http://sofolo.posterous.com got a mind full of questions and a teacher in my soul, and so it goes . . . posterous.com Sat, 18 Feb 2012 02:04:00 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/wgO7T7adURA/song-of-the-day-29504 http://sofolo.posterous.com/song-of-the-day-29504 <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_audio_embed'> <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/song-of-the-day-29504"><img alt="" src="http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/mp3.png" /></a> <div class='p_embed_description'> <span class='p_id3'><strong>Wrapped In Piano Strings</strong> by Radical Face</span> <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/song-of-the-day-29504">Listen on Posterous</a> </div> </div> </p> <p>Week is crazy. &nbsp;Song is peace.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/song-of-the-day-29504">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/song-of-the-day-29504#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/wgO7T7adURA" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/song-of-the-day-29504 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:54:00 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/TNyuqfRkf1U/songs-of-the-day-77068 http://sofolo.posterous.com/songs-of-the-day-77068 <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="61mutfqda1l" height="500" src="http://getfile5.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2012-01-30/vvuneJhaAAezHjxuJpansbpDwcvmkHhxobAezhnrDGCEvdivufnvduFgtGyr/61MUtFQdA1L.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="500" /> </div> </p> <p>Today is all about <a href="http://www.righteousbabe.com/ani/whichsideareyouon/index.asp" target="_blank">Ani</a>. &nbsp;Her new album,&nbsp;<em>Which Side Are You On?</em>&nbsp;(pictured above), has found a permanent residence in my CD player (yeah, I still use CD's). &nbsp;Here are a couple of my current favorites. &nbsp;I'm sure I will be posting more soon. &nbsp;The lyrics to both songs are below.</p> <p>Here is a snipet from her website about the title track:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">The title track of&nbsp;&iquest;Which Side Are You On?&nbsp;provides Ani's unique reinterpretation of the famed protest anthem, written in 1931 by Florence Reece. The song was made famous by Pete Seeger, who, in a recent interview, Ani reverently referred to as, &ldquo;my elder, my forefather in folk music and political song.&rdquo;</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">Mr. Seeger himself sings and plays banjo on the track, building a spirtual bridge between the original and Ani's reworked version.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">While talking to&nbsp;No Depression&nbsp;about the new version of the song, Ani explained &ldquo;I think the title can be a little deceiving. I don't think it's a song about taking sides. I think it's a call to action.&rdquo;</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_audio_embed'> <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/songs-of-the-day-77068"><img alt="" src="http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/mp3.png" /></a> <div class='p_embed_description'> <span class='p_id3'><strong>Which Side Are You On?</strong> by Ani Difranco</span> <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/songs-of-the-day-77068">Listen on Posterous</a> </div> </div> </p> <p><div class='p_embed p_audio_embed'> <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/songs-of-the-day-77068"><img alt="" src="http://posterous.com/images/filetypes/mp3.png" /></a> <div class='p_embed_description'> <span class='p_id3'><strong>Splinter</strong> by Ani Difranco</span> <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/songs-of-the-day-77068">Listen on Posterous</a> </div> </div> </p> <p>LYRICS:</p> <p><strong>&iquest;which side are you on?</strong></p> <p><em>by Florence Reece</em><br /><em>with new lyrics by Ani DiFranco</em></p> <p>they stole a few elections<br />still we the people won<br />we voted out corruption<br />and big corporations<br />we voted for an end to war<br />and new direction<br />and we ain't gonna stop now<br />until the job is done</p> <p>come on all good workers!<br />this here is our time<br />now there's folks in washington<br />that care what's on our minds<br />come one come all voters!<br />let's all vote next time<br />show 'em which side are you on now<br />which side are you on</p> <p>which side are you on now<br />which side are you on?</p> <p>thirty years of digging<br />got us in this hole<br />the curse of reaganomics<br />has finally taken its toll<br />lord knows the free market<br />is anything but free<br />it costs dearly to the planet<br />and the likes of you and me</p> <p>i don't need no money lenders<br />suckin on my tit!<br />a little socialism<br />don't scare me one bit!<br />we could do a whole lot worse<br />than europe or canada<br />come on mr. president<br />come on congress make the law!</p> <p>which side are you on now<br />which side are you on?</p> <p>they say in orleans parish<br />there are no neutrals there<br />there's just too much misery<br />there's too much despair<br />america who are we<br />now our innocence is gone?<br />forgive us mother africa<br />history's done you wrong</p> <p>too many stories<br />written out in black and white<br />come on people of privilege<br />it's time to join the fight<br />are we living in the shadow of slavery<br />or are we moving on?<br />tell me which side are you on now<br />which side are you on?</p> <p>which side are you on now<br />which side are you on?</p> <p>my mother was a feminist<br />she taught me to see<br />the road to ruin is paved<br />with patriarchy<br />so let the way of women<br />guide democracy<br />and from plunder and pollution<br />let mother earth be free</p> <p>feminism ain't about women<br />that's not who it is for<br />it's about a shift in consciousness<br />that will bring an end to war<br />so listen up you fathers<br />listen up you sons<br />and tell me which side are you on now<br />which side are you on?</p> <p>which side are you on now<br />which side are you on?</p> <p>so are we just consumers<br />or are we citizens<br />are we going to make more garbage<br />or are we going to make amends?<br />are you part of the solution<br />or are you part of the con?<br />tell me which side are you on<br />now which side are you on?</p> <p>***</p> <p><strong>splinter</strong></p> <p><em>by Ani DiFranco</em></p> <p style="">something about this landscape just don&rsquo;t feel right</p> <p style="">hyper air-conditioned and lit up all night</p> <p style="">like we just gotta see how comfortable&nbsp;</p> <p style="">comfortable can get</p> <p style="">like we can&rsquo;t even bring ourselves to sweat</p> <p style="">&nbsp;</p> <p style="">sweat in the summer, shiver in the winter&nbsp;</p> <p style="">just enough to know that we&rsquo;re alive</p> <p style="">watch out for that tv</p> <p style="">it&rsquo;s full of splinters</p> <p style="">and remember you can always go outside</p> <p style="">(really really really far outside)</p> <p style="">&nbsp;</p> <p style="">some might call it conservation&nbsp;</p> <p style="">some might call it common sense</p> <p style="">and maybe it&rsquo;s because i am libra</p> <p style="">but i say balance balance balance balance</p> <p style="">i say balance balance balance balance</p> <p style="">&nbsp;</p> <p style="">who put all this stuff in my apartment?</p> <p style="">who put all this ice in my drink?</p> <p style="">who put the poison in the atmosphere?&nbsp;</p> <p style="">who put the poison in the way i think?</p> <p style="">&nbsp;</p> <p style="">women won&rsquo;t you be our windows?</p> <p style="">women who bleed and bleed and bleed</p> <p style="">women who swell with the tide</p> <p style="">women who change when the wind blows</p> <p style="">show us we are connected to everything</p> <p style="">show us we are not separate from everything</p> <p style="">&nbsp;</p> <p style="">so here&rsquo;s to the trials of living</p> <p style="">here&rsquo;s to feeling our share of pain</p> <p style="">all the way from childbirth to dying</p> <p style="">here&rsquo;s to being connected to everything</p> <p style="">here&rsquo;s to staying connected to everything</p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/songs-of-the-day-77068">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/songs-of-the-day-77068#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/TNyuqfRkf1U" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/songs-of-the-day-77068 Sat, 21 Jan 2012 08:18:00 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/vzq332n1Sfo/higher-ground http://sofolo.posterous.com/higher-ground <p> <p>Vera Farmiga delivers a stellar performance as Corinne in her directorial debut, <a href="http://www.sonyclassics.com/higherground/" target="_blank">Higher Ground</a> -- an adaptation of&nbsp;Carolyn S. Briggs' memoir,&nbsp;<em>This Dark World: A Memoir of Salvation Found and Lost</em>.&nbsp; Critics seem to be either hot or cold with this one, but I loved its honesty and realism.