Some Quotes for today

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and
love has always won. There have always been tyrants and murderers, and for a
time they can seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Think of it,
always. Whenever you are in doubt that that is God's way, the way the world
is meant to be, think of that -- and then try to do it His way.
--Gandhi

We are what we consume. If we look deeply into the items that we consume every day, we will come to know our own nature very well.
--Thich Nhat Hanh.

Where there is injustice I always believe in fighting. The question is, do
you fight to change things, or do you fight to punish? For myself, I've found
we're all such sinners that we should leave punishment to God.
--Gandhi

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt

Our Lord is not demanding that we discard our estate and get rid of our money. What he does ask is that we banish from our souls the primacy of riches, of unfettered greed and feverish desire for them, the thorns of this life, which suffocate the seed of true life. [In reference to the biblical story of Jesus telling the rich man to sell all he had and give it to the poor]
--St Clement of Alexandria

The only devils in the world are those running around in our own hearts and
that is where all our battles ought to be fought.
--Gandhi

Everywhere, by all means imaginable, people are striving to improve their lives. Yet strangely, my impression is that those living in materially developed countries, for all their industry, are in some ways less satisfied, are less happy, and to some extent suffer more than those in the least developed countries. Indeed, if we compare the rich with the poor, it often seems that those with nothing are, in fact, the least anxious, although they are plagued with physical pain and suffering. [The rich] are so caught up in the idea of acquiring still more that they make no room for anything else in their lives [so] they actually lose the dream of happiness.
--The Dalai Lama

Those who are motivated only by desire for the fruits of action are miserable, for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do.
- -Bhagavad Gita 2:49

I hold that to need nothing is divine, and the less a man needs the nearer does he approach divinity.
-- Socrates

A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.
-- Aldo Leopold

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
-- Martin Luther King

Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.
-- Martin Luther King

All human evil comes from a single cause, man's inability to sit still in a room.
-- Blaise Pascal

The greatest wealth is to live content with little.
-- Plato

There is more to life than increasing its speed.
-- Gandhi

A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW ...it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove... ...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.
-- Kathy Davis

From time to time, to remind ourselves to relax, to be peaceful, we may wish to set aside some time for a retreat, a day of mindfulness, when we walk slowly, smile, drink tea with a friend, and enjoy being together as if we are the happiest people on Earth.
-- Thich Nhat Hanh

To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children, to earn the approbation of honest critics; to appreciate beauty; to give of one's self, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived--that is to have succeeded.
-- (attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson or Bessie Stanley)

What's the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?
--Henry David Thoreau

The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created -- created first in mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place that we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths to it are not found but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination.
-- John Schaar

We see quite clearly that what happens to the nonhuman happens to the human. What happens to the outer world happens to the inner world. If the outer world is diminished in its grandeur then the emotional, imaginative, intellectual, and spiritual life of the human is diminished or extinguished. Without the soaring birds, the great forests, the sounds and coloration of the insects, the free-flowing streams, the flowering fields, the sight of the clouds by day and the stars at night, we become impoverished in all that makes us human.
--Thomas Berry

The Earth says: rejoice! You have been born into a world of self-maintaining abundance and incredible beauty. Feel it, taste it, be amazed by it.
--Donella Meadows

Taking care of the masses

Once upon a time there was a country formed that wanted to make things better for those who became its heart and soul. It was called the United States of America. The people cared about each other and people were happy. The people had support of their neighbors and they knew that if times were bad for them they could go to their neighbor and ask for help and they would get it. Time passed and people started to get more "me" centered. They no longer could count on their neighbors to help them out and they no longer felt they could watch over each other. People started to put deadbolts and multiple locks on their doors, they bought guns, and motion detectors. The people became afraid. This led to them not wanting to trust their neighbor and if their neighbor was having a hard time making ends meet, they didn't care...after all, it wasn't their family.

