BEING YOUNG IS NOT A WAITING ROOM

BEING YOUNG IS NOT A WAITING ROOM:-TRANSFORMING OUR SCHOOLS- EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN

Parents and our local schools have a profound moral and spiritual responsibility of educating our children. Our national way of life reflected in politics, the media, colleges, entertainment, sports, and religion share this responsibility, and we in the Asheville area need to accept this responsibility in our small part of the world.

The education of our children is paramount. Parents can’t change the world, but can act locally in calling for changes in our schools. I retired from teaching in 1996 and today I’m reading about the same problems and political rhetorics as I did in my twenty-nine years of teaching. In fact, I retired early because of the bureaucratic struggling for control in our system. In many ways it’s still with us.

Dedicated teachers are truly child-centered. And, there are programs in schools across the country that strive in creative, meaningful ways. There is a force in the universe—call it God or Spirituality or whatever you like—a force toward truth and justice reflecting the energy of love. This force reflects a sacred participation that will help us if we are patient, steady, and humble. We must Never—Ever give up! No one escapes responsibility.

Teachers need parents who ask, “What is my child curious about?— not how did he/she do on the test. And, teachers should ask parents, “What is your child curious about?” Schools are not waiting rooms for our youth, but an active development of what it is to be human on a global scale.

Parents, teachers,  and all concerned citizens, challenge yourselves!

NEED TO CREATE HEALTHY, SECURE, CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS: A MESSAGE FOR LOCAL SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, AND PARENTS

Today, no teenager in America can remember a time whenour country was at peace. Congress has not officially declared war, but our fighting forces in the 21st century are still active in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, libya,  and have more military bases on the planet than any other country. The truth of war is hidden by political spin, distorted ideology supported by corporate media; all substituting a way of life that accepts violence over a mature, spiritual religious Faith. This under the umbrella of the so called “Free Market” claimed necessary, not for the common good, but for ever increasing wealth as marketed by Conservative and Liberal elites.   Part of this way of life, the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp (JROTC) funded by American tax payers, is accepted in high schools here and across our country. 

It is encouraging that the Land of the Sky United Church of Christ in Asheville, NC invited the local Veterans for Peace during the Christmas season to bring the issue of Peace to children. Creating a healthy society requires us all to educate and create healthy young adults, and inspire a public spirit that leads to peace, love, compassion, and a readiness to be involved in helping others. 

      I recommend that we have equal funding matching JROTC  to encourage non-military programs that include loyalty, selfless service, personal courage, and obedience in the service of peace and justice. These include professions such as teaching, nursing, and social workers to educate children, energize families, and build communities of hope that hunger for justice, honesty, and peace. Some form of democratic spiritual healing process is needed to unite our country and the world.

EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN FOR PEACE

June 2018 –

EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN FOR PEACE

OUR LEGACY TO OUR CHILDREN

Have we have become a fearful country “measured” by our relationship to weapons and guns? There is a connection between our reliance on wars abroad and guns at home. This is reflected in our active or passive support of the militarization of our youth and violence at home. The war mentality has not and will not secure our happiness. It blinds us to the common good of humanity. Is this our legacy for children?

Militarization brings fear and distress that diminishes our collective capacity for the true and the beautiful. Our military responses result in permanent “undeclared” wars and a global military presence in over one hundred countries as well the militarization of our police and our youth in Junior Reserve Training Corp (JROTC) programs in high schools.

I say “NO” to the militarization of our youth in our public schools.  We can do better than that with the ideals that reflect peace.  Alternatives to JROTC can be found throughout the country  that build self-esteem and aid positive educational goals better than the JROTC program; perhaps not as as exciting to young students, but powerful in the effort to bring a better understanding of good citizenship, reconciliation, creativity, respect, empathy and compassion. In short, this would invest in our highest ideals.

The United States always has all the money it needs for wars and weapons, but never enough for public schools, low cost housing, universal health care; values that can make “America Great Again!”  We can choose to become a beacon of hope to the world, welcoming refugees and a demonstration of democratic values serving the common good.

Educational funding need be increased for the needs of our children, not for a political ideology. The military does not encourage freedom of thought, love of others, equality, and the common good of humanity. This is a huge topic as it reflects our way of life for future generations. Should the army subsidize high school soldiering? Or, would it be better to subsidize teachers’ ongoing education and badly needed innovations in schools to inspire positive values for more people including teachers, parents, and the general public?

MILITARIZATION OF OUR YOUTH

THE MILITARIZATION OF OUR YOUTH

A TEACHER AFFECTS ETERNITY, NOT KNOWING WHERE THEIR INFLUENCE ENDS.

WE ALL AFFECT ETERNITY

     We all affect eternity as we never know where our influence ends. Each generation is called to pass on to our children what is best from the past, while remaining open to new teachings envisioning a world of compassion for all humankind.

There are over 3,200 U. S. Junior Reserve Training Corp program (JROTC) in high schools throughout the country. On the surface it reflects sound educational goals in developing citizenship, leadership, self-esteem, and team building along with other goals building military skills.