&nbsp; It chronicles a woman&rsquo;s journey through Christian fundamentalism and the themes it explores resonate with me on a personal level.&nbsp; I highly recommend this film. &nbsp;I know I will be adding the book to my reading list.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IRpFKwJHQ7g?wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="417" width="500"></iframe></p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/higher-ground">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/higher-ground#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/vzq332n1Sfo" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/higher-ground Sun, 20 Nov 2011 08:29:00 -0800 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/QXnyailEk0Y/zionism-is-another-word-for-bigotry http://sofolo.posterous.com/zionism-is-another-word-for-bigotry <p> <p>Israel's nefarious use of violence in the occupation of Palestine has&nbsp;empowered Hamas to grow from a tiny movement of a few radicals to the&nbsp;sizable threat that it is today. When we open our eyes enough to see&nbsp;Israel's complicity in expanding Hamas the motives become clear --&nbsp;Israel needs a scapegoat. An enemy radically fundamentalist enough to fuel the Israeli fundamentalist propaganda machine and its divisive efforts to propagate power and control through acts of hate and violence.&nbsp;So many fall prey to this lie while in the background Israel manages to oppress, kill and displace countless innocent Palestinians in what is becoming one of the most devastating humanitarian crises of our time. A clever little land-grabbing trick.</p> <p>To choose between&nbsp;Israel and Palestine is to miss the point. We must recognize the dangers of fundamentalism in all its forms, at home and abroad. We must cure our American&nbsp;myopia with a healthy dose of truth and take a stand against oppression and violence on all fronts. If those in power continue to refuse to concede to the voices of empathy and justice I fear the road to peace will be buried under the myriad dead.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/zionism-is-another-word-for-bigotry">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/zionism-is-another-word-for-bigotry#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/QXnyailEk0Y" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/zionism-is-another-word-for-bigotry Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:53:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/Lu9TPr3OyQY/quote-of-the-day-90725 http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-90725 <p> <p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">"There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart that you can't take part! You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus -- and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it -- that unless you're free the machine will be prevented from working at all!"</p> <p>--Mario Savio &nbsp;(delivered 2 December 1964, The University of California at Berkeley)</p> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-90725">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-90725#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/Lu9TPr3OyQY" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-90725 Wed, 26 Oct 2011 22:28:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/Zi8w5PzpyNM/chris-hedges-the-world-as-it-is-dispatches-on-32885 http://sofolo.posterous.com/chris-hedges-the-world-as-it-is-dispatches-on-32885 <p> <p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Times;">Excerpted from the Introduction to <em>The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress</em> by Chris Hedges. (Footnotes omitted.) <a href="http://www.nationbooks.org/"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0006ee;">Available from Nation Books</span></a>, a member of The Perseus Books Group.&nbsp; Copyright &copy; 2011. Reprinted by permission of Nation Books. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;"><strong>Introduction</strong></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">My good friend, the author and journalist Stephen Kinzer, once said to me, half in jest: &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not a journalist. You&rsquo;re a minister pretending to be a journalist.&rdquo; He was not far off the mark. I have always been more concerned with truth and justice than with news. News and truth are not the same things. News, at least as it is configured in the faux objectivity of American journalism, can be used quite effectively to mask and obscure the truth. &ldquo;Balance,&rdquo; in which you give as much space, for example, to the victimizer as to the victim, may be objective and impartial, but it is usually not honest. And when you are &ldquo;objective,&rdquo; it means that, in your reasonableness, you ultimately embrace and defend the status quo. There is a deep current of cynicism that runs through much of American journalism, especially on commercial electronic media. It is safe and painless to produce &ldquo;balanced&rdquo; news. It is very unsafe, as the best journalists will tell you, to produce truth.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">The great journalists, like the great preachers, care deeply about truth, which they seek to impart to their reader, listener or viewer, often at the cost of their careers. &ldquo;When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, &lsquo;I am going to produce a work of art.&rsquo;&rdquo; George Orwell wrote. &ldquo;I write because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.&rdquo;</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">My former employer, the <em>New York Times</em>, with some of the most able and talented journalists and editors in the country, not only propagated the lies used to justify the war in Iraq, but also never saw the financial meltdown coming. These journalists and editors are besotted with their access to the powerful. They look at themselves as players, part of the inside elite. They went to the same elite colleges. They eat at the same restaurants. They go to the same parties and dinners. They live in the same exclusive neighborhoods. Their children go to the same schools. They are, if one concedes that propaganda is a vital tool for the power elite, important to the system. Journalists who should have been exposing the lies used to justify the Iraq war or reporting from low income neighborhoods&mdash;where mortgage brokers and banks were filing fraudulent loan applications to hand money to people they knew could never pay it back&mdash;were instead &ldquo;doing&rdquo; lunch with the power brokers in the White House or on Wall Street. All that talent, all that money, all that expertise, all those resources proved useless when it came time to examine the two major cataclysmic events of our age. And all that news, however objective and balanced, turned out to be a lie.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;"><strong>I have never sought to be objective. How can you be objective about death squads in El Salvador, massacres in Iraq, or Serbian sniper fire that gunned down unarmed civilians, including children, in Sarajevo? How can you be neutral about the masters and profiteers of war who lie and dissemble to hide the crimes they commit and the profits they make? How can you be objective about human pain? And, finally, how can you be objective about those responsible for this suffering? I am not neutral about rape, torture, or murder. I am not neutral about rapists, torturers, or murderers. I am not neutral about George W. Bush or Barack Obama, who under international law are war criminals. And if you had to see the butchery of war up close, as I did for nearly two decades, you would not be neutral either.</strong></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">But in the game of American journalism it is forbidden to feel. Journalists are told they must be clinical observers who interpret human reality through their eyes, not their hearts&mdash;and certainly not through their consciences. This is the deadly disease of American journalism. And it is the reason journalism in the United States has lost its moral core and its influence. It is the reason that in a time of crisis the traditional media have so little to say. It is why the traditional media are distrusted. The gross moral and professional failings of the traditional media opened the door for the hate-mongers on Fox News and the news celebrities on commercial networks who fill our heads with trivia and celebrity gossip.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">As the centers of American power were seized and hijacked by corporations, the media continued to pay deference to systems of power that could no longer be considered honest or democratic. The media treat criminals on Wall Street as responsible members of the ruling class. They treat the criminals in the White House and the Pentagon as statesmen.