Water Manifesto ......

[H2O Man]

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled
as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

-- St. Francis

[Me.]

1. Nothing More To Be Said n/t

[Taxloss]

2. Margaret Thatcher quoted this when she took office in 1979.

Oh, the irony.

It rather poisoned the poem for me.

[Me.]

4. It Is A Shame

when the shameless co-opt such beauty and surround its precepts with corruption.

[H2O Man]

7. Maggie Thatcher

looked at the stars, yet this should not diminish our sense of awe for the night sky.

[Me.]

20. An Excellent Point

Their influence is transitory, but the universe isn't.

[H2O Man]

22. Francis speaks about

our relationship to ourselves -- our self-respect, and our sense of our role within the context of humanity. As adults, we are responsible for these. No one, including Maggie Thatcher, has the power to take that from us. It would be a shame to grant her that power.

[barbaraann]

3. The Republican version:

Dark Lord, make me an instrument of war.
Where there is love, let me sow hatred;
Where there is trust, injury;
Where there is union, discord;
Where is faith, doubt;
Where there is light, darkness;
Where there is joy, sadness.
Grant that we may not so much seek to console
as to cause need for consolation;
To be understood as to hide our true motives;
To be loved as to be feared.
For it is in breaking human bonds that we are exhilarated,
And it is in killing that we create an eternal hell on earth.

[TNOE]

5. Gurrrr - Must we be so negative

Thanks H20 for this - I am really feeling for the people in NO and Mississippi right now - and feeling really blessed myself that what little I have is not being destroyed - at the moment.

[H2O Man]

6. Last night

I read where some of the people from the pro-war side in Crawford met some of the rational people "half way," for a small candle-light ceremony. And that is what we need now. We can't battle hatred successfully with more hatred. We can't curb impatience born of fear with more impatience born of fear. And we will not have peace on earth result from more war.

While a hurricane is tragic, it offers us important lessons: we can either learn to live together in a cooperative effort, or we will suffer. And that is just as true in LA as in NO.

We are our siblings' keepers, yet we are primarily responsible for ourselves. What are our goals? How do we define "victory"? How far are we willing to go to meet our goals, and achieve victory? Will we give up our own hatred and fear? Or stubbornly cling to those things that will keep us from that peace on earth?

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. What happened in Crawford last night

is what this 'new' peace movement is all about. Now it is time for all of us to come together and help each other get through this disaster. That is the only way we will be able to survive this.

Thanks for the ray of hope. I needed one at the moment.

Peace be with you.

[EVDebs]

17. St Francis knew war. He was part of St Louis' failed crusade in Egypt

where the mostly French crusaders had to be ransomed. Later in the 1790's Napoleon went into Egypt apparently to make amends...

The hubris of war and these neocons. Afganistan was one thing, Iraq...another thing altogether. Even "Poppy" and Scowcroft knew better.

[Pobeka]

19. This is absolutely the truth.

And I think this is why the pro-war side came to meet Cindy & company.

Because when you come in sincerity, and don't hate, it can awaken that spirit in others. We desparately need to awaken that spirit in those who are capable of it.

[Just Me]

21. .

yes

[stepnw1f]

24. I Did Not Know About That

That really gave me hope.

[Donailin]

11. There is a freedom in having nothing

left to lose. You're free to love God.

I look at all my belongings and all my "necessities" and none of them enable me to build treaure in heaven.

[Beam Me Up]

8. 5th nomination.

Thank you, H20 Man, for a bit of sanity in a time of distress.

[Donailin]

9. St Francis is the man

he once said, "Preach the Gospel Daily, Use Words When Necessary"

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. One of my favorite books

is Saint Francis - Nikos Kazantzakis.

I also took Frances has my confirmation name.

[H2O Man]

13. Julien Green's book

"God's Fool: The Life and Times of Francis of Assisi" is good, also.

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. When all this is over

I hope to have the time to read such books again. Thanks for the recommendation.

[AbbyR]

14. Thank you...

All of the negative threads have been upsetting, and I was trying to decide where to put a little bit about the town where I work, Dumas, Arkansas. The Methodist Church has opened a shelter here, where they are housing between 30 and 60 storm refugees - it varies from day to day.

The county judge went out on the highway and put up signs, directing people to the shelters or to places where they can park RVs, if they have them.

All the area churches in this little town of about 5,000 have come together and are feeding and sheltering those who need it. People are taking shifts and cooking for up to 100 per meal - there are some people who are staying in hotels, but they can't afford to eat in the restaurants, so they come to the shelter.

There are no showers or laundry facilities at the church, so the people are walking a block to the municipal building where the police, jail and emergency medical techs are housed, and they shower and do laundry there. Some locals have taken home laundry for the people who couldn't get out.
I'm taking a pile of books up as soon as I leave work, and the children will start school here tomorrow, so they won't get too far behind.
The local pharmacies are filling emergency prescriptions for the people, and we are taking up donations to buy them gas to get back home when they can leave, possibly Friday or Monday.

There's a lot of love and caring, if folks will just take time to look for it.

Abby in Arkansas

[DoYouEverWonder]

23. That is good to hear

There is so little news come out from the rest of the country about what is happening to the people that had to flee.

[H2O Man]

25. Thank you for

sharing this with us. Keep up the good work.

[mountainvue]

16. Thank you. I love the prayer of St. Francis. n/t

[Just Me]

18. We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers.

We should allow no one to interfere with our obligation to contibute to the well-being of others in order to strengthen our society, our people, our country and our world as a whole.

It's one thing to direct righteous anger at the three-pronged cult which benefits from being hateful, persecutory and devisive. However, to share and spread that hatred and division among ourselves and those who are victims of it seems so useless and futile. By doing so, we are infecting our own hearts/minds/souls.

[AuntiBush]

26. Thanks, H2O Man. We Need that One.

Been a long time since I read that one. Thank you.

Peace be with all.

[Me.]

27. .

[coeur_de_lion]

28. my favorite prayer!

I actually have it taped to my steering wheel. I need the constant reminder.

Nowadays it is hard to find people who truly live to bring peace to others. I hope that I am one of those people, I certainly try to be as often as possible.