Listening, Loving, and Learning

My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Seeking the Sacred Spirit,

I won't be publishing new blog material on OneFamilyManyFaiths.blogspot.com for the indefinite future. I'd be happy, however, to hear from any of you on ideas you want to share about living your own faith journeys in your everyday lives. 

I am studying (and commenting on) the work  of Matthew Fox, MatthewFox.org, and on Patheos.com, on which I have had some entries published through Laura Paskell-Brown with Women of Spirit and Faith, http://WomenofSpiritandFaith.org/ I'd love for any of you to find me on these sites and comment there.

I am also working on getting the Mountain Mama family story completed, and working to complete my book on continuing life through death and dying. 

Possibly the most exciting thing that I'm currently doing is acting as an editorial mentor to a young woman citizen journalist in Khartoum, Sudan. I'd love for all of you to check outWorldPulse.com and see the exciting work being done for exposing the inequalities and exploring answers to gender inequality, which I think actually translates to all humanity's inequality. I do a fair amount of journaling on this site.

Love and Blessings to all of you

Y

Wake Up, Women!

Pregnancy and childbirth are death-defying endeavors;
Though it is tempting from this reality to be severed.
The result of childbearing and rearing are not certain,
But even this truth is hidden behind a denial curtain.

The society in which you bear your children counts
As the only support on which the voice of reason mounts.
You and your children are temples of The Sacred Spirit;
Repeat this loudly, until the whole universe will hear it.

Refuse to have children until your society protects
Even the babies that the military and religion rejects.
We fool ourselves by believing that we're not heroes;
It is from our bloody bodies and beds that civilization rose.

Our men continue to kill each other, as if they will care
For all the women and children, through wars, they ensnare.
It is time for us to accept all the earth's children as our own,
And use our animal mother instincts to protect our homes.

The Infinite, Eternal Spirit

The first thing we should understand is that there are no universal truths in any person's experiences.

All experience is personal perception. Science doesn't know the answers to the workings of the universe; they have prevailing theories. No one person or group has the absolute answers to the "face" of "God." Each person who believes in an an Infinite, Eternal Power of the Universe, sees this power in different ways, depending on their own lenses.

Humans, like other creatures, including plants, clump together to ensure the survival and procreation of that with which they relate. Humans have choices as to how they spread the "seeds" of their fertile minds and Spirit. Aversion to death is natural, even in plants.

Humans have an Intentional Spirit that it seems other species don't have. The more we spread this Sacred Spirit, the more of us lives on for other generations, even into eternity. It should matter not to any of us the genetic code of the physical manifestations of our Spirit. We should each concern ourselves simply with passing it on in a positively productive (responsibly compassionate) manner. 

Absolute Awesomeness

I believe the the Bible is an historical account given through the eyes, ears, minds, and spirits of the writers. (All history is based on the viewpoint of the teller.) As the human ability to understand has grown, so did scripture. At Pentecost, we were all told that we no longer need intermediaries to "hear" The Sacred Spirit, but this openness to approach such Awesomeness without a hand to hold is frightening to many.

The tragedy is that there are so many who continue to look backward to what is broken rather than forward to the gifts we have for fixing our earth. (On earth as it is in heaven) There are many who take advantage of fear to take control of the "animal" natures underneath all of our human Special Spirit. IF Jesus is truly a person's "Christ," following the path that he laid out with his example and accessing The Sacred Spirit that he infused into a "new" earth is the only way to truly honor him.

M. Scott Peck says in "A World Waiting to Be Born," that all systems are based on "masks" that we wear to seem like we are all in agreement. He says further that we cannot create change without taking off our masks. (This is something the scared and the power hungry dare not do.) I consider this the most hopeful book I've read on the future of humanity

M. Scott Peck further says that, when things begin to change, chaos ensues, which causes fear. (I think we are now at that point in humanity.) With chaos comes fear of the unfamiliar. At this point, many revert to their masks rather than face the unknown. 

It is time for humanity to stop worrying about what our ancestors did to keep themselves surrounded by only like-minded individuals, and time for us each to connect to our most responsibly compassionate selves. This is the gift of humanity's direct access to The Sacred Spirit.

In my experience, all who have an ember of this Spirit can bring it to flames that will give new warmth to the earth by connecting with this same spirit in each other. I run, don't walk, from gurus who all have ways to hypnotize or scare us into believing they have closer connection to The Sacred Spirit than do any of us.