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">The media never responded to the radical reconfiguration of American politics, the slow-motion coup d&rsquo;etat that has turned phrases like the consent of the governed into a cruel joke. And because the media are not concerned with distinguishing truth from news, because they lack a moral compass, they have become nothing more than courtiers to the elite, shameless hedonists of power, and absurd court propagandists. At a moment when the country desperately needs vigorous media, it gets celebrities such as Katie Couric masquerading as journalists, who night after night &ldquo;feel your pain.&rdquo; The few journalists who do not, as Couric does, function as entertainers and celebrities are so timid and removed from the suffering of our dispossessed working classes that they are rightly despised. The media are hated for a reason.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">They deserve to be hated. They sided with the corporate forces, like most liberal institutions, as these corporate forces decimated the working class, bankrupted the economy, corrupted the legislative, executive, and judicial systems of government, and unleashed endless war and the destruction of the ecosystem on which human life depends.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">I keep my distance from the powerful. I distrust all sources of power regardless of their ideological orientation. I do not want to be their friend. I do not want to advise them or be part of their inner circle. The only benefit one gets from being a White House correspondent, as far as I can tell, is that the president knows your name. I made a conscious choice to report from the developing world and war zones during most of my career. What I witnessed rarely matched the version of events spun out for the media courtiers in Washington by the power elite. As a foreign correspondent I often fought my own Washington bureau, where reporters in suits were being fed a partial version of reality and had a vested interest in reporting it as fact. The longer reporters spent in Washington, the more they looked, sounded, and acted like the power brokers they covered. At a certain point, as any Sunday morning television talk show illustrates, these courtiers in the media became indistinguishable from the power elite.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">Kinzer was right. Once unleashed from the restrictions and confines of American journalism, I began to write what are, in essence, sermons. And when I read the columns collected in this book, that is how I would describe them. Sermons, when they are good, do not please a congregation. They do not make people happy. They are not a form of entertainment. They disturb many, if not most, of the listeners. They resonate with only a minority. Truth, at least as far as it can be discerned, is not comfortable or enjoyable to listen to, nor is the emotion and anger that accompanies all passionate assaults on lies and injustice.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">Sermons force those who hear them to be self-critical. They expose our inadequacies and failures. They demand that we become emotionally engaged. There are speakers and writers on the left and the right, including many preachers in pulpits, whose goal is to be admired and applauded. This is not my aim. It is not pleasant to be disliked&mdash; and I have faced crowds that deeply dislike me and my message&mdash;but it is necessary if your commitment is to truth and the harnessing of emotional energy and passion against those who carry out injustice. I write not with the anticipation of approval but often of hostility. And I write finally from the gut, not the head.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">&ldquo;The energy that actually shapes the world springs from emotions&mdash;racial pride, leader-worship, religious belief, love of war&mdash;which liberal intellectuals mechanically write off as anachronisms, and which they have usually destroyed so completely in themselves as to have lost all power of action,&rdquo; Orwell noted.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">The role of a preacher is not to provide self-help manuals for the future. It is to elucidate reality and get people to act on this reality. It is impossible to speak about hope if we substitute illusion for reality. If we believe that reality is not an impediment to our desires, that we can have everything we want by tapping into our inner strength or believing in Jesus, if we believe that the fate of the human species is never ending advancement and progress, then we are crippled as agents for change. We are left responding to illusion. This makes everything we do or believe, such as our faith in the Democratic Party or electoral politics, futile and useless. The bleakness of what we face, economically and environmentally, is not a call to despair but a call to new forms of resistance and civil disobedience.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">I am not religious in a traditional sense. There is no Christian denomination that would consider me a believer. I am as alienated from religious institutions as I am from secular institutions. But I was raised in the church, graduated from seminary at Harvard Divinity School, and cannot escape my intellectual and moral formation. I remain a preacher, although an unorthodox one. I believe that the truth is the only force that will set us free. I have hope, not in the tangible or in what I can personally accomplish, but in the faith that battling evil, cruelty, and injustice allows us to retain our identity, a sense of meaning and ultimately our freedom. Perhaps in our lifetimes we will not succeed.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">Perhaps things will only get worse. But this does not invalidate our efforts. <strong>Rebellion&mdash;which is different from revolution because it is perpetual alienation from power rather than the replacement of one power system with another&mdash;should be our natural state. And faith, for me, is a belief that rebellion is always worth it, even if all outward signs point to our lives and struggles as penultimate failures. We are saved not by what we can do or accomplish but by our fealty to revolt, our steadfastness to the weak, the poor, the marginalized, and those who endure oppression. We must stand with them against the powerful. If we remain true to these moral imperatives, we win. And I am enough of an idealist to believe that the struggle to live the moral life is worth it.</strong></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">During the first Persian Gulf War, when I defied the media restrictions and was in the Saudi and later Kuwait desert to cover the fighting, I was accosted one afternoon by R.W. Apple, who was overseeing the coverage for the <em>New York Times</em>.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">&ldquo;What is it about you and authority?&rdquo; he asked.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">&ldquo;I have no problem with authority, Johnny, as long as authority doesn&rsquo;t try and tell me what to do,&rdquo; I answered.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">&ldquo;You dumb fuck,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That is what authority does.&rdquo;</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">***</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Times;"><strong>Chris Hedges</strong> is a fellow at The Nation Institute and a columnist for <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/chris_hedges"><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0006ee;">Truthdig</span></a>, a progressive online journal of news and commentary. He spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Balkans, with 15 years at the <em>New York Times</em>. He is the author of the bestsellers <em>War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning</em>, <em>American Fascists</em>, <em>Death of the Liberal Class</em>, and <em>Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle</em>. His newest book is <em>The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress</em>.&nbsp; He currently writes for numerous publications, including <em>Harper&rsquo;s</em>, <em>New York Review of Books</em>, <em>Granta</em>, and <em>Mother Jones</em>. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Times;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Times; color: #0006ee;"><span style="color: #000000;">via <a href="http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/141147-the-world-as-it-is-dispatches-on-the-myth-of-human-progress#.TqjFum2tSIU.posterous"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">popmatters.com</span></a></span></p> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/chris-hedges-the-world-as-it-is-dispatches-on-32885">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/chris-hedges-the-world-as-it-is-dispatches-on-32885#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/Zi8w5PzpyNM" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/chris-hedges-the-world-as-it-is-dispatches-on-32885 Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:30:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/hDrGKhtAQ3Q/quote-of-the-day-50392 http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-50392 <p> <blockquote> <p>"Contemplating a loving God strengthens portions of our brain--particularly the frontal lobes and the anterior cingulate--where empathy and reason reside.