prayer & fasting

something i'm involved with


because prayer and fasting is part of my tradition. working with the principles of the prince of peace, i am participating in this fast for:

1. the immediate lay down of all the weapons of war in the hands or under the control of my countrymen all around the world;

2. the return of all troops in foreign lands engaged in military operations;

3. a complete dismantling of our entire arsenal and weapons of war;

4. the reorganization of the department of defense to be under the jurisdiction of a department of peace;

5. the impeachment and removal from office of president george w. bush and vice president richard cheney; and

6. criminal prosecution of messrs. bush, cheney and rumsfeld for acts of war and treason against the people of the united states of America.

i pray for these things or that which is better in the name of god, amen.

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'

... because if killing is ok for any reason ...

and you are trained how to kill
and you are programmed that the lives of others are not as valuable as your's
and when you are told that killing the enemy is why we are here

it messes with your mind and spirit. and this is what happens to young minds and spirits under misguided, evil leadership ...

U.S. troops accused of Killing Iraq Family

Five U.S. Army soldiers are being investigated for allegedly raping a young woman, then killing her and three members of her family in Iraq, a U.S. military official said Friday."

we are doing this. each one of us here in the countries that are asserting this war on terrorism. this is our responsibility. we have changed the minds, hearts and spirits of men to become evil themselves.

we are responsible, are you ready to face your responsibility in all this?

write to your congressperson, write to your senators ... this 4th of July, join the "BRING OUR TROOPS HOME FAST" ...

this is a spiritual fast in a long tradition of fasting and praying to bring this war to an end.

this doesn't need to happen to another family ... on either side of the line. remember, god has no lines. love knows no enemies.

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'

born again

born again
each morning i breathe life to my mind
looking to see the reflection of god
searching to find it in the eyes in the mirror
always pouring out of the eyes of "the boo"
ever alive and curious in the eyes of siobahn.

born again
each breathe renewing the life
i am to honor god with
not by compromising for god
but by infusing every thought and moment with love
as only i can bring to the moment
god living in me as only i can be.

born again
each door i open
another glimpse into the vastness of god
that resides in me
gleaning a view of all that is
and all that's not just waiting to be
then there's the dark, the stuff i hide
waiting to be loved just like god.

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'

... compare & contrast ... an exercise

a nation with 'Christian' leadership.

Top Court Upholds Kansas Death Penalty Law

a nation with 'christian' leadership.

"Philippines Abolishes the Death Penalty"

are you a "Christian" or a "christian"?

something to think about ...


"never return evil with evil, but return evil with love." jesus said that.

"thou shall not kill." god gave that law to moses.


peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'

... help in the struggle ...

on the yahoo! newsheadline ...

"Philippines abolishes the death penalty"

lifting my hope and faith in this thing we call life.

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'

the struggle

as you can probably glean from this and my many other blogs, i would like to think of myself as a non-violent person -- or, more accurately, a violent person trying very hard to be non-violent. following the teachings of jesus, spurned on by the examples of dr. king, nelson mandela, mother theresa, ghandi and others, i am active in my struggle for conflict resolution in a non-violent way.

i was sincerely depressed when i posted a response to a blog entry blasting the NRA for opposing the UN's call for the halt or 'regulation' of illegal weapons. i couldn't even argue myself out of my position opposing the UNs proposal. even refreshing the memory banks of ghandi and the non-violent struggle for freedom he led, i just couldn't support a global crackdown on the manufacture of 'illegal' weapons.

i suppose my faith is gone this morning. i have no trust in the governments of the world, and i do realize that my trust is not to be in governments but in god; so, i suppose, my trust in god is also gone this morning; so, too is my trust in myself. or perhaps its just a clear picture of where we are in today's reality ... i haven't decided.

reminds me of the seal song, "lost my faith" ... i suppose my whole point was that the tools of violence do not make us violent ... eliminating "illegal" weapons would only cover-up the fact that we are still just as violent as ever as if we continue to justify the manufacture of 'legal' weapons. yeah, its one of these days.

