open up imaginatively to an infinitude of possibilities and understandings that exist in any moment. Or you may find your divine source in all of those places, or somewhere else entirely, or you may choose to call it something else entirely. Wherever it is, connecting with that source is essential.

Those divine connections take time to grow. As we invest time in that spiritual growth, our anxieties and insecurities diminish, and we will more deeply discover right-relationship with others in our lives.

A part of my American dream is for us to develop deep and engaged connection with each other. I have a note to myself to write a sermon one day about how “a strong interpersonal presence makes room for a rich sense of community.” Who am I including in that community? Obviously, all of the people in this congregation. Further, I’m referring to the people we meet on the street, and even the people whom we’ll never meet. Here, I mean giving deeply of our energy through taxes and labor into a commonwealth, a trust from which we all may draw in time of need. Earlier, during my rant about what war does to us, I said it garners resources to itself. With this culture’s tendency toward radical individuality, we each feel the pressure to fend for ourselves and hold our wallets tight. We squirrel away for our own individual retirement, or try to get away from living paycheck-to-paycheck, which creates a strong urge to not make our energy available to everyone else. When the commonwealth/trust of collected resources that we rely on is running on empty, there is a feeling of abandonment and being on our own. I get this feeling a lot when I hear about forces within government seeking to cut taxes, to borrow money from the future, and still spending mightily, but spending on things that do not support our common welfare and security. This undermines our trust and faith in one another, and in our leaders who we wish to be good stewards. In cases where a pool of resources has been built up, there is greater security, a stronger sense of community, and a deeper trust of one another and of our leaders.

When we develop these resource pools in small groups, and the groups become larger and the pools become larger, it will be the leaders who feel abandoned. Lately, those in control in America have shown us visions that amount to rubbish anyway. In a time of plenty—we still do have plenty, look at any grocery store, clothing store, or housing classifieds section and you’ll see there are more than enough resources to go around, but it’s a matter of deciding who gets use of the resources. In a time of plenty, these leaders seek mainly to serve their individual empires; and by turning a blind eye to the poor, or giving small charitable sums from mostly ill-gotten fortunes allowing only for basic subsistence—by treating others this way, they do not foster any sense of community and security for anyone. That American dream is thriving, but the way of life it represents is like a vampire, leeching blood and energy away from everyone else’s common dreams. But before we decide to drive a stake into the heart of this vampire, we may do well to do a little reflection. Lest we look into the mirror and find ourselves only a shadow. Perhaps since we’ve been going along with somebody else’s dreams for so long, grafting ours onto an unkind pattern of existence, the common dreams we were born with may seem distant and dim. At this point, I’ll drop my shoulders again and take another deep breath and say we need to forgive ourselves, because it’s a new day.

Eventually, all of this dreaming is for the purpose of creating some concrete reality. I’d like to share a bit of the things that I foresee us doing as a result of our commitment to peace. As a result of our commitment to peace within ourselves, to our neighbors, and to our spherical home, we will build a new world.

In this world, I see us making peace with the planet by choosing abundant renewable natural resources. I see us learning to share on deeper levels, with consensual co-housing where groups of families live together with private space for each family and shared public space. We would also share gardens, vehicles, friendship, and tools, recognizing our positions on the planet as that of temporary stewards, rather than as permanent owners. I see us building beautiful homes from the most natural materials available.

In this world, I see us adopting a mantra of “simple living is a good way of giving,” where we realize that when we own lots of stuff, that stuff begins to control us. Not only can we spread our own wealth around, we can make sure that everybody gets firsts before we go back for seconds and thirds. Then again, when we know that ours is a culture of plenty, we will unlearn old habits of hoarding.

In this world, I see a large pool of publicly-held resources, democratically controlled by responsible ethical stewards. This pool would go where our public need is greatest. With the end of inexpensive oil upon us shortly, we will need better mass transit systems. From this pool, we can create a multitude of jobs building trains that run on electricity. Trains for transporting people and supplies both within cities and between cities.

I see a world where we conserve energy by moving around a lot less. As much as possible, we will get our food and resources locally, or even from our own backyard gardens. And using current communication technology, we’ll be able to virtually visit anyone anytime we like without traveling, and we’ll be able to spend significant time at home.

In this world, I see every employable person actually employed. There is so much work to be done in this world, be it planting trees, picking up trash, cleaning beaches, or gardening. So to have even a single person instead devoting their energy full-time toward finding a job is a crime. Furthermore, instead of some people working huge hours and some unemployed, we could all be working 25-30 hours per week. Today’s unfortunate high level of unemployment is an artificial creation, caused partly by a lack of trust on the part of those in control of the resources necessary for production, and partly because when there is a surplus of workers available, it is easier for businesses to get cheap labor.

In this world, I see people earning a basic living wage regardless of their station in life, and nobody without a home or food. A simple 2-bedroom mud-brick home with electricity and running water can be built for $20,000. Doing the math, to house 2 million people would cost $20 billion. If we were to reallocate the US military budget toward housing, we could build new permanent housing for well over 60 million people every year. It’s a question of priorities. Of course we don’t need to build that many homes because there aren’t that many homeless people, and there actually are a lot of empty buildings already available.

All this talk doesn’t mean we have to “give everything up.” Much of the technological progress that has been made is remarkable and will be part of the solutions we arrive at. Humanity has always valued cheap labor, and has always tended toward greater efficiency. Our systems of automation have greatly increased worker productivity, and soon we will have non-sentient robots to do many of the most difficult, dangerous, or unwanted jobs. Since this is wine country, I will share a particular dream I have been pondering. In the not-too-distant future, we will be able to turn water into wine automatically, perhaps with only the aid of a vintner to get the mix right. Robots can tend and harvest the grapes, de-stem them, crush them, and mix them into the fermenter, bottle them, and perhaps even deliver them to your door.

When I think upon what we will do with that free time, I realize there is still so much to do before that happens. But one day with that time, we will build community gardens, we will play musical instruments for the simple joy of it, or horseshoes, or Frisbee golf. We will spend time in fellowship with our divine sources. We will write books, and we’ll continue to explore life’s mysteries. There will be time for all who want a full education to get one. We’ll sing songs together. We’ll make gifts for one another. We’ll give a present to this planet by working to restore and heal all that we can. And we’ll break bread together, often, in peace. Amen.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Sermon #7: 10,000 Years of Light

2011-11-08T21:25:00.001-08:00

"10,000 Years of Light"

Delivered to UU Congregation of Marin

May 2, 2010

Almost a year ago, my wife Stephanie and I were joined by a newborn son we named Henry. Knowing that he’s hopefully going to be here until the end of this century adds a new perspective to all the news I see. I subscribe to the online newsletter from Harper’s Magazine, and they try to distill each week’s news down into about a single page’s worth of reading. By the time I finish reading it, it always feels like, “Wow, this is the end of the world. This is some really weird… stuff.” And yet I’ve been reading it for some time now, and the world keeps on going.

A few of the stories that made it to the news:

Arizona has a new law essentially asking police officers to profile people who look like they might be from south of the border. I burned my forehead marching in San Francisco yesterday because I forgot to bring a hat.
It’s been revealed that Goldman Sachs knew that they would benefit if the market dive-bombed. "There will be very good opportunities as the market goes into what is likely to be even greater distress, and we want to be in position to take advantage of them."
During the market crash, SEC employees were looking at significantly more pornography on office computers.
And the big scary news this week: an offshore oil rig is leaking 200,000 gallons of unrefined crude oil daily, which is heading for the coast and may also get caught into the gulf stream, bringing the spill to Florida and the eastern seaboard.

These stories are tragedies, each in their own way. Yet each of them are a result of human action. These were not earthquakes or hurricanes, which are tragedies for which we can only try to prepare and to mitigate their effects. These were human constructions.

For the acts beyond our control, frequently there are preachers who try to say it is the wrath of God brought on by the abortionists, the LGBT folks, the feminists, or that the Haitians “made a deal with the devil,” which caused God to send an earthquake.

But many of the catastrophes humanity has brought on are much more glaring. Can there be a stronger example of a “deal with the devil” gone awry than the risky flirtation of erecting an oil rig out in the sea, drilling miles underground, and pulling liquified dinosaur bones up to the surface of the water, for the purpose of gaining riches? Yet eleven people are missing and presumed dead from the oil rig explosion, and that growing crude oil slick is likely to kill off wildlife in untolled numbers. Humanity is taking chances with extinction-level events.

A part of the old-school Universalist theology is that God loves everybody, so everyone will be saved. I think that teaching was provisional, to counter the Calvinist thinking that some people were “elect” and others were damned, but it didn’t go far enough. A newer theology, for those who care about being saved in the here and now in this world, says there's a radical uncertainty. We’re all in the same spherical blue and green boat, but from a humanist Universalist standpoint, neither us, nor our planet are automatically saved. And it's important to note that many of today’s catastrophes adversely affect individuals or subgroups of the population. Part of being in true community with each other is that we are accountable such that none are left behind. In other words, the more we stand together as allies, the more security we will find, and the stronger our communities will be.

Yet it’s critical to avoid the tendency to see life as crisis management and risk avoidance. If we’re focusing our energy on trying to bring in money to keep the wolves from the door, and filling out tax statements, jury-duty summons, census data, bills, health insurance, car insurance, Roth IRA investments, junk-mail, spam, anti-virus software and such, we’re stuck fighting fires, and trapped in a “now” not of our own choosing.

This trap may have developed naturally, but at present is maintained by industries that are no longer the best way to do business. The trap exists for them to continue to exist and to earn money. Industries such as the military, prisons, fossil-fuel energy, for-profit insurance, banks, and monopolies impose themselves as important to our way of life, but offer us empty promises, a poor return on investment. Our world would be better served were they dismantled and replaced with systems that put different principles in the forefront.