This brings me to my point... We have a government in office now who takes from the poor and gives to the rich. Our esteemed (hack, hack) president only cares about his family and those who can line his pockets. He doesn't care that 1 in 4 people in a soup kitchen line is a child. He doesn't care that millions are going without health care because they lack insurance. Many of these are working class families who just cannot afford the insurance and make too much for Medicaid, even though they are still below the poverty level. There are so many people out on the streets that if they just had a 100th of the income some of George's best buddies have would be in decent housing with food on the table and health insurance for their families. Instead of giving the wealthiest people a tax break he should be asking them to dig deeper in their pockets and help those who are less fortunate. George should be thinking of the poorest of us and helping these people to get into housing, to get food and clothing for their children, and to be able to support themselves on the measly paying jobs that are out there, instead of playing with the richest of the rich. He should be concentrating on lowering fuel prices so people can get back and forth to work and not be spending 1/3 of their paychecks on fuel for the week. He should be focusing on raising the minimum wage so a family of four can be above the poverty line. He should be working on a national health care program so ALL Americans can have adequate health insurance. He should be helping those who need the help, and not just the rich guys. How about giving the low and middle class a tax break like he gave the top dogs? How about walking a mile in their shoes to see what it's like to be a working class poor person? Maybe then he will start to think about those who are the real citizens of our country, those who spend their money on our shores and not in some distant far off get-away, those who didn't vote for him.

Bush the Bully

I wonder what this proposed war on Iraq will actually accomplish. I mean, really. It seems to me that Dubya is just trying to finish his Daddy's war. He doesn't really care about the Iraqis. He says he wants to institute a Shiite democracy but do the people of Iraq really want that? I tend to believe they don't. And what exactly is wrong with letting a country live as it is? Does every country need to be a Democratic society? After Bush gets done with this war, will he then go after other countries who are not under democratic type of rule? Will he not stop until everyone is like us? Isn't that the same thing the terrorists are doing? They don't like our government so they attack us. Now we are going to attack them, because we don't like their government. I think that is the same thing, but we are bigger and more powerful so we are going to be the bully here and attack a smaller, less powerful country. It seems to me that Bush is the bully in the school yard, the kid no one likes and he is going to try to exert his power whether we like it or not. We have to give him our lunch money and he will still attack. When will he grow up and realize that that kind of power is not going to make him a great President some day?

Don't get me wrong. I don't like the terrorist and how they attacked us on 9-11, or the things they have done in other parts of the world, lately the attack in Kuwait an in Bali, but I still don't think we need to bomb a county just because they are under a different type of rule than we are or because we don't like their ruler. OK, I know Saddam Husein is a big bully, too, but what Bush is wanting to do is just as bad as what Saddam has done to us. Bush says he is going to help the Iraqis have a better life, but when we went to Kuwait and bombed their rebels we said the same thing and they are still suffering, maybe even worse off than before we came in. Since when are WE the big brother who has to make sure all evil is gone?

My Kids

I have been contemplative and been thinking about my kids...they sure do grow up fast. It seems like just yesterday they were babies in my arms and here they are grown up men now. It just shocks me some days when I think about it. Here I have a soldier son and it seems like just yesterday my brother was giving him Army toys for his 3rd Christmas. I think that started him on the road to being a soldier. He has always liked Army toys and when he was a little boy said he wanted to be a soldier. Now he is. He used to talk about when he grew up and was in the Army he would be this or that. For a while he wanted to be an Army Medic, then an MP, now he's gonna be a Calvary Scout, a gunner, wow! Just when he did he decide to grow up? I turned around and there he was ... a grown up man. It's been 2 weeks and a day since he left. I sure do miss him...his jokes, his wisdom, his cooking! My baby is grown up.

Of course I still have Andy here at home. He'll be here for another 6 months anyway, til we move to Colorado. He, too, is a man. He will be voting on his first ever election in a few weeks. He is totally excited about that...made sure he was registered and all! Andy is harder to cook for and honestly he is a lot lazier than Josh and that is hard for me to adjust to. I mean, I always knew he was but Josh kept after him about doing stuff and it is just harder now. Plus Andy has a very narrow palate of taste preferences and that is making it hard for me to cook something we both like. With Josh here he would fix what he wanted and Andy usually would eat some of it...now it's like "You know I don't like that and won't eat it, so why did you buy it?" This is more difficult than I could imagine. I asked him yesterday what does he want me to buy for food and he said "What did we eat when Josh was home?" But, when I suggest something we ate when Josh was home he just tells me he doesn't want it. So, I have decided to fix what I want and if he doesn't want it he can make a sandwich or a salad or have a bowl of cereal ...whatever. He COULD actually do the cooking, but that is a laugh in itself. Josh learned how to cook out of necessity because I was working so much and someone had to fix meals. Andy just cruises along on the waves. I understand Dusty is the same way. Maybe it's good they are not sharing a place. LOL