World Aids Day

One of the most profound experiences I have had was in viewing a section of the quilt when it was touring Ohio a few years ago. My daughter at the time was around 11 and I took her to see and to experience the power of the Quilt.

About The Quilt
Founded in 1987, The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a poignant memorial, a powerful tool for use in preventing new HIV infections, and the largest ongoing community arts project in the world.

I have know people who have died from Aids and I have friends who are currently living with HIV, yet I too have been guilty of not paying as much attention as I should have to the on going crisis. There are many people and groups that are working to conquer the Aids pandemic, and yet people are still dying. Women and children are infected as well as many men. It is not a gay disease but a killer of all people.

Friday, Dec. 1, 2006 is World Aids Day.

Here are some stats from the CDC:

HIV/AIDS among Women
April 2006
Early in the epidemic, HIV infection and AIDS were diagnosed for relatively few women and female adolescents (in this fact sheet, referred to as women). Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. Women of color are especially affected by HIV infection and AIDS.

In 2002 (the most recent year for which data are available), HIV infection was the leading cause of death for African American women aged 25–34 years
the 3rd leading cause of death for African American women aged 35–44 years
the 4th leading cause of death for African American women aged 45–54 years and for Hispanic women aged 35–44. In the same year, HIV infection was the 5th leading cause of death among all women aged 35–44 years and the 6th leading cause of death among all women aged 25–34 years. The only diseases causing more deaths of women were cancer and heart disease [1].

Kicosehp NGO, Kibera Community Self Help programme, Kenya, Africa. This is the largest slum area in Africa with over 1 million people. HIV/AIDS incidence is very high. Support group for people living with HIV/AIDS. Materials prepared by the youth for the youth. Credit: UNAIDS/G. Pirozzi

An NGO-led HIV and AIDS information session among young people in Costa Rica, Latin AmericaCredit: WHO/UNAIDS

Remember to Keep the Promise!

Let us all work for an end to this killer!

“Once every generation, history brings us to an important crossroads. Sometimes in life, there is that moment when it’s possible to make a change for the better. This is one of those moments.” – Elizabeth Glaser

Elizabeth Glaser showed us all what a difference one person can make. Founder of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation

More thoughts on laughter and what is funny.

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road. Henry Ward Beecher

Elmer & DaffyComedy is unusual people in real situations; farce is real people in
unusual situations. Chuck Jones

Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth. Victor Borge

Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an
event, deal with it and then move on. Bob Newhart

Harvey Korman, with Mel Brooks, in BLAZING SADDLES

Humor is just another defense against the universe. Mel Brooks

Humor is a social lubricant that helps us get over some of the bad spots. Steve Allen

Steve Allen on the Simpsons

Monty Python

I guess I owe my odd sense of humor to my parents, especially my Dad. I grew up watching shows by Mel Brooks, Bob Newheart many of the other great comedy writers.I also watched many of the British comedy shows like Benny Hill and of course my all time favorite, Monty Python.

It goes without saying that I try to find humor in as many situations each day as I can. It really does help a person get over those bumps in the road that we all find.

So have a good laugh and enjoy life!

Just for laughs

Curiouser and curiouser! Lewis Carroll

Once you come and see Kiss, you either love us or you hate us.
Ace Frehley

When was the last time you had a good laugh? I think we tend to take life too seriously and we forget to find the humor in everyday events.

Laughter is a form of internal jogging. It moves your internal organs around. It enhances respiration. It is an igniter of great expectations.

Norman Cousins

"The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter." Mark Twain

Hearty laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors. Norman Cousins

Thoughts and sights of peacemakers

I was browsing some images and found several that I wanted to share along with some thought provoking words on the subject of peace.

Christian Peacemaker Teams

We CHOOSE to be peacemakers
because we believe it to be
the faithful response to our DECISION
to f o l l o w Jesus.

We have DECIDED
to reject the option of violence,
believing that PEACE is not
only possible, but often practical.

We choose LOVE.

We choose LIFE.

We believe in MIRACLE
because we CHOOSE
Christ.
—Mennonite Church Peace and Justice Committee

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I get ready to start our holiday meal I have much to be thankful for. I try to spend time every day remembering to be grateful for all the things I have been graced with in my life.

