German anniversaries today - good and bad

Cat Lovers Against the Bomb calendar tells me, and I share with you, today is the anniversary of two key events that rocked the world. Both in Germany, interestingly.

On this day in 1938 was Kristallnacht. Literally, the night of broken glass. That's the night Nazis and citizens ransacked Jewish synagogues, cemetaries, homes and businesses throughout Germany and Austria. This tragic event, which was widely reported across the globe, marked the beginning of the Holocaust.

What is the right way to commemorate this dark milestone? Answer hate with love, I guess.

The second anniversary today is the 1989 fall of the Bein Wall. This is way happier.

But the pain of the pogroms continues.

Must stop the hate, stop the demonizing. Just as there is that of God and good in each of t
Us, there is also something of evil in us, which we must suppress.

Peace y'all

Molly

Love thy neighbor

Yesterday I read Anthony Manousos's fine blog essay on ending torture. I reflected more on the evil of ongoing slavery. And the rancor of partisan politics in these final and vicious days of the campaign season is impossible to ignore. There is much evil in the world.

What if, what if peace prevailed in every heart? Roots of evil, I believe, are human vices. Greed, gluttony, fear. If we abstain from vice, the worst we might do is err, or act wrong due to oblivion.

My thinking went a little further and simplified it. Love thy neighbor. Treat him and her the way you want to be treated.

So simple, so profound. Could we overcome the evil, pain and suffering on our planet by simply loving our neighbors and practicing the golden rule?

Peace, y'all

Molly

A moving prayer for peace

This was in my email inbox this a.m. and I am moved to share it. Enjoy. Peace, y'all


MY MESSAGE FOR PEACE AND HARMONY

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

We all need to pray for one another, and to love one another. We should always pray for the safety, peace, love and brotherhood for people all over the world.

Too bad we can't have an independence day for the entire world. A day of freedom from ignorance, hatred, war, illusions, power and control. A day where we can all love each other as human beings and toss away the weapons of war, and cast out our fears and hatreds from our hearts into the graves. We must mourn the graves of the innocents all over the world, and give the children of the world the hope of a peaceful, loving and beautiful world.

A world full of love and without hatred or fear. A world where we can join hands together and accept one another, regardless of our skin color, ethnic divisions, religion or nationality. If we don't unite as a human race, then we have condemned the future generation of children a dark and very grim future.

Think of love, compassion and peace always...


MY PRAYER FOR PEACE AND HARMONY

Merciful God, You made all of the people of the world in Your own image and placed before us the pathway of salvation through different Preachers who claimed to have been Your Saints and Prophets. But, the contradictions (made by us) in the interpretation of Your teachings have resulted in creating divisions, faith based hatreds and bloodshed in the world community. Millions of innocent men, women and children have so far been brutally killed by the militants of several religions who have been committing horrifying crimes against humanity and millions more would not be butchered by them in the future, if You guide and help us find ways to reunite peacefully.

IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL, look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the controversial teachings of arrogance, divisions and hatreds which have badly infected our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; reunite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish Your purposes on earth; that, in Your good time, all nations and races could jointly serve You in justice, peace and harmony. (Amen)

Regards,
S.A.Rehman
Peace Activist
PAKISTAN

Good words about love

For Valentine's Day festivities where I work, I googled up some fine quotations about love (and life.) I share some of them here.

We are all born for love... it is the principle existence and it's only end. --Disraeli

The life and love we create is the life and love we live. --Leo Buscaglia

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead. --Bertrand Russell, Earl Russell

By ourselves we can enjoy life, but to really appreciate life we must find companionship.
--author unknown

You who have received so much love, show your love by protecting the sacredness of life. The sacredness of life is the greatest gifts that God has given us. --Mother Theresa

There are only four questions of value in life . . . What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for? What is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love." --From the film Don Juan DeMarco

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love. --Henry Drummond

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind. --Henri Frederick Amiel

One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life; That word is love. --Sophocles

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. --Lao Tzu

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. --Martin Luther King, Jr.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
--1 Peter 4:8-9
Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that. ~Michael Leunig

Who, being loved, is poor? ~Oscar Wilde

Forget love - I'd rather fall in chocolate! ~Sandra J. Dykes

Enjoy these and love joyfully

Peace and Love, y'all

Molly

Yes, we can

My grumpy old husband told me he feels "euphoria."

I had a quick mini-epiphany (no time yet to settle in and seriously pray about it) that the first step is to stop the name-calling. I am not much of a name-caller anyway but I can do better--encourage and admonish others not to name-call!

I feel love and hope and an urgent call to pray--to devote intense intellectual and spiritual focus on what to do next. Because I do believe--peace starts at home. And I want to do what I can to bring it about.

We still have wars going on. We still have a huge deficit. We are still pouring too much carbon into the air, and poisoning our planet in the process. We have much poor policy to repair. Yes, there is a lot of work to do, and I pledge to you, my reader, and to my planet and to my President I will do what I can.

Love and Peace!

Peace Be With You

Peace, love, happiness. good stuff. They all connect. Here's an example.

Today the weather was nice and I was in a pretty good mood, so it was easy to spread a little joy. I walked cheerfully over the land (some of it, anyway) and answered that of God in others. I smiled. I made eye contact and smiled some more. I said please and thank you.

This was not romantic love. This was add-to-the-good-in-the-universe love. My father was really good at it, though not good in many other areas (keeping a grip on reality, for example). But I learned some good values from him, and one of them is the old Golden Rule.

Today I think I brightened the day for a lot of other people.

On a macro level, the Golden Rule means not waging war on others, not stealing or harming others, not lying or cheating. Countries should practice the Golden Rule too.

I live on a micro level, however, so on that level, Peace Be With You.