&nbsp; Contemplating a wrathful God empowers the limbic system, which is 'filled with aggression and fear.'&nbsp; It is a sobering concept: The God we choose to love changes us into his image, whether he exists or not.</p> <p>For Newberg, this is not a simple critique of religious fundamentalism--a phenomenon varied in its beliefs and motivations.&nbsp; It is a criticism of any institution that allies ideology or faith with anger and selfishness.&nbsp; 'The enemy is not religion,' writes Newberg, 'the enemy is anger, hostility, intolerance, separatism, extreme idealism, and prejudicial fear--be it secular, religious, or political.'"</p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;">--Michael Gerson summarizing the findings of Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman as published in their book, <em>How God Changes Your Brain</em>. &nbsp;(taken from <em>Naked Spirituality</em> by Brian McLaren)</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-50392">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-50392#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/hDrGKhtAQ3Q" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-50392 Sat, 15 Oct 2011 19:53:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/CxM8Dyc7tTY/all-in-a-day-101311-occupychicago http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-101311-occupychicago <p> <p> <p class="p1">{{&nbsp; a&nbsp;&nbsp; d a y &nbsp; i n &nbsp; p h o t o g r a p h s&nbsp; }}</p> <p class="p5">October 13th, 2011 -- Occupy Chicago</p> <p class="p5">*****</p> </p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2705" height="640" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/uIIlkktffsmJskoubCqBAtldozEoEaHoGyChjoHIjbyikihbDAAzwIdqkGHa/IMG_2705.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="478" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2732" height="640" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/BvdiGncoqGdhwgtaAEckkqDcHxbhADokztGsxxHrpDgnEsAxrDbxrCrubzeG/IMG_2732.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="480" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2731" height="480" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/cuClytksnzyFgvscecwjcypJfuvFConEpCHDiisutvtGovGEhDBgqhmaHmDo/IMG_2731.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="640" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2734" height="640" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/yneDhlhtgzfCkmAqrAEqkCdxtlGjjlqGpCHdtApiHkmyDfsqwlpgmkDkeekE/IMG_2734.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="480" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2736" height="478" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/CqCycFchsnlgiaIlxIoJhzvJxyuqcDlvbHjlrGvtzJJqcsIAdBbhgidAjIsl/IMG_2736.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="640" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2733" height="480" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/wkwyrrcnbJhqbwgiJCaFbIHsxlJozdrlhfGdwnbctmrgpkpuhxmBBBefjIGi/IMG_2733.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="640" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2735" height="640" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/EkkIrtxqAsvvIfmvbeiICzhDfuIizHvkrJHbexrijbIoaJsoCjsHggxjsdGA/IMG_2735.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="480" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2740" height="640" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/sviuIxcgspfDGewuAtHipwFCvxEonthFkyipDmcpFGceqhDteztHBtGimsue/IMG_2740.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="480" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2738" height="640" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/vpEBproqHlDckppdmybkbdhlGcEyorkcGHHiACrilIjysgDHxxHzqBhIEEfz/IMG_2738.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="480" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2739" height="640" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/peEiaopjfqibCFAgxzcgdaxcxonGdFCJsjberankduuumDyyHjonnyoAigwB/IMG_2739.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="480" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2741" height="640" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/aAIvBznstBmwvBdeGEcCsAsurmBhBtiAvFanCgwAshdFtuvvBAexzfzsuBEd/IMG_2741.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="480" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2742" height="640" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/uHqrAlrpBfktiHpIpBGzvzeEiEjjGfDcJkpybhuADwdFAEtIDJwlmaahnkiA/IMG_2742.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="480" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_2743" height="480" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-15/xwdoqBeEzpeDFtmfHHzfHfBayEgxIaAnFhlmfxvIlegsfyJdzrhqsEbkbpvh/IMG_2743.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="640" /> </div> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-101311-occupychicago">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-101311-occupychicago#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/CxM8Dyc7tTY" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-101311-occupychicago Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:48:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/A-6gL-sNozQ/quote-of-the-day-58443 http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-58443 <p> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote"> <p>"There's nothing magical about change.&nbsp; It is getting up off your ass and caring enough to take the first step to contribute to change on an issue you care about.&nbsp; Anybody can do it if they just get up and take the first step, and do the work.&nbsp; It's work.&nbsp; It's not a magical vision for a better future -- it's being the future you want to see."</p> </blockquote> <p>--Jody Williams&nbsp; (Nobel Peace Prize 1997)</p> <p>Taken from the film <a href="http://nobelity.org/nobelity-2006/" target="_blank">Nobelity</a>.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-58443">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-58443#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/A-6gL-sNozQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-58443 Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:08:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/48ktFmgV1Yg/fall-into-yourself http://sofolo.posterous.com/fall-into-yourself <p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://getfile3.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-05/tgcefAbEhhmFtqkxwjnsHeBoayeHDjhthIxmoGzxBHfjfxloFjxhJixBwzJz/fall_into_yourself.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Fall_into_yourself" height="928" src="http://getfile8.posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-05/tgcefAbEhhmFtqkxwjnsHeBoayeHDjhthIxmoGzxBHfjfxloFjxhJixBwzJz/fall_into_yourself.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> </p> <p>September mornings--when the the cool rain is hitting the tin roof and the breezes blow with enough swagger to make the trees bow in admiration--remind me of when my second daughter was born and after we had held her in our arms for some time we knew exactly what her name would be.&nbsp; <strong>Jorah</strong>.&nbsp; (meaning: autumn rain)</p> <p>I cannot help but reminisce about those summer sunsets (pictured above) when the sweaty warmth stretched late into the day.&nbsp; Those days were full of bold, luminous life.&nbsp; A bountiful garden, happy hens sauntering about, and silly children splashing and running and laughing.&nbsp; My wife's delicate hands turned rough during this season with soil under her nails and calluses here and there from hours of loving toil in the garden--always walking towards me with a bowl full of color and a mouth cracked open by a proud grin.&nbsp; She mothers those vegetables with almost as much attentiveness and love as her own babes.&nbsp; Now autumn's crisp air awakens us as we feel the seasons shifting.&nbsp; The trees cast all their energy into turning shades of green into glorious reds, yellows, oranges and golds--a celebratory finale before bowing out for a season of slumber.&nbsp; The reality of the coming cold is realized as brilliant colors fade and fall drably around our now shoed feet.&nbsp; The garden has become a barren patch of earth soon to be covered in sheets of white like an unused piece of attic furniture.&nbsp; The bitter cold sends us inside to commune with comfort and coffee.&nbsp; Her hands remain callused--now from endless knitting.&nbsp; Always she is making her love tangible.&nbsp; The world outside seems vacant, lifeless and numb.&nbsp; Alas, if life has taught us one thing it is that <strong>all is not as it seems</strong>. &nbsp;</p> <p>* * *</p> <p>September mornings bring to mind the seasons of life--the seasons of self.