Fear and awe feel much the same, but are very different. Imagine if we stopped talking about "fear" of God and started talking about the awesomeness of all the many manifestations on earth of the Indescribable Spiritual Power, of which humans have access AT WILL.  Sadly, we seem to fill our minds with all kinds of things to avoid facing The Awesome. 

I believe that Sacred Scripture is still being put into the hearts and spirits of everyday, average humans; we simply have stopped looking for it or even being open to it. 

Brothers and Others

We can pretend that the citizens of The United States are not socialists,
But if we didn't have some of these tendencies, our country wouldn't exist.
If you are working hard for your living, we will treat you as a brother;
All those who lie to and steal from us, we will rightfully treat as "other."

The only way a society bonds is through commonly lived values;
There is no religion or family that we think should be excused.
It is time that we stop adhering to the class system of the English,
And support, for all workers, livings wages; by this we'll be distinguished.

Our politicians are treated as lords in a aristocratic kingdom;
The clergy of churches bow down to what our country has become.
The marriage of religion and government is an Old World perversion
To which all of our citizens should have a strongly held aversion.

We should not care, as Americans, what a neighbor's race or religion;
What we should care about is how our neighbor makes decisions.
Those who care about, not only themselves, but about their community
Are the people that we all welcome as family in the Land of the Free.

Sacred Service

It is a fantasy promoted by many that one person or people is born to serve others.
In fact, all who are included in the homo sapiens species are equal sisters and brothers.
The belief that any are more special than others, and deserving of nothing but leisure,
Is something from which everyone in a mother church should be working to free her.

All need the same building blocks of life: nourishment, shelter, and belonging.
Those who, through fear, control these assets, are guilty of humanity's wronging.
There is nobody on earth, prophet or priest, any more sacred than another;
We're all created from the same breath of life: father, mother, sister and brother.

We are all meant to promote each other, as in the game of leap frog,
And all to be as devoted to earth and each other as is a faithful family dog.
When we stop worshiping money and power more than humanity,
Perhaps we will, with all homo sapiens, become one big family.

Rome Must Recuse Herself

I'd like it not to be, but it does hurt my feelings that so many of my friends and family remain Roman Catholic, knowing full well the pain that the church inflicted, and continues to inflict, on me and my family and friends. How can they continue to take part in the banquet being offered at the altar, knowing that I am not welcome at the table with them? I did not abuse the church; the church abused me and my family. Is it always to be that might makes right?

The church has presented itself as the only path to eternal life, all the while leading people to sin so that they can then heroically save them. This is standard behavior of abusers; they bring the vulnerable down in order to be the heroes in comforting them.

The church denies the sacraments to those molested by the clergy, while allowing these same clergy, with the virgin blood of so many on their hands, to continue to lay their filthy hands on those seeking the grace of the sacred gifts represented in theses rituals. There is a remedy for pedophilia in the bible: New International Version (©2011) 'It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Luke 17:2 Because Roman Catholics are presented as eternal children of the church and the clergy as fathers; the abuses, no matter the ages of the victims, are nothing short of incest.
 
The church nullifies sacred bonds made manifest in our children, with marriage annulments, showing no concern about what human price this extracts.

The church hides behind the walls of castles as human bodies are being burned alive, sanctifying the war efforts and blessing the battles.  They have even turned their seat of religion into a sovereign state, complete with armed guards. Where is Jesus in this scenario?

The church promotes abuse through brainwashing with fear of reprisal on a cosmic level, with them holding only the only power to protect and save. This is in direct contradiction to biblical prescriptions for forgiveness :15 "If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the fault. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If that person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. If the church decides you are right, but the other person won't accept it, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. 18 I tell you this: Whatever you prohibit on earth is prohibited in heaven, and whatever you allow on earth is allowed in heaven. 19 "I also tell you this: If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them." Matthew 18:15-20

The church denies exit from the abusive relationship under penalty of eternal damnation. If the sacrament of matrimony can be annulled, then so should all the sacraments be able to be officially annulled.

In order for the church to make right what they have systematically destroyed, the faith foundations of true followers of Jesus, they must:

1.  Publicly admit that they have sinned against all humanity with their arrogance.
2.  Recuse their leaders from any further moral authority. 
3. Offer annulment of all sacraments administered by them.
4. Tear down the walls protecting the Vatican and the churches and their leaders from rendering unto Caesar the imposition of justice that is Caesar's.
5. Sell what they have and follow the true path of Jesus.
6. Pay restitution to all harmed irreparably by the church.