The ads and the recruiters sales pitch sound good. All advertisement does. But military life doesn’t live up to the advertisement, and when enlisted you are obligated for eight years including time in the Reserve when you can be recalled. Know before you go. Check out: www.winningthepeace.org to find out what you should know before joining.

Personally, I say “NO” to the militarization of our youth despite the good intentions of many.  We can do better than that with the ideals that reflect peace or at least make war less likely.  Alternatives to JROTC can be found throughout the country  focusing on the educational goals of building self-esteem claimed by the JROTC program; perhaps not as as exciting as wearing a uniform or shooting a gun, but powerful in the effort to bring a better understanding of good citizenship, reconciliation, creativity, respect, empathy and compassion. These ideals easily translated to  what is best in human beings of all nations. Programs such as the arts, music, and drama should receive as much funding and attention as the JROTC program; thus giving students more creative choices.

I’m impressed with the intelligence and insights of our youth including some in JROTC.  My advice to them is to go to college with the motivation to engage in learning that brings a larger purpose to life than a military career. Read biographies and autobiographies and learn about the giants whose shoulders we stand on.

We need to learn more about serving the wider community: peace makers, conscientious objectors and the great thinkers, artists, and philosophers who make life worth living emphasizing the awesome nature of humankind. Reading stories of people’s lives can be an enjoyable way to learn history whether presidents, peacemakers, athletes, entertainers, and those that grab one’s interests.

Change will come from outside politics when we the people demand more creative funding for our schools on a level and focus that goes into JROTC.  We can include more history, science, the arts, and voluntary programs to create an awareness in peace making,  conscientious objectors and the great thinkers, artists, philosophers, and prophets who seek beyond the love of wisdom to the art of living a good life; 

For more info:  esacco189@gmail.com.

CLEAR EVIDENCE OF THE NEED TO ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS. October 31, 2017

 

“The best lack all conviction while the worse are full of passionate intensity.”

(Yeats)

As the leaders of North Korea and the United States ratchet up tension, it becomes clear that we must support the global effort to ban nuclear weapons. It’s a display of patriotic love expressing a longing for peace and justice on our planet.

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time,

and your government when it deserves it.”

Mark Twain

     Usually, demonstrating for peace is considered political, but for many protesters it is a spiritual or religious calling. I lived my adult life under the Cold War threat of Mutual Assured Destruction.  But even then, continued diplomacy did offer some hope that this would be reversed. For example: as early as 1959, there was the first International Weapons Agreement demilitarizing the Antarctic. And in 1969 a Test Ban Treaty limiting testing to underground sites to reduce the impact on the environment; and the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaties of the 1960s and 1970s as well as other attempts to reduce the danger — not perfect, but the trend moved in the right direction.

Today, that has all but disappeared under our present Republican administration. Why?

There is still hope if we the people speak up. Recently, 122 countries adopted a United Nations treaty on the “prohibition of nuclear weapons.”  Sixty-nine nations refused to vote; including the United States, all nuclear countries, and NATO with the exception of the Netherlands.

Since 1994, a bill has been introduced into the House of Representatives: “The Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Energy Conversion Act.”  We can all participate in this important issue by calling or writing our representatives to support this  year’s bill: HR 3853. It’s our democratic-patriotic duty.

“The best lack all conviction while the worse are full of passionate intensity.’ (Yeats)

DEMOCRACY IS WHAT PEOPLE DO

DEMOCRACY IS WHAT PEOPLE DO

“PUBLIC SENTIMENT IS EVERYTHING. WITH IT, NOTHING CAN FAIL;

AGAINST IT, NOTHING CAN SUCCEED. WHOEVER MOLDS PUBLIC SENTIMENT GOES DEEPER THAN HE WHO ENACTS LAWS,

OR PRONOUNCE JUDICIAL DECISION.”

Abraham Lincoln

“NOT EVERYTHING THAT IS FACED CAN BE CHANGED, BUT

NOTHING IS CHANGED UNTIL IT IS FACED.”

James Baldwin

Democracy has been reduced  to a competition for power creating a “win-lose” way of life. The original United States’ ideal was “e Pluribus Unum” – out of many one. However, today influential leaders drive people apart: blaming, polarizing, creating fear, being secretive, and even lying.  Democracy at its best is what people do, not merely what an authoritarian government does. We have lost our way. It’s a spiritual cancer that infects the soul of what’s best in democratic people.

The goal of democracy is to strive for consensus that will improve the life and health of the whole, not to one ideological finite belief such as liberalism or conservatism, Republican or Democrat. We must not let the spiritual forces, the holy longings in our hearts slip away into helplessness or selfish individualism. The negative tendencies have to be fought with relentless energy and moral clarity.

All of us, not just reporters and activists, need to speak truths to power.  If we stop resisting, the spirit of democracy and the Christian values of compassion and caring for others will die in us. This requires the effort of all of us at the deepest levels of our being. Each of us have different gifts reflected in our faith and healing efforts. It is our responsibility as citizens to inform ourselves and question authority. Merely complaining or hoping for change  guarantees no change. We must participate: Pray,meditate,  study, reflect, and act.

