RSS FeedI decided to post on my other blogs…
Panties for Peace and TawandaBee.
Then I decided to share it here.
I have had one of those “this is so cool I can hardly stand it” kind of days! I must add that Aretha Franklin is the Diva of all Divas, and I WANT that HAT!!!
Filed Under: Politics of Peace
I lived my life as a statement, until I met someone whose life asked a question.
Back when my life was a statement, I appeared to “have it made.” I had a successful career, family, financial security… all that I had been told would bring true happiness. So why wasn’t I truly happy? ...
I had learned that we possessed the ability to feed everyone in the world, but simply lacked the willpower to make it happen. A popular song that year tugged
at my heart:We are the world,
We are the children,
We are the ones who make a brighter day…This song touched me very deeply…so deeply that my question changed from “What would I do?” to “What can I do?”
It was that year that I met a friend of a friend named Balbir Mathur, who spoke about something called “Trees for Life.” A few days after our meeting I received a call from Balbir, asking if I knew someone who could stitch together some green aprons for a St. Patrick’s Day parade. That “someone” turned out to be me, and thus began my enduring relationship with Trees for Life. Over time, I saw that Balbir lived his life as a question. My life as a statement ended, and I began to ask the same question: “How may I serve?”
This just dang makes me smile and cry at the same time.
My favorite line…
There’s a choice we’re makin’
We’re saving our own lives...
Filed Under: Politics of Peace
The current facts:
The UN World Food Program is cutting back on food supplies to Darfur because of lack of funds and relentless attacks on their convoys.
The Sudanese government bombed a Darfuri school this week, killing at least 13 people, including seven children.
The UN approved peace keeping troops 10 months ago, but less than 1/3 have reached Darfur.
After 5 years of conflict, approximately 200,000 people have been killed, and nearly 2.5 million displaced.
On June 1, the U.S. will assume the presidency of the U.N. Security Council. As president, the U.S. will have the opportunity to set the agenda for the Security Council and continue to lead the way to protect the people of Darfur.
It just flat out makes my stomach hurt when I think of the people of Darfur. I cannot imagine waking up in the middle of the night because soldiers are attacking my home and setting it on fire. They shoot my Dad and take my mom captive, and I run as fast as I can…. to nowhere. That is what has happened and continues to happen in Darfur.
The art of the children speaks volumes. And if it does not make you cry…
As President Bush said recently, “The vulnerable people of Darfur deserve more than sympathy. They deserve the active protection that UN peacekeepers can provide.” And I think they deserve our prayers and our support to the fullest extent possible.
There is currently an emergency supplemental bill before Congress. It would provide critical financial assistance to the Darfuri people this year. I support the bill, and I have made my views known to my representatives in government.
Filed Under: Politics of Peace
I keep getting asked what Ubuntu means, and I smile each time. I smile, not because I get to say the word, although that is fun in and of itself (oo-boon-too), but I smile because I get to remember.
Ubuntu is an African philosophy more than just a word. It refers to the interconnectedness of all humanity. Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, people with Ubuntu “know that they are diminished when others are humiliated, diminished when others are oppressed, diminished when others are treated as if they were less than who they are.”
It is “love thy neighbor” or “do unto others” all wrapped up in a single word. And my neighbors include every single person on this planet! 
Filed Under: Politics of Peace | Comments: 2