Quote of The Day

Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

- Civil rights veteran Rev. Joseph Lowery, in his benediction to close the inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama.

The Benediction

Civil rights veteran Rev. Joseph Lowery, in his benediction to close the inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama.

Cry of a Tiny Babe

There are others who know about this miracle birth
The humblest of people catch a glimpse of their worth
For it isn't to the palace that the Christ child comes
But to shepherds and street people, hookers and bums
And the message is clear if you've got ears to hear
That forgiveness is given for your guilt and your fear
It's a Christmas gift you don't have to buy
There's a future shining in a baby's eyes
Like a stone on the surface of a still river
Driving the ripples on forever
Redemption rips through the surface of time
In the cry of a tiny babe

Bruce Cockburn - 1990

Child of Wonder, Take off your Shoes

Child of Wonder, Take off your Shoes
From Seasons Of Your Heart:Prayers and Reflections
Macrina Wiederkehr

My bare feet walk the earth reverently
for everything keeps crying,
Take of your shoes
The ground you stand on is holy
The ground of your being is holy

When the wind sings through the pines
like a breath of God
awakening you to the sacred present
calling your soul to new insights
Take off your shoes!

When the sun rises above your rooftop
coloring your world with the dawn
Be receptive to this awesome beauty
Put on your garment of adoration
Take off your shoes!

When the Red Maple drops its last leaf of summer
wearing its "burning bush" robes no longer
read between its barren branches, and
Take off your shoes!

When sorrow presses close to your heart
begging you to put your trust in God alone
filling you with a quiet knowing
that God's hand is not too short to heal hyou
Take off your shoes!

When a new person comes into your life
like a mystery about to unfold
and you find yourself marveling over
the frailty and splendor of every human being
Take off your shoes!

When, during the wee hours of the night
you drive slowly into the new day
and the morning's fog, like angel wings
hovers mysteriously above you
Take off your shoes!

Take off your shoes of distraction
Take off your shoes of ignorance and blindness
Take of your shoes of hurry and worry
Take off anything that prevents you
from being a child of wonder

Take off your shoes;
the ground you stand on is holy.
The ground you are is holy.

Remembrance Day

Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Spell Check Sux

Fun blog posting snipit taken from here. Thanks Ro!

A little poem about user interface design and the zen of life with technology!



like algebra
frustrating to learn
almost impossible 4 me
i think in pictures

there is a computer language
i dont speak it
i breathe
say thanks

spell check sux
it should fix it and put it in bold
and then when u r done
it says

ok?
like - "is this what u meant?"
cause the underlined red dots
make me want to hurt someone

peace begins inside

Credo

by Dorothee Solle
from Revolutionary Patience

I believe in god
who did not create an immutable world
a thing incapable of change
who does not govern according to eternal laws
that remain inviolate
or according to a natural order
of rich and poor
or the expert and the ignorant
of rulers and subjects
I believe in god
who willed conflict in life
and wanted us to change the status quo
through our work
through our politics

I believe in jesus christ
who was right when he
like each of us
just another individual who couldn't beat city hall
worked to change the status quo
and was destroyed
looking at him I see
how our intelligence is crippled
our imagination stifled
our efforts wasted
because we do not live as he did

every day I am afraid
that he died in vain
because he is buried in our churches
because we have betrayed his revolution
in our obedience to authority
and our fear of it
I believe in jesus christ
who rises again and again in our lives
so that we will be free
from prejudice and arrogance
and from fear and hate
and carry on his revolution
and make way for his kingdom

I believe in the spirt
that jesus brought into the world
in the brotherhood of all nations
I believe it is up to us
what our earth becomes
a vale of tears of starvation and tyranny
or a city of god
I believe in a just peace
that can be achieved
in the possibility of a meaningful life
for all people
I believe this world of god's
has a future
amen

The Gate of the Year

At the Gate of the Year
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied,
'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth his intention."


by Minnie Louise Harkins 1875-1957
Included in King George V1 broadcast 1939

Child of Wonder, Take off your Shoes

From Seasons Of Your Heart:Prayers and Reflections
Macrina Wiederkehr

My bare feet walk the earth reverently
for everything keeps crying,
Take of your shoes
The ground you stand on is holy
The ground of your being is holy

When the wind sings through the pines
like a breath of God
awakening you to the sacred present
calling your soul to new insights
Take off your shoes!

When the sun rises above your rooftop
coloring your world with the dawn
Be receptive to this awesome beauty
Put on your garment of adoration
Take off your shoes!

When the Red Maple drops its last leaf of summer
wearing its "burning bush" robes no longer
read between its barren branches, and
Take off your shoes!

When sorrow presses close to your heart
begging you to put your trust in God alone
filling you with a quiet knowing
that God's hand is not too short to heal hyou
Take off your shoes!

When a new person comes into your life
like a mystery about to unfold
and you find yourself marveling over
the frailty and splendor of every human being
Take off your shoes!

When, during the wee hours of the night
you drive slowly into the new day
and the morning's fog, like angel wings
hovers mysteriously above you
Take off your shoes!

Take off your shoes of distraction
Take off your shoes of ignorance and blindness
Take of your shoes of hurry and worry
Take off anything that prevents you
from being a child of wonder

Take off your shoes;
the ground you stand on is holy.
The ground you are is holy.

The Three Kings

From Revolutionary Patience
by Dorthee Solle

I've thought a lot about
why they went
a major disturbance in the sky
a threefold source of light
in an unexpected place
an unfamiliar star among familiar ones
is that reason enough to set out
on sand-drifted roads
carrying stale water in leather bags
month after month
putting aside for now the question of high powers
that might have influenced them
I have no grasp of things like that
I would call
what drove them from home
where they must have had it good
I would call
this revolutionary virtue of the modern era
curiosity
this I'd guess is what spurred them on
they wanted to see what was up
to straighten out a new confusion
to account for this unexpected brightness
and incorporate it in the existing order

So they built
a more powerful telescope
it didn't help
didn't clear anything up
the new light just glowed
more brightly than ever
so they charted
well-to-do as they were
a fair-sized caravan
to run down that star
so they bargained bought organized laid in supplies
mapped out with thoroughness and foresight
their route and watering places
planned to travel at night
so they could promptly modify their plan
in accordance with the the somewhat erratic
course of the star
so they set out
on their arduous way to explore
this mysterious disturbance
brought into the world
by light

Were they able to explain this start
did they go home
conscious of a higher order
are they still underway
tracing irregularities
in the heavens and on earth
did they accommodate the unexpected brightness
to the everyday twilight around them
or is there a chance
that they accommodated themselves
to amazing light
could it be harnessed if so for what
did they see clearer when they got there
more important still
did they who saw it
change
reports are few
evidence is scant
but assuming they did change
I would praise the travelers
and rejoice in them and
if this uncommon light is still shining
look at it long and often
for their sake
hoping fervently
for change

Stay Awhile

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.

-- Mary Oliver