Here is a short list of the things I am grateful for:

My husband and my children

The beauty of nature-and those who work to protect it

my extended family and that both of my parents are still with us as they move toward their 50th wedding anniversary-together!

our pets: three cats and two goldfish along with a dog that sometimes comes for a visit.

I am also grateful for people who are willing to take a risk to speak out for those who do not have a voice in the world; like George and his father Nick on behalf of the people of the Sudan, the people at On Earth Peace.

And yes, while one could over do it with holiday excesses, we try to be reasonable. We tend to focus more on enjoying our family, having a good time and being kind to each other.

A woman of greatness

Many despair at all the evil and unrest and disorder in the world today, but I see a new social order and I see the dawn of a new day.
- Coretta Scott King, 1969

I think on many points she educated me," King once said of the woman who accompanied him on the whirlwind journey from an Alabama ministry to the center of a global civil rights movement, and who, after his death, would carry on his work through a variety of educational, political and philanthropic activities.

The widow of Nobel laureate was force for social justice

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members, a heart of grace and a soul generated by love. - Coretta Scott King

King became a symbol, in her own right, of her husband's struggle for peace and brotherhood, presiding with a quiet, steady, stoic presence over seminars and conferences on global issues. "She was truly the first lady of the human rights movement," the Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement. "The only thing worse than losing her is if we never had her."

King also wrote a book, "My Life With Martin Luther King Jr.," and, in 1969 founded the multimillion-dollar Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. She saw to it that the center became deeply involved with the issues she said breed violence - hunger, unemployment, voting rights and racism.

"The center enables us to go out and struggle against the evils in our society," she often said. She became increasingly outspoken against businesses such as film and television companies, video arcades, gun manufacturers and toy makers she accused of promoting violence. She called for regulation of their advertising. http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org

I was thinking about some of the great women of the last century and Mrs. King was one of the best. She spent her life working in the areas of peace and social justice and as much as I admire her late husband, I think I admire her even more. She picked up the torch and carried it farther and longer then a lot of the activists from the same time period. She is a great role model for all people and especially for women around the world.

I have been working on an report that I must give at the end of the quarter in my Spanish class. Now this is going to be really difficult for me. I am taking a language for the first time and I am feeling really unsure of myself. The content is not the problem, it is having to give it in Spanish!

I have enjoyed the class especially when we touch on the cultural aspic and history of the spanish speaking countries. I guess the "Humanities" major in me is always pretty close to the surface for me. Anyway, I think I will give a brief report on the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. He is one of my favorite artists and I have been especially moved by his painting titled Guernica (below).

It was painted as a reaction to the bombing of the Spanish town of Gernika at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. The whole town was decimated and the reaction to this massacre was huge. (The Nazi's had a hand in the event since the Condor Legion of the German Luftwaffe did the actual bombing ). There is an excellent book on the subject, Picasso's War by Russell Martin. Visit the web site below for more information.

http://www.picassoswar.com/index.html

I highly recommend this book, both from an art history point of view, but also as a discussion of how culture is effected by an artist making a statement., in this case, the horror of the violence of war.

What do you think an artist is? An imbecile who has only eyes, if
he is a painter, or ears if he is a musician, or a lyre in every chamber of his
heart if he is a poet, or even, if he is a boxer, just his muscles?

Far from it:
at the same time, he is also a political being, constantly aware of the
heartbreaking, passionate, or delightful things that happen in the world,
shaping himself completely in their image. How could it be possible to feel no
interest in other people, and with a cool indifference to detach yourself from
the very life which they bring to you so abundantly? No, painting is not done to
decorate apartments.

It is an instrument of war.

PABLO
PICASSO

Art in all forms connect people of different cultures.

Which is the best medicine?

Edward Munch, The Scream

I can remember the frustration of not being able to talk. I knew what I wanted to say, but I could not get the words out, so I would just scream. Temple Grandin

Some days I feel like screaming! Maybe it is the weather, maybe it is work, kids, family, $, the list could go on and on. Regardless of why, I have often felt that by giving a good holler every now and then I am given a good release of the emotions that are pent up inside.