&nbsp; Our summers find us vibrant and radiant.&nbsp; Our spirits run free and dance through open fields of fertile ground, planting seeds with every gracious turn.&nbsp; New life is bursting up around us and joy is palpable.&nbsp; We think that this season might just stretch on forever.&nbsp; As always, transitions are hard to recognize until seen in retrospect.&nbsp; We are basking in the sun and unaware of the little shifts.&nbsp; Oblivious to summer's overt colors giving way to a beautifully bittersweet autumnal display.</p> <p>Before we know it we find ourselves ten feet deep in despair.&nbsp; The cold has crept in and we feel if another moment passes we could turn to ice and shatter.&nbsp; So we run.&nbsp; Our fleeting feet search for traction as the frigid wind licks our skin numb.&nbsp; We long for those warm days in the sun when our fingertips grazed the tops of wild grasses.&nbsp; The nostalgia only makes our current situation all the more bleak.&nbsp; Our tired bodies ache.&nbsp; This escape plan hurts almost as much as what we are running from, but to stand still is to face reality--so we keep moving.&nbsp; Moving towards an imaginary future constructed of the best projections of our past.&nbsp; In all of our running (fear), in all of our planning (control), in all of our remembering (pride) . . . the present moment is forgotten.&nbsp; We drop to our knees, gasping for breath but choking on the icy air.&nbsp; Our eyes dart around in a panic--how can we escape?!</p> <p>Stop.</p> <p>B r e a t h e.</p> <p>You cannot escape your fears--turn around and face them.&nbsp; You cannot control the universe--accept this fact.&nbsp; You cannot let the pride of your past successes gauge your joy in the present--live for the now.</p> <p>Life is abounding with seasons that bring with them happiness and sorrow; gratitude and growth.&nbsp; At times life seems to flow outwards.&nbsp; All of our work bears fruit and the days move with an effortless style.&nbsp; It is easy to uphold a positive view when standing in a field of wildflowers--beauty is evident.&nbsp; But when the awe fades and the petals wilt where can joy root itself?&nbsp; When troubles derail us like a mean-spirited prank from an unseen hand, where can we find comfort?&nbsp; The answer is found in a cold January afternoon--the kind of afternoon that finds us heading into our homes for warmth.&nbsp; We too can head inside when we feel the weight of our afflictions.&nbsp; When we quiet ourselves amidst the chaos and remain still long enough to look deeply within . . . peace is found.&nbsp; Not peace in the sense of a solution to our problems, but as in a way to be conscious enough to transcend our problems.&nbsp; A million thoughts are flittering about in our minds at any given moment.&nbsp; When we allow ourselves to hone in on one thought at a time we can embark on our contemplative mission.&nbsp; In a state of mindfulness we can begin to recognize how our perceptions have been formed and how to awaken to a deeper reality and thus a deeper compassion.&nbsp; We can then begin to see that joy is a choice.&nbsp; Contentedness is a choice.&nbsp; Positivity is a choice.</p> <p>Many spiritual traditions acknowledge the Divinity (Spirit, Light, etc.) within.&nbsp; I believe in the Kingdom of God.&nbsp; I believe that Jesus meant it when he said <em>"Your kingdom come, your will be done...<strong>on earth</strong> as it is in heaven"</em> (Matthew 6:10).&nbsp; I also believe that Jesus meant what he said when he stated that <em>"the kingdom of God is <strong>within you</strong>"</em> (Luke 17:21).&nbsp; This may be the cause of a lot of speculation (amongst Christians), but I believe that when we practice mindfulness we are awakening a deeper consciousness. &nbsp;Enlightenment is found when we commune with the Kingdom within, and when we become conscious of the Light within we begin to also see the Light in all others around us. &nbsp;In our practice of mindfulness we strive to deepen our God-consciousness (or Christ-consciosness), in doing so our thoughts begin to find harmony with God's thoughts--our false perception of reality gives way to God's reality.&nbsp; This requires rigorous discipline, and I have only begun this quest. &nbsp;</p> <p>Nevertheless, I wanted to write to encourage you.&nbsp; During times of trouble . . . just let go and <strong><em>shift your paradigm</em></strong>.&nbsp; Connect.&nbsp; Nurture.&nbsp; Cultivate.&nbsp; Deepen.&nbsp; Awaken. &nbsp;Our "winters" are not times of death, but times of deepening.</p> <p>When you open your eyes you can see beyond the snow, you can see the soil below--life hibernating within, waiting to burst forth.&nbsp; Beyond winter is spring.&nbsp; Beyond spring is summer.&nbsp; Beyond summer is autumn.&nbsp; Beyond it all is you. &nbsp;</p> <p>Alter your perceptions . . . live in the present . . . <em>transcend the seasons</em>.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/fall-into-yourself">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/fall-into-yourself#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/48ktFmgV1Yg" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/fall-into-yourself Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:37:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/QKuZ9MdRgAQ/all-in-a-day-92911 http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-92911 <p> <p><span style="color: #686868; font-family: LinuxLibertineORegular, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px;"> <p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">{{&nbsp; a&nbsp;&nbsp; d a y &nbsp; i n &nbsp; p h o t o g r a p h s&nbsp; }}</p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">September 29th, 2011 -- Annual Curran's Orchard Tradition</p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;">*****</p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-03/dkuErFcxycvEElebbDztJGuedgsecfgfDjacElxkAeCpBuCxHEzosGHHDnFn/All_In_a_Day_01.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="All_in_a_day_01" height="520" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-03/dkuErFcxycvEElebbDztJGuedgsecfgfDjacElxkAeCpBuCxHEzosGHHDnFn/All_In_a_Day_01.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a 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href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-03/CghwGbyIvnDCdGtzwjussbpHrGDdsGrDpvveFhgsHdeCjgBgcibEyzFnetfg/All_In_a_Day_10.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="All_in_a_day_10" height="522" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-10-03/CghwGbyIvnDCdGtzwjussbpHrGDdsGrDpvveFhgsHdeCjgBgcibEyzFnetfg/All_In_a_Day_10.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> </p> </span></p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-92911">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-92911#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/QKuZ9MdRgAQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-92911 Sat, 01 Oct 2011 19:28:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/T-FhPDSTdMs/quote-of-the-day-33661 http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-33661 <p> <blockquote> <p>"Every time you eat, drink, or draw a breath, you are demonstrating that you are not a self-contained unit.&nbsp; Your skin might give you a sense of boundaries, but in reality you are interconnected not only with others, but with all creation.&nbsp; You are an organism in an environment, vitally connected and utterly dependent on resources outside yourself--elements and minerals; chemical, biological, geological and even astrophysical processes; friends, family, mentors, public servants; ecological, social, political, and economic systems.&nbsp; Your story flows from and into a million other stories; it's hard to know where your story ends and others begin.&nbsp; At a funeral, when the officiant says, 'From dust you came, and to dust you shall return,' he or she could just as easily have said, 'From stardust you came, and to stardust you shall return,' because even earth's dust has a story beyond itself.&nbsp; Ingratitude makes us foolishly forget the fragility of our skin and proudly deny our interdependency and interconnectedness.&nbsp; If true spirituality and authentic religion are about vital interconnectedness, you can see how essential the practice of gratitude must be."</p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;">--Brian McLaren &nbsp;(taken from <em>Naked Spirituality</em>)</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-33661">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-33661#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/T-FhPDSTdMs" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-33661 Mon, 19 Sep 2011 04:07:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/UASGyUIeMt8/inclusive-spiritual-community-and-exclusive-r http://sofolo.posterous.com/inclusive-spiritual-community-and-exclusive-r <p> <p> <p>In his teaching and in his life, Christ evoked the deepest and truest sense of spirituality.&nbsp; His teaching and his life are, quite literally, "The Way" to God.