3 posts tagged “peace”

The meditation today at church was "The Peace of Autumn" by Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali poet.  It really resonated with me, capturing what was a beautiful autumn day - sunny, crisp this morning, warmer throughout the day such that in the sun I didn't need a jacket; I could hear people working in their yards, kids playing, smell dried leaves burning in the afternoon and smell wood fires at night; with night air cool and heavy, holding in the sound of the distant train whistle such that it sounds like it's just down the road.

Mom called this evening to tell me that my Great Uncle Charles wasn't doing too well.  At the end of the big long story that started on Sunday, she said he had several blood clots, one near his kidney, another near his heart, several in his legs.  So I called grandma right after I hung up with mom, to see how she's doing (Uncle Charles is her 'baby brother'). She told me the big long story again, with the added info (found out from more tests today) that he actually has cancer, renal cancer, which is what is causing the various blood clots.  Seems the cancer has metastasized and likes to form itself around the blood vessels, and that constriction precipitates the clots.  That side of the family has a history of blood clots and tumors.

So, he's not doing too well.  I guess the doctors are going to put their collective heads together and come up with a treatment plan (if there is one) tomorrow and lay it all out for Uncle Charles and Aunt Margaret Anne.  I guess it comes down to likely success rate, what sort of recovery he can expect and how long it will prolong his life and whether or not it will be pain free.  Hell, I have no idea what goes into a decision like this.

Grandma is taking it okay, I guess.  She sounds like she's waffling between grief and acceptance, between being sad and knowing "this is the Lord's plan, so who are we to judge".  She said that Uncle Charles is probably the most ready person she knows for something like this to happen to, that he's a very spiritual man and has no doubt made his peace and can accept come what may.  For my part, I find myself struggling to find answers and comfort, then I realize that I'm looking in the wrong place.  I'm looking for it in my Grandma's faith, and it's not there for me.  I need to look to my own beliefs and put the situation in those terms, then maybe I can start to sort this out.  This could be an interesting test, to see if there's a place for this sort of thing in my belief system, and if not, whether that is important to me.  Right now I don't know, but then I haven't been struggling with it for more than an hour.  We'll see.

Tong linked to this, from the AP - Couple Calls for Orgasm for Peace -

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Two peace activists have planned a massive anti-war demonstration for the first day of winter.

But they don't want you marching in the streets. They'd much rather you just stay home.

The Global Orgasm for Peace was conceived by Donna Sheehan, 76, and Paul Reffell, 55, whose immodest goal is for everyone in the world to have an orgasm Dec. 22 while focusing on world peace.

I can't think of any better way to tell Bush to pull out, can you? *wink*  So what do you say, should we all try and do our part for world peace this year?!  Who's with me?!  *raises hand*

Rest of the article here

More info on Orgasm for Peace here