I've always felt a connection to Munch's painting. It certainly has been a powerful visual icon. Here is a bit in info on him.

(b. Dec. 12, 1863, Löten, Nor.--d. Jan. 23, 1944, Ekely, near Oslo) Norwegian painter and printmaker whose intense, evocative treatment of psychological and emotional themes was a major influence on the development of German Expressionism in the early 20th century. His painting The Cry (1893) is regarded as an icon of existential anguish. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/munch/

I hate whiners. I understand that the pressure can be a lot, and I
have days where I just want to scream, but it comes with the territory. Eliza Dushku

The other great form of release for me has been laughter! There are lots of studys that say "laughter is the best medicine". I wonder how Munch would feel about the parodiess of his painting?

Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on. Bob Newhart

Laughter is a form of internal jogging. It moves your internal organs around. It enhances respiration. It is an igniter of great expectations. Norman Cousins

You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it. Bill Cosby

Reflections on 21

Here are some thoughts on my daughter turning twenty-one.

Words to live by:

I have no regrets. I wouldn't have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say. Ingrid Bergman

First and for most is where has the time gone?

I can't believe she has grown up so quickly! She is a beautiful and talented young woman and I am so proud of her. Like many she has had to face many challenges and I am sure she will have many more to face: after all that is what life is all about in the end. Taking what comes your way and learning how to handle the ups and the downs that we all are faced with.

I had certain physical limitations that made me change the choreography for myself or made me more interested in choreography only rather than dancing. I have never been a person who wanted to just dance. I have always been interested in developing for other
people. Katherine Dunham

She has been involved in dance and theatre her whole life and of course I feel she is very talented! It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there for the world to see and to entertain.

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. Judy Garland

I wish her a very Happy 21st Birthday today!

OTHERS IN GOOD COMPANY WITH MY GIRL

Today's Birthdays

1974 - Leonardo DiCaprio

1964 - Calista Flockhart

1962 - Demi Moore

Thinking about communication

Being true to yourself really means
being true to all the complexities of
the human spirit.

-Rita
Dove

I often think about how complex life can be. How do we simplify the daily routine? I feel overwhelmed by the constant barge of information that pierces my life. I listen to the radio and have some kind of “noise” in the background almost all of the time.

Arthur Rubinstein pictured

Actually more often then not, the music actually helps me to focus. I usually listen to classical or jazz so much of it is instrumental, which makes it a bit easier to place it in

my subconscious. I do get

tired of words being spoken to me and long to have a different type of communication practice.

Perhaps that is why I value my cats so much right now. We do communicate, but it is in a different way. It is non-verbal and centers on a more physical way of communication. People today do not value the non-verbal forms of communication the way that perhaps, it had been in the past.

I guess it gets back to being true to your self. Taking the time to discover the inner voice that leads you on your journey.

Also: I wanted to share with you an article that was sent to me from Matt see
http://www.nonviolencenews.blogspot.com/ for more information.

November 9, 2006

Dear friends, In the midst of heartbreaking news of violence, there are seeds and signs of another possible reality.

Enjoy this story from yesterday's Christian Science Monitor!

Blessings, Matt GuynnOn Earth Peace

HELENA COBBAN: Nonviolence can work wonders - even in the Middle
EastThe Christian Science Monitor(Published: November 8, 2006)