 

Grandmother God

Judging someone, not supporting their decisions, are two different things;
There are many paths on which not to choose, the consequences they bring.
Why should any have to support decisions of thrill seekers and adventurers,
Not on proven paths whose end destinations are more secure?

One can be all for mutual insurance for any group with common values,
But be tired of being penalized by the reasons and science other's refused.
The problems and inter-generational wars seem to come in any society
That penalizes others for activities from which some choose to be free.

Because all of animal nature is dependent on individual tribal unity,
We should stop offering the world as a false sense of community.
Religions should be allowed to administer any help to those
Who relate to the values that their faith practices propose.

Countries should only concern themselves with the shared values,
From which humanity's eternal peace will finally be pulled.
Go back to look at children before they are taught fear;
There, we will discover the values humans we should hold dear.

The Sacred Spirit is not where we divide humanity;
It's, from recorded history: lust, competition, and jealousy.
Cooperation has long been presented as weakness,
But war's continuation, only war, does increase.

If we envisioned "God" as grandmother, not warlord,
Would we then put down our tribes' deadly swords?
There would be no more competition for supremacy,
Only a place of peace where all grandchildren could be.

"Not in my house," the God Grandmother would proclaim.
It would not matter, to her, on whom the fight was to blame.
Combatants would be put out in the yard to fight it out;
Her own Garden of Eden's peace wouldn't be in doubt.

Perhaps it is time that we look to grandmother wisdom,
And find the eternal path to universal peace for all humans.
Let those who choose anarchy or violence to suffer,
Without the vulnerable and innocent as their buffer.

Our Sacred Sons

I did not bear my children to be used to murder others;
I brought them up to embrace all their sisters and brothers.
I didn't have more children than I and their father could protect
Because I feared that later children would not command respect.

Who is creating these labels and "treatments" for various "dis"-abilities?
There are so many colors of the universe, more than the human eye sees.
The terms that disparage those who don't think like most of us do
Is something that, I'm hoping, our society will soon get through.

There are areas where you want someone with OCD behavior
Like in a neurosurgeon who, may be your own life saver.
As his wife and children, you may need him to understand,
That when he comes home, he is simply a fellow human.

All these people now diagnosed as Asperger's syndrome,
In engineering fields, have long been completely at home.
With women' rights we've come to summarily reject
The unemotional thinking that, in males, we used to respect.

And when did every sensitive male become a homosexual;
Women with great physical ability cursed as femininely ineffectual?
In this age of specialization in our employment seeking skills,
We have somehow, in our thinking, fearful biases also instilled.

Don't tell me my baby's not normal, he's perfect to me.
I am not interested in correcting his "defects" that you see.
I am so fortunate that he has his ten fingers and toes,
And that he's the child that, for me, the universe chose.

Every child, like every flower, has his own beauty.
I love him because he is, not out of a sense of duty.
Begone all you who come with your ways to change him;
He will, one day, stand as a strong leader of men.

History is full of imperfect men who were leaders,
Who were, in more human ways, true believers.
Each leader begins with their own history,
And works to the space where they're meant to be.

I believe in this path to peace for my sacred son;
Though he embraces his father, from whom I did run.
Though he fights me, I know his spirit has progressed
His father's new family is, by his leadership, blessed.

Families and friendships are dependent on emotional flexibility;
We cannot survive as a people if we're adaptive behaviors free.
Only babies are allowed to demand all things go their own way,
But we continue to follow those who think they're directors of our play.

Leadership takes self-discipline and great responsible compassion,
Also patient processing, which is clearly not in fashion.
Loyalties imposed by fear aren't relationships at all;
They are simply holding patterns, waiting for the leaders to fall.

Diagnosis of anyone who challenges the angry leadership
Is the way that we establish and continue dictatorships.
Perhaps depression and anxiety are actually expressions of anger
Because we know our leaders are taking us into grave danger.

One definition of insanity is repeating behavior that doesn't work
War creates generation enemies that behind every society lurk.
When will we stop looking backwards for a path to peace
Only we can give new examples and demand that war cease.

Religion vs Relationships

It has been my experience that many very religious people I know substitute "relationships" with "God" for actual human intimacy. They act as if "God" will not continue to "love" them if they don't spend enough time with "Him." How is it that humanity still has so much hubris that we actually think we can control earthly destinies by our offerings and intercessions to this "God?"