Sometimes the principles in operation are so all-encompassing that they’re hard to even see, and sometimes we can hardly even bear to look at them for all that long. As novelist James Michener says, “An age is called ‘dark,’ not because the light fails to shine but because people refuse to see it.” As Unitarian Universalists, our fourth principle, affirming “a free and responsible search for truth and meaning” – our fourth principle calls on us to see clearly the age we are in.

In this political environment, focused on an ever-growing economy, is it any wonder that life itself suffers? My Unitarian Universalist values have a hard time thriving in such a dog-eat-dog context. Life has a hard time thriving. Those who thrive best in this toxic environment have found ways to codify the rules to their advantage. According to 19^th-century French economist Frederic Bastiat, “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”

Now, as ever, it is important for us each to look well beyond that corrupt moral code, to find the people it neglects, along with their dreams. As Unitarian Universalists, our seven principles are a solid base to start rebuilding from. When we rebuild, I believe it’s important to do so from ground level—from the grassroots, and from systems of polity that value being together in communities based on mutual covenant. The corrupt system that authorizes plunder has a unidirectional “covenant” (otherwise known as imposed rules), created without the consensus of those that it serves least well or actively opposes. In other words, the plundering and the squelching of democracy go hand-in-hand. And when we do the work of transforming, it is incumbent upon us to develop and grow a mindset of full-speed-ahead building, rather than backpedaling while fighting fires. (And we know that those who thrive on a toxic environment will keep sending fires.)

And as a religious community, it is important to ask where is the divine in all this? For me, the divine lies in all that we’ve built that works to sustain life, and even more so in all that may be possible when we connect with our dreams and visions and begin to put them to work.

The title of today’s sermon, 10,000 years of light, is an invitation to look up from tonight’s dinner, this week’s paycheck, the monthly or quarterly statement, or our next vacation and consider what our dreams might be, were we given the potential of 10,000 years to grow them into reality. I’ll briefly share some of my dreams for what we can become in our individual persons, in our communities, and as a collective humanity.

My first dream is simply that humanity unites, and I really hope we come together quickly enough to enjoy at least 9900 of those 10,000 years together in unity. That unity means we learn the damage we’ve been doing when we see people as “other” based on race, class, gender-expression, sexuality, nationality, or other imposed categories, and we come to see one another’s whole selves and celebrate our differences, rather than use them as cues for who is afforded privileges and access. That unity also means a world without borders, and a world where locks, gates, and fences are less necessary. Depending on which side of the privilege fence we’re each on, this change can mean giving up an unfair advantage, and it might also mean gaining something immeasurable—right relationship. And individually then, we will feel good about ourselves and each other. When I ride on the BART each day to work, I see people hiding behind headphones and newspapers, perhaps distrustful of others, perhaps with low self-esteem from not connecting as they feel they ought in the world. In a world united, and operating in right-relationship, I can only imagine what a trip on the BART would be like.

My second dream is that everybody has adequate food, clothing, and shelter. This is a corollary to the first dream. Once we are in right relationship to each other, and do not honor distinctions between upper-class and lower-class people (only between high-class and low-class, if you get my meaning), then everybody gets firsts before anybody can lay claim to seconds. And even with population-growth as out of control as it presently is, there is still enough for everybody, it’s just a question of distributing it equitably.

My first two dreams are only a matter of will, and re-identifying ourselves as spirits residing across bodies, instead of bodies each with a spirit.

And my third dream is more sci-fi, and hopefully not less far-fetched than the other two. I want to issue a challenge to humanity to terraform the moon to make it inhabitable, but I would be sad to see this being worked on before my first two dreams come to pass.

And there are so many other dreams that have already begun to arrive even amid an environment that seeks to gain profit from them. With the end of fossil fuels in a couple decades, a future that works for all of us will include homes, trains, busses, and cars, powered by electricity from renewable resources like solar, wind, tidal power, algae biofuel, and geothermal wells. Concurrent with this dream is the advent of programs encouraging green sanctuaries, green homes, and green businesses.

Another dream is arriving amid the recent bouts of racism and heterosexism being reinforced in this country--we are seeing an advance in human rights and a shift toward multicultural community. Sometimes the retrograde step of reinforcing old norms and values is important so they can be brought into closer view, examined, and diminished.

A final dream coming into fruition is our newfound ability to communicate and organize. In addition to being able to find a community of knitters who are also interested in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we’re able to use social networking sites to learn about each other in ways that were not possible only a decade ago. The information age is also bringing us new tools for recycling, reducing, and reusing: tools such as Craigslist, Shareable.net, Bay Area Community Exchange, and lending libraries. With weblogs, we also have the most democratic form of media yet, which is beginning to challenge the mainstream media as a source of information, because it allows for us to exchange trust and social capital with other like-minded people, instead of a unilateral dissemination of information.

So… where is our progressive Unitarian Universalist spirit at present, seeking to thrive? It seems to me that we will need to create the context we wish to come into, by developing and using language that retools the conversations we have in the United States and elsewhere. We will not do this alone. To be effective, our mission must work in partnership with a broad range of communities beyond the UU circle, in effect extending the range of the circle and creating permeable walls.

And I believe our theology is worth sharing. Even if they don’t come to our congregations, it is essential that people know of us and our theology, because it is capable of transforming lives, and capable even of saving lives, and giving new direction. My own experience in coming to UU was that it took 10 years of searching before I stumbled onto this well-kept secret. We shouldn’t be hiding our light under a bushel basket. There is a big difference between proselytizing and evangelizing, yet I think Unitarian Universalists tend to steer entirely well clear of both. I say if you have a dynamic religious community that will welcome in any of those feeling outcast from other religious groups, there are people seeking, wanting to hear this good news.

Each time a new person joins Unitarian Universalism, if we’re doing our job right, UU changes and becomes richer. I’ll close with a question: If this movement lives up to its potential, welcoming of everyone, what will this movement, what would be like in 10,000 years? And what would the world be like after 10,000 years of that love, and that light shining like a beacon?

Whatever that could be, may it be so. Amen.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Sermon #6

2011-11-08T21:23:00.000-08:00

“Fumbling for a Light in the Fog”

Delivered to First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco, June 13, 2010

I want to begin today by saying “Thank you.” I began my first sermon back in September by saying that, not knowing what I was getting into, but confident that this congregation would have some very important things to teach me, if I paid attention. I’ve certainly been witness to some changes. You’ve shown me a capital campaign for the Beyond Sunday position. I’ve seen difficult staff transitions, and a variety of responses. You’ve shown me a way of being together politically, sometimes obstinately, while edging closer to determining the purpose of this society. I’ve met with many people individually and heard a desire to find ways of setting aside the spirit of confrontational debate, and to feel the strength of unity. From my one-on-one conversations, I know this obstinacy comes not from within people, but rather seems a learned way of being. It feels like a transpersonal force at work, teaching expectations of difficulty to each generation of members as they arrive. I imagine that spirit has been active here for quite a few decades. And I realize that with our fifth principle (the one about the democratic process and the right of conscience), that spirit may just be part of the Unitarian Universalist way, yet that spirit has played havoc with our ability to readily determine our purpose and identity. With so much riding on how we are in the world, and what we do, I think it’s most critical that we have our bearings correct on who we are and our reason for being.

Before relaying my story of the San Francisco fog, I want to complexify a common notion. People often think of the big battles in life as good vs. evil, as light fighting to shine in the darkness, and that’s partially true. But also, in this age of information, I think the case is frequently about discovering the source of the light amid the fog reflecting and diffusing it with conflicting information and confusion. Now my story: A few years ago, I was driving to meet up with Stephanie at the UCSF nursing school on Parnassus. When I got to the city, it was really foggy. I remember turning off of Market onto Duboce. Inexplicably, the car was devoid of maps. With no map, compass, or GPS, I figured if I just proceed west, I’d hit Stanyan or Divisadero or Masonic or some big street, which would lead me back to Fell or Parnassus and from there, I can get to UCSF. I went west and the easy-to-navigate grid ended when I ran into Buena Vista park. I went a little ways around and my best guess is that I took a left onto Upper Terrace, which turns into an odd curlycue cul-de-sac. After getting turned around and around at least twice, and then being spat back out, I had completely lost my bearings.

I looked to the sky to see the position of the sun that morning, or perhaps which direction the shadows of the trees were falling? No such luck, because of the thick blanket of fog. I kept repeating my patterns of lostness, ending up twice on the curvy section of Market, and twice on 17^th Street, but not quite sure which direction to get to UCSF. I was completely baffled in that fog and must’ve wasted upwards of half an hour. In this case, my confusion was of relatively little consequence, as it just meant Stephanie just had to wait a little bit longer to get picked up, and was a little amused.

But in the other kind of fog—that metaphorical fog—the effects of getting waylaid may be much less inconsequential. People’s lives may be on the line based on what we do or do not do. When we’re disoriented and not arriving in a timely manner, if people depend on us, there will be trouble.

That said, I think as UUs, we have a tendency to underestimate our importance in the world, AND strangely enough, to overestimate it at the same time. We underestimate ourselves when we forget that our rich discourse of theology and worldviews can lead to amazing transformations in individual lives and in cultures that we touch. Yet we overestimate our importance when we forget that that discourse provides only a rich bedrock foundation for determining one or more courses of action, and then following them. Without significant and meaningful action, our theology lacks teeth and meaning, standing inert in the world.

