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How the Light Gets In
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
--Leonard Cohen, Anthem
Two days before Christmas, the day after the winter equinox, and it is once again preternaturally warm in Washington, D.C. Out front of my house, in the south facing 10 x 14 square foot area that forms “the front yard,” the camellia bush, snuggled up against the heat-retaining bricks, is in bloom. The daffodils are at least 6 inches high. The climbing rose bush along the cast-iron fence has just given up its last roses, and the little Japanese maple tree has still not parted with most of its leaves.
The last six years have been long and bitter for those of us who care about what happens to the people of the world, and to all of the plants and animals and fish who we share the planet with. These last six years have been long and bitter for all of those who cherish the high ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights.
And yet there is light. Where did it come from? A malevolent crew of thugs, aided by a Supreme Court that was intentionally packed with compliant judges over 12 years of Republican rule, seized control of the government in what I am sure the history books will eventually record as a type of coup, absent the tanks in the streets. Since that foul day, these thugs have done everything they could possibly do to enhance their power, both personal and political, engaging in rampant corruption and writing memos that shredded our civil liberties.
--The president has asserted that he has the power, acting on his or her own, to designate anyone, U.S. citizen or not, as an “enemy combatant,” to jail such enemy combatants without access to habeas corpus, one of the oldest protections against this kind of tyrannical behavior, and to hold those enemy combatants without trial until they die.
--And as if that were not bad enough, the president has authorized allowing people who were kidnapped to be transported to one of those dark nations whose governments were willing to sponsor the torture of these victims.
Under such conditions, it is no surprise that conspiracy talk runs wild. No one could look at this accumulation of abuses and not fear for the survival of the country as anything resembling a democratic republic.
But in the midst of this gathering darkness, with the president aggrandizing more power every day, people continued to fight, to push back, to say no, to mobilize enough of their fellow citizens to seize the country back.
In 2004, we failed to roll back the darkness, despite an enormous effort involving millions of Americans. Many of you who post regularly on this blog were deeply involved in that fight, and I can still feel the complex and confusing emotions we all felt when George Bush won. The darkness deepened.
“The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.”
But the cracks were still there, in our hearts. That’s where the light comes from. Together with many of you who had been moderators and writers on John Kerry’s campaign blog, Karen and I launched the Democracy Cell Project. And over the next two years, millions of other people joined together in thousands of blogs, and ward committees, and voter registration projects, a little crack here, and a little crack there.
I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.
Here we are, barely two years later, and there is a bigger crack, and more light than there has been in six years. The phony braying about religion and values has been exposed, and at least some of the lawless have been punished. I celebrate the light along with all the rest of you, but the killers are still in their high places, where they threaten to launch new wars of aggression, ignore global warming, and cheerlead for the destruction of even the flimsy regime to slow the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free.
There is plenty of darkness to be had in American history, from genocide, slavery, the first use of nuclear weapons, Vietnam, and Iraq….you can make up quite a long list. But what has inspired people across the last two hundred years and around the world has been the ongoing struggle against the darkness, to find the cracks and make them larger. In the long view, there has been progress, frustrating though those fights may have been at the time.
It’s no accident that light is such a prominent feature in renderings of the story of the birth of Jesus. After all, from a political point of view, the birth of Jesus was a crack in the wall of the greatest empire the world had ever seen. But at the time, there were still huge swaths of the globe where the inhabitants were blissfully unaware of even the existence of the Roman Empire, unaffected by its rise or fall. Now we are all together, inseparably linked whether we wish it or not. Not talking with other countries does not diminish their power to affect our lives, it only deprives us of the opportunity to look more closely for the cracks. So in the coming year, when the darkness threatens to possess your soul, think about all the cracks there are that you can touch, that you can lead others to, that you can send your own light through.
Anthem by Leonard Cohen
The birds they sang
at the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don't dwell on what
has passed away
or what is yet to be.
Ah the wars they will
be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
bought and sold
and bought again
the dove is never free.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
We asked for signs
the signs were sent:
the birth betrayed
the marriage spent
Yeah the widowhood
of every government --
signs for all to see.
I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.
