In a Gem

An Angel posed a question to me
Asking softly~What do I see?
When I looked at this crystal she held in her hand
Admiring all the beautiful colors swirling around
I took a moment for
I could not contain
The many tears from built up pain.....
I did not know why they streamed down my cheeks
But the emotions I held in~Began to leak
The crystal represented a value so high
A priceless gem that came from heavens skies
Chiseled with precision from an Angel’s tools
Each cut unique and out of this world
Only in my dreams have I seen a crystal such as this
For it was always out of reach but I did wish
The colors that turn and shimmer to life....
Green is my favorite with blue by its side
I don’t think of money or material things
But the earth and the sky and the value that they bring
So much of our land has been destroyed and our air polluted
The Rainforest is depleting and the animals endangered too
Red and aqua represent the sun and water to me
Too much or too little can be damaging
The ozone layer has been disintegrating slowly
And the water affected by oil spills and wastes from the cities
The lavender color reminds me of love
My heart beats faster for there are many people I think of
The crystal possesses a deeper meaning than its outer beauty
Without all five elements~Life would mean nothing……

A Tapestry

"Apart we are two separate threads,

a common experience to the human eye.

But when we are together we weave,

into a tapestry of beautiful design.

The picture is there to be seen,

for those who take note of what we are:

The Frog made into a Prince,

by the kiss and love of his little Star.

Only god could weave such a love,

that could shine so bright, eternally:

With His breath to give us life,

we honor this gift, most fervently."

Wisu

Time alone

"I am here alone for the first time in weeks, to take up my "real" life again at last. That is what is strange- that friends, even passionate love, are not my real life unless there is time alone in which to explore and to discover what is happening or has happened."

~ May Sart

My Day 2008

We had a nice birthday dinner last night at the concert hall in Amsterdam overlooking the Amstel river. It was a wonderful setting and it was an evening of wine and melancholy talk about the past......a true walk down memory lane. I wonder if everyone does that on their birthday or is that just a sign of getting older and wiser as you look back and wonder about past choices? Who knows......... i have good memories of last night today anyway, and that must mean it was good.

The view on the port and the island from our restaurant seats.

It ended in a cake at home with the cats and new hamster. Rob made sure there was chilled Champagne and candles on the cake. I didnt really need much more than that to feel special. Low key was just fine this year.

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so special today! It isnt a day that i really look forward to but it reminds me that I am not forgotten. It has been a quiet but special day, and I am looking forward to all that the new year is going to bring me! Hugs to all my friends.

NCADP: BAZE RULING SIDESTEPS THE CRITICAL ISSUES; DEATH PENALTY SYSTEM REMAINS AS FLAWED AS EVER

David Elliot - NCADP Communications Director - April, 16 2008

April 16, 2008 – The U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol sidesteps the critical issues surrounding the death penalty debate in the U.S., the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty said today.

“The death penalty system was a flawed public policy before the Supreme Court agreed to review Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol,” said NCADP Executive Director Diann Rust-Tierney. “It was a flawed public policy while the Court debated the protocol. And now that the Court has ruled, it remains as deeply a flawed public policy as ever.”

The relatively narrow scope of the Court’s deliberations did not address basic issues of fairness, bias, ineffective assistance of counsel or innocent people being convicted and sentenced to death, Rust-Tierney said. She noted that the U.S. has gone almost seven months since an execution – the longest period of time without an execution since a 17-month hiatus that stretched from early 1981 into late 1982.

“Now, with the possible resumption of executions, we renew our commitment to discuss the critical issues surrounding the death penalty system,” Rust-Tierney said. “Since the last person was executed – on Sept. 24, 2007 – we have seen a number of remarkable events. Four names have been added to the list of people freed from death row after evidence of their innocence emerged, bringing that number to at least 128. New Jersey has abolished the death penalty. Nebraska has no effective death penalty after its Supreme Court ruled the electric chair unconstitutional. The American Bar Association has called for a nationwide moratorium on executions. And the United Nations, reflecting evolving trends around the globe, has voted for a worldwide moratorium.”

In addition, Rust-Tierney said, California and Tennessee have held state hearings in order to study their respective death penalty systems. Constitutional questions have been raised in New Hampshire and New Mexico and wrongful conviction and DNA lab scandals continue in Texas.

“And that’s just in seven months,” Rust-Tierney noted. “It seems that the more we learn about the death penalty, the more we learn we can live without it.”

Indeed, Rust-Tierney noted Justice Stevens’ concurrence in today’s opinion in which he warned that debate will continue – not just over lethal injection protocols “but also about the justification for the death penalty itself.”

Mumia protest 19th April

Join the Campaign to End the Death Penalty in Philadelphia (at the Federal Building at 6th and Market) this Saturday, April 19th at 11 AM as we stand in solidarity with Mumia Abu Jamal.

DC area activists will be gathering outside Takoma Metro (red line) this Saturday at 8 AM to drive to Philadelphia. We will return around 5 PM. Please RSVP if you'd like a ride at: mikestark2003@yahoo.com.