&nbsp; What I mean by this can be summed up in these words by Thich Nhat Hanh:</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>"When Jesus said 'I am the Way', he meant that to have a true relationship with God, you must practice his way.&nbsp; In the Acts of the Apostles the early Christians always spoke of their faith as 'the Way'.&nbsp; To me, 'I am the Way' is a better statement than 'I know the Way'.&nbsp; The Way is not an asphalt road, but we must distinguish between the 'I' spoken by Jesus and the 'I' that people usually think of.&nbsp; The 'I' in his statement is <strong>life itself</strong>--his life--which is the 'way'.&nbsp; If you do not really look at his life you cannot see the 'way'.&nbsp; If you only satisfy yourself with praising a name--even the name of Jesus--it is not practicing the life of Jesus.&nbsp; We must practice living deeply, loving and acting with charity, if we wish to truly honor Jesus.&nbsp; 'The Way' is Jesus himself and not just some idea of him.&nbsp; Many who have neither 'the way' nor 'the life' try to impose on others what they believe to be 'the way'.&nbsp; But these are only words that have no connection with real 'life' or a real 'way'."</em></p> <p>Jesus' spirituality was magnetic.&nbsp; Wherever he went, people gathered.&nbsp; His love, understanding and compassion towards humanity was overflowing and people traveled from afar to find solace in his teachings and to breathe life into their spiritual lives.&nbsp; His message of inclusiveness was seen as a threat by the religious leaders of his time--whose very existence relied on a system of exclusivity.&nbsp; The Sadducees and Pharisees doctrine was built upon this in/out, us/them duality that Christ was determined to break through.&nbsp; He was a street preacher, connecting with people from all walks of life.&nbsp; When he did teach in the temple he was either accusingly questioned by leaders or had stones hurled at him (John 8).&nbsp; This isn't because Jesus was a radical Christian (Christianity didn't exist yet, obviously) or a radical Jew . . . he was <strong>universally radical</strong> and so was his good news.</p> <p>Jesus' vibrant spirituality was summarized in one commandment, one principle . . . <strong>"love your neighbor as yourself"</strong>(Gal 5:14).&nbsp; Harmony with God is determined by our capacity to love our neighbor . . . not just in word, but also in deed (1 John 3:18).&nbsp; By putting this principle into practice people are drawn to each other and community is formed.&nbsp; This is an organic experience that flows from a life lived in prayer and meditation.&nbsp; This inclusive spiritual community thrives in a variety of environments and can embrace many different traditions, understanding that despite some different emphasis . . . our ethic of neighborly love is shared.</p> <p>This is juxtaposed by the religious institutions of the Sadducees and Pharisees all the way up to the churches, televangelists, mosques and temples of our time.&nbsp; The very concept of these institutions is to create labeled identity.&nbsp; A sort of inorganic community of people whose lives are full to the brim with dualisms.&nbsp; A gang-like in/out or member/nonmember viewpoint.&nbsp; Religion often begets violence because it instills fear of the "other", but <strong>this fear is really only a lack of understanding</strong>.</p> <p>The Powers at work in the realm of corrupt politics are also the Powers at work in the realm of corrupt religious institutions.&nbsp; These Powers always use fear as a control mechanism.&nbsp; People are often indoctrinated with "good news" that excludes.&nbsp; It makes them feel unique and special because they are part of the "in group" that "gets it".&nbsp; All others are either misinformed (possible converts) or worse yet, they are viewed to have an agenda to disintegrate the very core of the "in group's" doctrinal beliefs and are seen as a threatening enemy . . . one who the group must protect itself (especially its children) from.&nbsp; This indoctrinated fear leads to paranoia, hate and even acts of violence in the name of God.</p> <p>Humanity has a primal desire to be part of a group, a club, a clique, etc., these desires are expressions of a deeper longing for community.&nbsp; Once a membership has been established with a religious institution this becomes your new identity.&nbsp; If you ever question its exclusivity, if you ever associate yourself too deeply with outsiders (nonbelievers) you run the risk of being cast out.&nbsp; Many live a life of fear inside this "community" that has become their prison.&nbsp; They must stay in line or be humiliated and alone.&nbsp; They must accept the arrogant claims of a monopoly on truth or be thrown to the wolves like the heretic that they obviously are.</p> <p>When we become practitioners of the "Way" of Jesus--the life of Jesus--we will find ourselves free from these boundaries.&nbsp; We are free to love and be loved.&nbsp; We are able to see that the "Way" of Jesus is also reflected in the life of other traditions.&nbsp; Exclusive religious institution is like a square room with two doors, an "in" door and an "out" door.&nbsp; One for converts, one for heretics.&nbsp; This box is only an illusion of community.&nbsp; As a shape, true spirituality is without concrete boundaries and is more representative of an amoeba.&nbsp; Asymmetrical in nature and stretching itself out into unexpected places.&nbsp; Where true spirituality is practiced you will find true, inclusive community.</p> <p>So, have you ever wanted to ask questions that call into question the doctrine of your institution?&nbsp; Have you already asked those questions and are now feeling the weight of rejection?&nbsp; Rest assured, the worst that can happen is that you will be thrown to the wolves.&nbsp; And those wolves are just the rest of us out here . . . fumbling through life trying to search for something more.&nbsp; We welcome you into this journey.&nbsp; <strong>Loving community is inevitable . . .</strong></p> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/inclusive-spiritual-community-and-exclusive-r">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/inclusive-spiritual-community-and-exclusive-r#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/UASGyUIeMt8" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/inclusive-spiritual-community-and-exclusive-r Sat, 17 Sep 2011 17:36:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/4CBiFZppJAE/quote-of-the-day-29432 http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-29432 <p> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote"> <p>"Picture Galileo, standing there on top<br />of the Tower of Pisa, about to drop two<br />weights off the top. The weights are the<br />same shape, but one is heavier than<br />the other. Which will land first?<p />Obviously the heavier one, because<br />that&rsquo;s what people had been taught<br />for 2000 years. How could it be any<br />other way?</p> <p>And so Galileo drops them, and they<br />land at the same time, because that&rsquo;s<br />how the world actually works. This kind<br />of thinking was, of course, radical and<br />revolutionary and it got Galileo into<br />all sorts of trouble.<p />The mind blowing part? No one before<br />Galileo had bothered to actually<br />do the experiment. They just believed<br />what they&rsquo;d been taught&hellip;"</p> </blockquote> <p>--Rob Bell</p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-29432">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-29432#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/4CBiFZppJAE" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/quote-of-the-day-29432 Wed, 14 Sep 2011 06:17:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/Ixar6ogscQQ/soul-stirring-in-the-garden http://sofolo.posterous.com/soul-stirring-in-the-garden <p> <p>While driving stakes and stretching webs of twine to support our fall pea crop yesterday, I enjoyed the sounds of the upcoming <a href="http://thefarewellcircuit.bandcamp.com" target="_blank">The Farewell Circuit</a> album, <em>In Our Bones</em>.&nbsp; The album will be released soon, but you can listen to and purchase two tracks now, <a href="http://thefarewellcircuit.bandcamp.com/track/the-light" target="_blank">The Light</a> and <a href="http://thefarewellcircuit.bandcamp.com/track/make-it-right" target="_blank">Make It Right</a>.&nbsp; I will post more, including some favorite tracks after the album has been released.&nbsp; I can't wait for you all to hear their new material, the album is lush, vibrant and full of conviction.&nbsp; These guys deserve our support, as they have departed from their label to release<em> In Our Bones</em> independently.&nbsp; Funds were raised to make this possible via a Kickstarter project.</p> <p>Here are some lyrics that I can't shake:</p> <blockquote> <p>"In our bones lies the cure for all of life's afflictions.&nbsp; In our bones is the love that turns everything to light.<p />I am you, you are me . . . oh my sister we are one.