(seen at Knowtown)

"We must not be afraid to dream the seemingly impossible if we want the seemingly impossible to become a reality."

Vaclav Havel

(seen at TheyBlinked)

Terror is a tactic. A new definition must be created for what is happening in the world at this moment if we are not to simply spiral further down the abyss of crusade vs. crusade.

(seen at Land of the Free? via Jordon, Wendy and Dan)

There are millions of us out there with these stories. We are wanderers, and yet despite our identity as global nomads, people always want to have the permission to nail us down to what we “really are”. Does my lifestyle strip me of the right to call myself “German” I ask?

Amin Maalouf (In The Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong) has called this a highly parochial and dangerous view of humanity. Anyone who claims a more complex identity than what a particular group is accustomed to is marginalized and this is done not just by the average fanatic or xenophobe but, in fact, rather, "because of habits of thought and expression deeply rooted in us all; because of a narrow, exclusive, bigoted, simplistic attitude that reduces identity in all its many aspects to one single affiliation, and one that is proclaimed in anger."

And where that anger has led us, in our world, is only too painfully evident.

Remember your enemies and tragedies-- they remind us how easy it is to settle down or wander away.

[What part of you is here today?]

Parts of me:

Thanks to those at the Worship Freehouse for the ambient silence.

Thanks to the The Door Magazine (formerly the Wittenberg Door) for helping me laugh and think...usuallly together.

Thanks to The Door Magazine's Chat Closet (and all who are there) for helping me get over myself.

And of course, you...the readers for tolerating or absorbing anything I post.

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

It's very difficult to give thanks when no one else is giving.

Death conquers all, yet love needs all.

(seen at Searching for a path into the darkness )

The past...where problems are seen clearly, where hope was banished. Where it seemed that the finger was pointed at me.The past... Where loneliness stalks, and the dream of companionship prowls like a inky black leopard. That black leopard stalks today, gnawing at my armor, trying to break in and destroy my heart. Lord Help.

The waves crash in the tide rolls out...but there is no doubt..that the light house will keep shining out to warn a lonely sailor...the lightning strikes. and wind cuts cold to the sailors bones through the sailors soul till there is nothing left to hold except a rolling ocean.

I am ready for the storm

Rich Mullens

(seen at signposts in this post)

While some struggle to provide for their families, others are caught in the grip of rampant consumerism. Concern for others briefly appears at the flashpoint of catastrophe and terror - but quickly recedes. Witness the reluctance of political agendas to advocate spending budget surpluses to fund our hospitals and schools and public utilities. The reason? It is believed this would not be supported by the electorate.

from The challenge for all Anglicans

Choice or necessity is determined by enforcement.