In Philadelphia, we will be joined by hundreds of activists from dozens of organizations from up and down the east coast as we gather outside the Federal Building at 6th and Market, Philadelphia in a show of support for Mumia Abu-Jamal. On March 27, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals refused to overturn Mumia's conviction and instead upheld a lower federal court's decision to vacate his death sentence. Mumia and his attorneys had argued his entire conviction should be overturned citing evidence of racism and corruption by his original trial judge and prosecutors. The Court's decision will force prosecutors to seek a new sentencing hearing if they wish to reimpose a death sentence -- otherwise his sentence will automatically be converted to life in prison.

Mumia was originally sentenced in 1982 by a mostly-white jury for the murder of policeman Daniel Faulkner. Many national and internationally based human rights groups upon investigation have denounced Mumia's trial as grossly unfair and biased. An Amnesty International report titled, "A life in the Balance -- the Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal," found that prosecutors illegally used political statements made by Mumia as a teenager as evidence against him at his original trial. They also found that politics has played a role in preventing a full and fair hearing of the facts in his case. http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR51/001/2000/en/dom-AMR510012000en.html

Amnesty International has also stated that overturning Mumia's death sentence is not enough and does not amount to justice since his original trial did not comply with international standards of justice: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR51/183/2001/en/dom-AMR511832001en.html

Since his conviction, Mumia has become the "Voice of the Voiceless" as he continues his journalism through hundreds articles and several books exposing the horrors of death row to millions or readers. Recently, Maryland death row prisoner John Boothe described Mumia's book "Live from Death Row" as an incredibly important contribution in the fight against the death penalty. "By capturing the experience of living on death row and reminding prisoners that they are not alone, Mumia gave us all a voice and some hope."

www.nodeathpenalty.org

Darkness

"Darkness can not drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

-Martin Luther King Jr.

The Owl in the Tree Book

For a week now i have been working on trying to get this little book right. I think the cover is done and the fun of it isthat, hidden there, in the middle of all those leaves and branches there are surprises...a pair of eyes looking out, a lady bird, a snail...... the fun of creating is the sparkle in the eyes of the people who are enjoying it and discovering the mind of the artist. However, it isnt quite finished....my art never is. There is always something missing, and this is no exception. Ongoing adventures.....that is what each and every piece I make means to me, no matter how simple.

What forgiveness means to me.

Forgiveness is a process. Perhaps God is speaking to you about a person you need to forgive. You can begin the process of forgiveness today, but that doesn’t mean you will instantly feel the freedom of complete forgiveness.

For deep offenses, it may take years to experience the full freedom of forgiveness. I compare forgiveness to peeling layers off an onion. You can dig deeply and take off many layers at once, but there are lots of thin layers as well, which makes forgiveness a process of patiently addressing the issues that come up.

Committing to the process means admitting that you’re powerless to forgive on your own. You’re telling God that you want Him to forgive through you. You’re willing to begin, knowing it may take years before you feel the complete release of God’s work of forgiveness in your heart.
Forgiveness is a decision. The most important contribution you make in the process of forgiveness is to trust God enough to make the decision to forgive. In human matters, forgiveness comes down to a decision. It’s a decision to trust that God knows more than you do and that forgiving the person who hurt you will heal you.

No one can force us to forgive, and no one can keep us from forgiving. Forgiveness is a decision to trust not our own instincts but the voice of God. When I’ve decided to forgive, it wasn’t because the offender asked me to do so or even acted in a way that created a desire in me to forgive. I forgave because I trusted that God loves me and that He would never tell me to do something that wasn’t good for me.

I’ll always remember the most significant experiences of forgiveness in my life. These memories are of spiritual victories whereby God overcame the fear, rage and resistance created in my soul by another person’s actions toward me. In true forgiveness, I release my hatred, self-protection and desire for vengeance, but I keep all of my short- and long-term memories. When we’ve experienced the healing power of forgiveness, we never forget the release we feel in our souls. Through forgiving, we’re able to forget “what lies behind” and reach forward to “what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13), which involves letting go of the pain and being freed from hatred, fear and bitterness. We remember those painful circumstances in a way that gives us hope for the future. True forgiveness gives us back our lives.

Thank you to Dr. Deborah Newman

Journey to Forgiveness

“What an incredible story... abduction and escape is only half of this story. The rest deals with traumatic aftershock...and the long, painful road to become whole again. There's refreshing honesty in these pages as Debbie reveals her own fierce struggles and mistakes so others can gain insight and courage.” Sister Helen Prejean Author of Dead Man Walking.

No one in the country can forget the controversy stirred over Sister Helen Prejean's book, Dead Man Walking. The book's chilling true story and the subsequent movie, starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon, focused the entire world on the horrific crimes committed by Robert Willie and Joe Vacarro in Louisiana in 1980. For most of us, Dead Man Walking awakened our own conflicted feelings and beliefs about the extremes of crime and punishment .

