dreams & ideas are for doing
Trust that little voice in your head that says
‘Wouldn’t it be interesting if…’
And then do it.
– Duane Michals
life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the category “America”
love sets free
Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. – C.S. LewisToday is a ‘Freedom Anniversary’ for me! It is a big deal! My life has been a progression of stepping towards freedom.
The battles have been long, dangerous and hard to win in order to free myself. Both physically and spiritually. I am not completely there yet – it is a life-long exploration and journey to free myself. The chains and bars in my prisons, because I find they are legion, are very strong. My Alcatraz type barren -rock islands were such a long way from shore, with many snipers, predators and sharp rocks in the water and on all sides of the shores. My guards were very alert and ready to shoot me, or keep me locked down and in solitary for my whole life. They were gleeful when I fell and happy over my pain and destruction.
And yet, the love, the words, and truth, of God were so much more powerful than any of these things, that no prison in this world could not hold me and, for 22 years now, I keep walking out of my prisons into the brilliant light and sunshine of the free!!!!
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage|
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.
Oh the Places You’ll Go…laughing all the way…
I have been in many places, but I’ve never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you 
can’t go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.
I’ve also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.
I have, however, been in Sane. No airport; you are driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my family, friends, and work.
I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I’m not that much on physical activity anymore.
I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.
I’ve been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.
Sometimes I’m in Capable, and I go there more often as I’m getting older.
One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age, I need all the stimuli I can get!
I may have been in Continent, but I don’t remember what country I was in. It’s an age thing…
Solitude
The Voice in the Garden of Solitude
Solitude is the garden for our hearts, which yearn for love. It is the place where our aloneness can bear fruit. It is the home for our restless bodies and anxious minds. Solitude, whether it is connected with a physical space or not, is essential for our spiritual lives. It is not an easy place to be, since we are so insecure and fearful that we are easily distracted by whatever promises immediate satisfaction. Solitude is not immediately satisfying, because in solitude we meet our demons, our addictions, our feelings of lust and anger, and our immense need for recognition and approval. But if we do not run away, we will meet there also the One who says, “Do not be afraid. I am with you, and I will guide you through the valley of darkness.”
Let’s keep returning to our solitude.
– Henri Nouwen
http://www.henrinouwen.org/
Read the full ‘Alone’ Newsletter at http://songsfromthevalley.com/September-09-2.18-Alone.pdf
Check out William Perrelli’s photography at http://unusualphotos.shutterfly.com/
Seek Love, Freedom, Justice, Courage and Respect
Under even the greatest oppression, a select few people have what they need. But this is not true justice. True justice is a whole society that is just; therefore there is no justice until there is justice for all. For this reason the struggle for justice is never-ending; there will always be setbacks, but never a reason to give up.
Even under the worst tyrant, there may be a powerful few who are free to act as they choose. But this is not true freedom. True freedom is a society in which everyone is free; therefore there is no freedom until all are free. For this reason the struggle for freedom must always set people free; freedom can never be achieved by coercion.
Injustice is always hidden, disguised as the way things ought to be, protected by social habits and assumptions that we never question or confront. Seeking justice always requires that we dismantle existing social structures. Those who seek justice will always meet resistance, but it is a struggle of truth against fear, and truth is stronger.
The freedom and justice God intends for us (part of what Jesus called the Kingdom of God) is not a far-off fantasy; it is a gift implanted within us at our very creation. It arises as a gift when we treat one another with reverence. It can’t be enforced or manipulated or brought about by fear, violence or threat. It can only be set free in us. It can only be achieved by nonviolence.
Reverence overpowers coercion. It may take great time and sacrifice, but it will not fail. Even in offering its opponents the freedom to reject it, nonviolence has succeeded in setting all parties free. Even God does not threaten, coerce or manipulate us, but offers us grace and reverence. The cross is God’s nonviolence.
Our reverence toward others, including our enemies, regardless of the cost to us, even the cost of our lives, unleashes the infinite, world-changing, life-giving power of God’s grace in us. Just as an exploding bomb releases itself into the area around it with destructive force, a loving person releases herself into the world with creative power. This is the mystery of resurrection.
Martin Luther King, Jr. lived the resurrection life. Give thanks today for all those who have given of themselves for the sake of freedom and justice. And pray that you may have the courage, faith and compassion to stand among them, to join in the sacred struggle for “justice and liberty for all.”
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
A Scottish challenge for us this day – from one of my favorite writers!
Behind the Wires
Look around you, can’t you see what you’re missing,
Look around you, open your eyes;
There’s a whole world of loving and meeting
In a place where hostility dies.
Oh, I know that you don’t mean to hurt me,
You only want to protect what you’ve got,
But don’t you know the best way to lose it
Is to think that your freedom can be bought.
If you shut out your spirit of adventure,
If you close up your heart from within,
You build walls to keep out the danger
and find that you’ve locked yourself in.
I believe that peace is what we’re after,
But we’ve drawn up the lines for a war;
Surrender in trust to one another,
It’s the only thing worth fighting for.
So come out from behind your fences,
You’re in a war that no one can win,
Take a chance, lay down your defenses,
If I pull down the wire from the outside
Please won’t you pull it down from within.
Kathy Galloway (written for the women of the Greenham Common Peace Camp)
Love Burning Deep
used with permission
life: acoustic & amplified 