I understand putting in front of ourselves an image of where we want to be as an incentive to continue on an arduous path. What I don't understand is those who believe they can sit in one place and by some "magic" end up in another. We are given brains so that we may plan a path, and we are given feet in order to be able to move forward. To think otherwise is, in my opinion, blasphemy. If we are made with special powers to create progression toward restored peace, who are we to sit idly by while others push society in the opposite direction?

Conversion is about responsible compassion, seeing a person's pain while offering to help shoulder their burdens. This does not mean that we will do for them what they don't want enough to do for themselves. I believe it is wrong to intervene in any attempt in which the primary person is not fully invested. A religion with only two people is better than one with a great deal of rhetoric without just, human relationships.

Human Harmony

Religions have promoted extreme narcissism
In preaching individual salvation through them.
The universal family will never be saved
Without harmony among all humans.

I don't give a damn what the priests may say;
What you put into the universal energy remains.
There is no person or ritual in the universe
That can erase your infliction of pain.

You must offer an equal amount of good
To overcome the amount of negative energy.
It isn't about your eternal happiness;
It's having the universe, from your negative, freed.

We are given the capacity for compassion,
And a prescription for healing wounds.
We must begin the peace process now;
Salvation begins in the silence of our rooms.

If we think about the injustices we promoted,
And their long-ranging, hurtful effects,
We have the capacity for the humility
To, our prideful justifications, reject.

Sorrow doesn't heal the wounds
That are inflicted over and over again;
It simply puts a salve over the area
Where there are still raw sores of pain.

No matter how many times we start over,
Each time trust is abused and broken,
Increases time it takes to heal the wounds;
Confession becomes a meaningless token.

Your "God" may think you're wonderful, but
Relationship between me and The Sacred Spirit,
Comes through working for human harmony
So the whole universe can finally hear it.

Defining the Decalogue Day 10

Thou shalt not covet This apparently means, "Thou shalt not desire what another has." Is the desire as bad as the acting on it?

Nations and Cooperation

It really is all about money, because money buys power:
Why Jesus threw out money changers, in a finest hour.
Jewish Jesus wanted humanity to understand
Wealth without compassion wasn't the measure of man.

To this value system, he rebelled in a most visible way;
Wealth blocked what The Sacred Spirit had to say.
We bring children up to deny that greed and jealousy
Are the passions that continue to destroy humanity.

Our children aren't threatened by others' existence;
They are swayed by our own lack of resistance.
When we follow most fully what we say we believe,
Our children become models for the world we conceive.

I conceive a world of peace through mutual respect,
A value that most of my competitive country rejects.
I may lose my life for promoting cooperation,
But this is what I believe builds great nations.

Defining the Decalogue Day 9

Thou shalt not bear false witness Even eye witnesses all perceive events through their own lenses. By what yardstick do you measure truth?

Equality Through Education

If we want to be equal,
And we want to be free,
Thought and education,
Are our great necessity.

If your mind is moving,
It does not necessarily mean
That you are processioning
The truths that can't be seen.

Knowledge must transcend
What we can, on earth, see.
This is the way of the future
In humankind's eternity.

We've as yet, as a species, to seek
A core principle by which we define
The point of shared earthly humanity,
That is where we reach The Divine.

I suggest responsible compassion,
And the accumulation of knowledge.
I know responsibility is out of fashion
We believe compassion means don't judge.

Without judgement we aren't human;
We must ask ourselves what is protective.
Values are that on which free will depends;
Not on any generation's singular objective.

Do we dare to go back before Moses' laws,
And before the family of Abraham?
Even the ancient tribes before our fathers
Seemed to embrace the great "I AM."

I believe that there's "I AM" in humans
This ability to choose how to use it
Is what sets them, as a species, apart.
How do you share your Sacred Spirit?

Defining the Decalogue Day 8

Thou shalt not steal Is stealing acceptable in order to feed oneself and one's children? What about to redistribute wealth, at the thief's discretion?

Why I Was Not Chosen

I could never have been the mother of the savior,
Not only because I'm not immaculate;
If any of Mary's trials had befallen me,
I'd have thrown a royal fit.

When I had to give birth in a stable,
I'd have been quaking in my fear.
I'd have never felt safe and protected,
With only my dear husband near.

When Herod came to kill the babies,
I certainly would have run.
Then and there I would have decided
What my son was not going to become.