AMMAN, Jordan (CSM) - It was an extraordinary gathering. For four days at the end of October, 60 people, most from the Middle East, came together here to discuss how concerted nonviolent action might defuse tensions and help bring peace to this war-blighted part of the world.A distinguished scholar from India helped us engage closely with the teachings of Mohandas Gandhi, and a veteran
African-American participant in the U.S. civil rights movement helped us explore the work of Martin Luther King Jr. We heard from Israeli and Palestinian
activists about projects to restore wholeness and hope to communities burdened heavily with fear, violence, and foreign occupation. We learned about the quiet
transformational work that Christian Peacemaker Teams have done in Iraq and the West Bank, and explored theories and practices of nonviolent action from around
the world.This assembly - a U.N.-sponsored leadership conference on nonviolence - brought together Israelis, Palestinians, Iraqis, Jordanians, Egyptians, and
others from the Middle East. One-third of the participants came from farther afield - from Nepal, Uganda, Cameroon, Sri Lanka, Russia, South Africa, and elsewhere - and added a valuable global and comparative perspective to the
mix.We saw very secular Israeli activists engaging passionately with socially conservative (and very articulate) veiled women from Jordan and the Palestinian
territories. Pro-peace Israeli rabbis in yarmulkes worked with Muslim teachers in flowing robes. There were Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and secular peace
activists, and veterans of nonviolent struggles in South Africa, Northern Ireland, and elsewhere.On the final night, an Israeli rabbi and a young Arab woman sang a poem composed two hours earlier by a South African. It told of the
dream of coexistence along the Jordan River.How did this happen - at a time of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and deadly civil strife in Iraq?It was a combination of hard work and serendipity (you could say grace).Back in
April, Jairam Reddy, the head of the Amman-based United Nations University International Leadership Institute (UNU-ILI) planned this course to coincide
with the centennial of Gandhi's first nonviolent demonstration, undertaken in Dr. Reddy's native South Africa in September 1906. Then, the punishing 34-day
war between Israel and Lebanon this July dealt a huge setback to Israel's already fragile peace movement. And between April and October, the violence in Iraq escalated.But throughout that violence-racked summer, small groups in all those countries continued to believe in and practice the principles of nonviolence. Annemie De Winter, the regional representative of Germany's
Friedrich Naumann Foundation, stayed in touch with many of them. She helped UNU-ILI to assemble the rich roster of in-region course participants. Reddy and his staff did the rest of the work. (Disclosure: I gave Reddy a small amount of consulting help on the project.) The Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington made a small but welcome financial donation. Then, given the talent, commitment, and flexibility of the group that assembled in Amman, the four days of work and
learning flowed remarkably well.I have supported many nongovernmental efforts for reconciliation and justice between Arabs and Israelis since the late 1980s,
and I've seen this movement traverse times of hope and times of great setbacks. Considering the difficult conditions it had to confront, I was truly amazed at how successful the UNU-ILI gathering was.Our gathering thrived because of the
great human qualities and rich experience of the participants. It helped, too, that so many Middle Easterners can now see that violence - whether direct physical violence or the violence of oppressive systems - simply does not
"work." So in key places, people have become more eager to seek alternatives.The achievements of Gandhi's movement in India and of the (largely nonviolent) African National Congress in South Africa last century are solid examples of the effectiveness of nonviolent mass action that today's peacemakers embrace as instructive models. The teachings of Gandhi, Dr. King, and others do not try to avoid the big political problems that conflict- ridden or oppressed societies face. Instead, they seek to mobilize new, nonviolent human energies in order to resolve them.Obviously, this movement toward nonviolent action in the Middle
East is still in its infancy. In every country in the region, it is still vulnerable to the forces of violence. But in Amman in October, vital seeds were sown, and vital connections made. Now, we all need to work hard to nurture and
strengthen this hopeful movement.Helena Cobban is the author of "Amnesty after Atrocity? Healing Nations after Genocide and War Crimes."

Beauty is all around us, if we just take the time to look.

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quote of the Day

There are as many opinions as there are experts.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

People tend to have an opinion on just about every subject you can imagine. The problems comes, as I see it, is when our self inflating ego expands the importance of said opinion! So how do we listen to what others have to say and discern if what they express is of value to us? I believe that regardless of what we have to say there is some value in what everyone conveys. Even the most vile opinion is of some value, if nothing more then to spur discussions that might not have taken place otherwise.

What do you think?

Random Thoughts

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."

-Mahatma Gandhi

What do we really want to change in this world? Can we really live out the "ideal" in order to make a difference? What would the world be like if we each lived our lives according to the quote that Gandhi challenged us with?

If we complain that our society is too materialistic, then perhaps we should look to our usage of resources. Being a good steward of what we have been given is more then a financial challenge, it is using our time wisely, developing positive relationships and working for the "good" of all people.