Along with the seven UU principles, our theology of a loving, all-saving God and of humans living up to their potential, shines a light to help inform our identity. As individuals in US culture, the point has been hammered home that we are consumers and workers. But that way of thinking tries to confuse the fact that you and I may want to choose our greater purpose to be that of sharer, problem-solver, advocate, or witness. Given conflicting messages, psychologically speaking, we become ambivalent, so we have a tough time deciding between courses of action, and then we may likely just fall back into our old habits.

In this congregation, our default purpose may seem to be that of staying financially solvent, or growing in membership, but those don’t tend to tug at people as strongly as might a haven of spirit and culture for personal growth, or the purpose of fomenting social changes in immigration laws, advocating housing rights for the homeless, or even a purpose as straightforward as training new ministers. (I did mention my gratitude, right? This congregation’s history of taking on ministerial interns has helped nurture many new UU ministers into our association. And in turn, every UU minister you’ve seen in this pulpit--including not only Greg and Fred, but also Kay, Denis, Alyson, and Jeremiah—every minister here has been trained as interns somewhere at a UU congregation.)

Just as with the individual level, if a congregation has conflict revolving around identity or purpose, it can lead to ambivalence and inaction, which presents as a tendency to shy away from changes and reversion to the basics of church survival. With the changes afoot this year, I am seeing the congregation pursuing the greater purposes. With the introduction of Rev. Jeremiah and the Beyond Sunday ministry and with Jeff’s passion for an empowering system of finance, I see this congregation moving into a place of discerning, fostering and fulfilling purposes that touch our neighboring communities deeply.

On the world scale, humanity’s purpose seems ill-defined and as foggy as ever. It seemed for a time that our purpose has been “progress” but to those paying attention, the technological progress has been matched with an equal or greater amount of regress in our ecology and our social interactions. Other purposes that we tend to fall back on are that of consuming the Earth’s resources to manufacture more products, or that of simply “not dying out.” I say the true purpose of humanity is simply, TO BE. To support life’s purpose, to synch up with nature, so that this planet Gaia can thrive again. The ambivalence sets in when we hear conflicting information. Despite a preponderance of clear scientific evidence indicating that global climate change is a real and looming danger, our system of media tends to give equal time to those who choose to deny that global warming is real. With such wide-reaching ramifications, ambivalence and inaction may prove to be globally perilous.

On many levels, it’s obvious that NOW IS THE TIME! That’s not just a handy phrase for the UUA fundraising campaign. In each of our lives, every day is a gift, and an opportunity to make the world better. Perhaps there is some longstanding unfinished conversation in your life that you’d like to have, that has been emotionally blocking you from moving forward. Perhaps there is something you’ve always wanted to try, but never have. Perhaps there’s something in your life you want to give up. Today is always the only day in which we can make changes. You can never do it yesterday or tomorrow. I recall musician Warren Zevon, living the last few months of his life with cancer, responding to David Letterman’s request for wisdom on life and death. He said simply, “Enjoy every sandwich.” That, to me, translates as, “Don’t waste a single heartbeat.” Uneventful days could become a habit, but we are called to make every day count, in some large or small way.

Now has always been the time for this congregation to recreate its place in the city. Under the guidance of Thomas Starr King, this congregation was once the flagship for Universalist Unitarian belief and action on the west coast. I offer a challenge, to resurrect that flagship, and to determine a course. I see the coming couple of years as a time when this congregation will unearth members’ passions and engage that passion with life-changing purposes. That may mean being a voice for homeless advocacy, so that when we read the phrase “take care of the homeless” in the SF Chronicle, people understand it to mean providence and assistance, not harassment and subsistence. Your passion may lead you to begin negotiating the long but rewarding path toward becoming a multi-generational, multi-cultural, anti-racist congregation. But those are just my thoughts, and I’m leaving soon. The purpose of this congregation will be of your own collective volition. One thing I do know is that this city NEEDS this congregation to shine like a beacon. To declare a moral compass and to boldly lead. I hope you are ready to take that challenge, to be a bold voice like Beacon Press, often presenting the unpopular before it becomes popular, if it ever does. This congregation has power deep down, to make its voice heard, all week long and citywide. A couple months back, Greg mentioned the WWJD--What Would Jesus Do wristbands. Imagine your friends saying, “WWUUD--What Would a Unitarian Universalist Do?” If you hear that happen, be sure to bring them by for a service, because they want to be here. They are lost in the fog with information that doesn’t come together quite right. The light of our beacon can bring clarity.

Now is the time for this world to determine its purpose. Not to waste another heartbeat, another day, another year. I’m not sure what the world enjoying a sandwich would look like, but applying the Warren ZEvon quote from earlier would at least imply “Enjoy.” I daresay much of this world right now is not enjoying the experience. The birds in the Gulf of Mexico, the people being exploited for their labor in developing countries (and this country), the trees being clearcut in Brazil, and the ocean life in the pacific all are not enjoying their sandwiches. So what would UU do?

We need to be unafraid of the tremendous impact our religion can make on the world, and share it. Now is the time for us to have maximum impact. There is an angel at work here. A very large, deep, compassionate angel that spans the ages. As it arrives, the world is taking notice. The arrival of this messenger is an eschatological age-ending event, a game-changer, causing a paradigm-shift. As if it’s the rapture, but in theological terms to which we can relate, with no people magically disappearing. The ongoing media coverage of the leak in the Gulf of Mexico is waking up more and more people to some new realities. With the end of easy petroleum resources upon us, humanity struggles to get enough oil to energize the world we’ve made.

The book of Revelation, chapter 8 refers to 7 angels sounding their trumpets, and 1/3 of the Earth being despoiled and 1/3 of the sea being despoiled. I sense we are getting pretty close to that. Knowing UUs as I do, I realize many of you may be skeptical of the sacred texts of revealed religion—and perhaps rightly so—after all, we could deconstruct the text, equating angels with messengers, and the trumpets with the clarion call of what the Earth is trying to tell us. However, in our nation, there are many who live their lives based on a concrete understanding of the Bible, and they will be called on by somebody to act. By whom? Us. We can call on them! Today, for the online listening audience and Christians in the crowd, I’ll put my voice out there. We are at that time, one-third of the Earth, one-third of the water. The Gulf of Mexico is just one of many oil spills, and raw sewage makes its way into our streams and oceans. Don’t forget the giant growing collection of plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We are in a time of much needed change. We can either have the change happen to us, or we can shine our light and work in concert to make the necessary changes in a controlled fashion.

So what is the light we hold? Our theology of a loving God is one of real saving grace that can help people get past the guilt, shame, sin and anger, and onto serving the world as love and justice-bearers. We have a growing religious inclusivity that is learning to make way for the many theologies and worldviews people bring upon first entering our doors. We each carry our own copy of truth and meaning, and know to value each other’s spirituality. And we know that community and action are every bit as important as having right beliefs, if not moreso.

In fact, in religious terms, it’s safe to say that the light we share when our words and deeds are at their best is nothing less than an expression of the divine working from within us. I believe that light is critical in our interfaith and ecumenical dialogs, because the light of our reason helps to orient and focus the lights of others like a Fresnel lens (the really bright amplifying one you find spinning in lighthouses). If we hold back our light (or are unable to deliver) when it’s expected or needed, it may indeed be the case that an inactive lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef.

The peaceable people of this country have tried to declare peace many times, but it seems their overtures have been outright rejected. Faithful Fools Bible Study meets at Fools’ Court on Thursdays at 10 a.m. Each of you are invited. David, a regular at the Bible Study, introduced to me the concept of declaring LOVE on someone. When you declare love on somebody and mean it, they can’t fight you as they may be wont to do. It is love that comes from the heart level. Intellectual arguments and our search for truth have their place, but the way the light we carry is going to reach people is going to be when we complement it with a declaration of love. Perhaps that’s our purpose.

To the glory of light! Blessed be.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

A Partial List of Biblical References to Sexuality

2011-11-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

Mirroring this here, in case the Internet changes, as it is often wont to do. This is good stuff to know, from the Religious Institute.

Suggested Sermon Themes on SexualityTaking Care of Our Sexuality
Love and the Divine
Honoring Sexuality as Sacred
Youth and Sexuality
Sexuality in Sacred Texts
To Do Justice—Sexual Abuse/Violence Prevention
Honoring Our Bodies as Part of Creation
Respect: Caring for Self and Others
Dignity and Justice: Creating Equal Partnerships

Scripture Readings on Sexuality (Partial List)Genesis 1:1-2:4a (Creation)
Genesis 1:27-28 (Creation, Gender, Reproduction)
Genesis 1:31 (Creation as “good”)
Genesis 2:18-24 (Partnership, Gender)
Genesis 2:25 (Bodies)
Genesis 17:11-13 (Culture and Embodiment)
Genesis 29 (Marriage, Pregnancy, Infertility)
Genesis 30 (Infertility, Sexual Consent, Surrogacy)
Leviticus 17-26 (Culture and Sexuality, Sexual Morality)
Leviticus 18:20 (Sexual Morality) Deuteronomy 24:5 (Marriage and Sexuality)
Judges 11:37-39 (Singleness, Virginity)
Ruth 1:1-18 (LGBT Love, Partnership, and Sexuality)
1 Samuel 18:1 (LGBT Sexuality)
2 Samuel 1:26 (LGBT Sexuality)
Song of Solomon (Sexual Pleasure, Marriage)
Isaiah 62: 4-5 (Love and the Divine)
Proverbs 5:7-19 (Marriage, Pleasure, Fidelity)
Ecclesiastes 3:5 (Sexual Morality) Matthew 19:12 (Sexual Minorities)
Matthew 22: 37-39 (Divine Love, Love for and One Another)
Mark 3: 31-34 (Family) Luke 7 (Sexual Mores, Expressions of Love)
John 4:16-30 (Marriage, Sexual Boundaries)
John 8 (Culture and Sexual Morality)
1 Corinthians 7, 13 (Marriage, Sexual Fulfillment, Embodiment, Love)
Ephesians 5 (Sexual Morality, Gender Roles, Marriage)
1 John 2-4 (Divine Love, Love for One Another)

This class has been a real blessing for me so far. The first half has dealt with personal sexuality issues, and the second half is for addressing sexuality issues in congregational community.
pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Soon my sulfurous little friends, soon.