The day he stayed behind in the temple,
When I finally found him there,
I'd of sent his dad in to scold him,
And drag him out by his hair.

When Pilot began torturing him,
And the apostles didn't save him,
I'd of been in there beating on them,
Calling them less than men.

The day he died, I'd have been
Screaming like a banshee,
Beating on the soldiers,
Until they set my man/child free.

Poor Mary, when her boy was thirteen,
She had to give him up to study,
Never to experience him,
Growing up to be her best buddy.

He never produced grandchildren,
Nor had the comfort of a wife.
No, I am surely not strong enough
To have lived Mary's life.

Defining the Decalogue Day 7

Thou shalt not commit adultery Does this only apply to sex and marriage, or is it referring to the making dirty of what should be treated as sacred?

What Will We Do When We Have No War?

Perhaps the reason we continue killing each other is simply force of habit. The animal kingdom has never needed many males to keep their breeds going, so they fight each other over the most fit mothers. These fathers don't care whether the mothers will tend their young; they only care that they produce healthy offspring. What happens after that is not the concern of the father.

Human animals need many years of careful tending. This keeps the mothers vulnerable for, not only the gestation time, but for all the nurturing years. The brood must be protected for all these years. A mate who is not protective of the vulnerable in other areas of life is not likely to be a good human parent.

Competition must by tempered by compassion. Bonding becomes better than brutality in enforcing order. Self-discipline dictates the rules of the roost, understanding that animal children are imprinted with the actions of their same sex parents. By observing and imitating, they learn how to become their adult animal selves.

When we send our young men off to learn only how to compete and kill, how are they to learn human life lessons? When our women are made to cower at the command of an angry authority figure, how can they become competent caretakers?

Humans have the luxury of being able to bond with their young for a lifetime. Men must learn that this is a great blessing to all the earth. They must teach each other how to hold and be held by exhibiting this behavior with their sisters, mothers, mates, and children. The earth will do better when we admit we all need tender touch, not torture. Competition on the courses of sports arenas should be all the testosterone testing we need.

Defining the Decalogue Day 6

Thou shalt not kill How is this to be applied? Most of what we eat must be, first, killed. What are we not supposed to kill?

Defining the Decalogue Day 5

Honour thy father and thy mother Does this mean following their example or understanding their history, and choosing which parts to incorporate into your own behaviors?

Defining the Decalogue Day 4

Remember the sabbath day Shouldn't every day be devoted to doing the work of your God (Sacred Spirit, etc)? Do you celebrate a sabbath? What day of the week? What makes the sabbath different? How do you spend the sabbath?

Defining the Decalogue Day 3

Not take the LORD's name in vain What does this mean to you? Which names by which The Sacred Spirit is called in the many scriptures? When you wear symbols of your faith for all to see, or you careful to set the example of what this faith means? Is it "in Vain" that people use their religious symbols on advertising materials? 

Defining the Decalogue Day 2

No graven images or likenesses Does your "God" (or whatever name The Sacred Spirit in your life may use) have a physical image in your mind? When you commune with this Sacred Spirit, what picture do you have in your mind's eye?

Defining the Decalogue Day 1

It seems so easy to pretend that we're all in this together when we all say the same words, but words have different meaning for every person. I'd like to ask what other people think about what we refer to as The Ten Commandments. You all know more than you ever asked for about how I define everything.

I just feel like I'm not understanding something that I should about other people's interpretations. For this reason, I'm putting out a question a day for the next ten days.

I know that different religions word and number the commandments differently, but they all seem to point to the same rules. These are taken from Wikipedia.

Thank you, in advance, for helping me with this effort.

I am the LORD thy God How do you describe God?

To Teach Is the Essence of Humanity

It took a while to identify our joint father in Abraham;
He was certainly not presented as a perfect father or man.
Because he gave away the mother and a child of his loins,
We've continued to, in opposing directions, keep going.
When will we wake up, as a family, and choose to go back,
All the way before we pretended to knowledge we still lack?

True Buddhists don't kill; they embrace all of earthly life;
We, as Abraham's children, should be equally tired of strife.
Our ancestors made many mistakes; it is time to forgive them;
We have it in our power to define our own roles as humans.
There will always be base animals who seek to destroy
Anything that they see another family or person enjoy.

Isn't it time that we stop using these animals as our example?
Our history as humanity should have examples most ample,
Of the ways to provide for peace for our own families;
Protection from jealousy and greed our greatest human need.
The poor, honest workers must rise up with those
Who are, of responsible compassion, for them disposed.

