If I had a photo, the image would say it all. Instead, you’ll have to imagine seeing the words, NAZI ISRAEL, being brandished on the street corner, and feeling an enormous, invisible fist thrusting into your gut. That was my experience today. Barely able to park, I had to ask why. “Who are you, sir?” No answer. “Why are you displaying this sign, here?” No reply. “What does this mean?” I persisted. Why didn’t I know the meaning of this? One more time, I prodded, “Sir, WHY are you doing this?” At long last, the bearded, spectacled man, together with his sign, slowly revolved until we were face to face. ”I can’t talk,” he said and further e-nun-ci-at-ed, “Read the words and say them a-loud.” The words nor their hatred could form in my mouth or my heart–only the enlarging fist in my stomach began to twist. Sign bearer turned away, flailing his indictment to oncomers from the east, west, north and south. The knuckles inside turned harder and deeper. As I walked away, flames of determination ignited.
I sought out a young couple, (the wife from Israel, the husband from Palestine), with businesses in Salt Lake, who were nearby, and perhaps the perfect source to begin my search. “Do you know what “NAZI ISRAEL” means, I implored. “I can show you,” husband replied. He pulled up images on the internet which juxtaposed scenes from the Holocaust of World War II and from today’s Israel/Palestine unrest. As these pictures appeared on his computer screen, he began to explain in surprisingly neutral language, the history and evolution of the political and religious battle there.
“There can be no peace, there can be no war…only ongoing conflict and turmoil,” husband concluded. Just then, an email from my own husband appeared, inviting me to attend a film on this very topic. Is that timing? Two hours later, we met at the Tower on 9/9 to watch “Ajami:“
A powerful crime drama set on the streets of Jaffa’s Ajami neighborhood–a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians–and told through the eyes of a cross-section of the city’s inhabitants: a young Israeli fighting a criminal vendetta against his family, a Palestinian refugee working illegally to finance a life-saving surgery, a Jewish police detective obsessed with finding his missing brother, and an affluent Palestinian dreaming of a future with his Jewish girlfriend. As their stories intersect–and the film’s narrative shifts back and forth in time–we witness a dramatic collision of different worlds and the tragic consequences of enemies living as neighbors. ~ (Kino International)
“…enemies living as neighbors.” Muslims, Jews and Christians living in continuous enemy combative contention, without resolution…peace for no one. I found my answers; but the revolt in my gut won’t ever go away, will it?
Economics USA: The Crumbling of an Empire~~Our Time Has Come
September 25, 2008
We’ve known wealth. We’ve known power. We’ve known comfort. We’ve known ease. We’ve lived the illusion. Living the illusion cost us more than we ever took the time to evaluate. It cost us more than -dollars and cents. Living in a super-inflated economy took its toll in relationships, in ethics, in priorities, in values and in character.
Many have warned us that our economy was on a collision course. Two of my dear friends, Dr. Robert Jensen and Dr. Jim Rigby have long been describing this unavoidable occurence, when no legislation Congress can forge will circumvent the inevitable. In Jensen’s book, Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity, he writes encouragingly of Maintaining political, intellectual, and ethical hope in the heart of the world’s most powerful nation. Now that this Empire, this illusion can no longer be sustained, we the people have the enormous gift of being able to come together on solid ground~~claiming our humanity. We have the opportunities to once again create time for our families and our neighbors…to take turns lending a helping hand. We can use our two hands, our minds, our hearts, our backs to shoulder the labors ahead of us together. We can learn anew to live closer to the earth, use less, replace more…our time has come. To paraphrase the recent words of Dr. Jim Rigby,
…let us open every pore to the present gift. [encouraging us to "taste the soup."]
Now, more than perhaps ever in our lifetimes, we can appreciate all of the genuine abundance that we truly live with. We can savor the breath that gives us life. We can cherish the life that surrounds and sustains us. Without a doubt, we will have less in that we no longer can delude ourselves or the world; yet, undeniably, we will have more. Each and every day will bring new riches that money and inflation cannot buy at any price.
