October 2008
PAX CHRISTI KEEPS ON….. RINGING BELLS FOR PEACE!
Posted by Doug on October 14, 2008
I attended a wonderful meeting and a way of seeing in action how others, one person at a time, are spreading the message, so much a part of our deeper consciousness and humanity, the thirst for peace & freedom.
To be co-creators in the most positive sense of the word is something man has over both animals and angels.
Below the Pax Christi Vow of Nonviolence…I think most of it should become a Universal Vow
“Recognizing the violence in my own heart, yet trusting in the goodness and mercy of God, I vow to practice the nonviolence of Jesus who taught us in the Sermon on the Mount—
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, they will be called the sons and daughters of God.. You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be sons and daughters of your God in heaven.”
Before God the Creator and the Holy Spirit, I vow to carry out in my life the love and example of Jesus
• by striving for peace within myself and seeking to be a peacemaker in my daily life;
• by accepting suffering in the struggle for justice rather than inflicting it;
• by refusing to retaliate in the face of provocation and violence;
• by persevering in nonviolence of tongue and heart;
• by living conscientiously and simply so that I do not deprive others of the means to live or harm creation;
• by actively resisting evil and working nonviolently to abolish war and the causes of war from my own heart and from the face of the earth.
God, I trust in your sustaining love and believe that just as you gave me the grace and desire to offer this, so you will also bestow abundant grace to fulfill it.
Amen.
Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Mother Teresa’s life, again rings a bell!
Posted by Doug on October 10, 2008
Mother Teresa was a true “Hero” who had an effect on the whole world. Her deeper hidden inner life below the layer of life describe in a book last year called "Come be My Light" sheds a clearer vision on a deeply concealed life of this modern, what many called a living saint.
How many of us have a hidden life below that we find difficult to share with our dearest family, our wives and children etc. Maybe its because they would not understand or are so close to us that it is difficult for them to find that reality in all the exterior clutter of our lives.
Now a new book going deeper into Mother Teresa concealed, hidden life, ’ Secret Fire’ fills out an additional layer of her special work and life. The book explores Mother Teresa’s unrelenting focus on Christ’s words on the Cross, "I thirst." and is authored by Father Joseph Langford, whom Mother Teresa tapped to start her order’s branch of priests in 1984,. He says those words are the key to Mother Teresa’s transformation from a 36-year-old Loreto sister into a world figure known for her help of the poor especially in Calcutta, India
Jim Towey, a close associate of Mother Teresa, calls the book "the first in-depth study of what made her tick." He spent time as a full-time volunteer in one of Mother Teresa’s homes for people with AIDS and served as her legal counsel in the United States for 12 years before serving as director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives from 2002 to May 2006. People love Mother and if they really love Mother they’ll want to know why she did what she did. ‘ Secret Fire’ unlocks this mystery. The blog following will show us how blind we can be if we don’t have the vision of this wonderful ‘Mother’ to the world’s poor.
Paul Newman Rang another Bell For Peace & Freedom!
Posted by Doug on October 6, 2008
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others - Pericles
Paul Newman’s other hidden life with his wife Joanne Woodward was their long association with the nonprofit, nonpartisan military watchdog organization—the Center for Defense Information. *
With the passing of Hollywood legend Paul Newman, there is a significant legacy that many in the mainstream media are unaware of in addition to Paul Newman’s magnificent philanthropic contributions from the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang charity for sick children to his strong support for many other causes as we mentioned in our past blog.
The Center for Defense Information (see www.cdi.org) was founded in 1972 by retired Rear Admiral Gene R. La Rocque (a World War II veteran) as an organization committed to closely scrutinizing military spending and publicizing waste, fraud, and abuse in the Pentagon, the military branches, and in other federal agencies. And Newman and Woodward were there virtually from the beginning.
In the organization’s first decade, Ms. Woodward helped organize and moderated a women’s conference on preventing nuclear war. One or the other of the pair were regular fixtures at the Center’s annual board meetings. Paul and Joanne have worked vigorously over the decades to fulfill the major credo of CDI: “that a strong defense entails more than tanks, planes, and well-trained military personnel. The Center for Defense Information believes that strong social, economic, political, and military components and a healthy environment contribute equally to the nation’s security. ….CDI opposes excessive expenditures for weapons and policies that increase the danger of war.”
Paul Newman led a busy life but he reserved quite a bit of his valuable time to work and promote an everyman’s perspective on defending our nation. Paul opposed NATO expansion, supported past and current efforts to clean up the huge toxic legacy (including chemical and nuclear wastes sometimes boxed in cardboard and dumped into local landfills) at thousands of military and Department of Energy sites located throughout our nation, and argued for many other checks on the damaging Bush Administration’s neo-conservative perspective that has today made America a feared and somewhat
isolated player on the world stage.
Success means going to sleep at night knowing that our talents and abilities were use in a way that served others. Marianne Williamson
Paul Newman did not use CDI as a soapbox to publicly shout his views on reasonable defense. Instead he worked behind the scenes to promote peace, prosperity, and the judicious and rare use of American military force.
So enjoy your Newman’s Own popcorn while you watch Butch Cassidy or Cool Hand Luke tonight, in honor of the blue-eyed kid from Cleveland, but also remember that perhaps America is just a bit safer and secure thanks to this particular legacy of Mister Paul Newman.
* Much of this blog was taken from Jeffry W. Mason tribute to Mr Newman. He worked for CDI from 1992-2003.
Fabulous public life but also a “Hidden Life” of outstanding success and service to others.
Posted by Doug on October 1, 2008
Mother Teresa once said:"There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread."
Paul Newman was and will always be an example to us all who did both of the above. This outstanding America Icon, Actor, Philanthropist’s simple “Hidden Life” told us who he really was, a man dedicated to the service of others. Successful on both stage and screen he shunned publicity and the Hollywood Scene and spent a great deal of time on community activities. Working out of his garage he started "Newman’s Own" when the big boys from Procter and Gamble thought his ideas unworkable. To date this philanthropic success story has given over $250 million to charity supporting The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for terminally ill children, the Scott Newman Foundation for drug and alcohol abuse education (named for his son who died of an overdose) and drought relief in Africa.
Paul Newman was a solid family man with his feet on the ground who lived a rather simple life and died of cancer at age 83 on September 26, 2008. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Joanne Woodward, their three daughters, and his two daughters from his first marriage. Despite many Oscar and Academy Award Nominations for acting in film and on Broadway this Hometown Boy lived in Westport CT where he played baseball with the neighborhood guys. He drove racing cars at Lime Rock, CT winning races and setting three track records. He was also U.N. Ambassador to disarmament in 1978. As Mattie Stepanek wrote in “Believing For The Journey” doing one nice thing for others each day is the way to World Peace. Paul Newman certainly did that and we too should be challenged by his special example. Paul we all thank you for living your Heartsong and listening to your inner voice, a soul purpose within each of us, giving of service when you could have done so may other things.