2011-11-04T19:59:00.001-07:00

A matchbook cover from my favorite Madison music store.

Some quotes for Self-Study on "Surrender and Self"

2011-10-26T13:27:00.000-07:00

A [person] should surrender the personal selfishness which binds him to this world. Giving up the false self is the true renunciation.
-Ramana Maharshi

God has put you in the world. What can you do about it? Resign everything to Him. Surrender yourself at His feet. Then there will be no more confusion. Then you will realize that it is God who does everything.
-Ramakrishna Paramhansa

The essential surrender happens within you, it has nothing to do with anybody outside you. The basic surrender is a relaxation, a trust — so don’t be misguided by the word. Linguistically, surrender means to surrender to somebody, but religiously, surrender simply means trust, relaxing. It is an attitude rather than an act: you live through trust.
-Osho

Drop the mind and the divine. God is not an object, it is a merger. The mind resists a merger, the mind is against surrender; the mind is very cunning and calculating.
-Osho

Complete surrender does require that you have no desire of your own. You must be satisfied with whatever God gives you and that means having no desires of your own.
-Ramana Maharshi

Surrender appears easy because people imagine that, once they say with their lips `I surrender' and put their burdens on their Lord, they can be free and do what they like. But the fact is that you can have no likes or dislikes after your surrender; your will should become completely non-existent, the Lord's will taking its place. The death of the ego in this way brings about a state which is not different from jnana. So by whatever path you may go, you must come to jnana or oneness.
-Ramana Maharshi

The Christian teaches surrender to God; God is just an excuse to surrender. It is a help, because it will be difficult for you to surrender without any object. The object is just an excuse so that in the name of God you can surrender. Buddhism says simply surrender — there is no God. You relax. It is not a question of some object, it is a question of your own subjectivity. Relax, don’t fight. Accept.
-Osho

Leave it to God. Surrender unreservedly. One of two things must be done. Either surrender because you admit your inability and require a higher power to help you, or investigate the cause of misery by going to the source and merging into the Self. Either way you will be free from misery. God never forsakes one who has surrendered.
-Ramana Maharshi

The name "Islam" simply means "Self-surrender to the Will of God." It is the way of life that all Prophets through out history have taught, from those known in the Western world such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus to those sent to other parts of the earth like Salih, Shu'ayb and Luqman, the African.
-Islam101.com

“The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.”
-Julia Cameron

“Love is a lot like dancing-you just surrender to the music.”
-Unknown

“Change is the essence of life.Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.”
-Unknown

“You're in the midst of a war: a battle between the limits of a crowd seeking the surrender of your dreams, and the power of your true vision to create and contribute. It is a fight between those who will tell you what you cannot do, and that part of you that knows / and has always known / that we are more than our environment; and that a dream, backed by an unrelenting will to attain it, is truly a reality with an imminent arrival.”
-Anthony Robbins

“Give up all bad qualities in you, banish the ego and develop the spirit of surrender. You will then experience Bliss.” -Sri Sathya Sai Baba

“Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.”
-A. W. Tozer

“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”
-Vince Lombardi

“At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.”
-Maya Angelou

“We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can / namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.”
-St. Theresa of Avila

“If you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.”
-Anne Morrow Lindbergh

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger

“If people as individuals surrender to the call of their elementary instincts, avoiding pain and seeking satisfaction only for their own selves, the result for them all taken together must be a state of insecurity, of fear, and of promiscuous misery.”
-Albert Einstein

In trying to make meaning of this, I note that not all of these are talking about surrender in the same way, or from the same perspective. Some see it as a positive, and a form of relief and letting go, and some see it as giving up. There is a time and place for everything. For myself, I'm praying for a successful surrendering, and soon.

lyrics: Erasure doing a cover of a Peter Gabriel Song "Salsbury Hill"

and

Let's dance in style, Let's dance for a while
Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst
Are you going to drop the bomb or not?
from Forever Young, by Alphaville

colors: moon and sand

mood: resistive

chant/prayer/mantra: om namah shivaya gurave, saccidananda murtaye, nishpraprancaya shantaya, nirah lambaya tejase

pax hominibus, agape to all, joel

Sometimes Procrastination Activities Bring Serendipity

2011-10-25T16:44:00.001-07:00

Like the time I was listening to the Phil Anselmo interview. Today, I saw a book at the library while studying called "Great Moments in Rock 'n' Roll" -- how could I resist that? Turns out it was full of stories from the Twin Cities, and I came across the name of this band that 8md been trying to remember for the better part of a decade. My newly-freed brain-space thanks u, o procrastination! Now, back to real studying.

#OccupyWallStreet first statement

2011-10-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

It took the OWS folks a couple weeks to come up with anything to tell people about why they are doing a permanent sit-in. I'm attaching the entirety of the text here as a mirror.

This was unanimously voted on by all members of Occupy Wall Street last night, around 8pm, Sept 29. It is our first official document for release. We have three more underway, that will likely be released in the upcoming days: 1) A declaration of demands. 2) Principles of Solidarity 3) Documentation on how to form your own Direct Democracy Occupation Group. This is a living document. you can receive an official press copy of the latest version by emailing c2anycga@gmail.com.

Declaration of the Occupation of New York CityAs we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

To the people of the world,
We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

I SUPPORT these statements. They do not pre-empt the opportunity for inclusive action, while leveling their truth against the system that has done so much harm against humanity and our planet.

..lyrics:colors:mood:chant/prayer/mantra:pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Sustainable home design

2011-10-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

Too darn busy to comment, just bookmarking this for myself for later, and for any friends.

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

California Medical Association Favors Legalization of Cannabis

2011-10-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

..

This white paper written by the CMA, representing 35,000 doctors in California is clear as a bell about what needs to be done. I could not have said it better, and agree with their assessment wholeheartedly.

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

What's the Matter with Kansas? Movie

2011-10-17T11:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't gotten to watch this yet, but a friend recommended it and it looks informative.

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

A List of Things to Protest About

2011-10-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

Just a short list for now...

Government giving away licensing of public airwaves FM frequency bands to private corporations, while not providing sufficient bandwidth to public discourse.
Two party system forces people to vote for the lesser of two evils, and not their real choice. Switch to Instant Runoff Voting
Electoral College and gerrymandering when redistricting disenfranchise certain voters and candidates.
Marijuana laws, including federal-level obstinacy with continued status as a Schedule 1 drug despite preponderance of evidence
Private banks of Wall Street controlling money supply, overleveraging, and being massively bailed out
Unfair tax structure allows richest to pay lower percentage than regular people, and dramatically less than rich had to pay during other periods
Campaign finance reform
The right to bear arms
Wars of empire
For-profit healthcare -- single payer now!
Disparities in public education
Privatization of the commonwealth
Immigration rights
US aid to Israel
End fossil fuel subsidies, invest in sustainable energy R&D
Against GMO foods and bogus organic standards for food
Equal marriage rights for all, regardless of gender.
Guarantee accessible clean water for all
....

..lyrics:colors:mood:chant/prayer/mantra:pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

X the owl

2011-10-08T11:58:00.001-07:00

Fred Rogers, as photographed by Artist Lynn Johnson, displayed in the Pittsburgh Children's Museum cafe.

Hobbit Hole Houses

2011-10-07T05:34:00.000-07:00

These homes look kind of like what I am planning. I want our house to be two-stories, and perhaps a bit less organic. Then again, I could be sold on the organic element as well. I noted in the comments that it may be difficult to get a home like this to pass the US housing code inspections.

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Some books to read on civilization vs. egalitarian pastoral cultures

2011-10-02T21:37:00.000-07:00

from http://www.sodahead.com/living/what-is-civilization-by-aric-mcbay/blog-282673/

In contradiction to the idea that the dominant culture's way of living is "natural", human beings lived as small, ecological, participatory, equitable groups for more than 99% of human history. There are a number of excellent books and articles comparing indigenous societies to civilization:

Chellis Glendinning's My name is Chellis and I'm in recovery from western civilization is an amazing and readable book, and it's one of my favourites. You can also read an excerpt of the chapter "A Lesson in Earth Civics" online. Seehttp://www. eco-action. org/dt/civics. html. She has also written several related books, includingWhen Technology Wounds: The Human Consequences of Progress..

John Zerzan's Against Civilization: Readings and Reflections composed of excerpts from the works of a wide range of authors..

The Culture of Make Believe by Derrick Jensen chronicles the violent hatreds that have been overwhelming our planet, tracing them back through their sources in imperialism, slavery, the rise of global capitalism, and the ideologies of possessiveness and consumerism..

Marshall Sahlin's Stone Age Economics is a detailed classic in that same vein. You can read his essay "The Original Affluent Society" online at numerous places, including: http://www. primitivism. com/original-affluent. htm

Anthropologist Stanley Diamond's book In Search of the Primitive: A Critique of Civilization

Richard Heinberg's essay "The Primitivist Critique of Civilization" is also highly readable, and available online in many places including http://www. eco-action. org/dt/critique. html. Other good reading is at http://www.primitivism.com and http://eco-action.org/

What these sources show is there were healthy, equitable and ecological communities in the past, and that they were the norm for countless generations. It is civilization that is monstrous and aberrant..