We must pledge to support only those who will work,
Not the the rulers' drones who, their own strengths, shirk.
Our challenge is to refuse government support for our faith;
This support has been the downfall of our human race.
The Jew, those who follow Jesus, and the Muslim
Are all taught that we're meant to be a family of all humans.

Teach, teach, and teach some more, if you have a talent;
This is the role for which humanity was actually sent.
We do humankind no favors when we control by fear;
This should be, by now, to humans, abundantly clear.
Anyone who will not learn from others is surely a fool,
And they will always be the controlling despots' tools.

Do not worry if your wisdom seems to fall on deaf ears;
It may not be in this generation that anyone hears.
You have done your utmost, if as a learned human,
You've passed down your knowledge to a young man or woman.
And if you are blessed with talent, write it for the ages;
Remember that lasting change only comes in slow stages.

The Path to Peace on Earth

Why do we, as humans, fear that which we can't understand,

And attempt to explain all Sacred within the limitations of man?

As a mother, I am awed by what came to life within my being,

Outside of the area of what I was, then, capable of seeing.

I am saddened by human science's belief that we are in control;

It seems to diminish the cycle that makes each generation whole.

Humanity used to know that there was a natural cycle, from birth,

That continued to feed the universal Sacred cycles of our universe.

We now feel that, in allowing our earthly natures to progress,

We are somehow allowing our best of humanity to regress.

If we really believed in an Omnipotent Power of the Universe,

We'd believe that, at times, our earthly gains have to reverse.

This is not to say that previous humans have summarily failed;

It is simply that universal peace takes time, in order to prevail.

The glory of universal peace among people, and our harmony,

I will probably not be blessed enough, in my life, to see.

This does not preclude my responsibility to add my voice

In belief that peace among the nations of humanity is a choice. 

I live my life with an open mind, and an open heart and spirit,

Hoping where there is The Sacred Spirit's voice, we'll hear it.

Wherever I believe I hear instructions on the path to peace,

I commit to a process, that in my singing it out, I will increase.

I know that, in my mother's and father's faith, women don't speak;

I am weary that, in this way, only their voice of God, we seek.

Their path to peace continues to defer to their ancestral past;

I believe this was not meant to be Divine manifestation's last.

When will humankind have the faith in their own families to proceed;

Joining the path of all humanity, where peace on earth will succeed?

Peace, like in our own families, doesn't mean we all agree.
It means that we respect each others' core humanity.
We teach, by our own example, how we wish to be treated,
Allowing, within each community, their own justice to be meted.

Centuries of religious ritual can only be changed from within,
But the telling of our own stories is a place for others to begin.
I believe that this is the true purpose of the scriptures;
To give stories of how others grew from historical strictures.

The Sacred Spirit is in all humans; this we must project,
Especially toward the innocent children we're to protect.
Fear and jealousy are not parts of The Sacred Spirit;
If our lives say this loud enough, the universe will hear it.

Crusades vs. Compassion

Why do we expect secular institutions to provide the resources for administering Judeo-Christian charity?
Is it because we people of the Judeo-Christian God fail miserably at caring for our own, we have set up governmental institutions to take up our slack. If Judeo-Christians were people who believed in practicing what we preach, we would accept no more tax breaks for religious contributions. We would, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars." We would take care of even those who slow down our progress, accepting this as part of the anointed progression of our people.

We would commit personally to obeying the laws in our own lives and homes, rather than simply posting them on our walls to guide others. If we practiced what we preach, we would have less need for juries or judges because we would follow the prescriptions for making peace with others, as outlined in the scriptural stories of Solomon and Jewish Jesus's saying in Matthew 18. We would respectfully confront each other, rather rushing to the courts.

Women would stop hiding their strengths behind fathers, husbands, and children. Men would stop hiding their fears behind aggressive action. Men and women would think before they speak, and speak clearly of their personal beliefs and desires. We would also accept women as equal partners to men, honored in their abilities to be homemakers, prophets, preachers, and agents of change, as were the mothers of the Old Testament and Jesus' apostles. We would accept men as emotionally equal to women, and encourage their gentle strengths, as are evidenced in the Psalms, as well as their more animal strengths.

Crusades don't happen where their is responsible compassion. Until we accept women as equal interpreters of the laws laid out by all the men of human history, we will forever be plagued by competition in the supremacy of the genders and classes of society. When will we stop the human stupidity? Will we wait until we, and our progeny, and their progeny, are all dead?

