Happy Memorial MLK Birthday Day. Have you wondered what Dr. King would think of the presidential candidates if he were alive?

Barack Obama gave a speech took the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta – the same church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. helped rev up the civil rights movement.

“If we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King’s vision of a beloved community. “The divisions, the stereotypes, the scapegoating, the ease with which we blame the plight of ourselves on others, all of that distracts us from the common challenges we face: war and poverty; inequality and injustice,” Obama said.

But he added that “we must admit that none of our hands are entirely clean,” citing homophobia, anti-Semitism and anti-immigrant bias in the black community

“I wasn’t born into money or great wealth, but I had hope!” he declared, bringing the congregation to its feet, cheering and clapping. “I needed some hope to get here. My daddy left me when I was little, but I had hope! I was raised by a single mother, but I had hope! I was given love, an education, and some hope!”

Very inspiring, but some are still wary of the rhetoric if it doesn’t deliver on substance.

blackagendareport.com – Give the Candidates the MLK Test

Dr. King said the “triple evils” of his day were militarism, racism, and economic exploitation. … In addition, Dr. King said he was “compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor” in the U.S. … Senators Obama and Clinton fail the Martin Luther King Test, miserably. Obama wants to add 100,000 troops to the U.S. Armed Forces, at a cost of over $100 billion – even as he proposes partial withdrawals from Iraq. Clinton seeks 80,000 new soldiers and Marines. As sure as the sun rises, a bigger U.S. military means more wars, and no money for domestic “change.”

The only candidate who would pass the Martin Luther King Test is Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, whose platform for peace, truly universal health care, a living wage, and an end to corporate domination of American life harkens back to that “shining moment” in the Sixties that King mentioned, when there were “hopes” and “new beginnings.”

While I agree that Obama and Clinton are not as good as Kucinich on some of the transcendent issues that concerned MLK, I see no mention here of John Edwards. Comments?

Today, I am participating in the Interfaith Fast.

Religious leaders from several traditions invite you to join with millions of other Americans participating in interfaith events in your local community on October 7 and 8th, for the breaking of bread, fasting, and breaking our fast together as we covenant together to live out the deepest calling in each of our traditions – the desire for justice and for peace for all people.

If you’d like to participate, do so. You can rsvp on Facebook.

interfaithfast

This fall, in an unusual convergence, many of our faith traditions share a season of sacred self-assessment and self-transformation. This holy season includes the month of Ramadan and the Night of Power (Islam); the High Holy Days and Sukkot (Judaism); the Feast Day of Francis of Assisi and Worldwide Communion Sunday (Christianity), Pavarana / Sangha Day (Buddhism) and Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. Some communities of the First Nations have already begun to observe Columbus Day as Indigenous Nations Day, with practices that transform its meaning.

Since each of our traditions recognizes the power of fasting as a spiritual discipline, we call on all people of faith to join in a fast from dawn to dusk on Monday, October 8.

Newsbrief

Happy Mother’s Day!

Social activist and poet Julia Ward Howe wrote the original Mother’s Day proclamation after the American Civil War as a powerful effort to unite women against war.

Mother’s Day Proclamation

Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
“We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: “Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

From my dear friend Shi:

Saint Theresa is known as the Saint of the Little Ways, meaning she believed in doing the little things in life well and with great Love. She is also the patron Saint of flower growers and florists. She is represented by roses. May everyone who receives this message be blessed.

REMEMBER to make a wish before you read the prayer. That’s all you have to do. There is nothing attached. Prayer is one of the best free gifts that we ever receive.

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Saint Theresa’s prayer:

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

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Happy Holidays!

Warmth, light, comfort
laughter, love and joy
to you and yours
to all of us

May your spirits be energized, brightened, and filled with caring for others.

An important note on the so-called “war on Christmas”:

Should there be some reminder that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace? How does turning Christmas into a time of strife set a Christian example?

My greeting to you includes the holidays that I personally celebrate, and also it extends to include the holiday or holidays that you celebrate. (Jehovah’s Witnesses are the only ones I know who have reason to flinch at a simple season’s greeting).

We celebrate different things, we celebrate the traditions and beliefs of our families, of our communities, of our nations, and so on. Some are more traditional, some are more constructive and playful. If you think about all the people you know, you will quickly realize that there are some people to whom you can (maybe even should) say “Merry Christmas.” That’s fine, that’s great – but would you hate-mongers just give it a rest? It’s the holidays! Where’s all that comfort and joy?

The spirit of the season is not about competition or hate. If you can’t be spiritually aware, at least be civil.

Be gracious, be kind. Beware those who speak to the darkness within you.

Replace hate and fear and war – with love and courage and peace.