&nbsp; You are me, and I am you . . . we are everything we need.<p />I am you, you are me . . . oh my brother we are one.&nbsp; You are me, and I am you . . . we are everything we need.<p />We turn everything to light..."<p />***********<p />"Abandon your arms, pick up a plow . . . sow the seeds of hope today.&nbsp; Till up the soil, water the earth . . . watch the life abundant grow."<p />***********<p />"The tears that wet our cheeks are not of fear but peace.&nbsp; For we know there's life beyond this.&nbsp; Not in heaven above, but here on the earth below . . . completely reconciled to its purpose.&nbsp; But true humanity manifest in the least of these, won't you give us brand new eyes to see..."<p />***********<p />"People locked up in cages like the animals, these things they should not be. We have responsibilities; we take responsibility to give love in life, to give peace of mind, and give hope for days of a darker kind.&nbsp; I want to make it right.&nbsp; I want to give them life."<p />***********<p />"Now I've seen the light in everyone I meet, shows me all we really need is to be loved.&nbsp; When everyone is for everyone else instead of self . . . this is humanity as it was meant to be.&nbsp; We give everything we need for the sake of the least of these."<p />***********<p />"A seed of hope planted deep in our hearts that beat as one.&nbsp; To love our brother and our sister when the darker days do come.&nbsp; We are the calm on the stormy seas, we are the ones who cure diseases, we bring the light to the darkest places on the earth.&nbsp; We are the hope for your hopeless sons, we are love when all is undone.&nbsp; We'll be the moms and dads to your orphaned ones."</p> </blockquote> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/soul-stirring-in-the-garden">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/soul-stirring-in-the-garden#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/Ixar6ogscQQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/soul-stirring-in-the-garden Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:49:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/fwtXFVPWlNc/all-in-two-days-deepen http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-two-days-deepen <p> <p>{{&nbsp; t w o &nbsp; d a y s &nbsp; i n &nbsp; p h o t o g r a p h s&nbsp; }}</p> <p>September 5th &amp; 6th, 2011 -- Trip to Milwaukee / the Price's</p> <p>*****</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a 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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/T5azVapdQZI/the-birth-allegory http://sofolo.posterous.com/the-birth-allegory <p> <p>Life is pregnant with possibilities, just waiting for us to birth them into existence.&nbsp; There are all of these longings within us.&nbsp; Hopes.&nbsp; Dreams.&nbsp; Aspirations.&nbsp; These longings are met with a barrage of adversity within the womb of our soul.&nbsp; Fear.&nbsp; Apathy.&nbsp; Doubt.</p> <p>Whether we like it or not, this life is blossoming in our wombs and we have to decide on a birth plan.&nbsp; Out of fear will we medicate ourselves, trying to numb the pain of truly living?&nbsp; Out of apathy will we withdraw into the wants of self and refuse to experience pain for the "other"?&nbsp; Out of doubt will we believe the lie that we are not good enough, not strong enough?</p> <p>Or will we loose ourselves of the shroud of "painless living" and look head on into our fears . . . with the hope of overcoming?&nbsp; Or will we dream of all of the wonderful possibilities that come from the labor of sacrificial love?&nbsp; Or will we aspire to be greater than we ever thought possible, knowing that what we are capable of achieving in this life is not bound within the limits of our perceived capabilities, but within the limits of our choices.&nbsp; Who will we choose to be?&nbsp; What will we choose to do?</p> <p>Life is pregnant with possibilities, just waiting for us to birth them into existence.</p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/the-birth-allegory">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/the-birth-allegory#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/T5azVapdQZI" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/the-birth-allegory Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:22:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/GF35vVpDAck/all-in-a-day-82311 http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-82311 <p> <p>{{&nbsp; a&nbsp;&nbsp; d a y &nbsp; i n &nbsp; p h o t o g r a p h s&nbsp; }}</p> <p>August 23rd, 2011 -- Smoothies and Explorations</p> <p>*****</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="All_in_a_day_01" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-09-02/mfamACchlofmuEttonuFfybaGlxdJDwqvehtygsBwmoovwlFcGssBkDntdwF/All_In_a_Day_01.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-09-02/bihHfvaCphoijdemHjtcBgFEBpplGbfmllaruJfvsrijhusDJgxpyluhszjD/All_In_a_Day_02.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="All_in_a_day_02" height="520" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-09-02/bihHfvaCphoijdemHjtcBgFEBpplGbfmllaruJfvsrijhusDJgxpyluhszjD/All_In_a_Day_02.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="All_in_a_day_03" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-09-02/xuGsdAeHlgttniGscaqwprcaerGqvlHmxolqwHjbGyEGJqlwxzvDvHrandGG/All_In_a_Day_03.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-09-02/lyyCnCvBrkIGriusooticGxlkiDsCrqJjssvIuoIgDmkHahzCumGhDwbryEA/All_In_a_Day_04.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="All_in_a_day_04" height="520" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-09-02/lyyCnCvBrkIGriusooticGxlkiDsCrqJjssvIuoIgDmkHahzCumGhDwbryEA/All_In_a_Day_04.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> <div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-09-02/DtpJsxdasgGsacimtFhyGtdJhDzracuBzhFsaGarharaJFJxtquIsgCqIdoj/All_In_a_Day_05.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="All_in_a_day_05" height="928" 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src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-09-02/lrtvAJGgkbDgfCIuoAftzboitmxhaEprjjqCfvycvlnGfmvfnfhqfiufxobv/All_In_a_Day_15.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> </p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-82311">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-82311#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/GF35vVpDAck" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/all-in-a-day-82311 Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:52:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/ufy73QKaCig/morning-meditations http://sofolo.posterous.com/morning-meditations <p> <blockquote class="posterous_short_quote"> <p>Earth's crammed with heaven,<br /> And every common bush afire with God;<br /> ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning</p> </blockquote> <p>*****</p> <p>My son awoke in the middle of the night so I slipped into his bed and curled his body against mine . . . lulling him back into dreamland.&nbsp; My eyes open about four hours later to the sight of Rowan sitting next to me mumbling a variety of words that I am too incoherent to absorb.&nbsp; Looking at the clock I see it is 5:30 . . . about the time he usually wakes to join us in our bed for some morning milk.&nbsp; I scoop him up and deliver him into his mama's awaiting arms.&nbsp; He is content again.&nbsp; The bed looks warm and inviting with two of my favorite people strewn about it, but I brew some coffee, slip on a jacket and sneak out into the glow of the sunrise instead.</p> <p>I am instantly taken back by the surprising coolness of the morning air.&nbsp; It feels Autumnal--I cannot think of a more pleasant surprise.&nbsp; My jacket and coffee keep me warm as I head down the gravel road to try and ease my unsettled soul.&nbsp; I spent two and a half hours convening with nature--connecting with God.&nbsp; During this time I managed to read a bit:</p> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote"> <p>Send out your light and your truth;<br /> let them lead me;<br /> let them bring me to your holy hill<br /> and to your dwelling!<br />Then I will go to the altar of God,<br /> to God my exceeding joy,<br /> and I will praise you with the lyre,<br /> O God, my God.</p> <p>Why are you cast down, O my soul,<br /> and why are you in turmoil within me?<br /> Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,<br /> my salvation and my God.</p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;">--Psalm 43:3-5</span></p> <p>*****</p> <p>I also managed to capture some photos:</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/mvuwBnpqbbiDgnivorjqinrlbfehbGnErAvfkIGhwjfEdACAecfzylklbIen/IMG_1734.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1734" height="522" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/mvuwBnpqbbiDgnivorjqinrlbfehbGnErAvfkIGhwjfEdACAecfzylklbIen/IMG_1734.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> </p> <p>God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.