Amazing stuff, via Tom Atlee

[Alan Stewart]

Dear Friends

This has been passed on from Tom Atlee, who has the connectings and
the wisdom to find the essence of humane matters, as these postings
reveal IMO.

Whoever Jack Barnard is I am proud to be a member of his family (as well
of members of this list! :-) )

As you may be too once you have seen his poem.

Good to converse, with love

Alan
Adelaide



Dear friends, [says Tom]

The insights, brilliant articulations and heart keep flowing forth from
whatever this painful well of wisdom is...

coheartedly,
Tom

_ _ __

Let's by all means grieve together. But let's not be stupid together. A few
shreds of historical awareness might help us understand what has just
happened, and what may continue to happen. "Our country is strong," we are
told again and again. I for one don't find this entirely consoling. Who
doubts that America is strong? But that's not all America has to be.

--Susan Sontag in The New Yorker

_ _ _ _

Thanks to Julie Glover for this:


Don't Fight War in our Son's Name.

The following is a letter reproduced from the 9/23/01 edition of "The
Journal News," a newspaper in Westchester County, New York.

Our son, Greg, is among the many missing from the World Trade Center
attack.  Since we first heard the news, we have shared moments of grief,
comfort, hope, despair, fond memories with his wife, the two families, our
friends and neighbors, his loving colleagues at Cantor Fitzgerald/ESpeed,
and all the grieving families that daily meet at the Pierre Hotel.

We see our hurt and anger reflected among everybody we meet. We cannot pay
attention to the daily flow of news about this disaster.  But we read
enough of the news to sense that our government is heading in the direction
of violent revenge, with the prospect of sons, daughters, parents and
friends in distant lands dying, suffering and nursing further grievances
against us.

It is not the way to go.  It will not avenge out son's death. Not in our
son's name.  Our son died a victim of inhumane ideology.  Our actions
should not serve the same purpose. Let us grieve. Let us reflect and pray.
Let us think about a rational response that brings real peace and justice
to our world. But let us not as a nation add to the inhumanity of our times.

Phyllis and Orlando Rodriguez
White Plains, New York
_ _ _ _ _ _ _


Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the
future of humankind.    Did you think the Creator would create unnecessary
people in a time of such terrible danger?  Know that you yourself are
essential to this World.

-- Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nation, 19th
Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe

_ _ _ _ __


Thanks to Joe Casey for this:


One of the more revealing aspects of this life-changing event has been the
difference between what we the people are sharing on the internet and the
kinds of reportage that comes to us on TV or in newspapers. As I see it,
this would be a totally different experience if it happened before the
planet was all wired up.

I'm sure you've received dozens of emails by now. I thank God for that. This
event has brought me out of my stupor. In so many ways, it has crystallized
my thinking.

In other words, everyone has an opinion, this is mine.

God bless, Jack Barnard <oobidoobi13 at msn.com>


THE FAMILY

  "Adversity introduces us to ourselves."
       George Bush, September 14, 2001


The Movie

This is a bad dramatic movie with too many themes. 1) The Islamic Terrorists
are out to get us. 2) Bin Laden wants the US to bomb Afghanistan, to line up
the Islamic countries against the rest of the world. 3) This is payback for
America's manipulation in the world, especially the Mideast. 4) This is a
master conspiracy of the "shadow government." (Or the Military/Industrial
complex, or the Illuminati, or the Tri-Lateral Commission, whatever.) Bin
Laden is just a puppet. The "shadow government" is the puppeteer, and they
need war and further surrender of our freedoms to stay in control. (The "War
Against America" certainly plays into the hands of the conspiracy buffs.
This is exactly the scenario they've been predicting. Wag the Dog, and while
you're at it, teach him to lay down and play dead.) 5) This is about
patriotism, Americans standing up to be counted, closing the gate behind us.
(Of course, the limitation of this scenario is that America is the nation of
all nations. We are fundamentally Jewish, Christian, Moslem, Afghanistan,
Armenian, Hungarian, Irish, English, French, German, Indian, Chinese,
Japanese, Argentinean, Mexican. To pick out any particular ethnic group and
go to war with it is like being at war with your foot.)

  "Be the change you want to be in the world."
       Gandhi


Us versus Them.

We're barely scratching the surface of cinematic possibility but what these
scenarios have in common is an "Us" versus "Them" consciousness. I think the
operable point is that it doesn't matter who the "Them" is -- more than
likely we'll never know for sure -- it matters who the "Us" is. As I see it,
"Us" includes "Them" -- no matter who they are -- but they don't need to
know
it. Those of us who do know it just need to raise the bar of consciousness
high enough and hold out our arms wide enough to include all the players.

Yes there is a fundamental rift between the ultra-modern Western World's
cocktail of freedom, materialism, and willfulness and the seemingly extreme,
rigid principles of fundamental Islam.