But they've summoned, they've summoned up
a thundercloud
and they're going to hear from me.
Ring the bells that still can ring ...
You can add up the parts
but you won't have the sum
You can strike up the march,
there is no drum
Every heart, every heart
to love will come
but like a refugee.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.
That's how the light gets in.
Suspicious timing about "Bin Laden associate" killed.
Haven't they heard about "The Boy Who Called Wolf?!"
I'm sure the ancient Greeks had tyrants, liars, thugs and propagandists that they needed fables to warn people about.
Light.
Bono knighted for work in Africa.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/24/nbono24.xml
Has also been appointed to French Legion of Honour and given other deserved honors in the last 3 years. I don't believe that's why he does what he does.
Wish we would hear more about Africa, with its history of colonization and neglect yet under-recognized contributions culturally.
The planet is so skewed in terms of how priorities are played out - it's grossly unfair.
Thank you for that very evocative post, Mr. Bell.
And thank you for everything you & Karen did for the '04 campaign, those that preceded it, and those yet to come.
And thank all of you who read here and write here and lurk here and link here. Everything we do here matters, not just to us but to everyone.
And, thank Goddess, the light still manages to get in:
"When Resolve Turns Reckless" --
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/22/AR2006122201182_pf.html
I've been known to state that peacemaking is not a passive verb. Well, politics is not a passive concept either.
It's a big world, and we're not the only ones in it.
But it's a small world too; and thanks to these wonderful digital tools we have to work with here, it's getting smaller every day.
We've been in the virtual trenches together, you and I. We've come to know, and to trust, and to rely on each other. And we will continue to do so in the months and years to come.
And call me crazy, but I do believe the world will be a better place for it because we can and will keep being an extended family here.
blessed be, my friends and compatriots...
Otter
Thanks for a beautiful post, Dick. You are so eloquent.
And Otter, thanks for posting that article. The voice of reason speaks yet again.
I feel so fortunate to be a part of this extended family - through the darkness and the light. Let's all keep opening those cracks wider and letting more light in!
Very nice and thoughtful post Richard. I agree, the light does peek back in, albeit slowly.
Some Light in Minneapolis!!!!
Hundreds join Minneapolis protest to “send an anti-war message for the holidays – U.S. out of Iraq!”
Over 300 people participated in an anti-war protest in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis between 1 and 2 pm on Saturday, December 23.
While news reports indicate the Bush Administration is planning to send additional troops to Iraq and the U.S. combat death toll in Iraq nears 3,000, many Twin Citians welcomed the opportunity to make their anti-war views visible.
Read the full account, with really cool photos, at:
http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com
Great work, Kayakbiker!!!! I'm proud of you.
By the way, Dick - really like this article alot and also the comments so far. Happy Holidays, everyone.
Listening to Gnarls Barkley & getting in the spirit.
Wonderful post!
The Bush presidency has been a blight on humanity. A lot of people around the world are waiting for the light. Peace is light!
I hope everyone reads John Kerry's editorial. Thanks for posting it Otter.
So proud of Santa too!
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/12/23/213951/48/137#c137
Great photo! Great caption! Great comment!
I asked Bert to get me the lyrics to the antiwar Christmas carols they sang in downtown Minneapolis, with Santa, and I can post them for others to use. We still have 2 more days to be seasonal. Would love to go downtown and do this tomorrow!
Very beautiful, encouraging and inspiring article, Richard. Thank you.
Richard hit the nail on the head as to what I have been thinking and feeling this holiday season.
Encouraged because the crack has gotten wider and larger, and more light is getting through. Still concerned because there is a whole lot more light in that vessel, but hopeful that the process has started, and is gaining momentum.
Richard and Otter and Carol said everything I feel toward each of you, my extended family.
This is a very busy time of year, and everyone I know is frazzled. But it's a wonderful time of year, too. It is a time of love, of reaching out and touching others, and celebrating with family and friends.
I do wish every one of you a very Happy Holiday Season. And once again, DCP, thanks for all you've been and continue to be to each one of us.
You have been the electricity, the light bulb, the candle, the flashlight, and the battery at different times to me and many these past few years. (Karen is like the Energizer Bunny!) I
appreciate it so very much!
