“I have learned to use my anger for good…..without it we would not be motivated to rise to a challenge. It is an energy that compels us to define what is just and unjust.” GANDHI
ecological refugees
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“We are at war with ourselves. We have put our faith in the mythical god of progress and are seeing the consequences. Millions of ecological refugees wander the earth, seeking an environment capable of sustaining their lives. . . . Did God have this kind of progress in mind?”
-Louis Vitale, OFM, Love is what Matters
My dedication to a simple lifestyle was not a choice I made altruistically. No, it was forced medicine for a chronic financial malady. But, it opened my eyes to an alternative world where the Joneses do not matter, accumulation of stuff is not a priority, big boy toys are unimportant and money is a resource to be respected and used wisely.
Yes, by Western standards, I am the poorest man I know, but I am extraordinarily blessed with every one of my needs filled. It took severe financial reversals at age 60 to teach me life’s true priorities. It is not about the stuff we gather unto ourselves, nor the clothes we wear, nor the degree behind our names, nor the shiny new BMW we drive, nor the universities our kids attend, nor the upscale church we attend, nor the country club memberships.
Real blessings have no price tag nor can they be bought. You and I awakened this morning breathing air and pumping blood. Of all the people on earth we probably have the most reasonable chance of surviving for the next 24 hours without fear of being murdered or maimed. If we are hungry, someone nearby will feed us. If we are cold, someone will provide us a blanket and a breakfast. When we are lonely, a friendly ear is just minutes away. With raised arms to the heavens let us be grateful! Most of the world’s population does not have what you and I have at this very moment.
For meditation today, consider those who have lost all possessions and their homes to natural disasters. Floods, fires, hurricanes and tornadoes devastate without discrimination. Droughts are causing famines, changing weather patterns are creating wastelands out of productive lands. The vagaries of nature combined with the unbridled greed of Western society have set the stage for a deluge of ecological refugees.
Man, in his quest for material wealth, social status, and personal comfort, seems to have forgotten that all of us need this earth to survive, all of us need to share the resources. There are no shortages if we learn to compromise and share. We do not live in a world of scarcity; rather, we live in a world of plenty designed by nature to accommodate its people if they learn to share the bounty. No one blessed with material wealth and financial success is more privileged or more deserving than another of the world’s brothers/sisters struggling to survive as refugees, either ecological or political. We ARE our brothers’ keepers; we cannot allow political or social influence to refute ancient wisdom.
IMAGINE – JOHN LENNON
Friends, today is one of those days – I need John Lennon telling me what our world could be. Join me, I am not a dreamer.
I HAVE A DREAM
Just another traveler on life’s highway hanging out in the slow lane. It’s quiet. It’s peaceful. Beyond the horizon is rest calling my name. Green pastures, still waters, my cup is overflowing.
“Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of God shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah 40:4-5
imagine what could be
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace
You may say
I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
“IMAGINE” – UNICEF
IMAGINE : unicef
“Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me.”
peace on earth
“If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.” —Martin Luther King, Jr
In my Lutheran worship service, after the prayers, “the peace of the Lord” is extended by the pastor. The congregants then take several minutes to greet each other with hugs, a
hand clasp and a repetition of “God’s peace.” It symbolizes the attitude we are encouraged to assume in greeting the world with a universal message of love and compassion.
During the Christmas season the words “peace on earth, goodwill toward men” will take center stage in celebratory endeavors. It is a sentiment which our enlightenment envisions for all of humanity regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof. It is a dream shared by John Lennon, IMAGINE, Martin Luther King, Jr., millions of pacifists worldwide, and me. Sadly, peace seems to be, in the Christmas season of 2017, the last item on the agenda of the world’s politicians, strident religious leaders, and governments. Just as a popular song by Lennon in the 1960s anti-war movement laments, “why can’t we give peace a chance” GIVE PEACE A CHANCE , we also wonder what is so tough about peace?
Indeed, why not give peace a chance? What is Larry doing today to give peace a chance? Hmmm, that’s where it starts, does it not? I can’t change the world, but I can surely, with divine help, change me; if each of the world’s 2 billion plus inhabitants could assume a commitment to peaceful co-existence, we might have a chance. Yes, I know, it’s a pipe dream, but, the process has to start somewhere with someone. Let it begin with me. As the Buddhist would ask, “How is your good heart today?” As Jesus would say, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I have within my being the solution to the worldwide pandemic called heart dis-ease. Lord, bring it on, let the cure begin with me.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” Luke 2:14 KJV
NEWS FROM GABBY GRAYWHISKERS: we are family
Folks, Gabby is saddened today reading all the bullshit coming from the leaders of the world. It’s kinda like watching a backyard brawl of 8 year olds bad-mouthing each other. “My guns are bigger than your guns. My daddy’s got more money than your daddy. I’m smarter than you. I’ll wipe your ass off the face of the earth.”
I go to music in the bad times. How about you? The theme of this blog is John Lennon’s “IMAGINE” , but one of my favorites is the song below. Crank it up
nothing to prove, nothing to protect
“When you can become little enough, naked enough, and honest enough, then you will ironically find that you are more than enough. At this place of poverty and freedom, you have nothing to prove and nothing to protect. Here you can connect with everything and everyone.” RICHARD ROHR @ CAC.ORG
“We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.” ― Dave Ramsey, The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Janis Joplin ME AND BOBBY MCGEE
Same message, different messengers. Fr. Richard is speaking to our sense of spirituality, Dave Ramsey is addressing rampant consumerism, and Janis….well, we’re not quite sure which drummer Janis was following but all three of them speak of freedom from ourselves, from that inherent, squeaky, little voice which tells us that who and what we are is just not good enough. It’s the voice that enslaves us to religious doctrine, to consumerism and to self-doubt.
Fr. Richard is of the Franciscan order and a proponent of the ancient mystics including Jesus of Nazareth. He teaches that rather than climbing the ladder to heightened spiritual awareness, we need to descend, to strip ourselves of ourselves, and recognize our Oneness with all of humanity. When we lower and join into the world of poverty and oppression with the masses we then become One. When we earnestly harbor compassion and good will for all of God’s creatures, when we strip of worldly desires, we have nothing more to lose and thereby become free.
Like most of you, for me to grasp this concept of our reality is difficult. It requires a revolutionary definition of self which is totally alien to modern Christian orthodoxy and absolutely anathema to today’s popular “prosperity Gospel”. Mother Teresa, of course, would be an excellent role model. But, we cannot all give up jobs, families, commitments to go work in the slums of a 3rd world country. However, we can make a conscious effort to eschew the trappings and trap of wealth and consumerism by recognizing the wisdom and truth of the ancients and by living lives which uphold and honor the rights of all of God’s creation.
“…..nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too…” John Lennon IMAGINE”
lpb quest - the twilight dance 