&nbsp; ~Author unknown, commonly attributed to Martin Luther</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/lwvhumynaloqzeJGIrxuobFHdapIhytCvqritCEvzneeaoiDuFibDmvmpnaz/IMG_1775.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1775" height="928" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/lwvhumynaloqzeJGIrxuobFHdapIhytCvqritCEvzneeaoiDuFibDmvmpnaz/IMG_1775.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.&nbsp; ~e.e. cummings<div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1820" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/vpfnbwxszDtmadbvzxnggvdxqrqippnGfAIwFJjqFvBkzouoCjduDnspgtwr/IMG_1820.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> Once you have heard the lark, known the swish of feet through hill-top grass and smelt the earth made ready for the seed, you are never again going to be fully happy about the cities and towns that man carries like a crippling weight upon his back.&nbsp; ~Gwyn Thomas<div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/DHeHxyJdnJFaFGHglreIJadBHDHGlfjnhyHIGFIADtncAuezoHwmhwioFGmt/IMG_1916.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1916" height="520" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/DHeHxyJdnJFaFGHglreIJadBHDHGlfjnhyHIGFIADtncAuezoHwmhwioFGmt/IMG_1916.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> </p> <p>Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.&nbsp; ~Kahlil Gibran</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1821" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/EbAlEAFhfFolzvdcihdlvnrbldkaAnwlwHcqprEtvCbgzrCsIIJufjdeeIox/IMG_1821.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> </p> <p>The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.&nbsp; ~Author Unknown</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1879" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/rzoInrgpxJdafwpgkDsdHxEfgzDizwcxqpnidDmjqnenrBifqnqleBDfnIfq/IMG_1879.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> </p> <p>I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.&nbsp; ~George Washington Carver</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1892" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/uewHcJCxhlfiFvIxDgrroIqkmuvctnAymwlJeGDAonrpGzvluHEqwboBulIw/IMG_1892.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.&nbsp; ~John Muir<div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1888" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/iIfbdIlCjEmnrFJItGgrzuglcaxehefwBFBkstmkzAyAGJaduIkADuobAJJu/IMG_1888.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> </p> <p>I am not bound for any public place, but for ground of my own where I have planted vines and orchard trees, and in the heat of the day climbed up into the healing shadow of the woods.&nbsp; Better than any argument is to rise at dawn and pick dew-wet red berries in a cup.&nbsp; ~Wendell Berry</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1896" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/rDoEdpjBrpzzIyuGoydFfsmxnEbhvwfsrszbntuzvEbHtJssmBCDBdwCryza/IMG_1896.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.&nbsp; ~Standing Bear<div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/fJCthJkIlICtwCesCqGmvmsrqxokIJChgGinkmiIAtikjjyjgxdcdaioiwnF/IMG_1917.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1917" height="696" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/fJCthJkIlICtwCesCqGmvmsrqxokIJChgGinkmiIAtikjjyjgxdcdaioiwnF/IMG_1917.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> </p> <p>The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.&nbsp; ~e.e. cummings</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1898" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/hojeIwdGEuszjzdiizIqjffieEikGllboowsrzhuGmGpxJBIGvvopgteglit/IMG_1898.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> </p> <p>The poetry of the earth is never dead.&nbsp; ~John Keats</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1907" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/kbAmxkopoBlIDcdrxzxFntECwdyBFxzrfCeBntBFnClcxqylqqdnrzbnFCzi/IMG_1907.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> </p> <p>In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.&nbsp; ~Charles A. Lindbergh</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1904" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/vJbegsdeaispjallyjkJyxwayekHowwuromnEbjxqtIlkBbmCrIcalvlGuzE/IMG_1904.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> </p> <p>I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.... People think pleasing God is all God care about.&nbsp; But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.&nbsp; ~Alice Walker, The Color Purple, 1982</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1910" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/kbdxyqlcmvrwjjCbyuixrsrgpqEfjqlgrfglhBbxlhcvphowzwBchdvbhbnE/IMG_1910.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.&nbsp; Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.&nbsp; The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.&nbsp; ~John Muir<div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1913" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/DiyvchEGqfjCwFpEpchsHlgyBpdxldglreAxazjjHbzAhrsehbhEjvqCfJBB/IMG_1913.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> </p> <p>There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks.&nbsp; Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough to pay attention to the story.&nbsp; ~Linda Hogan</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Img_1899" height="800" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/EqmHCArooJabFDpCknvtrGtgHwecdhginkmigufdxFgnaayewFsdbibshBGv/IMG_1899.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="600" /> </div> </p> <p>You can't be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.&nbsp; ~Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons, 1964</p> <p><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <a href="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/diIEovnBJvplqsqbtgyafpcpgznaqwgjtiHHtBcsaiEnHhitkEnBoFmkHhgB/IMG_1915.jpg.scaled1000.jpg"><img alt="Img_1915" height="522" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2011-08-30/diIEovnBJvplqsqbtgyafpcpgznaqwgjtiHHtBcsaiEnHhitkEnBoFmkHhgB/IMG_1915.jpg.scaled696.jpg" width="696" /></a> </div> </p> <p>I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.&nbsp; ~John Muir</p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/morning-meditations">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/morning-meditations#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/ufy73QKaCig" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/morning-meditations Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:22:00 -0700 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~3/X_Dp-trK-BM/endgames-how-to-love-adbusters http://sofolo.posterous.com/endgames-how-to-love-adbusters <p> <blockquote> <p>The French writer Michel Houellebecq, in his book <em>Atomised</em>, used a metaphor from quantum physics to describe people as being either waves -- movements outside of themselves -- or particles, where the same isolation that makes them "free" makes them lonely, apathetic and unable to form connections.&nbsp;</p> <p>In our time it is not only unfashionable but inconceivable to think outside the method of preserving individual autonomy. We worship "freedom" -- a negative definition focused not on what we can do but on what we cannot be obligated to do. Our civilization understands itself not as a product of history and maker of future history but as a facilitation -- like a big shopping mall with a legal system -- of individuals doing what pleases them so long as they do not interrupt others doing the same and disturb the peace.&nbsp;</p> <p>This condition has not made us happy. While we agree that liberty, equality, fraternity and open economies are noble methods, the goal of these -- having a better civilization and individual lives -- has not manifested itself through these methods. <strong>By basing our ideal on freedom, we have closed ourselves off to obligations outside of ourselves</strong>, which coincidentally are the things that make us feel most alive. We are prisoners of the self and it is no surprise we act selfishly as a result.&nbsp;</p> </blockquote> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="font-size: x-small;">--Brett Stevens, from the foreword to Pentti Linkola's <em>Can Life Prevail?</em>&nbsp; (from <a href="http://www.adbusters.org" target="_blank">Adbusters</a> magazine #95, May/June 2011)</span></p> </p> <p><a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/endgames-how-to-love-adbusters">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://sofolo.posterous.com/endgames-how-to-love-adbusters#comment">Leave a comment&nbsp;&nbsp;&raquo;</a> </p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/posterous/sofoblog/~4/X_Dp-trK-BM" height="1" width="1"/> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1490958/7f553dc184464f188f5b9589e7d2f354_7.jpeg http://posterous.com/users/5eHIHvELLNvz Christopher Sofolo sofolo Christopher Sofolo http://sofolo.posterous.com/endgames-how-to-love-adbusters