I look forward to working with each and everyone of my neighbors, regardless of race, creed, or sexual orientation in life sustaining, community building endeavors.
I will consider it my highest priority to meet each day with joy in the privilege of being alive in this exciting time when the Empire crumbled and the people arose.
Our time has come; the perfect time for relocating~~for moving from the penthouses of our heads into the rich wilderness of our hearts. This is the perfect time to live abundant lives of compassion, recognizing the worth of every creature, of every individual, of every nation. Now is the time to “beat our swords in plowshares,” to mine our vast resources of courage, strength and determination in order to live not the illusion, but a life worth tasting.
For more from this author, visit http://itsawonderfulife.wordpress.com and http://ashtoraspeaks.wordpress.com.
For more perspectives like this, write Dr. Jim Rigby at jrigby0000@aol.com, visit Carol Creel at www.lifeworks-marketing.com. You can also email Ashtora, izee4mee@hotmail.com.
Take The Lowest Place or What Does It Really Mean to “Surrender”?
Dr. James Rigby
The last in Dr. Rigby’s series of coupling the writings of Eastern Taoism together with the texts of Western Christianity, in which he manages to unravel the mysteries of life in under twenty minutes.
It’s important to me that my readers know this man, this pastor, who has been faithful to one path called Truth for his enitre life, dedicated to one congregation called St. Andrew’s for more than twenty-five years, and committed fully to equipping humanity to live out their lives fully, in ways that press us towards our highest compassion, our deepest love, and our most authentic selves. Unlike any theologian, pastor, minister, evangelist, televangelist I’ve ever known, he’s not selling anything. He’s not after our pocketbooks. He’s not after fame and wealth. He doesn’t dress in expensive suits or drive expensive cars or even own a home–he’s more like the “Columbo” of ministers, living a modest and unassuming life. He’s on this planet to do the work of justice; Dr. Rigby does so, every day of his life, with utter humility and grace. He’s real, he’s funny, he’s deep and everytime he speaks, he articulates what most of us can’t even begin to put into words. I am so grateful for this teacher, his life, his gifts that has surrendered on behalf of the greater good of and for us all. {More on Dr. Rigby and his podcasts can be found on http://ashtoraspeaks.wordpress.com]
Master of storytelling, using metaphors and images from life in addition the symbols of the ages, Rigby attempts to help each of us to understand the concept of ‘Surrender’ in its deepest, most valuable context. With the intimacy he shares with those who listen, self-evident, whether you actually “get this” or not, you’ll find this teacher’s insights easy to listen to, thought provoking and entertaining. You can write him, Dr. Jim Rigby with your questions and comments: jrigby0000@aol.com He always takes the time to write back.
The spoon never tastes the soup; because it is not porous [the spoon] misses out on tasting the soup…so can we, if we don’t open every pore to the gift of this day and the next day….Rigby, 2008
[for Carol Creel's blog on Surrender, refer to www.lifeworks-marketing.com]
I Would Just Like To Know, Why Are We Fighting American VS. American? or Who Let The Dogs Out?
September 5, 2008
When did we forget that we are not waging war against each other, American Citizen against American Citizen, or even human AGAINST human? What happened to fighting on behalf of all Humanity…on behalf of our entire planet and beyond?~~Ash
Do Neither Palin OR McCain Have a Clue What’s In Store?
September 5, 2008
News Flash: The challenges of raising a child with Down Syndrome require a LOT more than seeing him as a “blessing.” Yes, he IS a blessing, and raising him will push your limits beyond anything you can comprehend, stretching you in ways you’ve never yet conceived. As the Palin family, though in government, you will not be immune to needing the support of family, friends, neighbors, community, teachers, counselors, doctors, lawyers and each other.
Your challenges have not even yet begun. Participating in this political arena will only delay the realities you and your family have to face.