..lyrics:colors:mood:chant/prayer/mantra:pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

two indispensable pieces of wisdom this week from facebook

2011-10-01T09:55:00.001-07:00

from the blue buddha quote collective:

"anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind."

and from a friend Branduin:

[absolutely integral to novel writing:] "Motive is the secret to well rounded characters."

(On reflection, I also think that motive is the secret to establishing a proper narrative IRL.)

,
Many blessings,
Joel

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes
the existing model obsolete."
-Buckminster Fuller (Architect and Geometrist)

Dragons and Dove

2011-09-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

Today I heard this song "Girl in the War" by Josh Ritter, on 91.3 while driving to pick up dinner.

I really like the imagery the lyrics call up.

from commenter Saltogurl:

[regarding the Boynton Chapel in Door County, WI] in an archway, in front of the chapel one side there is a painting of Peter, on the other Paul. Peter is holding two keys one to the Kingdom, another to the chapel. Above them, carved into the wood archway, is a dove and on each side of it dragons. All I could think was a) "pretend the dove from above is a dragon and your feet are on fire". I have never heard of a dragon next to a dove in any setting but apparently the dragon is a sign of protection in Norse mythology, and the dove is a sign of peace in a lot of western cultures.

See the post just before this one and the one about "the first death" and note that I've been in a state of confusion between wanting peace and preparing for war. Still wondering where the war will play out, and if it's inside, when it will die down.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

For Sixteen Years, My Dove Seeking for Peace

2011-09-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

After first of three sessions.

This last year, during my chaplain residency / clinical pastoral experience, one thing I've been mulling over has been the meaning of the olive branch that the dove found in Noah's story. When I was younger, and I got the third portion of my head tattoo with the last of ten birds -- golden eagle, peregrine falcon, albatross; crow, raven, hummingbird; bald eagle, wren, loon, and dove. I asked the artist to put the dove right in front with the sunrise (and autonomically cried through the whole inking), but felt it was not appropriate at the time to have an olive branch in its beak, so left a little space to ink it in later, when the time was more appropriate. I had a lot of work left to do.

During my CPE, it came to my attention that the olive branch was a symbol for divine power. I've learned a lot about power this last year. I've learned the difference between power over (forcing somebody to work on the agenda of the more powerful person), power alongside (assessing complementary skills and working collaboratively), and power under (providing strength and opportunity for another to more completely follow their own volitional path). Given the US culture I was raised in, I had mainly only paid attention to the first kind of power, the power of battle, oppression, and suppression, in which the stronger is the victor and the weaker is the victim. I felt freed when I learned of the second as a good pastoral stance, and I made up the third myself, because balanced-ternary is the way I roll, and because there are some people in the world with way too much power who rarely put it to good use themselves, and might actually like to give much of it away, thereby freeing themselves.

Now, here I am, taking a break from assembling my MFC packet, and taking in this interview with Phil Anselmo of Pantera. I haven't been keeping up with his more recent projects, and while my musical tastes have changed, I still enjoy their older songs. And while his personality is arrestingly unique, I've met at least two others with similar qualities during my time here.

In any case, at the end of the interview in Part 4 at 12 minutes, 30 seconds, he says,

"I'm not afraid to make friends, and I'm not afraid to extend my hand, first. To walk up to people, extend an olive branch even…"

This, to me, is the meaning of my missing olive branch. I haven't been ready to trust until maybe now.

The question foremost in my mind at this point is, "What kind of person extends an olive branch when most everybody else stands (at least partially unknowingly) with their swords drawn?" I've been open and honest before, and have been through an emotional evisceration as people -- not understanding the context and framework I approached in -- applied their own, leaving me decontextualized.

In other words, am I actually returning from a hero's journey after finding dry land (peace and security) or have I found the ingredients for their formation? Or am I just saying "peace, peace" when there is no peace? And to help make this concrete (considering Joseph Campbell's diagram in the previous link) how have I atoned, and what was that atonement for anyway?

Moving beyond the narrative from within the narrative, like the hummingbird (which stands for Joy) in this story, I will just take control of myself, and do what I can.

lyrics: "If you crossed me, I'd shake your hand like a man, not a god." -F**king Hostile, Pantera
colors: Had a dream of red, white and blue postage stamps with monkeys on them last night. (As I said on my FB status update: "America, I've got your number.")
mood: Exhausted, frozen, thawing.
chant/prayer/mantra: Do.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Excellent List of Demands for the #occupywallstreet Protest

2011-09-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

Before we get too far into this post, I will say that I've been checking out some of the YouTube footage of the protests so far, and the thing most striking (since the police brutality is kind of expected in this culture nowadays) is the astounding amount of venom in the comments. Two things come to mind: First, that there is a segment of our culture who have been highly brainwashed to believe that people who would protest against this paramount injustice are somehow subhuman and that the banks and corporations are still doing good things (or these commenters are paid plants with plenty of time for trolling and seeding disparaging opinions); and Second, that the protesters must be doing something right, as the vitriol usually increases in intensity when something important is being defended.

Now, from a comment here (credit goes to Lloyd J Hart) in response to the the rhetorical post about "Our one demand"....

The above are good demands but they are not going to reinstate the living wage in America. Demands must also be easy for the public to get behind.
Public financing would be great but American elections are run at the county level where it is very easy to bribe elections supervisors to allow the theft of elections with electronic Jim Crow voting machines.
Demand one: Restoration of the living wage. This demand can only be met by ending "Freetrade" by re-imposing trade tariffs on all imported goods entering the American market to level the playing field for domestic family farming and domestic manufacturing as most nations that are dumping cheap products onto the American market have radical wage and environmental regulation advantages. Another policy that must be instituted is raise the minimum wage to twenty dollars an hr.
Demand two: Institute a universal single payer healthcare system. To do this all private insurers must be banned from the healthcare market as their only effect on the health of patients is to take money away from doctors, nurses and hospitals preventing them from doing their jobs and hand that money to wall st. investors.
Demand three: Guaranteed living wage income regardless of employment.
Demand four: Free college education.
Demand five: Begin a fast track process to bring the fossil fuel economy to an end while at the same bringing the alternative energy economy up to energy demand.
Demand six: One trillion dollars in infrastructure (Water, Sewer, Rail, Roads and Bridges and Electrical Grid) spending now.
Demand seven: One trillion dollars in ecological restoration planting forests, reestablishing wetlands and the natural flow of river systems and decommissioning of all of America's nuclear power plants.
Demand eight: Racial and gender equal rights amendment.
Demand nine: Open borders migration. anyone can travel anywhere to work and live.
Demand ten: Bring American elections up to international standards of a paper ballot precinct counted and recounted in front of an independent and party observers system.
Demand eleven: Immediate across the board debt forgiveness for all. Debt forgiveness of sovereign debt, commercial loans, home mortgages, home equity loans, credit card debt, student loans and personal loans now! All debt must be stricken from the "Books." World Bank Loans to all Nations, Bank to Bank Debt and all Bonds and Margin Call Debt in the stock market including all Derivatives or Credit Default Swaps, all 65 trillion dollars of them must also be stricken from the "Books." And I don't mean debt that is in default, I mean all debt on the entire planet period.
Demand twelve: Outlaw all credit reporting agencies.
These demands will create so many jobs it will be completely impossible to fill them without an open borders policy.
by Lloyd J Hart

This is very radical. It is also what must be done. Right about now, much of the numbers that used to indicate how much money a person has have been manipulated by leveraging in the debt industry, and also by political corruption where $100k to members of the US congress turns into tens or hundreds of millions.

At this point, it's impossible to tell how much money any person should have, also because the leverage and corruption has caused your average Joe Plumber's life savings to be cut by a third or a half in some cases. We need to reconnect people to actual resources, and not gum up the system by means of all of the money (and supposed lack thereof). There's plenty of money to go around.

The problem is that the people with the MOST money are afraid that they're not going to keep all of it, or are not going to be able to gain more money fast enough, and so they're being very tight with it. This includes banks, who are not loaning money out. There's plenty of housing for everybody. There's plenty of food for everybody. There's plenty of clothes for everybody. But apparently there's not enough money to actually purchase any of it.

A caveman or alien who showed up on the scene would be bewildered by the state of this world. They would walk into the grocery store and walk out with food to hand to the person begging outside. They would cut the lock off the door of the foreclosed house and invite the homeless person in. They would go into Macy's and grab carts of clothes and hand them to the people dressed in rags. AND THE WORLD WOULD NOT END as a result of doing so!

Sadly, the radical solution above will not be entertained by those in power. It will not be mentioned in the media, and it will be repressed until either there is no other option, or until it's too late.