I am hosting a Christmas Eve open house dinner before and after the local mainstream Methodist church candlelight service many of us will attend together this year. Like everyone, I am a bit frazzled from all the running and doing and shopping and wrapping and mailing and cleaning and cooking, etc. It will feel so good to sit down with a cup of hot peppermint tea and catch up on the blog and post as soon as I can after the holidays, and I intend to do so and enjoy every minute of it!
Thanks again, Richard for the beautiful article. Anthem by Leonard Cohen is one of my most favorite pieces.
Be the light, everyone, and ring those bells!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Thank you, Richard and Karen, as always, for your words and inspiration.
I can only hope that this build-up of dangerous GOP control, so undermining of everything we value, becomes well understood by the electorate.
That the media can tell enough of the story, of the neo-con campaign against government, letting privatization and K Street run away with our treasure, to bury that rhetoric and discredit the movement once and for all.
The stealing of our vote has been a well-run business plan, given a green light after Hagel's surprising win in the nineties. Letting HAVA and vendors loose, without well-designed equipment, selling only that business plan for permanent control, and profit margins on the side.
Thanks to all at DCP who have kept faith with our country's ideals, our principles, and worked hard off the DCP site to make the changes we need.
I am grateful to all of you, and send my best wishes.
Light.
Bono knighted for work in Africa.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/12/24/nbono24.xml
Posted by: DiAnne at December 23, 2006 08:56 PM
Well, that's a snub by the Queen Elizabeth II to John Howard! John Howard refused to meet with Bono when he was in Australia. "He's only a rock singer," said Howard.
Hah! Well done Bono.
I feel so fortunate to be a part of this extended family - through the darkness and the light. Let's all keep opening those cracks wider and letting more light in!
Posted by: Carol at December 23, 2006 10:12 PM
The cracks are multiplying and the days get brighter. Otter, thanks for inviting me along to DCP and thanks to everyone for making me welcome. I often feel frustrated because I can't contribute to the hard work that you do between and during elections. I can't think of a better group to be attached to.
Dickbell - I loved the post. There's a lot to think about. Thanks and with all of us and millions of others getting the light through the cracks, big changes will come.
Thankyou everyone
woz
Maybe this is off-topic, then again, maybe not so much.
On Memorial Day of 2006, a car bomb in Iraq killed three people and wounded six more. Not much news there; much to our shame and chagrin, it happens every day in Iraq.
What was unusual is two of the three people killed by that car bomb were the cameraman and soundman for a CBS News team. One of the people grievously injured by that car bomb was the on-air reporter for that CBS News team.
That reporter, Kimberly Dozier, has posted an update on her condition and a moving memorial to her two dead colleagues on CBS News' website at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/21/opinion/main2287408.shtml
To our shame and chagrin, bombings like this one happen everyday in Iraq. But relatively few people have the option to survive and the access to write about such attacks after the fact.
Kimberly Dozier is one of those lucky few, and reading her post just makes us all that much more aware of those who were not as lucky as she.
This madness has to be stopped.
Thanks Dick, and happy holidays to you & Karen...and the rest of the DCP. I'm on duty (I volunteered) & trying to bring some holiday cheer to those who got stuck with duty away from their families on Christmas.
Your piece reminded me of this quote from one of my favorite authors (and favorite books):
"Suddenly there was a great burst of light through the Darkness. The light spread out and where it touched the Darkness the Darkness disappeared. The light spread until the patch of Dark Thing had vanished, and there was only a gentle shining, and through the shining came the stars, clear and pure."
which of course is an allusion to, among other things, "the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined" and "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
*******
In other news of a (relatively) warm winter...our schedule has firmed up for the winter and it looks like the weekend of Feb 2-4 will be open for hosting "DCP South" in Mobile...is anyone still interested? (it's the start of Mardi Gras season down here too)
Good morning this Christmas Eve day!
There is bread baking and teenagers sleeping. Our oldest is back from college and the light in the eyes of the two high school seniors is that of wide-eyed hope for their own futures.
It is amazing to watch them becoming themselves.