If we were a family -- and we are -- we would find a way to heal this rift.

i remember now
once we were a family
we didn't always get along
we didn't believe the same things
but we were a family
and we found a way to work it out
i remember now


Opportunity of a Lifetime

Regardless of what we say we do for a living, a helluva lot of us have been
preparing for this event. We've been practicing the principles, reading the
books, singing the songs, recognizing the unity in all things, mouthing the
Majestic words: "We Are One." We've been waiting for this moment. Yes it's
horrendous, it's tragic, it's an affront to everything decent.

And it's also an amazing, cosmic, transcendental, transformational
opening--a
hole in our collective consciousness that can be filled with more fear,
revenge, hated and separation--or forgiveness, compassion and profound
understanding.

In the game of good and evil, how else could a breakthrough like this take
shape? This is the way that human beings create quantum shifts. This is the
way we "remember." We are a family, and the family finds a way to work
things out.


If We are One, there is no Us!

some of our brothers and sisters traveled far away
and by the time we saw each other again
we didn't seem to have that much in common
but we knew we were family
so our differences just made our coming together
all that more interesting
when we sat in the circle and talked
and really listened to each other
the differences didn't mean that much


The Timing

For those of us who have been practicing, practicing is over, this is our
time. Beyond the rhetoric, beyond the theory, step up and be the principles.
I say there are two questions to ask ourselves: 1) As an individual, what do
"I" truly believe works? Then, 2) What kind of influence do "we" have?

We've been preparing for War. Well, War has been declared. But if we have
anything to say about it, this will not (only) be a War fought on distant
battlefields by nineteen year-olds. This is the War within all of us. This
is about healing the fear, the judgment, the terrorist in all of us.

It's time to get clear about what we really believe works, beyond the
rhetoric. This is a shamanic event. This is the opportunity of our lifetime
to bring together any separation that still lurks within.

In the heart, there are no enemies, and an intention aligned around that
awareness will take care of that.

we found out that what we had in common
far outweighed the rest


Critical Mass

If you know the code, step up, spread the word. This is the time, this is
the work. Hold the image of miraculous conception within yourself. Those are
the seeds, sprinkle them with the water of love. Then express it to the
people in your network. And encourage them to express it to their
networks. Create a critical mass.

What possible scenario could blossom out of this catastrophe? Hold fast to
that scenario. The details, the way we get there, aren't important, the
outcome is. We are a family trying to come back together.

we all loved to tell stories
we loved to laugh
we were proud of our children

We will be challenged, we are challenged right now to hold true to what we
believe. Don't let fear, despair, doubt cloud your thoughts. Hold tight to
the image of unity, peace, forgiveness.

we were in awe of nature
we were amazed at the majesty of a tree
or the beauty of a flower
we loved sunsets and full moons and shooting stars

If you know any Muslims, Syrians, Afghans, Iranians, Iraqis, reach out! Give
them some solace. They've done nothing wrong. They are "Us." They're part of
the family. Hate crimes are on the rise, they have to be afraid right now,
it must be harrowing.

we wanted to be free to live our lives the way we chose to
we didn't like to be judged


Form Councils

Join with like-minded people, light-bearers who can see this for what it is:
the Grand Opportunity to put into action the high-minded principles that
we've been thinking about, talking about, chanting about, praying about.

we believed in some sort of higher power
although each of us called it by a different name

most of all, we wanted to love and be loved

The power of "Them" is so strong, no matter who we think "They" are, we
cannot fight them on their battleground. We would be annihilated. What we
can do is wrap "Them" back into "Us" (which not only includes the
terrorists, but Jerry Falwell, Rush Limbaugh and the war mongers) and
accelerate our process. How does it work here? Does the alignment of
like-minded souls really have power? How much power? Enough to pierce the
veil of hate, revenge, retaliation, control, manipulation? Enough to create
an outcome of peace, forgiveness and understanding? Yes you say? Then we're
off and running.


i remember now
we were a family
so we found a way to act like one
i remember now

_ _ _ _ _


[Here's the poem in its entirety:]


THE FAMILY


i remember now
once we were a family
we didn't always get along
we didn't believe the same things
but we were a family
and we found a way to work it out
i remember now

some of our brothers and sisters traveled far away
and by the time we saw each other again
we didn't seem to have that much in common
but we knew we were family
so our differences just made our coming together
all that more interesting
when we sat in the circle and talked
and really listened to each other
the differences didn't mean that much

we found out that what we had in common
far outweighed the rest

we all loved to tell stories
we loved to laugh
we were proud of our children
we were in awe of nature
we were amazed at the majesty of a tree
or the beauty of a flower
we loved sunsets and full moons and shooting stars

we wanted to be free to live our lives the way we chose to
we didn't like to be judged

we believed in some sort of higher power
although each of us called it by a different name

most of all, we wanted to love and be loved

i remember now
we were a family
so we found a way to act like one
i remember now

*
*
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