Education as Anti-War

Why do we humans believe that we have to bond against others in order to bond to each other? Isn't it enough that we have others who are comfortable with the ways we and our household behaves, without the need to turn against anyone who acts or believes otherwise? Are we so weak in our own beliefs that we are afraid of being infected by the beliefs of others if we are in close proximity to them?

Must we treat all others as weeds that are endangering the perfect symmetry of our own gardens? Do we really have our own gardens in such perfect order that a beautiful wild flower (weed) or two may not be a welcome addition to the plot? Life is not symmetric in its natural state. The left side of a human body does differ from the right side; identical twins do have some definable differences.

It is true that, in unfamiliar surroundings, we must watch our children more closely, in order to observe that to which they are being exposed. If we are strong in our own values, we can observe dispassionately and explain to our children why we don't, in our homes and communities, do things that others may do. If we cannot keep our passions under control while observing, we are free in the United States of America, to simply walk away or avert our eyes, and those of our children.

If we treat our lives with our own children as PG experiences, we will protect them. We do this, not by condemning others, but by offering them Parental Guidance in the form of our own actions and our ability to explain why we act in specific ways in our own homes. Human animals want boundaries; it is up to parents to offer and explain those of their family in a way that respects their children and others. Respect doesn't mean acceptance, so it also may mean estrangement when our boundaries are not respected by others.

If we strengthen our own family bonds, and study the ways of other in order to stop the fear of infection, will we still need war?

How Do You Define The Soul?

I was taught, as a Judeo-Christian, that humans were the only animals with souls, and that all homo-sapiens, in fact, have souls. My experiences in life tell me otherwise. I have met too many people who, when I look into their eyes, exhibit no feeling at all that would lead me to believe that they are any more soulful than robots. Sadly, I have seen even infants in whom I see no sense of soulfulness, that aspect having been replaced by the dehumanizing affects of deprivation and terror.

I have also seen such joy, pain, fear, and compassion in the eyes of "lesser" animals, that I have come to believe that the only thing that actually separates homo-sapiens from other animals is the ability to make informed choices. Terror destroys our ability to think and make choices; thus destroying our humanity, what some refer to as the soul. Inflicting terror and arrogant authority as forms of control is why I walked away from my parents' religion.

I had never deeply bonded to an animal, other than homo-sapiens, until I met my very first dog, at the age of 59. She looked in my eyes at the shelter and our souls simply connected. I took her home. It was in watching her rub her body all over the grass and snow, like she would a parent, sibling, or a lover, that I saw her "humanity." It was in watching her absolute joy in being tormented by our cat and doing likewise to him that I saw "sibling" bonding in its simplest form.

I have, in fact, see a cat absorbing The Sacred Spirit of the perfect patch of sunshine and a dog absorbing The Sacred Spirit of the physical earth through the pores of her skin. I have come to believe that there are many manifestations of life other than homo-sapiens with what we refer to as souls, and that there are many homo-sapiens that have none of this spirit of The Sacred.

Wanton Woman

It is true that I am distrusted and scorned by many women because of the ways in which I relate to their men. I will not be intimidated by a man's misbehavior. I defuse their anger with listening and attempting to help them overcome their helplessness in the face of any soft emotion. As a rule, a woman doesn't like another woman to share any emotion with her man. What a pity it is that jealousy kills so many relationships and so many people.

It is such foolishness that people turn every show of affection between members of the opposite sex into sexual attraction. Brothers and sisters pinch, punch, kiss, and cuddle with their "litter mates." I view most adults as my brother or sister. Perhaps this is seen as taking liberties, but I don't know how else to follow the imperative to "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." For this, I'm tired of apologizing.

How Do You Define Humanity?

The fact is that no matter how we try to deny it; humans are animals. We like to believe that we are a higher breed of animal than those that don't speak in our own words, but we don't all speak in each others words, either.

We have historically bonded on the basis of common language and rituals. In the revealing of the sights and sounds of the universe to all corners and communities on earth, we are seeing similarities in ourselves and others that we were taught to believe did not exist. Perhaps it is time that we stop preening ourselves as so intrinsically special, simply because we walk upright and have less body hair than apes.