And it has been amazing to watch everyone here grow and share their wisdom and move us all along towards peace and justice and a more democratic world.
More as the day wears on, I hope!
Otter,
Thanks so much for posting the article by Kimberly Dozier. I have often thought of her and wondered how she is coming along.
I have to run now (still) but am So looking forward to sitting down and reading up on her condition and outlook. Thanks for the gift of that post.
Happy happy!
Happy day before Christmas! I'm the only one up but ready to bus downtown to see how it looks all lit up and to go to the Pike Market on the waterfront. Our tradition is to have our son over and our long-time friend originally from Thailand comes up from Portland. We'll have salmon and we've all been eating so many sweets, our stomachs look like muffin tops over our pants. We don't have a white Christmas but it's overcast and cool, very quiet at the moment.
I think we'll end up with new books, CD and DVDs. That's kind of what we're into - culture vultures. Appliances just get int the way and waste more energy. We keep it simple and try to keep the credit cards put away. Some say America's economy is dependent on consumer spending. Bush in his last address encouraged us to go out shopping. Well the basis on which our economy runs is going to have to change, or it's not the just the government which will go down the drain (as Grover Norquist wants) but everything!
Thanks for all the work and connection this community does. Am wondering about Christy and her melted computer. Ally is getting to go to the Bay Area. I'm sure various people will pop in to say hi in the next couple of days.
I hope 2007 is better. We're doing something new - joining those we've seen out on the Harbor on New Yeaqr's Eve. We've never even thought of watching the fireworks from the water. Let's hope Congress is able to show some muscle. They need our encouragement.
I'd also like to see an international peace and justice effort grow. We have the internet to do it with. I'm thinking of the potential of places like MySpace, where mostly young people go to share & socialize. They are of an age where growing awareness would be so critical - draft age, employment age, inheritors of the future. Jon Stewart and Steve Colbert have been brilliant in opening up some minds through comedy. What else can be done?
Truth Shall Prevail - I have to tell you about my mother. She is 76 and has no computer, doesn't want to go through the learning curve. She just got a Christmas card from a formerly conservative woman in Kansas. The enclosure - my mother told me, "She put in this whole sheet where for every face George Bush was making, they'd found a picure of a monkey making the same face!? That thing was going around years ago and if it's now circulating between geriatrics in red states via snail mail, that's another hopeful sign!
Have a great relaxing time, all!
My warmest holiday greetings to everyone at DCP.
All we are saying is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-NRriHlLUk&NR
Thanks Otter. What a great Christmas message! Made me cry though - here's to a peaceful 2007.
Thanks a million for this heartfelt and hopeful message. This, I believe, is my first time on this site. It is encouraging to say the least. There's been some setbacks and lately there's been some progress--I am heartened to hear from you all working toward progress.
Welcome Cadmium!
You've found a wonderful spot and we're so happy to have you here. Thanks for stopping by this holiday season. We hope we'll see you around these parts regularly.
We're all learning from each other here.
~Peace~
Sending good wishes out to all of you this Christmas eve. Thinking about the troops and wishing they were back home. My husband has a student in his school who's dad has been home on leave for two weeks, and has to go back TOMORROW.
There is something deeply wrong with that.
I'll be out of touch next week, but will be back in the new year to catch up and share stories of my trip to New Orleans.
Keep that light shining, everybody. I know you all will!
They say everything can be replaced
They say every distance is not near
So I remember every face
Of every man who put me here
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
They say every man needs protection
They say every man must fall
So I swear I see my reflection
Someplace so high above this wall
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
Standing next to me in this lonely crowd
Is a man who swears he's not to blame
All day long I hear him shout so loud
Crying out that he was framed
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
thanks for the use of the words mr. zimmerman,
Otter
6 U.S. troops die in bloody Iraq weekend.
Merry Christmas President Bush.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everyone.
I had the pleasure of hearing a service a few days ago. The liturgy included poems of peace and hope. Much different from what I remember.
The sermon was about the courage of individuals that shine as bright as the celebrities who usually get given credit for courage.
It made me think of all of you. And it made me proud to be as courageous as all of you are.