BTW, I think his numbers of "one trillion" in points six and seven are a little high. I think we could get the job kick-started well enough to be maintained with about five-hundred billion toward each.
lyrics: "The revolution starts now." by Steve Earlecolors: Still red, white, and blue.mood: transparent.chant/prayer/mantra: There there be light.pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Zeitgeist Interview

2011-09-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

"If I was an inventor, I would invent something not to make money off of it--that's a very sick, distorted idea--I would invent something to better the world, knowing that would come back to me and my own betterment. So that's a completely different value structure, and the best thing I can relate to you is the idea of a family--the idea of what it means to live in a family--and the respect that's mutual in a family where you're not tipping your mother every time she brings you something at the table. It's an entirely new value system orientation, and unfortunately, we have to undo the tremendous psychological distortion that's been created after centuries of this despotic system that is failing right in front of us, and will lead to simply more war, more poverty…." -Peter Joseph

I think we will see the appearance of de-monetized black holes where work still gets done as the monetary system dissolves within affinity groups until they grow. These will be cooperative corporate entities that will grow from the ground up, and provide for all their members' basic needs and their community needs. They will continue to merge until it goes global.

chant/prayer/mantra: We would be one.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Using "The First Death" to Begin a War

2011-09-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

The following quote is astoundingly important to my theology of war, and I hope to build it into an album or EP at some point if I can make the time:

“It is the first death which infects everyone with the feelings of being threatened,” wrote Elias Canetti. “It is impossible to overrate the part played by the first dead man in the kindling of wars. Rulers who want to unleash war know very well that they must procure or invent a first victim. It needs not be anyone of particular importance, and can even be someone quite unknown. Nothing matters except his death; and it must be believed that the enemy is responsible for this. Every possible cause of his death is suppressed except one: his membership of the group to which one belongs oneself.”

I'm hoping this war will be quick, like a one-match fire. But it probably won't. We'll see.
pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Interesting video on sexual healing, with an extra Christian slant

2011-09-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

..lyrics:colors:mood:chant/prayer/mantra:pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Veruca Salt, Clutch, Old Style, and I Love You

2011-09-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

This is just a little hokey vid I made a few minutes ago after imbibing some Irish Moss elixir of life this evening. Just me saying Hi and how I feel about you. I'm often the silent one, so the lack of my voice in this video should be no surprise.

Here's a live version of the song that is playing the background. Veruca Salt rules!

lyrics:
My mannequin is insane.
It's automatic -- electrocuted in the rain.As a warning in the storm in the morning
In a gadda da vida...
Bay-ay-ayby!

colors: a pallet with avocado yellow and avocado green, and the colors of port-wine cheese.
mood: resistive and struggling.
chant/prayer/mantra: a prayer for serenity, courage, and wisdom.pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Carved Ivory Sculpture

2011-09-09T17:16:00.001-07:00

I believe its not wrong to want one, as long as you're willing to wait until the elephant dies naturally AND you're willing to let somebody carve you up and use yr skull and femurs for art.

Fwd: American Jobs Act

2011-09-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

text msg from Obama for America:

President Obama will present the American Jobs Act tonight at 7pm ET. Remind everybody to watch; forward this message.

I am hoping that this is where he tells us that the exec branch has squirreled away hundreds of billions from the bank bailouts to put toward actuals jobs. But not holding my breath.)

Pay attention to birds.

2011-09-03T17:52:00.001-07:00

I invite u to.

This picture was taken in front of Oakland city hall.

Series title: (this is) not my time to shine. It's your time to shine.

2011-09-03T16:58:00.001-07:00

Outshine me. This way.

Scissors-cross in the sky before the light goes out.

2011-09-02T14:50:00.001-07:00

Use Hosts File to Block Malware, Page-Jacking, and other Nefarious Web Stuff

2011-09-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

. . lyrics: colors: mood: chant/prayer/mantra: pax hominibus, agape to all, joel

this is the inner world that informs me

2011-09-01T19:15:00.001-07:00

I just used a six-letter word in church when my phone fizzucked izzup as I was chimping pictures, in order to post them on facebook and on this blog. "Dizzammizzit!!" just fell naturally out of my mouth, fortunately not loud enough that anybody heard me. I am here at the back of a quarter-full sanctuary at St's Peter & Paul, about an hour after myself and a onie full of chocoloupe got my bake on--good stuff!

i did yoga in the pews. i was alternating between: a) activating my muscles dynamically in static yoga poses; b) stretching and using the seat of the pews to massage my upper hamstrings, and the pewtops to massage around my shoulder blades, and my lower ribs and abdomen; c) gathering myself for prayerful moments; and d) writing personal notes on an old bulletin.

there were some teachers and administrators from the church school up front giving a presentation to the students' parents explaining their program, including how important it was that the students take their studies and their homework seriously, and are always on time with their assignments. overall their pedagogical approach appeared to have a good ethic, well punctuated by giving students 10-15 minutes at the end of each class period to get started on their assignments, for the purposes of momentum and assistance from the teacher.

for the most part, none of the parents really looked back and noticed me, though i think the presenters sitting up front did, though i was trying to minimize myself as a distraction for them. for me, it was an exercise in exploring boundaries and values. i think churches should be open to all and are vastly underused resources. having found a new use for pews presented me with an opportunity to move into my enneagram-8 space, from my usual 5 position. i don't believe i would do this during a regular worship service unless the service were geared toward stretching and yoga (maybe that will be an avenue for me to pursue in my own ministry one day, maybe not).

anyway, after they were done, sister celine came over and said they'd be closing up so everyone had to go. i asked her if i could go into the candle rooms. i went into each of them and cast a spell to bring god's love-light down into those rooms like streams of a waterfall. i think i made her nervous.

in order to be in good interpersonal relations with her, i probably should've checked out my assumptions, but i didn't. i had to ask her her name three times before i had it memorized. we talked about the church a little and about our plans. i don't know if we were having the same conversation however. she was feeling compelled by some force to close down the sanctuary area, and i didn't know what it was, i couldn't discern what it was, and i didn't ask to check it out with her. that would've required asking her if she wanted to be in dialog with me. gosh, i sound like mister spock all of a sudden....

(me, with warm toasty smile, and non-anxious) "hello sister, how are you?"

"good, thank you. we're going to be closing down now that the meeting's over, so i'm going to have to ask you to head toward the exit."

(standing up) "okay. thank you for letting me do my yoga and stretching here. this is a very nice church you have here. the architecture is wonderful. i wish i could spend more time here to get to know the building and the community, but i'm going to be moving to pittsburgh in a couple weeks. my name's joel."

"excuse me?"

"i said 'my name's joel.'"

"oh, i'm sister celine."

i could've said:

"excuse me, sister celine, if you will, i would have dialog with you."

"yes...?"

"i was sensing just now that my presence might be making you uncomfortable, but without checking in with you, that's just my assumption. i am wondering what this might be about. when you came to approach me a minute ago, what was your feeling and your intent?"

instead i just said "thanks for letting me do my yoga thing, do you mind if i go into the candle rooms for a minute," and thought to myself that i was a freak in her eyes and those of her fellow teachers. eh....

Beautiful SF View

2011-08-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

For JD part 2

2011-08-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

For JD

2011-08-19T19:32:00.001-07:00

I'm shocked at how clear this recording turned out. This was taken with my cameraphone from across Market Street (actually from on the bus platform, but still).

Last set of books from CPE

2011-08-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

Addiction and Grace, by Gerald May
Let Your Life Speak, by Parker Palmer

Both of these books have deep messages that I found intriguing. pax hominibus, agape to all, joel

Wonderful One-Woman Show of a Friend Portraying Prophets and Goddesses

2011-08-06T20:26:00.000-07:00

..lyrics:colors:mood:chant/prayer/mantra:pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

An Important Personal Reason why Cannabis should be Legalized

2011-07-31T05:42:00.000-07:00

Like many Americans, and many people around the world, I use drugs every day. I'm truly afraid the drugs are going to lead to an early death.

I have what's known in the insurance industry as a "pre-existing condition." In other words, I'm over forty, and I'm alive.

I'm trying not to think that the US government wants me to die early, but the impact of their drug policy might honestly mean that I will die 5-15 years earlier than I otherwise would. See, I take Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs) every day, twice a day, and have been doing so for fifteen years. Every time I get a new doctor, they tell me these drugs are not good for my stomach, and as I understand it also bad for my kidneys and/or my liver. If I do not take these medications, I will experience severe debilitating pain on my chest that starts at the center of my sternum, which radiates through my chest to my back. Unmedicated, it feels like I am being impaled by a telephone pole, and I am incapacitated to do anything except be really sad and really grouchy. The NSAIDs are able to successfully mask the pain, and for that I am grateful.

The rub, however, is threefold:

Taking these NSAIDs every day will cause gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms akin to a really bad heartburn, which could lead to esophageal cancer (I do not want to go out that way). I will have debilitating dyspepsia if I do not take a proton-pump inhibitor such as Prilosec/Omeprazole to counteract the stomach problems caused the the NSAIDS. Doctors tell me that taking PPI's long term is a bad idea. After trying other solutions suggested while being bounced among general practitioners and specialists in several different managed-care plans (switching jobs, going to school, switching to my spouse's plan, etc) and each time going through the same process without positive results, I shrug my shoulders because there has been no other solution that works. And I feel like a pinball, but that's beside the point. In short, the doctors I have seen have not been able to help me cure this, so I palliate it with daily doses of drugs that have the potential to kill me.
Marijuana is illegal, and is not being researched. The proper mix of extracted cannabinoids done up pharmaceutical-style could allow me to live my life without NSAIDs and PPIs. Aspirin is derived from willow trees, but if we were to chew on willow bark, we wouldn't get nearly as strong an effect. In current strains of cannabis, the way the current strains of cannabis grow, perhaps their effect is mild as well, compared to a directed dose. But as long as the federal government of the US remains ideologically sandbagging and obstructive of research, a cure (or less harmful pain alleviation) remains forever stillborn.
After a nice stressful day at the office, I like to relax one way or the other. In the state I reside in for the next seven weeks, it is legal for me to choose how I do that. When I move to another state, I will have only one legal choice. Note that NSAIDs + Alcohol is known to be a particularly bad combination. I do know that NSAIDs do not have a warning label advising against using them with cannabis. I wish there was more research on not only the dangers of "marijuana" as a category, but also the benefits and effects of THC, CBD, CBN, and the nimiety of other cannabinoids. And I wish we could trust ourselves and each other enough to allow individuals to investigate for themselves, freely and responsibly.
Getting high is a helpful catalyst to bring my spiritually centered vibe into arriving. When I vape, eat, or smoke cannabis--especially out amid and among nature--there is a form of commune and connection with a heaven-as-earthly divine. I find it's important to do this infrequently (<14 or 28 days in between uses for a spiritual practice. for medical use, in lighter doses daily or b.i.d.).

