Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Olympic Hopes


Last night, like many millions of people in the world, I watched the Opening Olympic ceremonies. They were beautiful and magical. Country after country marching represented by their best athletes. Their faces shining and happy smiles for all. The traditional clothes were so colorful and beautiful and each person walking in those ceremonies was lit with beauty from within. I also remembered past Olympic tragedies. I realized that we, the human beings on this planet have kept the spirit of the games alive since the Greek empire. Every 4 years, the torch is lit with pride and accomplishment. This is what human life should be, the colorful parade of shining faces and the millions who watch by television, now-a-days. The pride to be human in this world and the pride for country, and the pride and good wishes for the athletes who are competing from other countries. Life is meant to be this exilharating and peaceful experience.

Why can’t it last? What happens to us after the closing ceremonies? Do we lose our love for our fellow human beings? Why do we go into the rut of every one out for themselves?

During the Olympics, we put aside differences and while still competing against each other, it is all about being the best we can be. Why do we stop that? I believe that if the Olympics can continue to inspire the world and so many millions of people, then we are capable of carrying these experiences on into the lives of all people in every country. Little, big, rich, poor, we are capable of loving and helping each other We are capable of compassion and turning aside from what does not compliment these ideals. To me the Olympics demonstrate that we are capable of living together in peace, harmony, love and compassion. So I still have hope for us. I still believe that despite what we hear all the time on the news, we can be better people. In the news, “it leads if it bleeds.” Well, peace doesn’t bleed and we don’t hear enough about the wonderful people who live, struggle and love others more than they love themselves. So my heart and mind are with the athletes from every fantastic country on this fantastic planet. We can make peace work.

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No Greater Love


One of my heroines is Mother Teresa. This soul is what I always wanted to be. I didn’t succeed, but I am continuing to help the world however I can. I am committed to do this for the rest of my life. Life requires commitment to ideals, commitment to love and acceptance. Life requires that we love and accept others without limitation. Now, I know there are some that would say, she has never seen the rough parts of life. But I have, in person and close up. The world isn’t beautiful. You have to look for the beauty in people and all around you. God is everywhere and that includes within us. So follow the creative voice within and create the beauty you need to thrive in this experience. This plane of existence.

“Love each other as God loves each one of you, with an intense and particular love. Be kind to each other; it is better to commit faults with gentleness than to work miracles with unkindness.”
—-Mother Tesesa

Rumi talks about the ecstatic love of God. He speaks of the interconnectedness of all sentient beings.

“One part of the Whole is not separate from the other parts. The beauty of all flowers is part of the rose’s beauty. The coo of the turtledove is part of the nightingale’s song.”  —–Rumi

Our works of love and charity come from our overflow of our love of God from within. Charity is like a living flame. The drier the fuel, the livelier the flame. Showing gratitude for everything in your life, whether a little thing or an abundance, needs to be done with joy. A heart burning with love produces a joyful heart. Joy is strength. Joy is always hard and it isn’t just temperament. We need to work to acquire it and make it grow in our hearts. We may not always have a lot to give but we can always give the joy that springs from a heart which is in love with God. We need to love without getting tired. A lamp burns with the continuous flow of drops within the lamp. Compassion and a loving heart are the most important things we can cultivate and we will never run out. We were chosen for this incarnation for a purpose, we aren’t just a number. So explore life, embrace it with passion and find what God has for you.

Photo by Barbara Mattio, Livingston, TX.

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A Promise


“A promise is beauty kept secure
The exquisiteness of knowing what is to come
The soft laugh that rumble through the rooms
Caress each wall hiding the thoughts of departure
Covering it with Check In instead of Check Out
The guitars streaming through
the tightened brains of thinkers whose creations
Just won’t speak of a world no one but they can imagine
Running through the darkness where fire burns deep
lighting our smiles
Tickling our hearts
Dancing to songs sung by beauty
Relaxing our minds conquered by stress
Admiration flows deep, like creaking beds
Shh, don’t wake everyone up
“Breakfast time!”
Whoever is so eager, needs
to write to express their thoughts
To allow their words on paper to become freedom
To listen to our leaders say,
“Wanna feel like you belong? Join a gang.”
They too laugh, moving the grass like wind.
——Lashaun Noel

This poem was written at Rena’s Promise International Creative Writing Camp, where the mission is to further the vision of Holocaust survivor
Rena Kornreich Gelissen to create a more ecumenical world unhindered by prejudice, racism or hatred by bring young people together from all walks of life and providing them a place to develop the cultural voices of Generation NEXT.