I believe we are revolutionaries and we're working for peace and justice and such lofty goals as integrity and humanity. We are courageous and hard working. Maybe nobody will know our name, but we didn't lay down and surrender.
Dick and Karen,
Thank-you for all the hard work you have done to make this site a reality. I know there are many others who have worked equally hard to keep this forum for change working and I want to express my thanks to all of you as well.
I remember after the Kerry/Edwards site closed, there were many of us looking for a way to reconnect with those around the country we had gotten to know during a very hopeful time. We WERE devastated by the results (I wont use the word loss), and the rapid closing of the Kerry/Edwards site was salt in our wound. So we scattered about on the web, looking for others who we recognized. It was a haphazard time, but many of us found each other. Our community was still intact. After that, you and others took on the enormous challenge of building this site. We had found our home again, and it was comforting, just like the cracks of light warming our beings and lighting the way.
I am very grateful to this site for allowing me to feel as an equal among those who clearly have a better understanding of the body politic, for recognizing that we all have something in our own way to contribute to our community, and for encouraging me to take the initiative to get more involved.
I am very fortunate in that I have few material needs. I could just as easily sat back and bemoaned, to those who would listen (mostly my family), my fears and anger at our government. However, it is mainly because of the welcoming spirit on this site that I felt comfortable enough to get involved in local campaigns and issues.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for helping me discover myself.
May the peace that this season symbolizes become one with all of you. May we realize that day when Martin Luther King Jr's dreams for humankind be fulfilled.
Mr. Matalin is not our friend.
Unsure? Read this article, look between the lines, connect the dots: http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_5251
Just one example, from page 5 of said article....
"It drove Rahm and Carville nuts. 'The thing that stuns me,' Carville says, 'is that this is supposed to be a rigged deal—chairman of the party! The congressional leadership, the fund-raisers, people like that are supposed to decide. You [the state-party chairs and DNC members] are supposed to get a call and are told who to vote for! You’re not supposed to really vote on this shit!'"
Oh. Okay, then. We gotcher small-d democracy right here, Jimmy boy. Don't let the screen door hit ya where the good lord split ya.
honesty sincerity and competence is that really too much to ask for all at the same time,
Otter
'Grief can take care of itself; but to get the full value of a joy, you must have someone to share it with.... I think I first read it from a series of Mark Twain quotes, but I've since then seen essentially the same words from writers who came before him.
The saying is basically true under normal circumstances. Joys are multiplied when shared with others - as I can attest to from my childhood when family gatherings included so much food I'm surprised tables and counter tops didn't collapse under the weight of the sheer amount of foods made by my mother and aunts, and then sitting around the table after dinner us kids would urge our parents to re-tell the same stories about their childhood adventures and my stomach muscles hurt for a week afterward from laughing so hard, and even my face muscles hurt from laughing. My parents and most of my aunts and uncles are dead now (only one biological aunt still alive), but remembering those carefree days can now make me smile without tears of grief.
Under normal circumstances, my grief has taken care of itself largely by just allowing the hurt to happen and not denying the pain, curling up in a fetal position and crying my heart out to my pillow. Hugs always helped, but words didn't help my personal grieving processes until long after the fact, and outwardly my grieving has not been displayed for all the world to see, so to speak. I kept my grieving processes silent until I could talk about the pain without crying.
However, the grieving processes involved with the loss of our republic over the last six years are an entirely different matter, and my grieving processes have been very public. For that, I've shared my woes with you, my online community of friends who share my grief. You have given me hope where none has existed, and your varying opinions and shared sorrows have enlightened me, and your shared wisdom from varying perspectives has been invaluable in giving me both perspective and knowledge - and knowledge is something I have always sought, even when knowledge is painful. Truth I can bear, even if it hurts, when shared with others. Whether it's a fault or a virtue, I'm addicted to seeking knowledge to arrive at truth, even if that truth is sometimes transitiory, like a flower that blooms and dies within one day. I make no apologies for seeking knowledge wherever I can find it. I really only get to be annoying when I share knowledge at times - I become like a weed that flowers incessantly atop an old dung heap.... ;-)
Truth, to me, is like blooming flowers seeking sunlight... and as anyone who has grown up on a farm knows, the best fertilizer is manure. This nation has become one dung heap of lies and criminal activity from the so-called 'leaders' of this sorrowful nation. Still, from the dung heap that has become this nation, online communities have flowered, spread seeds, and new flowers are growing, even in improbable places, and like Mother Nature herself, online communites who share sorrows and knowledge and truth are blooming and multiplying, in spite of the horrors represented in the dung heap (war, torture, concentration camps, loss of rights and privileges - you all know what's in that dung heap).
