More Mikhail...

( the following leads me to ask what am I doing with the circles of people and power God has given me ? )


A portion of Mikhail Gorbachev’s amazing speech to break -up the Soviet Union spoken before, and in the face of the old guard basically telling them that the freedom of his own and East European communist dictatorships is inevitable...

The compelling necessity of the principle of freedom of choice is also clear to us. The failure to recognize this, to recognize it, is fraught with very dire consequences, consequences for world peace. Denying that right to the peoples, no matter what the pretext, no matter what the words are used to conceal it, means infringing upon even the unstable balance that is, has been possible to achieve.

Freedom of choice is a universal principle to which there should be no exceptions. We have not come to the conclusion of the immutability of this principle simply through good motives. We have been led to it through impartial analysis of the objective processes of our time. The increasing varieties of social development in different countries are becoming in ever more perceptible feature of these processes. This relates to both the capitalist and socialist systems. The variety of sociopolitical structures which has grown over the last decades from national liberation movements also demonstrates this. This objective fact presupposes respect for other people's vies and stands, tolerance, a preparedness to see phenomena that are different as not necessarily bad or hostile, and an ability to learn to live side by side while remaining different and not agreeing with one another on every issue.

“ Jesus was the first socialist, the first to seek a better life for mankind. “
Mikhail Gorbachev

Hero...

Who are your heroes ? Whoever they are , they might tell you something about how we see the world and what a hero really is. Some people see a list of heroes as Abraham Lincoln , Terry Fox , Winston Churchill...all people who fit the western mold. They are comfortable names to throw around in a crowd or at any gathering. Here's a hero that all Christians need to revere:
Mikhail Gorbachev...an avowed Communist...At one time head of the Soviet Union; A country that had imprisoned, tortured , and executed millions of believers since it's inception in 1917 and had stated in it's very constitutional adendum that it would be an atheistic state for all of it's formative existence. This man willfully dismantled his own empire and personal power for the cause of freedom to gather, experience national and ethnic self-determination and finally to free millions of people to worship and believe freely in a God his own state had said does not exist. What was his motivation ? How did he see the Jesus we worship ?

"Only Jesus Christ could take a few loaves of bread and feed the thousands ... Only Jesus Christ could solve problems such as these."

- Mikhail Gorbachev

On describing the problems posed to him with the breakup of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union.

As St. Patrick's Day comes to an end let us take some time to reflect: Being Irish means.......

* you will never play professional basketball

* you swear very well

* at least one of your cousins holds political office

* you think you sing very well

* you have no idea how to make a long story short

* you are very good at playing a lot of very bad golf

* there isn't a huge difference between losing your temper and killing someone

* much of your food was boiled

* you spent a good portion of your childhood kneeling

* you're strangely poetic after a few beers

* you're poetic a lot

* you will be punched for no good reason...a lot

* some punches directed at you are legacies from past generations

* your sister will punch you because your brother punched her

* many of your sisters are Catherine, Elizabeth or Mary...and one is Mary Catherine Elizabeth

* someone in your family is incredibly cheap

* it is more than likely you

* you don't know the words but that doesn't stop you from singing

* you can't wait for the other guy to stop talking so you can start talking

* "Irish Stew" is the euphemism for "boiled leftovers from the fridge"

* you're not nearly as funny as you think you are, but what you lack in talent, you make up for in frequency

* there wasn't a huge difference between your last wake and your last kegger party

* you are, or know someone, named "Murph"

* if you don't know Murph, then you know "Mac"

* if you don't know Murph or Mac, then you know "Sully"

* you'll probably also know Sully McMurphy

* your parents were on a first name basis with everyone at the local emergency room 

and last but not least... Being Irish means...

* your attention span is so short that---oh, forget it.

From the book
Being Irish...
Contemplations on the Nature and Meaning of the Irish Race
Joe Keefe, Author
Andrews McMeel Universal Copyright 2001   

Hope for all...not just some.

My family has seen many people come through our home this week. I have two distinct groups of friends who are getting married soon and I will celebrate both occasions in my heart as a time of hope for all involved . There are those who would suggest that one must be celebrated and encouraged, but not the other ...or the reverse favour of one couple is suggested by others still. Playing God is tiresome , tainted with my sin, and it doesn't work anyway. Conversely, ...to those who do decide to play the part of the Alpha and Omega " go for it " and in the meantime those four people will do the very best they can to serve God with their lives , it's baggage, and it's joys just like the rest of us...

Dignity...

" When people begin to ignore human dignity, it will not be long before they begin to ignore human rights." G K Chesterton

In this fast food, " give it to me now " culture we have lost, at times , the dignity that surrounds us. But, you can find it if you slow down . I have seen it in the tired eyes of older Punjabi men who greet me with a slight bow as I walk down 7th avenue
in Mission. It can be traced to the slight smile a mother gives her child when she has just finished straightening up the clothes of her offspring before they enter a store. It is seen in the faces of people quietly queued up for days for desperate medical care in the third world as we fume when our doctor's appointment makes us wait for 20 minutes. Finally , I see it in the eyes of an old student who returns to say thank you for an interaction or session we had that unbeknownst to me was an
important moment for them. Their return and that thank you is of much greater worth and dignity than the thing for which they have thanked me. Aristotle said that " Dignity does not consist in possessing honours, but in deserving them. "
This is for all those people out there who would never claim dignity, but in large measure have often lived it...

Flights of Forgiveness on a Holding Pattern...

We all look ahead so much. But what is in front of us right now ?
Ours lives are forever on hold for the " better days " because there are stressors that tear at our hearts.
The job, the family issues, health , friends, enemies (?),and the places where we live. Somehow in all of this we must still
live in a way that will celebrate our lives under God's Grace. No, wait, I must live in a way to celebrate my life under God's Grace. I recognise and I declare that the beauty of seeing the vibrant sunset of my life in the last 6 years has inspired me
to survive and prosper. Without that insight, I cannot carry on. I wasn't always willing to admit this. I pretended it was me,
or some great epiphany of my own. Not so, never was. God has purpose for all things and events...not so much from the events, but from our God who uses events in my life. The latest truth I have found is that even a sunset is a fragile thing, just like you and I. So...it needs observance , time , and space to grow in colour and beauty. To look at it once and say you know it, or have it figured out is wrong. With patience you watch the colours change and you begin to understand you are being permitted into a secret world . In the midst of this world, you can become part of the God event itself. In fact you always were. The warmth that the sunset wraps around me tells me that time is not an enemy, but a friend. I am loved. You are loved. We can all be loved. I have to stop creating a bigger and bigger box for God and just admit that he is not contained in my meaning, but only through his word that shows him to be as endless as his love. Not to worry, yes we will be more at peace in our hearts as time moves on . But hopefully we become more at peace, not because of apathy, but because we live and know more and more about how God loves and forgives others when we have said we can't...

I don't think I wanna Be A Christian if...

I don't think I wanna be a christian,
If we support the fact of war.
I don't think I wanna be a christian,
If we forget about the poor man.
I don't think I wanna be a christian,
If no gay people are allowed.
I don't think I wanna be a christian,
If we all pack guns.
I don't think I wanna be a christian,
If all we do is gossip.
I don't think I wanna me a christian,
If people are constantly condemned.
I don't think I wanna be a christian,
If I have to go to a boring church.
I don't know about being a christian,
I just want to be like Jesus.

by Jill G.