Poet, Author, Composer....
[SONG] I Want To Choose
I Want to Choose
You know some men are changing. Some men aren’t. I’m not in favor of abortions and at the same time I am in favor of a woman’s right to choose what happens to her own body. I don’t give that over to men to make that decision.
There are a host of things that can be done to support women——education, birth control, strengthening self-esteem, being sensitive to women who have been raped. I’m in favor of each of those.
I’m also in favor of not curtailing the right of a woman to choose abortion.
[SONG] I’ve Got A Gun
I’ve Got a Gun
Songs of peace are a significant part of the CD “Womansongs / Peacesongs” and I’ve got a gun sounds like children arguing but also amazingly like nations threatening.
I’ve got a gun —— well I’ve got a tank —— well I’ve got a sub —— and on and on it goes. In this song it ends with a neutron bomb and in reality who knows the horrors the could be still to come if we don’t put a stop to it.
Even the building of greater weapons has environmental implications.
The song ends with “Who will be first?” And isn’t that the question.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said: We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.
I wrote this not with a pie-in-the-sky attitude but with a strong conviction that we have to go the distance in negotiation and cut back drastically in bullying and bluster.
It takes really courageous and brave leaders to say: “Let’s meet and talk.”
This Nation’s Character
The quote for the day—This nation’s character has never been defined by the power we give the already strong – but by the strength we give the weak. —Joe Kennedy III
Dissent
Today I came across this quote from Thurgood Marshall and think it still rings true today: “We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust. We must dissent from a nation that has buried its head in the sand, waiting in vain for the needs of its poor, its elderly, and its sick to disappear and just blow away. We must dissent from a government that has left its young without jobs, education or hope. We must dissent from the poverty of vision and the absence of moral leadership. We must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.” ——Thurgood Marshall in his Liberty Medal Acceptance Speech on July 4, 1992. He was Associated Justice of the Supreme Court from 1967 to 1991.
Unity / Diversity
Here’s a quote I like a lot: “I love the concept of unity and diversity…most decisions are based on a tiny difference. People say this was right and that wrong–the difference was a feather…I keep scales wherever I am to remind me of that…They’re a symbol of my awareness of the distortion most people have of what’s better and what isn’t.” —Laurence Rockefeller
SONG: Step Close
Step Close
This song was written out of my experience years ago, when it seemed I felt like I wanted to be close to someone, and then when it happened, I wanted to be alone again. Ever feel that way?
Like close is one thing—but a person can get too close, too smothery, where the boundaries almost get merged and there is no me, and no you, as separate people, anymore.
That’s the kind of closeness that I guess even now I don’t want.
A Laugh
Rev. Susan Sparks in her book Laugh Your Way to Grace writes: Desserts is stressed spelled backwards.
Walk a Mile
Here’s a humorous quote: Before you criticize someone you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.——Jack Handey, American humorist
Lagom
Read the quote today. Then think about it in its broadest application–much more than being about food. “‘Lagom’ is a Swedish expression used when passing food or drink around the table, meaning: Take just enough so that there is enough for everyone.” —William Ury in the book “Getting to Peace.”
Solving Problems
Today I’m passing on a quote from the book The Cow in the Parking Lot–A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger, written by Leonard Scheff and Susan Edmiston. Here’s the quote: “Anger is as good at solving problems as a fan is at stacking papers.
New Release!!
Daybook of Personal Faith
Mama and Me