Racism, hatred, differences, religion, judging others, oppression are what we fight today in our world. We also fought it during the Holocaust. We fought it in Africa and Yugoslavia. Violence and war are what turn our worlds dark with fear and an obsession with power. It makes our world dark with its negative emotions. The pain we humans cause each other is overwhelming.

The answer is light and love and this is what is happening in pockets around the world. The scars remain, but we can’t stop adding our light to the world. For those Holocaust survivors who carry the Nazi numbers tattooed to their arms the dark never completely recedes, but we can light the love which will keep it pushed back so they know they are loved and their courage recognized.

hatred, violence, rape are happening now, 2012 and we must protect those who are oppressed and frightened. We must protect the vulnerable and weak. As human beings, we have the power to stop the darkness and bring light and love into the world of those who suffer. 
It is a beginning. Each of us, letting the love in our hearts and souls to remove the darkness.

I dedicate this blog to all those who have suffered oppression. I promise I will try every day to bring light and love into the world’s dark areas.

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Mellow Yellow Monday #4


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Photo by Barbara Mattio

t is here again. Monday! I find that Monday’s aren’t as awful since I began Mellow Yellow Mondays. It is amazing what we can change by changing the way we think. It is a beautiful day here and I feel grateful for the magic of the sun. It warms the joints and gives us vitamin D. It lures the growth of plants. It entices the blooms to open and to add their fragrance to the air. The sunshine carries the sound of children laughing and playing. So I am going to enjoy this yellow day and will return tomorrow.

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Ain’t I a Women


 

 

 

 

 

 

ImageSojourner Truth was born a slave in New York in 1795. She gained her freedom in 1827 when the state of NY freed its slaves.At the age of forty-six, she felt called by God to travel the country testifying to the sins against her people.

Her slave name was Isabella, and at this point she took the name of Sojourner Truth. She became a frequent speaker at abolitionist meetings and at feminist gatherings. She attended the First national Women’s Rights Convention in Worcester, Mass. and was the only black woman present. The following year she was an attendee at the women’s Akron, Ohio.Sojourner was not able to read or write.But she spoke at the Akron convention.

“Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that ‘twixt the Negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a pretty fix pretty soon. But what’s all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain’t I a woman?

I could work as much and eat as much as a man–when I could get it–and bear the lash as well! And ain’t I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen them most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my women’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain’t I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what’s this they call it? (Intellect, someone whispers). That’s it, honey. What’s that got to do with women’s rights or negro’s rights? If my won’t hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Than that little man in back there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ’cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.
Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say.”

There has been a play written about Sojourner’s life. It is called, “God and a Woman.” So now we come to the present. And women do not have equality as of yet. Next year, 2013, Congress will have the opportunity to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment or ERA. Just how long will the women in America have to struggle to be legally equal? This is the time to contact your congress people and tell them, Enough is Enough. We must be equal. We can’t settle for less. Two hundred years is long enough to be America’s second class citizens. Stand up and tell congress you must be legally equal. We won’t stop until we are equal.

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(Sojourner Truth quote from Feminism:  The Essential HIstorical Writings” Miriam Schneir, Vintage Books 1972)

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The Blessing of Those Who Died


Once again, we have tragedy due to violence. I feel so much love for those who are the victims. 

So I want to bless them today and for eternity. I am not dealing with anything but love and blessing here.

” Heal their Spirits, Lord, from all the wounds that their hearts have suffered through this lifetime.of limitation.”

 

“Death is the night after which the day begins.

It is death which dies, not life.

The life everlasting is hidden in the heart of death.”

                                                —Hazrat Inayat Khan

I can’t imagine how the families and friends feel at this moment, but I know that The One picked these souls up with love to take them home. I celebrate their lives and the joy, happiness and love which they shared with others during their short lives. May the goodness and love of their lives be an inspiration to the entire country. May the bright energy of their lives continue to teach others about love.

