You and I Are One


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What we do to each other and the earth, we do to ourselves.

"The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love." ~ Rev. William Sloane Coffin

Memorial Day Weekend


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Stay Safe and Well!

Planetary Consciousness


"Ancestral Roots" (photo by Craig Smith) Posted by Picasa

"An Inconvenient Truth"


Global warming is "a planetary emergency" and Al Gore's book about our planetary emergency is "An Inconvenient Truth". The book is available beginning today, May 24, wherever books are sold!

In an April 28, 2006 NEWSWEEK interview by Eleanor Clift, Al Gore says:

"The relationship between our civilization and the earth has been radically transformed. Global warming is by far the most serious manifestation of the collision ~ and Mother Nature is making the evidence ever more obvious. Scientific studies have been coming out right and left over the last several years that connect various parts of the overall picture to the whole. And by whatever means, a lot of people have been absorbing this message, and they're now saying, "Wait a minute, we really have to do something about this."



"There is only this extremely pliable moment now." ~ L. J. Carroll
Be there!
"Aloha"! :)
Patty

On Being an Instrument of Peace



Excerpts from "Make Me an Instrument of Peace" by Cindy Sheehan:

"Non-violence should always be the means we use to solve problems, from our nuclear family life all the way up to the office of the most powerful person in the world. Peace is not an absence of conflict, but resolving conflict non-violently."

"Being an instrument of peace is immensely more important than working for peace. Our entire lives must radiate this peace. We must be peace to have peace. I am coming into an understanding of this as I strive for true and lasting peace. Being anti-war is not enough. If we are solely anti-war, when the war is over the movement will be over."

"Hatred and frustration are the fuels of violence and terrorism."

"I also am convinced that religious fundamentalism is the root and cause of much of the violence throughout history and even up until today. The leaders of our world know and exploit the fact that humans will blindly and brainlessly follow a religious symbol into a war more quickly and readily than we will follow a flag or standard....We should never allow ourselves to follow false prophets to doom."

"If I didn't truly believe that the efforts of the progressive peace movement would not prevail over the darkness of the blatant disregard for truth, justice, and all human life....I would lie in bed all day staring at the walls in grief and depression!"

"Oh master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul."
(St. Francis of Assisi)

You can read this in its entirety under "Essays/Poems" at Gold Star Families for Peace www.gsfp.org

I'm Workin' For The World I Want To Live In


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"You can transform your life if you are open to changing the way you think, get rid of religious fears, and fill your day with love." ~ Patty Ann Smith

A Ludicrous Sign


photo by Craig Smith


This pic was taken by Craig in the 1990's, and the inscription on the billboard below the flag was as rediculous then as it is now!
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"After The Garden Is Gone"


After the Garden

"...what will people do?
after the garden is gone
what will people say?
after the garden
...won't need no sunshine
won't need no purple haze
after the garden is gone
...where will people go?
after the garden is gone
what will people know?
after the garden
after the garden is gone
after the garden is gone"

lyrics from one of the songs by Neil Young on his new CD "Living With War" www.neilyoung.com

In the book "Farm Aid: A Song For America", Neil, one of the founders of Farm Aid, states a simple truth: He's just "...tryin to keep America from losing all its roots."...and I think that's what many of us are also trying to do.

Save the Earth ~ Play Guitar, click here to "Voice Of The Woods"




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Multicultural America

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Communities all over America are made up of the human family. I think about our humanity a lot....our humaneness to each other.....and what an important role that plays in us being able to solve some of our biggest problems.

When I was a child, my father was a Navy pilot and later became an airline pilot. In both positions, he travelled to other places in the world and brought back stories and gifts from many nations. I always thought "how wonderful" that was, and those experiences are part of my "roots".


I have lived in and visited many towns and communities, and the ones that seemed to be most infused with life and spirit had a tremendous diversity of people and walks of life and there was something intrinsic in each person that made them truly care about their town and what it meant to live there....people allowed to be who they are, coming together with all their diversity present as a community. There is just a feeling of more fun, acceptance, and caring in places like that....there's more kindness, tenderness, mercy and sympathy....the qualities of humanity that are the heart of civilization.

Communities nurture the "opposite" of greed, corruption, and obsession with power...which carry the seeds of violence and destruction. In good communities, each person's individual roots become part of the fabric of a healthy thriving whole that respects and honors each others differences.

Like plants and trees, all of us need stable roots and nurturing. A community that allows
each individual to grow and be truly alive is allowing each person's unique roots and gifts to be a building block for their whole community.

America was founded as a democracy that would flourish in equality and liberty for all people who came from all parts of the globe to settle here. It was built by immigrants from many lands. And, I look at that as something to enjoy and celebrate!

The Beginning of May


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Early May marks the midpoint in the Sun's movement between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. Since the abundant growth of plants in May converges with this solar event, May 1 has traditionally been celebrated as the coming of summer.

"Life constitutes an organic, interconnected whole which undergoes constant transformation." ~ the Tao