Whether or not one believes in evolution of our species on a scientific level, we must start believing in our ability to evolve individually, and as communities. It is imperative that we stop looking at the universe as ourselves and "others," and start believing that we are endowed with the ability to seek The Sacred Spirit it all around us. Instead we continue to act as packs of wolves with only our territorial instincts to guide us.

Humanity is a choice that we can breed into or out of future generations. My definition for humanity is responsible compassion. How do you define humanity?

Fairness and Family

I knew that my upbringing was not the path I wanted to follow;
I could either seek a new path, or in my history's misery, wallow.
I chose to seek a way that made compassionate sense to me,
So I could bring up my children with personal responsibility.

The hardest thing I've ever done is to stay true to my spirit,
Especially when persecuted when anyone else would hear it.
I am one individual woman, with a determined place on our earth;
Told I must not question the rules under which I'd been given birth..

My parents followed, precisely, the rules in which they were raised.
At least the rules forbade murder; for that they should be praised.
I chose to push for faster progress in the path to full humanity,
Sooner than my siblings, friends, and their society could agree.

I have held fast, alone, to my visions of enlightenment;
This is not a path on which I'd have chosen to be sent.
It is simply the path that I received by my parents' default,
In looking for family that taught by example, not assault.

Will humans ever see that peace is brought on by example?
The stories of this leadership should be, at this time, ample.
The missions of Moses, Jesus, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King
All lead to earthly paradise that non-violent resistance brings.

When will we accept that killing only breeds more of the same?
War isn't a path by which peace on earth will ever be gained.
I have raised my children and helped with theirs; I'm now free
To stand in the way of abusers, so peace can finally come to be.

Do not take my grandson in your quest for supremacy;
I have more experience than the warrior you want him to be.
There is no greater power than a mother protecting her young;
This is the warrior's true song that must be, eternally, sung.

Do not try to convince me that God is a father of fury;
I am, as a mother, a more powerful lawyer, judge, and jury.
I will not banish my children, but I will stand firm;
They can't live in my home without the lessons I insist they learn.

This isn't a way to resist differences of cultures or opinions;
It's to stop us, from excitement of differences, becoming minions.
There are many things that intrigue us in our vast universe,
That we can and should explore in order to intelligently converse.

This is not, and should not, be meant to be an open invitation
To adopting or accepting these new influences in our nation.
These differences should be seen as possible spices in the mix
To a recipe that, from the beginning of our country, has been fixed.

The religion of my children is the Constitution of the United States;
This is the belief system to which I, before their births, could relate.
I will not return to the religion of my parents before me; and theirs.
The United States' freedoms are those to which my children are heirs.

I am very aware that the founders, in their leadership, were flawed,
But I know that they were greatly gifted humans, not completely gods.
We are uniquely, with the blessings bestowed on us by democracy,
From the patterns, of our parents and theirs, allowed to break free.

There are many in my country who, in their fear, want to go back
To the world of their parents in which much freedom they lacked.
I do understand the fear of change with all its uncertainty,
But, from the bonds of our parents' faults, we must break free.

We learn from their example, that killing leads to more of the same.
Do we want for our universal peace, on our human earth, regain?
If we want to live in harmony with our sisters and brothers,
We must listen and follow the cries of our suffering mothers.

We give birth to our children, risking the lives of our own;
Killing of your siblings is not the seed we wish to be sown.
Any father telling you to risk your sacred life for enemies of theirs
Is not promoting the sacred divinity in which you should share.

I am your mother, telling you to stand against oppression;
Not to join others in the vulnerable ones' repression.
I have never stood behind you to shield myself from danger;
It is time that you learn to channel your own outrage and anger.

The quest that you began for fairness when you were young
Is not a song that you should never have freely sung.
It is simply that, until you saw your individual strengths,
You couldn't understand the position for which you're meant.

I am no longer able to guide what you should become;
I know that my input, in fact, makes you from me, run.
I wait with open heart, mind, and spirit to welcome you
As part of me and my partner's values to which we're true.

I simply can't stay silent as you succeed at fitting in
By denying the love we share in the presence of other men.
I have lived my life attempting to break history's mold,
Working for the peace on earth that has been foretold.

This can only be accomplished through redefining men
As, not only protectors, but also as women's friends.
Why are you so ashamed to feel such love for me?
My spirit will live in you and your children for eternity.

I may die without your beautiful face and your family,
But the gift of your Sacred Spirit will, eternally, live in me.
How blessed I have been in life to be the vessel of your birth.
Your love for me has been part of my heaven on this earth.