Somewhere north of Newark
(but could be most anywhere, USA)
you sit:
a windows broken,
interior gutted,
paint peeled,
iron rusted,
graffiti marked,
empty building.
As the train rolls by I wonder:
What did you house in your prime?
What have you witnessed in your time?
23 November 2011
Amtrak 91
Filed under Poem
I took this on 8 July 2011
in Rocky Mountain National Park.
It seemed an incongruous place
to see a football.
Yet tonight, while looking through old pictures,
it seems a metaphor
for how tangled athletics can become,
particularly at major colleges.
Amidst a tangled, overgrown culture
that can emphasize winning
demand sports generate income, and
tolerate alcohol abuse, exploitation of women, homophobia;
amidst a tangled, overgrown culture
where athletes can receive preferential treatment
that may included academic assistance (and more) or
a bending of disciplinary processes;
amidst a tangled, overgrown culture
where athletes may receive scholarships and
leave school without actually learning anything;
amidst a tangled, overgrown culture,
it becomes too easy to forget,
to fail to see,
that at its heart,
it is a game.
22 November 2011
Shire on the Hudson
Filed under National Park, Photo
Looking for a stocking stuffer?
Consider a TassaTag.
TassaTags are 4″x6″ bright, hand-woven cotton luggage tags. TassaTags serve a larger purpose than simply helping you spot your luggage.
Each purchase of a TassaTag supports ECPAT-USA (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking), a non-profit children’s rights organization whose mission is to protect children in the US and abroad from commercial sexual exploitation. ECPAT-USA is a partner of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
TassaTags are fair trade products. Women at The Regina Center in Nongkhai, Thailand make the tags. This project enables women to stay in their villages and keep their children in school—two major strategies in reducing sex trafficking.
TassaTags help to raise awareness of the commercial sexual exploitation of children and they send the message that the sexual exploitation of children is not acceptable.
By buying and using a TassaTag you become a human rights worker for children!
Order TassaTags now for everyone on your Christmas list who uses a suitcase.
See you along the Trail (I’ll recognize you by the TassaTag on your bag!).
Filed under Human Rights
I join Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and other groups around the country in applauding the decision of Governor John Kitzhaber to halt the scheduled execution of Gary Haugen (scheduled for December 6 – the last execution scheduled for this year). Governor Kitzhaber also called for a full examination of the Oregon death penalty. Reflecting on this decision, the OADP said:
Governor Kitzhaber has shown great leadership with this announcement.
“It is time for Oregon to consider a different approach,” Governor Kitzhaber, a Democrat elected last fall, said in a news conference in Salem on Tuesday afternoon. “I refuse to be a part of this compromised and inequitable system any longer; and I will not allow further executions while I am governor.”
One of the predecessor denominations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) first went on the record against capital punishment in 1959:
. . . the 171st General Assembly, “believing that capital punishment cannot be condoned by an interpretation of the Bible based upon the revelation of God’s love in Jesus Christ,” called on Christians to “seek the redemption of evil doers and not their death” and noted that “the use of the death penalty tends to brutalize the society that condones it.”
As Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty states:
It is our contention that when all the facts are known, it is difficult to support a death penalty. It is a failed public policy, extremely expensive, taking valuable resources from other programs that do deter violent crime. In these modern times, when we have the ability to keep violent criminals safely away from the general public, an option like life without parole makes more sense.
I grieve for Mary Archer and all who love her. Haugen was convicted of raping and beating Mary Archer to death in 1981. I grieve for David Polin and all who love him. Haugen was convicted of killing David Polin, an inmate at the Oregon State Penitentiary, in 2003. No questions of his guilt are raised and Haugen has asked to waive his legal rights and be executed.
Still, as I have written before:
I believe the death penalty is wrong. It dehumanizes our society. Repaying violence with violence does not get us anywhere; killing to demonstrate that killing is wrong makes no sense to me. It cuts off any possibility for reform or restoration. My opposition is to the state killing. It does not depend – it cannot depend on the person subject to execution.
I have prayed for the families and friends of Mary Archer and David Polin. I pray for Gary Haugen.
I have written a thank-you letter to Governor Kitzhaber.
I pray for other leaders who are in a position to make decisions and set policy about life and death.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Human Rights
Tracker, the movie of the night, involves Ray Winstone chasing Temuera Morrison across the beauty that is New Zealand. Winstone’s character, a Boer from South Africa, has emigrated after the Boer War. Morrison’s character, a Māori, stands accused of murder.
A detachment of New Zealand soldiers chase Winstone and Morrision. Some of the soldiers fought in the Boer War and witnessed the atrocities of that war. Some did not. In a conversation, one of the soldiers who served says to one of the soldiers who did not:
Just be sure that, when your children ask you what you did, what you did in defense of the realm, you are able to give them a worthy answer.
Sound advice.
Yet it seems to me that this version of the quote provides pretty sound advice to us all in any situation: “Just be sure that, when your others ask you what you did, you are able to give them a worthy answer.”
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Movie
Image via Wikipedia
I am watching Tracker. The film is set in New Zealand. That is why it appeared in my queue.
The story focuses on Ray Winstone, a Boer, who migrates from South Africa to New Zealand after the war with England during which his family perished. When he arrives in New Zealand, members of the military who served in South Africa recognize him.
Winstone’s character, is soon (immediately) pressed into service as a tracker (hence the title). He is hired to track down a Maori accused of murder and played by Temuera Morrison.
The film explores the interactions between the two men. Winstone and Morrison give strong performances. But New Zealand steals the show.
Incredible scenery. Incredible beauty. One fine day . . .
See you along the Trail.
Not that we need any reminders of how precious and fragile life can be; still they come to us almost daily.
I just got an email from Tricia who had just talked to our next door neighbor Al in Cleveland Heights.
Al and Pam’s son Andre was in a serious one-car accident on Friday. He’s in Metro Hospital in Cleveland with numerous broken bones, including neck and back, a head gash… not breathing on his own at this point, has had several surgeries. They believe he probably fell asleep at the wheel – his car hit a tree. They had to revive him.
Andre and my son Sean are the same age. They graduated from high school together. They were never close – but they were neighbors and friends.
I remember playing catch with them as children – tossing footballs and baseballs.
I remember birthday parties when they were little.
I remember walking home from church one day and finding Andre and Sean sitting on our steps using sticks to shoot at cars – they must have been four; neither Tricia and I nor Al and Pam allowed our sons to have toy guns, but they figured it out anyhow.
I remember when they broke one of our basement windows playing soccer. Pam’s father fixed it.
I remember their graduation. Laughing, dreaming, posing for pictures.
I remember talking to Andre about what he was doing and what Sean was doing when I would come home through the years.
I remember. And today I pray. And I ask you to do the same.
See you along the Trail.
23 August 2010
Some friends have met at
Ghost Ranch
for the last few days
to plan the 2012 Peacemaking Conference,
an event I hope to attend.
While reflecting that they are there
and I am not,
I began to look for pictures
that could transport me
via memory,
via imagination,
to the ranch.
See you along the Trail.
Around the Peace Fountain at the
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine,
appear sculptures of animals.
While visiting the cathedral with Peter Tibi,
the penguins spoke to me.
If only they wore black and a variation of gold.
And came from Pittsburgh.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Photo
This was taken during a Broadway street fair on October 9. With a crisp, coolness in the air, it seemed good to post now before the snow flies. Whether in restaurants or on the street, one finds an incredible diversity of food in New York. Some places offer many different options all by themselves.
See you along the Trail.
Along the Graybeard Trail 