..

chords (from the song, "Hunger Inside."):
But [x22422 or Amaj9] you …are [E]here.
I’m not a[E]lo-one [E]in this [002455 or A5]fe-e-ear.
The or-[D9]ig---[D9]in---[D]al [E]seer.
My [Bm]faith [Bm]says you [Bm]h[B9]e-[B9]ear (me).

lyrics:
i'm in love, i'm in love, i'm in love, i'm in love.
i'm in love, i'm in love, i'm in love, i'm in love.
i'm in love, i'm in love, i'm in love, i'm in love.

i'm in love.
i'm in love.

that woman just touched the ceiling with both hands
standing on her tippy-toes in high heel reebok hightop sneakers.
she touched the ceiling with both hands
and started pushing up.

i saw it.

she said, "this. this, this is your heaven... right here.
and i am pushing up,"

as her halo started to glow and grow.

i saw her standing on her tipsy toes
aaaaaand then she got all dragon's-breathy.

she had on a tank top, and her shoulders started to ripple.
she grew tall, taller, tallest until she was standing 20 kilometers high
staring, face to face, with the sun.

she stood straight, pushing up the sky like the goddess athena, and the warrior princess elena(pronounced "eee-leena") "zine" xena

she had on a short-bob hairdo, just like any other superhot superhero might occasion to do once in a while for flair...

she had on a tank top, and from the contour of her shirt it appeared....

anyway... she's a superhot superhero.

i said, "earlier, i saw her, first push the ceiling up
pushed the ceiling up, speaking the dragon's breath, from eight, to 8', 5" high....",

as the heels on her shoes grew,
and the length of her legs grew,
and the strong strength of her shoulders from crew
as that strong strength grew,
so she did, too.

colors: red, yellow, white.mood: hopeful.chant/prayer/mantra: may all the text you read be written upon the inside of your eyelids,
may some of the text you read be bichromatic (e.g. yellow and green), and in cursive script.
may you at least once read the essential metaphysical text with your senses wide open.pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Solar Power is Fastest Growing Industry in US

2011-07-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

And it can create a ton of jobs.

I think that is one reason why solar energy is being resisted. The other reason is that it frees the consumer from being tied to rising fossil fuel prices, which the energy industry magnates do not want. Here is a brilliant comment which explains how our economy's capitalistic primary driver leaves from slashdot user fuzzyfuzzyfungus:

There is are a couple of unfortunate wrinkles in what would otherwise be true:

If you don't have money, it scarcely matters what the price of goods is. You are still fucked. For virtually everybody this impecunious, having money = having a job, not selling some bonds or re-allocating your portfolio in the direction of a higher-dividend asset assortment. Given the er... not exactly small... number of people who have fallen off this particular bus(with the additional fun that periods of joblessness do wonders for one's future prospects of being re-hired...) "jobs" as something close to an end in itself does represent a net gain for a substantial number of people.

Secondly, you say that "Ideally you would want a world where you have unlimited energy that required no money (ie jobs). This is true If and Only If the gains from increased efficiency are allocated in a manner that gives you a slice of the expanding pie. If, however, the pie is expanding; but your share of it is shrinking even faster(because whatever you do is an "inefficiency", you are quickly sliding toward point #1.

Empirically, a great many people have reason to be concerned, and to have no particular room to hope that even steady encheapening of goods will allow them to do better than tread water, since labor is definitely one of the goods being encheapened. As this [investorvillage.com] cheery little J.P. Morgan report notes, in a discussion of the improvement of corporate margins: "There are a lot of moving parts in the margin equation, but as shown in the second chart, reductions in wages and benefits explain the majority of the net improvement in margins. This trend has continued; as we have shown several times over the last two years, US labor compensation is now at a 50-year low relative to both company sales and US GDP (see EoTM April 26, 2011)."

Improvements in efficiency do you absolutely no good if somebody with more market power than you have is capturing them. This would appear to be the case. Under such conditions, the people with less market power(ie. about the bottom 95%) don't have a rational interest in efficiency; because they won't capture the gains from it. While(from the perspective of people's actual state of knowledge) the fascination with "jobs" might be largely sentimental populism, it is arguably not economically irrational. If essentially all gains from efficiency(which includes reduction in human resources costs) are being captured by people who aren't you, it is very much in your interest to demand greater inefficiency and attempt to roll back the reduction in demand for you.

Only in a society where everybody has a boat is the fact that the 'rising tide lifts all boats' a comforting one. If a substantial portion of the population is stuck in the mud, the rising tide is not a welcome development...

Here's a good link on how little subsidies the solar industry gets from the US government. It's as if the government WANTS solar to wither and die on the vine, and would prefer to have an untenable and security-problematic fossil fuel system as long as it can. Hey, what gives, America?
..

lyrics: "it would be so fine to see your face at my door, it wouldn't have to last very long" -flaming lips
colors: green
mood: okay
chant/prayer/mantra: this is a beautiful garden, it has a dangerous guardian.

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Glen Eden

2011-07-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

Re: Fw: Go Cairo!!!

2011-07-13T20:44:00.001-07:00

[hmmmmm..... seems the images are all stripped out. must be how they're embedded or linked in the email. joel does not like this trend.]

Hi Mom,

Thanks for tuning me in to that. I didn't know that the military had that many dogs trained for war like that. In my opinion, there's nothing laudable about it. And as to the ethics behind it, the premise of their conditional statement is false: "If it's ethical to send humans into combat, then why not dogs?"

In my lifetime, I have yet to see the US get into an ethically-justifiable war, according to my understanding of Christian, or even just human, ethics. If the ethical code is based on empire, then with the principles that guide an empire ethic, yes, send humans, dogs, and sharks with lasers attached to their fins.

In the meantime, we're spending $250,000,000 on dog armor, and I wonder how much on training, etc.

Many blessings,
Joel

http://revjd.blogspot.com/

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes
the existing model obsolete."
-Buckminster Fuller (Architect and Geometrist)

On 13 July 2011 15:17, wrote:

----- Original Message -----
Subject: FW: Go Cairo!!!

-------Original Message-------

Subject: Fw: Go Cairo!!!
From:
Date: Sat, 9 Jul 2011 16:20:52 -0400

----- Forwarded by on 07/09/2011 04:20 PM -----
From:

To:
Date: 07/09/2011 09:06 AM
Subject: Go Cairo!!!

The Dog That Cornered Osama Bin Laden

When U.S. President Barack Obama went to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, last week for a highly publicized, but very private meeting with the commando team that killed Osama bin Laden, only one of the 81 members of the super-secret SEAL DevGru unit was identified by name: Cairo, the war dog.

Cairo, like most canine members of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs, is a Belgian Malinois. The Malinois breed is similar to German shepherds but smaller and more compact, with an adult male weighing in the 30-kilo range.

(German shepherds are still used as war dogs by the American military but the lighter, stubbier Malinois is considered better for the tandem parachute jumping and rappelling operations often undertaken by SEAL teams. Labrador retrievers are also favoured by various military organizations around the world.)

Like their human counterparts, the dog SEALs are highly trained, highly skilled, highly motivated special ops experts, able to perform extraordinary military missions by SEa, Air and Land (thus the acronym).

The dogs carry out a wide range of specialized duties for the military teams to which they are attached: With a sense of smell 40 times greater than a human's, the dogs are trained to detect and identify both explosive material and hostile or hiding humans.

The dogs are twice as fast as a fit human, so anyone trying to escape is not likely to outrun Cairo or his buddies.

The dogs, equipped with video cameras, also enter certain danger zones first, allowing their handlers to see what's ahead before humans follow.

As I mentioned before, SEAL dogs are even trained parachutists, jumping either in tandem with their handlers or solo, if the jump is into water.

Last year canine parachute instructor Mike Forsythe and his dog Cara set the world record for highest man-dog parachute deployment, jumping from more than 30,100 feet up - the altitude transoceanic passenger jets fly at. Both Forsythe and Cara were wearing oxygen masks and skin protectors for the jump.

Here's a photo from that jump, taken by Andy Anderson for K9 Storm Inc. (more about those folks shortly).

As well, the dogs are faithful, fearless and ferocious - incredibly frightening and efficient attackers.

I have seen it reported repeatedly that the teeth of SEAL war dogs are replaced with titanium implants that are stronger, sharper and scare-your-pants-off intimidating, but a U.S. Military spokesman has denied that charge, so I really don't know (never having seen a canine SEAL face-to-face). I do know that I've never seen a photo of a war dog with anything even vaguely resembling a set of shiny metal chompers.

When the SEAL DevGru team (usually known by its old designation, Team 6) hit bin Laden's Pakistan compound on May 2, Cairo's feet would have been four of the first on the ground.

And like the human SEALs, Cairo was wearing super-strong, flexible body Armour and outfitted with high-tech equipment that included "doggles" - specially designed and fitted dog googles with night-vision and infrared capability that would even allow Cairo to see human heat forms through concrete walls.

Now where on earth would anyone get that kind of incredibly niche hi-tech doggie gear?

From Winnipeg, of all places.

Jim and Glori Slater's Manitoba hi-tech mom-and-pop business, K9 Storm Inc., has a deserved worldwide reputation for designing and manufacturing probably the best body Armour available for police and military dogs. Working dogs in 15 countries around the world are currently protected by their K9 Storm body Armour.