LOST MY FAITH
We both know
That the harder we try
Can't understand it
We're so caught up in the reasons why
Station to station
And we couldn't even say their names
I realized it
Was just a game
I had lost my faith
Long ago
I had lost my faith
Long ago

I can see
That if I stay close to your side
All of my pressures now
I know they will subside
If ever you need me
All you gotta do is fall
I hear you sayin'
That you got it all
I had lost my faith
Long ago
I had lost my faith
Long ago

A stranger so it seems
I lie here for you touch
But what I'd like to know
Is why do I want you so much
You say that's all the same
All through my life
I have
Waited for you
And
Have you waited too
are you feeling what I'm feeling
Ohhhh.... I
I had lost my faith
Long ago
I had lost my faith long ago
I had lost my faith
Long ago
I had lost my faith
Long ago
I lost my faith
I lost my faith
I lost my faith
Ohh love

because i love people who love each other

and am not afraid to let them know its ok to be who they are and love one another and be committed to one another and that is all that REALLY matters to this child of god.

stop the hate, judgment and discrimination and let love rule!

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'

... surrender ... never!

Frist: Surrender in Iraq 'not a solution'
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist declared Tuesday that "surrendering is not a solution" in Iraq as Democrats embraced a proposal to start U.S. troop withdrawals this year, setting up an election-year debate on the war in the GOP-controlled Senate. 'We cannot retreat. We cannot surrender. We cannot go wobbly. The price is far too high,' said Frist, R-Tenn.

when i read this headline, the first thing that came to my mind was "i surrender all." that old hymn that we sung at least once a month, and while it is 'all to jesus i surrender', i wonder why "Christians," of which mr. frist claims to be a card carrying member, do not understand that it wasn't to jesus we were to surrender but to god we were to surrender. we were to surrender to things like the 10 commandments ... even though we cannot see how it will work out or how scared we are or how much we worry about another terrorist attack, we must not return in kind ... we must not become and do to others what they do to us. we must not kill or murder -- which is the only thing tanks, morter shells, chemical weapons, nuclear weapons and bombs do. weapons and violence are the largest export of our nation.

we must trust that if i, my family, and us as a christian community decide "yes, i will surrender to the commandments of my lord", and we lay down our arms, and retreat to find ways to return the evil we see with love ... we will be just fine. protected and provided for by a god who is more than sufficient to care for us. i was taught that it was obedience to out of the love for god that is what i am here to do.

i guess that's why i am not a "Christian" and i am just a christian.

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'

the death habit

today must be one of those days when you go from studying a scripture to random surf blogging in divine order .... matthew 7 leads me to my previous post ... then to follow-up on several conversations earlier this week on death the teachings of Leonard Orr and others, i randomly surf on to this blog Reincarnation & Christianity ... so ... that's how life is working today for me ...

good to see so much light in christianity these days ...

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'

... a ray of hope ... from canada

i just wanted to introduce you to a blog that is, well, its refreshingly christian.

and its the blog of a pastor ...

the first pastor's blog i have found (and i've read A LOT of them) that actually seems to be TRYING to do what i am always criticizing the christian church for failing to do ...

live their words ...
follow their teachings ...
be the change they want to see ...

so, new link to the right ... "Soul Journey" by pastor Barry Clark ...

i would actually visit his church ... perhaps i will the next time i am in detroit, make a run across the border.

thank you for being a ray of hope for this blog to share!

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'

gay marriage is a christian issue

yes, mr. super christian is rallying the 'onward christian soldiers' to pass a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

his reason is sound, that the institution of marriage is between a man and woman. and, to have it be anything else would constitute a breach of god's divine plan.

hmmmmmmmm. sounds good to me. NOT.

quite simply, i don't think god created the institution of marriage nor did god ever think we would attach so much importance to such a man-made institution that is newer than ... well, its newer than the wheel.

while i agree that intimate relationships do, given the human exercise of choice in a world based on duality, provide an opportunity for perhaps the greatest growth of the individual, hence the collective. i do not think such a relationship must be one within 'matrimony' or between a man and a woman.

i know too many marriages that should not be and just as many committed or married gay couples that give me hope and inspiration in my own. personally, i get overwhelmed with joy and happiness when i see a gay couple who have either conceived or adopted their own children. for them to be able to teach such little ones how to be strong human beings that are self-accepting despite some of the greatest prejudice on the planet, well, its just inspiring to me.

i don't question whether gays should be allowed to get married, i question whether marriage is even something god would even condone. jesus didn't marry. hmmmmmmmm ......

anyone who wants to try to live in a committed relationship with another human being creates a better community for all of us. if people love each other, i think god is happy that they are together loving one another. and if they are loving each other and are happy, they are loving the other people around them. they are loving their communities and their planet ... and, to be honest, i am happy they are ... because if they are busy loving one another, they are busy loving themselves and people who love themselves tend not to use violence to resolve conflicts.

i like that ... the way to peace ... in a nut shell.

peace & harmony,
elaine
'freedom must be exercised to stay in shape!'