In twenty years, you’ll be sixty-four and making decisions regarding Trig’s living arrangements. Applying for guardianship, so you can determine where he will live; you’d be wise to put his name on the waiting list for group homes now. The waiting list is that long. This is fast forward though. In the meantime, you’ll need to equip yourselves with new skills, new knowledge, new patience…you’ll need more patience than ten Jobs.
All the best. You’ll need it when you come back from your escape from reality.
Question: Mat-Su Regional Medical Center Named as Birthplace of Trig Paxson Van Palin
September 5, 2008
Palins’ child diagnosed with Down syndrome (04/22/08)
FAMILY FEELS BLESSED: Back at work already, governor says she wasn’t in labor in Texas.
Published: April 22nd, 2008 01:11 AM
Last Modified: April 22nd, 2008 07:49 PM
http://www.adn.com/626/story/382864.html
Lisa Demer ldemer@adn.com, writes an informative article in Anchorage Daily News regarding baby Palin being diagnosed with Down Syndrome and naming Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, between Palmer and Wasilla, Alaska, as birthplace of Trig Paxson Van Palin, Sarah’s purported fifth child, doesn’t list Trig as having been born there. Why? Is truth such a hard thing? If this is an elaborate cover-up over the birth of a child, what won’t the McCain/Palin ticket hide? Surely we have to override the Republican political machine, America.
Holy Cow, A Packin’ Pitbull, Wearin’ Lipstick, No Less!
September 4, 2008
Anyone else sick of this already? Who gave that Pitbull NRA membership and license to pack? The only thing more dangerous than a Pitbull is a Packin’ Pitbull! Sarah Palin is NOT my kind of woman, much less Vice Presidential material…but then again, dogs of a breed run together…McCain is no more my Presidential choice than his running mate is my VP choice. Speaking of Choice…
Palin: Pawn or Pitbull?
September 4, 2008
Maybe both. Vicious in either case. Neither should be unleashed, least of all, on the American public–with or without lipstick.
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
To All Who Have Ever Failed, Remember, Nothing Great…
September 2, 2008
This moment is dedicated to Senator John Edwards, whose words in the face of disappointment have provided great inspiration for me in times past; though since, has experienced his own personal disillusionment. May you and all of us who have ever “failed,” find comfort, encouragement, and renewed determination in the moment it takes to read these words. Ash
Think only for a moment, how you felt in the presence of the your “failures” and those of the ones we look to for leadership. When we failed our own moral imperatives; when we didn’t set the example we hoped to; when we didn’t accomplish exactly what we set out to; when those we trusted to show us that what we couldn’t do could be done, disappointed; take a moment for compassion and remember these words from Dr. Jim Rigby, visionary, story teller and activist from Austin, Texas:
Nothing great was ever accomplished in a single lifetime. We must emblazon those words in our hearts. The struggle is always worth it. For, if we do not improve our own time we have made possible some future happiness. If all around us is hopeless it is the perfect time to begin loosening the soil for future planters. The more hopeless the political situation, the more important are those who live and teach the principles of human decency.~~Dr. Jim Rigby
To all who struggle, all who fail, all who triumph, all who despair, all who repair…even when it doesn’t feel like it, it’s always worth it. Every heartache, every tear, every triumph and every joy prepares us and our posterity for the greatness to come. Now, is your perfect time.~~Ashtora
If you’d like to write Dr. Jim Rigby, his email is jrigby0000@aol.com
If you’d like to write me, my email is izee4mee@hotmail.com
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
itsawonderfulife
Saying “good-bye.”
May 17, 2010
Opening Statement: As a family, our efforts to continue to include you as family, reach out on behalf of your well being, and to enjoy what remains of you were met with hostility, disdain, disrespect, hatred, malice, use and abuse.
Body of Information: While we understand that your actions are probably beyond your control, we found that we could no longer abide them or continue to put ourselves in harm’s way.
Bringing it All Together: While we all continue to wish you well, and enjoy memories of the short time you were sober and not using, we’ve left you behind and will not look back.