Against all odds (a propagandistic media as an extension of the technical dictatorship that exists now in this country), online communities are flourishing and spreading seeds of truth about the lies. What the "leaders" of this country may see as noxious flowering weeds, the online community is transforming into lush flower beds of beautiful blooms, tended by gardeners (bloggers, web masters) carefully watering the plants who want their rare blooms to thrive in the sunlight so the seeds may spread and grow and thrive elsewhere.
Flowers only need a little light to bloom, and some varieties actually bloom only at night... and I see this online community as a lush flower garden of hardy plants. The roots may be in the dung heap, but as long as we have the internet free of corporate regulation, I must believe that at some point the lush vegetation and flowering plants spreading their seeds on the wind will transform the dung heap to a flower garden whose blooms will be prized for extravagant beauty.
Meanwhile, in winter plants slumber, seeds are waiting to be nudged by sunlight and water... it is a time of anticipation, waiting for longer days which bring the sunlight so necessary for growth....
Thank you for sharing your invaluable wisdom and knowledge. May those seeds become hardy flowering perennials....
And speaking of shared sorrows (fairly long article)....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061225/ap_on_en_mu/obit_brown
'Godfather of Soul' James Brown dies
Have a few extra minutes today? Please read this and consider writing to your Rep.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/24/184652/71
Interesting comment on this open thread. Talking about snipers in Baghdad. Also an intereting analysis using google-earth.
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/12/25/902/42961/24#c24
Posted by: Otter at December 25, 2006 04:50 AM
Thanks for that posting that interesting article Otter. Rahm Emmanuel's dumping Christine Cegelis for Tammy Duckworth has not been forgotten in this district. As he likes to say, he can go "F***" himself for that one too. For a guy who is supposed to know so much, he didn't know what was really going on in his own backyard. Sickening.
Hi everyone...
Since we can't post pictures in the thread here at DCP, please consider this one a gift meant for all my DCP buddies as well...
http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/12/25/11171/479/57#c57
I wish you all the best at this time of year and for the coming year.
Posted by: NonnyO at December 25, 2006 09:34 AM
Thank you, too, NonnyO. Your contribution here at the DCP has been invaluable and vital.
May I offer this thought today before I am off and running again (then I get to rest and have two days off before returning to work!).......
It is an imperfect world. We are imperfect people. Many have idealistic natures, and would like perfection. I tend to be one of those creatures. But I learned I cannot wait until my world or even myself is perfect to be happy! (Because there is NO SUCH THING AS PERFECT.)
The process is what is important. Richard's piece speaks loudly to that, too.
So be happy, and remember that we CAN make a difference, we can be light, we can make everything better. Growth and teaching and learning is a process that takes time, and what we can do in our best consciences is to continue and hone the process......
But, in the meantime, be HAPPY too, with whatever blessings you have, and whatever hand life has dealt you!!!!
Warmest wishes to all of you......
Holiday greetings to all...
My gift to you: two bits of wisdom from the East
"To be able to hear the divine calling,
for grace to flow abundantly,
it is enough to love something dearly -- music, the sun, or a little child."
- Ramakrishna
"If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking."
- Buddhist proverb
Legendary singer James Brown dies at 73
ATLANTA -
James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.
Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.
Copsidas said the cause of death was uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said.
Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others. Songs such as
David Bowie's "Fame," Prince's "Kiss," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style.
If Brown's claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question. He was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator.
"James presented obviously the best grooves," rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy once told The Associated Press. "To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one's coming even close."
continued: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obit_brown
P.S.
We got to welcome a new baby into our family this Christmas!!!!
