On nights
when silence resounds with
a deafening roar;
and
on nights
when the thunderous cacophony
of violence and hatred,
prejudice and discrimination,
inflicts suffering and sorrow
beyond measure and imagination;
on such nights,
on all nights,
Christ comes,
inviting us anew to
pursue peace,
seek justice,
love kindness,
live into hope,
and walk with God.
24-25 December 2011
Cleveland Heights, OH
Filed under Poem
The 2011 college staff flew this flag;
it appeared in a different picture
from an earlier post.
That post focused on the flag;
this one looks at the flag’s message –
a message for this evening
as we await
tomorrow’s celebration
of the birth of the
Prince of Peace.
15 July 2011
Filed under Ghost Ranch Views
The sun plays on the sky
to create color.
The colors vary
with the day,
the time,
the clouds,
and other factors.
The color of
this time and
this day
was
orange.
24 August 2010
Filed under Ghost Ranch Views
Image via Wikipedia
I arrived in Cleveland on December 15, bringing with me a major cold. Recovery has happened.
Eric’s graduation remains the highlight of the first week. The Steelers loss to the 49ers has been the low point, although sharing the misery with Laura and Abraham helped.
Lots of work has taken place. With Eric’s help, I have begun to walk again – walk for self-care. I have a goal of 10,000 steps. The last couple days, I have met that goal. Richmond Town Square has been amazingly empty both in terms of stores and in terms of people shopping.
We visited Phoenix Coffee and took some to Noble Road Presbyterian Church to drink with Carol.
We have started a Harry Potter marathon (not on Blu-Ray, despite the image). Each of the last three evenings, we have viewed one of the movies. The next one may not happen until early next week. Sean arrives home tonight, then Christmas Eve and Christmas Day follow.
While viewing, we have engaged in a Scrabble competition. We do not keep records, but each of us has won some and lost some.
All in all, a pretty good start.
See you along the Trail.
The international movement to end the death penalty grows. I signed a petition this morning from the World Coalition against the Death Penalty.
Amnesty International notes that in 2010 (the last year for which they have published records):
23 countries carried out executions and 67 imposed death sentences in 2010. Methods of execution in 2010 included beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and shooting.
Amnesty’s report “Death Sentences and Executions 2010” notes:
REPORTED EXECUTIONS IN 2010
Bahrain (1), Bangladesh (9+), Belarus (2), Botswana (1), China (1000s), Egypt (4), Equatorial Guinea (4), Iran
(252+), Iraq (1+), Japan (2), Libya (18+), Malaysia (1+), North Korea (60+), the Palestinian Authority (5),
Saudi Arabia (27+), Singapore (+), Somalia (8+), Sudan (6+), Syria (17+), Taiwan (4), United States of
America (46), Viet Nam (+), Yemen (53+).
The petition from the World Coalition against the Death Penalty states:
139 nations have already abolished the death penalty. In December 2012, the United Nations’ General Assembly will vote on a resolution calling for a worldwide halt to its use.
We, the undersigned, in recognition of the five million people who signed the moratorium petition that was handed to the United Nations’ General Assembly in 2007, promoted by the Community of Sant’Egidio in collaboration with Amnesty International and other organizations all over the world, renew the call for a worldwide moratorium on sentences and executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty worldwide in the belief that this penalty is inhumane:
* Whatever the method of execution, there is no humane way to kill
* Whatever the country, death row is inhumane
* Whatever the length, awaiting death dehumanizes people sentenced to deathWe welcome the strong progress already made towards a global end to capital punishment and acknowledge that 139 nations have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
For the 4th vote of the United Nations General Assembly on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, to be held in December 2012, we, the undersigned, call on all countries to support the resolution and all those which retain the death penalty to establish a moratorium on its use, with a view to abolishing this inhumane practice altogether!
I signed. Will you?
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Human Rights
Night falls,
bringing with it
new beauty, new wonder.
31 July 2009
Filed under Ghost Ranch Views
Water is precious,
essential for life.
It is particularly precious in the high desert.
24 August 2011
Filed under Ghost Ranch Views
We hear Christmas music everywhere. We have heard it since before Thanksgiving – we often rush the season.
Some Christmas music is certainly vapid and insipid. Fortunately, much of it is profound and moving.
My friend Shannon recently posed the question on her Facebook page:
If you were to record a holiday album, what 2 songs would you include? (traditional or current)? And no “Grandma got run over by a Reindeer”
Many come to mind, but the two I would choose are:
“Christmas in the Trenches” by John McCutcheon
“The Rebel Jesus” by Jackson Browne
How about you? What two songs would you include?
See you along the Trail.
For some it serves as a spiritual discipline;
for some it provides nurture;
for some a place of reflection and inspiration.
Some find healing here,
some hope,
some grace.
During the summer of 2011,
filled in holes,
trimmed weeds,
and repaired the path
for the Ghost Ranch
labyrinth.
17 July 2011
Filed under Family, Ghost Ranch Views, Photo
One view barely does Kitchen Mesa justice,
but only one image per post.
14 July 2011
Filed under Ghost Ranch Views, Photo
Along the Graybeard Trail 