As I see it that is one of the reasons I have been drawn to the Church of the Brethren, for the church does focus on a different way of looking at the world. Having attended a Mennonite college, I have been very influenced by the Anabaptist traditions. Groups like CPT and On Earth Peace are working to hold up another way of being in the world.

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) seeks to enlist the whole church in organized, nonviolent alternatives to war and places teams of trained peacemakers in regions of lethal conflict. Originally a violence-reduction initiative of the historic peace churches (Mennonite, Church of the Brethrenand Quaker), CPT now enjoys support and membership from a wide range of Christian denominations.www.cpt.org

On Earth Peace is an agency rooted in the Church of the Brethren, helping people faithfully discern "the things that make for peace" (Luke 19). http://www.nonviolencenews.blogspot.com/

Remember to be "Continuing the work of Jesus. Peacefully, Simply. Together"

http://www.brethren.org/logos/COB/PSTlogo.html

Just thinking

http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php


It never stops suprising me when something of beauty appears to me. It can be something I see all the time, then suddenly one day I am able to see it with new eyes.

As I was sitting in church today, I took some time to really look at the stained glass windows in the sanctuary. I've looked at them hundreds of times over the years and yet for some reason today I seemed to see them almost as if for the first time. The colors were bright and clear, as were the images in the windows. They were truly spectacular and I was filled with such awe of the crafting of such beauty.

It made me wonder about the artists that made these windows over fifty years ago for this church building. Who were they and how long did it take for them to master their craft? How did they discover this gift of design and the ability to create such works of art?

I felt blessed to be able to "see" in a different way today! Yes, I did pay attention to the service and the message that was shared with the congregation. After all I did serve as Worship leader today.

People are like stained - glass windows. They sparkle
and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

• Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Some thoughts on mid term elections

The trouble is not in our institutions, imperfect as they doubtless are. The crying necessity for reform springs from the fact that while our institutions are representative theoretically, our public officials are not so, actually.

- Fulton McMahon
American politician(1863 - 1934)

As we get closer to the mid term elections in the US, I am saddened and angered by the election system. Not that I have any concrete ideas on how to change the system, but I am dishearten by the way those who are running for office campaign, how the elected officials are prone to corruption and how little interest from the public there is in selecting good people to run the government. I tend to still hold on to the belief that there are good solid people out there who can make a positive difference in the world, but it is clearly harder to find them. Money is a big part of the problem, you have to have a lot of it to run, which often means that a person has to compromise ideals in order to get the backing of those with the open purse. Once you have taken that step on to the slope, well it tends to shift one down rather quickly.

Having children, I am even more distressed by the way our politicians behave. As for my 21 year old, all she sees is the corruption and hypocrisy of those in office, I have tried to express the importance of her being involved regardless, to vote and to express her opinions on issues and to ask questions of those running for office and for those in office. I believe I have been able to teacher her the importance of being part of the process, not excepting it as it is but the worthiness of working to improve the system. It is truly an never ending process! I fear that it will be much harder to instill these values in the youngest of my children. The media is playing it's part as I see it in keeping the masses uninvolved. People become jaded and disgusted, and too often refuse to participate in the process because they truly feel it does no good.

How do we then fight back? What values can we instill in our youth and how do we keep from just giving in/up to those in power?

Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country
are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent
that get all the publicity. But then we elected
them. - Lily Tomlin

A busy day!

As many days go, it has been especially busy today. I got off work at 6 am the had the Bible study group at my house from 7:30-9; left for my Spanish class was there from 9:30-1:30pm; came home and took a nap until 6pm then had the Worship Team meeting at the house from 7-9pm the off to work again. I LOOK FORWARD TO FRIDAY! I hope to be able to get some sleep while my son is at school and I have no meetings or classes to attend.

Now, not everyday is this busy, but some weeks the whole week ends up like that. Just the price one has to pay, I guess for being a working woman, committed to learning and feeling a calling to ministry. The family gets a bit grumbly on days like today, but the husband understands my need to "be" who and what I am. The kids, they have a bit more of a challenge to understand me, but to them I'm just MOM.

Just wanted to highlight some good links that you might check out :
http://www.cpt.org/
http://www.nonviolencenews.blogspot.com/

Both of these will put you in touch with groups working in areas of great importance.



Shalom