My cousin heads a non-profit org. in Denver that works with social workers and the police to serve children that have been abused, violated, or abandoned.
She is 36 and has never married (although she is beautiful - just hasn't met the right guy) and has been longing for a child so she put her name on the adoption list, got screened and accepted.
Three months ago a newborn baby was left in a tackle box at the fire station there. They have a law there that anyone who does not want a child they choose to bear can leave it at the fire station or police station within 72 hours after the birth with no questions asked or legal ramifications. She heard about the little abandoned baby boy on the news on her way to work that morning.
That afternoon they called her and asked her if she wanted him, cuz if she did, he was all hers!!!
He is a DOLL!!!!! (I cried when I first saw him, he is such a gift!!!)
Let There Be Peace On Earth (And Let It Begin With Me.)
by Vince Gill
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be.
With God as our father
Brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.
With every step i take
Let this be my solemn vow.
To take each moment
And live each moment
With peace eternally.
Let ther be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me.
(child)
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be.
With god as our father
Brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.
With every step I take
Let this be my solemn vow.
To take each moment
And live each moment
In peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
salmon and Italian salad
rosemary bread
citrus meringue
The Beatles "Love" remixed for Cirque du Soleil
by George & Giles Martin
My son just arrived .. "I'm hungry .. anything I can snack on?"
Truth--
Congrats to your niece and her new little blessing.
Thank you for all the kind words. We were blessed with a wonderful Christmas morning with our three kids, all of us together for the first time since June. Reading through these comments has been a very special reminder of how important other people are in our lives, and why investing in a community is far and away the best investment any of us can ever make. We are looking forward to the coming year as one in which all of the communities in our country and on our planet will have a better chance in the struggle to build a more equitable, more just, and environmentally sustainable world.
Peace and thank you all.
Does anybody recognize the handle for this post? It was in the WaPo discussion section of JK's op-ed:
It must be remembered that this war is the handiwork of the Republican Party, and the clueless name-calling minions who blindly accept the work of that Partys ruthless propaganda machine. Sure they hate John Kerry, they hate Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Jim Webb, Al Gore, any Democrat and all Democrats in general - all 150 million of us who are or will grow up to vote Democratic. They hate, and thats what they are all about, period. Read all about it anywhere you look, if of course you read at all Mr. Bush. To these unread, ill-informed, head in the sand morons, the war in Iraq as with politics in general, is a simply a sports event just like thier beloved NASCAR and World Wrestling Federation garbage. Something you can write a country and western song about, then use to sell pickup trucks to the great unwashed. Its about Team Republican winning, not about the worlds or this Nations future. The era of analytical thought is over, Now is the time of mass control by Orwellian sound byte. So dont expect meaningful discussion, expect name calling and venom. God help us all!
By geoserve | Dec 24, 2006 5:53:43 AM |
Snowmen Are Sinister II
http://www.silencedmajority.blogs.com
Snowmen Are Sinister I
scroll down
I don't recognise it Oncall.
Just looked at all the JK op-ed comments, finally,(also don't know geoserve), all 11 pages, and have to say they aren't encouraging about our electorate. They can't all be neocon defenders, or nut jobs, social misfits, writing from their padded basements.
Not one defender that Kerry never wanted war, even though he stated it's not about who wanted it or didn't. Much Vietnam resentment, still.
More than one about the concession thing, which needs to be cleared up. Despite that many don't want the facts about actually being able to overturn the election, and would rather blame.
Will there ever be a day when someone with Kerry's achievement can survive an election with that record intact?
McCain's effort truly scares me, peddling that straight-shooter thing, and no one can be as Bush, defenses down voting attitude.
Except for a few years in this century, newspapers have always been partisan advocates of issues and people, and mostly unreliable.
Now with the internet and permanent slime sticking to the bathroom wall, all bets are off. Wikipedia is another self-generating list of questionable facts.
We saw a tiny exhibit on pamphleteering vs the internet at the NY Historical Society, while there at the very worthwhile, Slavery un NY, part II.
Until there are staffs of web journalists (although schools aren't as rigorous anymore against sources said, or the truth and justice thing), we will be as lax and unfair about the facts.