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The beginning of Peace


Photo by Barbara Mattio

” The fruit of silence is Prayer
The fruit of prayer is Faith
The fruit of faith is Love.
The fruit of love is Service.
The fruit of service is Peace.”

—-Mother Theresa

We talk so much about peace. And then they talk some more. We wish for peace, we pray for peace, we hate those who are different and we talk some more about peace. We don’t like different colors, we don’t like wearing hoodies, and we pray for peace. We tell others that if they don’t worship like we do, they will not experience St. Peter and the pearly gates. We hate those who have a different culture. We become violent when changes are suggested for our country. We let fear and anger twist our thinking and our souls, but we know God is with us and we pray for peace. Peace needs to start somewhere and the best place is within our hearts and souls. If we develop peace within our own families, communities and with our friends; it is the place for beginnings.
If each of the 7 billion + people on Mother Earth start in their own lives and in their communities, a wave of peace will begin to spread over the world. Let it begin with each of us.

Photo by Barbara Mattio

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Tea Party Slayer's avatarTea Party Slayer

http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/juan-williams/237989-opinion-romney-house-gop-jab-obama-on-jobs-but-have-no-plan-of-their-own

See Link Above – Opinion: Republicans jab Obama on jobs, but have no plan of their own

 

In fact, fixing the economy is the entire basis of Romney’s campaign. So what plans does the GOP candidate have to rev up the economy?

 

His most concrete idea for creating jobs is to approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The idea has political potency because President Obama, citing environmental concerns, denied a permit for TransCanada Corp. to construct the 1,700-mile pipeline.

However, the number of jobs that would be created by Keystone could generously be described as modest.

TransCanada initially estimated the project would create 20,000 jobs — 13,000 for the actual construction and 7,000 for manufacturing steel and other equipment.

In subsequent interviews the firm’s executives and economists who consulted on the study clarified that each of those “jobs”…

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An Attitude of Peace


There are people from every religion who believe in peace. There are prayers that are part of every culture, every religion that are lifted up for the cause of peace.

Zorastrrian prayer for peace:
“We pray to God to eradicate all the misery in the world; that understanding triumph over ignorance, that generosity triumph over indifference, that trust triumph over contempt and that truth triumph over falsehood.”

A Jewish prayer for peace
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High, and we shall beat our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall we learn war anymore. And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.”

A Baha’l Prayer for Peace
“Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness and a home for a stranger. Be eyes unto the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be a breath of life to the body of humankind, a dew to the soil of the human heart, and a fruit upon the tree of humility.”

A Sikh Prayer for Peace
“God adjudges us according to our deeds, not the coat that we wear; that Truth is above everything, but higher still is truthful living. Know that we attain God when we love and only that victory endures in consequence of which no one is defeated.”

A Hindu Prayer for Peace

O God, lead us from the unreal into the real.

O God, lead us from darkness into light.

O God, lead us from death to immorality.

Peace, peace, peace unto all.”

A Buddhist Prayer for Peace
” May all being everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses. May those frightened cease to be afraid. and may those bound be free. May the powerless find power, and may people find themselves in trackless, fearful wilderness- the children, the aged, the unprotected, be guarded by beneficent celestials. And may they swiftly attain Buddhahood..

A Sufi Prayer For Peace

“Send Thy peace, O Lord, which is perfect and everlasting, that our souls may radiate peace.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may think, act, and speak harmoniously.
Send They peace, O Lord, that we may be contented and thankful for They bountiful gifts.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that amidst our worldly strife we may enjoy Thy bliss.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, that we may endure all, tolerate all in the thought of Thy grace and mercy.
Send Thy peace, O Lord,that our lives may become a divine vision, and in Thy light all darkness may vanish.
Send Thy peace, O Lord, Our Father and Mother; that we Thy children on earth may all unite in our personhood.”

Each spiritual path leads us to the Divinity. A different facet of Divinity. Does it have to look like the people around us, is Divinity energy, is it all-powerful, does it love us and want to experience life through us? Wherever in this great big world we live in, let us understand that there is One World, One Life and One Love. Let us each do all we can to remember this each day; that we all want the same peaceful world. And may that peace come to all countries and religions and races. May we learn to love the way we are loved by Divinity. May we not see anything besides Divinity within each other and may we build a peaceful world where love is all.

Photo by Barbara Mattio