Jim Slater was a canine handler on the Winnipeg Police Force when he crafted a Kevlar protective jacket for his own dog, Olaf, in the mid-1990s. Soon Slater was making body Armour for other cop dogs, then the Canadian military and soon the world.

The standard K9 Storm vest also has a load-bearing harness system that makes it ideal for tandem rappelling and parachuting.

And then there are the special hi-tech add-ons that made the K9 Storm especially appealing to the U.S. Navy SEALs, who bought four of K9 Storm Inc.'s top-end Intruder "canine tactical assault suits" last year for $86,000. You can be sure Cairo was wearing one of those four suits when he jumped into bin Laden's lair.

Here's an explanation of all the K9 Storm Intruder special features:

Just as the Navy SEALS and other elite special forces are the sharp point of the American military machine, so too are their dogs at the top of a canine military heirarchy.

In all, the U.S. military currently has about 2,800 active-duty dogs deployed around the world, with roughly 600 now in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Here's the link to a dandy photo essay about U.S. war dogs that just appeared in the journal Foreign Policy.

Several of the photos I have included here are from Foreign Policy, as you will see. Other photos are from K9 Storm Inc.

As for the ethics of sending dogs to war, that's pretty much a moot point, don't you think? If it's ethical to send humans into combat, then why not dogs?

At least the U.S. now treats its war dogs as full members of the military. At the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. combat dogs there were designated as "surplus military equipment" and left behind when American forces pulled out.

Sinéad O'Connor Update and Quote

2011-07-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

I guess I haven't been keeping up with everything. I've always enjoyed Sinéad's music (except the showtunes album), and what I've heard "recently," but then again, the last six years I haven't had money or time for new music.Now seeing some news from a recent article, and the article linked above, I guess I haven't been keeping up much with what was going on in the life of my college idol/crush. If memory serves, the poster I had on the ceiling of my bedroom junior year looked something like the pic at right.

Huh, times have changed.

Nowadays, I give support to people with depression and mental illness, and dealing with a Hx of parental abuse, during the course of a regular day.

Below is a quote from her that shines like a quasar for me. Along with this 1994 quote "There is no too far," from Lee Renaldo, I will carry this quote from her with me forevermore:

I realised songs were a place where you could say anything at all, the stuff you wouldn't dream of saying in real life.

I will always love Sinéad. Not just for that quote. Not just for the music. Not just for her beautiful bald head in times past. Simply for her being.

lyrics: I will rise, and I will return.
colors: Rainbow
mood: A tad depressed
chant/prayer/mantra: "--"

pax hominibus,
agape to all,
joel

Re: The final push in Oakland

2011-07-10T20:43:00.001-07:00

Dear Mary Jane,

I imagine this Janice Hahn may be a good candidate, however I will not be helping Organizing for America now or in 2012.

I am entirely disenfranchised with the right/centrist agenda Barack Obama has been pursuing. His policies have amounted to making "Change We Can Believe In" the saddest hollow promise I've ever heard in my 42 years.

Specifically, his budgetary policies continue to serve the wealthy corporate investors in a fashion similar to George W Bush including offering to trade away social security; he is continuing to invest our military in wars upon wars rather than pursue more peaceable solutions; his administration flip-flops on the drug war, muddying the legal waters while continuing to harass moral and innocent people in medical need, using taxpayer dollars as if they are criminals; and he has done astonishingly little to support renewable energy, compared to subsidies for fossil fuels and nuclear.

Therefore, his name attached to your request does not inspire me to help you unless he truly becomes "The Change I Thought I Was Believing In." Please send him this message--I voted for him in 2008, but he and any Democratic candidates he supports have squandered my good faith, and lost my support for 2012.
,
With peace and real hope,
Joel

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes
the existing model obsolete."
-Buckminster Fuller (Architect and Geometrist)

On 9 July 2011 15:09, Mary Jane Stevenson, CA.BarackObama.com <info@barackobama.com> wrote:

Vote for Disappointment

Joel --

For the past several weeks, OFA California volunteers have been making calls and knocking on doors to help send Janice Hahn to Congress. And all of that work comes down to this, the final three days.

On Monday and Tuesday, it's all about getting out the vote. Will you join us in Oakland to help with the final push?

Here are the details:

What: Get out the vote for Janice Hahn

Where: 1714 Telegraph Avenue
Oakland, CA 94612

When: Tuesday, July 12th
10:00 am

Janice is the Democratic nominee in the 36th Congressional District's special election. She'll fight to create good jobs, support clean energy, and protect Medicare -- but only if we do our part to help her win.

RSVP to help out in Oakland on Tuesday:

http://my.barackobama.com/Calls-for-Janice-Hahn

Thanks,

Mary Jane

Mary Jane Stevenson
California State Director
Organizing for America

This email was sent to:@gmail.com
Update address | Unsubscribe

"You Don't Understand... My Dragon Likes Poetry"

2011-06-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

A picture from The Reluctant Dragon puppet show at Childrens Fairyland in Oakland. The title of this post is a quote from the puppet show.

Black Women are Beautiful. All Shades of Brown, Tan, and White Women as Well

2011-06-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

May you know this in your heart of hearts. Enough said.

Dark Girls: Preview from Bradinn French on Vimeo.

A Very Informative Article about how Hemp Growing Being Legalized can Adversely Affect Active Cannabis Growing

2011-06-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

This article is wonderfully informative and interesting. I hope that someday soon, for the planet's sake and the peoples' sake, hemp will be legalized, if nothing else. It is an amazing plant, that is easy for any person with ten minutes of training to differentiate from active cannabis.

lyrics: "Legalize it, and I will advertise it." -Peter Tosh
colors: green, and not sticky.
mood: okay, agitated.
chant/prayer/mantra: "Your name, my mantra." -Tracy Chapman

pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

Scrap of cardboard for a pillow

2011-06-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

Not much more to say except that everybody should have access to comfortable bedding indoors.pax hominibus,agape to all,joel

revjd -- - -- - - - -- -- - -- - --> Time for Timer.

Legalization: What about the Children? And the Users?

Excerpt from Channing's Baltimore Sermon

A good retrospective of Politicians who have used or spoken out about Cannabis

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

New Thought Movement

Hauser's Law

Welcome, 2012!

Free Project Management Software Links

Is this art=?UTF-8?B?Pw==?=

First Winter Solstice Reflection

Hello rainbow on the sidewalk

Yet another reason Chris Hedges wins points in my book

To the sound of Neil Young

Today's Sermon for the MFC

Illegalizing Hemp has contributed significantly to America's Downfall

Excited about the recent #OccupyWallSt Vision Statement

Transgender Day of Remembrance

I ought to watch this video every day

Uploading for posterity's sake

Joe Gerstandt on flying your freak flag

Sermon: Imagine this City as Heaven

Sermon: Atonement as Humanity's Present Purpose

Atonement as Humanity’s Present Purpose

Delivered to UUFLG August 1, 2010

Why are we here? Perhaps the easiest way to answer that question is to frame it within a context where “here” means “in this building at this time.” Why do we come to worship in this building? You may have your own answers to that question, and a few things come to mind for me as well.

We are here because we desire to be among a chosen community—not just family or work mates.

We are here because connecting with each other in this community energizes us.

We are here to dedicate ourselves toward a common purpose—a purpose that gives our lives meaning.

Having a purpose we feel good about is critical to happiness. Further, our purpose in this community need not be different than the purpose of humanity at large.

We must empower the part of humanity trying to save itself. This will require a concerted effort, because it means getting a strong voice in the public sphere. Often it seems that those who work to be a voice for the voiceless against the power of oppression find their voices squelched.

Sermon: It's a Rorschach Test

Amen.

Sermon: A New American Dream

Sermon #7: 10,000 Years of Light

Sermon #6

A Partial List of Biblical References to Sexuality

Soon my sulfurous little friends, soon.

Some quotes for Self-Study on "Surrender and Self"

Sometimes Procrastination Activities Bring Serendipity

#OccupyWallStreet first statement

Sustainable home design

California Medical Association Favors Legalization of Cannabis

What's the Matter with Kansas? Movie

A List of Things to Protest About

X the owl

Hobbit Hole Houses

Some books to read on civilization vs. egalitarian pastoral cultures

two indispensable pieces of wisdom this week from facebook

Dragons and Dove

For Sixteen Years, My Dove Seeking for Peace

Excellent List of Demands for the #occupywallstreet Protest

Zeitgeist Interview

Using "The First Death" to Begin a War

Interesting video on sexual healing, with an extra Christian slant

Veruca Salt, Clutch, Old Style, and I Love You

Carved Ivory Sculpture

Fwd: American Jobs Act

Pay attention to birds.

Series title: (this is) not my time to shine. It's your time to shine.

Scissors-cross in the sky before the light goes out.

Use Hosts File to Block Malware, Page-Jacking, and other Nefarious Web Stuff

this is the inner world that informs me

Beautiful SF View

For JD part 2

For JD

Last set of books from CPE

Wonderful One-Woman Show of a Friend Portraying Prophets and Goddesses

An Important Personal Reason why Cannabis should be Legalized

Solar Power is Fastest Growing Industry in US

Glen Eden

Re: Fw: Go Cairo!!!

Sinéad O'Connor Update and Quote

Re: The final push in Oakland

"You Don't Understand... My Dragon Likes Poetry"

Black Women are Beautiful. All Shades of Brown, Tan, and White Women as Well

A Very Informative Article about how Hemp Growing Being Legalized can Adversely Affect Active Cannabis Growing

Scrap of cardboard for a pillow