We can dream.
Probe of Bush Policies in the Works
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1223-01.htm
Report of what was in the Boston Globe, having to do with the Massachusetts delegation and pending Congressional investigations about what happened when the Executive Branch proceeded for 6 years without any real Congressional oversight.
What could happen? What about delegations from other Dem-dominated states with members on powerful committees - who want to know what the hell happened over the past 6 years and why.
Pelosi & Conyers - Smarter Than Impeachment
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_061225_pelosi_and_conyers__.htm
I have received this from a trusted friend here in Seattle and we are discussing it via email as a group. I have sent it on to another little "think tank" with people on-line from Minnesota and Oregon tonight. I want to know what y'all think.
Dare we dream? Should we move in this direction? What is the best game plan? Is this feasible? Is it possible?
A CANDLE IN THE MIDDLE
Vocals, Music, Lyrics and
Poem by Craig Taubman
copyright 1997 Sweet Louise Music BMI
I'm a candle in the middle
The plain old average middle
It's plain to see I'm plain old me
What a boring place to be
Not darkest not the lightest
Not shiniest or brightest
I'm a candle in the middle
In the middle you'll find me
chorus
I want to shine shine bright to shine shine in the night
My little candle light I want to shine all night
Compared to all the rest
I'm not the worst I'm not the best
I barely make a flicker
I wish my light was bigger
Not really here not really there
I'm not quite anywhere
I'm just a candle in the middle
A mediocre place to be
chorus
Wake up and seize the light
You are the sizzle in our night
A light in shining armor
With out a doubt a real charmer
You are the shamash man
A real big wick phenomenon
Your light is so divine
You really ought to let it shine
I'm in a very cool location
I'm on a firm foundation
I'm glad I'm in the middle
It's such a central place to be
A gift to young and old
That grows a thousand fold
I'm glad I'm in the middle
And I am glad that I am me
chorus
I'm gonna shine shine bright to shine shine in the night
My little candle light is going to shine all night
http://www.jclla.org/audio_craig_njd.htm
FIXING UP THE WORLD
Vocals, Music, Lyrics and
Poem by Craig Taubman
copyright 1997 Sweet Louise Music BMI
If you want to get ahead
You best you better use your head
For if you don't you'll find instead
You're gonna fall behind
Be a mensch and act refined
You really ought to use your mind
You can't go down a path that's blind
Or you will fall behind
There is a ton of work that must be done
Fixing up the world Tikkun Olam
There's no free ticket friend and no free ride
It's up to you you can't run you can't hide
Respect your parents greet your friends
Respect the old and make amends
Which means that you should never
Ever never hold a grudge
Do acts of loving kindness
Such as helping those with blindness
Maybe visiting the sick
Or helping brides whose dress got smudged
We're not talking hammers screws or nails
It's something more that really tips the scales
It's how you act and what you think and do
It's fixing up the world fixing up the world
Fixing up the fixing up the fixing up the world
One step forward head up watch your back
Clear your mind and always stay on track
There's no free ticket friend and no free ride
It's up to you you can't run you can't hide
No you can't hide you cannot hide
No place to hide...
If I'm gonna get ahead
I best I better use my head
For if I don't I'll find instead
I'm gonna be behind
http://www.jclla.org/audio_craig_njd.htm
"From single strands of light we build our webs."
Namaste.
The Wall
We are standing under the wall. Our youth has been taken off like a shirt from the condenmed men. We wait. Before the fat bullet will sit down on the nape of the neck, ten, twenty years pass. The wall is high and strong. Behind the wall is a tree and a star. The tree pries at the wall with its roots. The star nibbles the stone like a mouse. In a hundred, two hunderd years there will already be a small window.
~~Zbigniew Herbert
From: “Against Forgetting: Twentieth-Century Poetry of Witness”
Edited by: Carolyn Forche
Thanks for the lovely post, Richard. :-)
For the Solstice in all of us:
"If each day falls
inside each night,
there exists a well
where clarity is imprisoned.
We need to sit on the rim
of the well of darkness
and fish for fallen light
with patience."
From: "The Sea and the Bells"
By: Pablo Neruda