In 1956, our motto legally became “in God we trust.” I don’t believe that. It’s more like “our individualism we trust” or “in bombs we trust.”  Our failure to create an united system of social and economic development is evident. For too long our government has  been narrowly focused on maximizing wealth as if Salvation will come through the “free market” which is the religion of the 21st century.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE: HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE: HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

We have gained the whole world of wealth, and military supremacy but our souls are troubled; we are insecure.

The only thing that is certain in worldly affairs is that “everything changes.” Once we accept ongoing change, we free ourselves to continue creating and expanding. In this sense, democracy puts a heavy burden on we-the-people to be well-informed and active in choosing leaders and working for the common good. The need for an atmosphere of openness and cooperation has become more urgent. We are all connected. 

On Sept. 21, the International Day of Peace  recognizes that we are all one with the theme: “Together for Peace: Respect, Safety, & Dignity for All.” Established in 1981, Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace. For many, perhaps most, the theme now is Just Peace, not Just War which has failed to limit the power of governments to wage war worldwide.

Today something is dying; however the media that reflects the dysfunction of the powerful, does not recognize that something is also being born, evolving. Like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly, there is a social evolution in the making along with tears and crushing suffering throughout the planet.

  We are the most powerful military country on earth, no one can defeat us, and we are still “perfecting” new and “better” ways to kill and defeat enemies rather than reaching out with love and compassion. This needs to end. The signs are all around us, wake up! Something new is being born! It’s evolutionary, not revolutionary. It is evolving today from science and religion, from spirituality and the world, it’s global and can’t be stopped. 

THE BOMB: LEGACY OF AUGUST 6, 1945

We have gained the whole world of wealth,economic and political supremacy but our souls our troubled; we are insecure.

The atomic bomb altered the nature of our democracy, and laid the foundation for a permanent state of war. Like many of our well intentioned endeavors, the way of life generated by the production of Weapons of Mass Destruction has evolved to a daemonic spiritual cancer: war, power, and greed. Many warned against this, including President Eisenhower. The former general saw that our defense spending was out of control, and as president he warned of the dangers of the Military Industrial Complex “unwarranted influence.”

The invention of the atomic bomb, developed under official secrecy, scientific genius and military discipline. This mindset extended into the Cold War with Communism, becoming a model for covert operations and increased presidential powers in the nuclear age.

PEACE IS PATRIOTIC

PEACE IS PATRIOTIC: SUPPORT OUR VETERANS JULY 4, 2017

Let’s support our veterans who are working toward a way of life that the United States Constitution promised “we the people.”

Here’s a short list that Veterans for Peace advocate:

1. Redirect Pentagon budget money for education, health care, infrastructure, and sustainable green energy.
2. Dismantle the U. S. Empire here and abroad.
3. Close U.S. bases on foreign soil and bring home the troops.
4. Ban nuclear weapons
5. Dismantle corporate control of our government.
6. Stop persecution of immigrants, and refugees.
7. End sexism and gender discrimination in the military.
8. Respect and honor First Nation sovereignty and treaties.
9. End racism violence.
10. The Veterans for Peace  call on Congress to stop funding war and  create a plan for a peaceful solution after 16 years of war and the   death of tens of thousands in our Middle East wars. 

This may seem too radical for many, but keep in mind that the “Just War” theory was an attempt to limit the war-making power of governments, not to condone war. The theory required that all other options be exhausted before military force force be used. Let’s pray for peace in our time.

For more info: VeteransForPeace.org

PRAYER FOR DECADE OF NONVIOLENCE

PRAYER FOR AÍ DECADE OF NONVIOLENCE

I BOW TO THE SACRED IN ALL CREATION.

MAY MY SPIRIT FILL THE WORLD WITH BEAUTY AND WONDER.

MAY MY MIND SEEK TRUTH WITH HUMILITY AND OPENNESS.

MAY MY HEART FORGIVE WITHOUT LIMIT.

MAY MY LOVE FRO FRIEND, ENEMY AND OUTCAST BE WITHOUT MEASURE.

MAY MY NEEDS BE FEW AND MY LIVING SIMPLE

MAY MY ACTIONS BEAR WITNESS TO THE SUFFERING OF OTHERS.

MAY MY HANDS NEVER HARM A LIVING BEING.

MAY MY STEPS STAY ON THE JOURNEY OF JUSTICE.

MAY MY TONGUE SPEAK FOR THOSE WHO ARE POOR WITHOUT FEAR OF THE POWERFUL.

MAY MY PRAYERS RISE WITH PATIENT DISCONTENT UNTIL 

NO CHILD IS HUNGRY.

MAY MY LIFE’S WORK BE A PASSION FOR

 PEACE AND NONVIOLENCE.

MAY MY SOUL REJOICE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT.

MAY MY IMAGINATION OVERCOME DEATH AND DESPAIR WITH

 NEW POSSIBILITIES.

AND

MAY I RISK REPUTATION, COMFORT AND SECURITY TO BRING THIS HOPE TO CHILDREN.

Pax Christi USA