American Garden

[H2O Man]

Not a rebel song, says Bono. But a powerful statement on the suffering that human beings inflict upon one another. May 14th, elderly shoppers at TOPS. An elder who ran a food pantry for those in need. Among the victims yesterday, grade school children.

"I can't believe this is happening," an old friend from Indian work says, and not for the first time. "We were told by the Elders it would be here," I say. "Yeah, but I didn't think it would be in my life-time," she says.

"Somehow this madness must cease," Martin Luther King, Jr., said on April 4, 1967. It wasn't a rebel speech. It wasn't a political speech, though it touched on politics. King was speaking as a human being who wanted to end gross violence.

I turn to King in times like this. I recall a line from his final speech, given on the eve of his death. He spoke about the threats against him, and the concerns about what "would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers." He was in the garden of Gethsemane.

I am willing to speculate that, were King alive today, he would disagree with republicans to hold that Amendment 2 must protect the rights of the mass murderers in Buffalo or the school. And that is really the question that confronts our society, over and over again, when one of our sick brothers decides to deal with his angers and frustrations by shooting as many people as he can.

Were King alive today, we know where he would stand. Yet the need of the day is not for a "leader," but for each and every one of us to bring forth their inner Martin.

I will leave you with this:

[spanone]

1. K&R

[H2O Man]

3. Thank you!

[Saoirse9]

2. We're all so so tired

of senseless death of children. Heart broken.

[H2O Man]

4. Yes.

I have been trying to think of what actions that Good People can take to help stop this horror. Reading King helps me calm my mind. I'm going to go for a long walk this afternoon to try to get some ideas.

[Saoirse9]

5. You always get centered walking in nature

Can't wait to read the results of your meditation.

[H2O Man]

7. I've been talking with

my west coast brother, last night and today. He said that he wishes that Erich Fromm was still alive, and could do a pod cast about this. Fromm is one of the authors I recommended to him a few years back, and like with myself, a significant influence on how he views society.

I'll also be talking with my cousin later today. These things are very hard for him.

[Easterncedar]

6. Grateful for your thoughts

MLK in the garden is a very moving image. Your reminders help keep me from despair. Better to go down fighting than give up and sink in silence.

[H2O Man]

8. Thank you!

I wish that I could have come up with meaningful thoughts to express. Very little sleep last night. But Dr. King always said meaningful things on the most important topics.