For Debbie Morris, it reawakened the nightmare she had been living with since surviving an unspeakably brutal experience at the hands of the man who was the subject of Dead Man Walking. While the rest of us debated the ethics of executing a man clearly guilty of heinous rape, torture and murder, Debbie Morris found she had a life-changing decision to make. Keep silent about her terrifying experience as a teen-ager, or share her story with the world — make a private pain a public revelation. In a dauntless act of faith and courage, she chose to speak.

The path Debbie has walked since the summer night in 1980 when she was kidnapped, raped and held for thirty hours is the story her audiences most want to hear. It's a story of unfathomable courage in the face of absolute terror as, after her escape, she helped police first save the life of the young man she was with the night of her abduction, and then eventually capture and convict both Willie and Vacarro. More importantly, Debbie Morris' story, is a powerful testimony of forgiveness and redemption on a road of spiritual, emotional and physical recovery littered with alcohol abuse, depression and panic attacks. Her journey back to wholeness eventually brought her to teaching special needs children and a solid, fulfilling family life with childhood friend, Brad Morris.

Debbie's story, first told publicly on PBS Frontline, proved so inspirational she was encouraged by many people, including Sister Helen Prejean, to write about it. Forgiving The Dead Man Walking was published in 1998. Since the publication of the book, Debbie Morris has appeared on the Today Show, Leeza, The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder, Focus on the Family, and National Public Radio's Fresh Air, among others. She has been featured in Ladies Home Journal, Marie Claire and Today's Christian Woman and many other of the country's most popular home, women's and Christian lifestyle magazines.

Today, Debbie Morris is a highly sought speaker at conferences and retreats across the country, including Women of Faith conferences. In 2001 she appeared with Dr. James Dobson on Focus on the Family. The subject of forgiving—how to forgive, when to forgive, why to forgive, has become a topic of increasing spiritual interest across mainstream America, transcending religious affiliation. Debbie's mission is to share her transformational story of healing and grace, one she prays will help others discover the same life-altering power and freedom generated by the act of forgiveness.


AN INCREDIBLE JOURNEY TO FORGIVENESS
FORGIVING THE DEAD MAN WALKING
DEBBIE MORRIS, ( speaker and author)
THURSDAY, MAY 1ST, 6:30-9:00 p.m.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH WORSHIP CENTER
138 S Washington Street
Prattville, AL
Tickets are $ 5:00 at Lifeway Christian Store or First Baptist Church
For more information, call church office at 334 365 0606

The Tree

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.

William Blake, 1799, The Letters

I Believe You Can Fly....

Everything Happens for a Reason

Everything in life happens for a reason. In fact, your very presence here now reading this very article has its reason too. Why are you here? To seek for yourself some answer to discovering your life?

Absolutely nothing wrong with that! How wrong can there be? When in doubt, always ask right?

This is the very way of life. All events that happen in life always lead to a next event and so on and so for. What will happen next? We wouldn’t know and this is for you to find out. This is an ever-going cycle in the law of nature. At the end of the day, what matters is where will they lead you to.

And for what reasons would these events be, good or bad? It very much depends on you. This is the cause and effect of life. You have to understand this. It is always your actions that decide what should happen next. Picture them as a good cause and positive actions will follow. Picture them as a bad cause and more negative actions will just follow, leading to undesired outcome.
And for some reasons or so, many of us tend to just always prefer to have negative thoughts (pessimistic) than to having positive thoughts (optimistic) And with such thoughts in mind, even things that indeed happen for a good cause will just turn out to be for bad cause; leading to more and just more unnecessary stress and worries.

Why? Is there anything wrong to think positive? Is it against the law to think positively?
Perhaps let me just ask. To talk about a forest fire, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Terrible and frightening?

But what if I were to tell you that a forest fire is necessary and a must? (not talking about those created by man of course) In actual fact, natural wildland fires are essential for the correct functioning of many ecosystems; to allow the forest to renew itself; to bring about benefits for both the nature and us.
Understand this. Not everything in life happens for a bad cause.

To just share with you, I have known of a good friend who previously got retrench from his job. Back then, he was definitely feeling real depressed and lost. Not to mention that it took him almost close to a year before finding a new job. But it is because of the change in job that he met his love, to actually start a new chapter in life; happily married now.
Now, isn’t that for a good cause that he actually got retrenched back then? Just recall. I am sure you have come across many encouraging events in your life too?
Or are you going to still, be complaining? Perhaps complaining about all those additional work assigned to you?

Sometimes, all those additional work which you may find rubbish are there to actually prepare you for your next journey. Think of it this way. Won’t these new acquired skills and experience just come in handy if you were to start your own business?

Complaints won’t get you anywhere. Open up yourself and you will see more. All those events you meet in life, be they little or major are there for a reason. Uncover them and they will lead you towards a new journey…


By: Master Jon Sim
www.art-of-fengshui.com
© 2007 Jon Sim. All rights reserved.

Jon Sim is the Principal Consultant and Master Trainer of Art of Feng Shui Consultancy. A master in the practice of Chinese Metaphysic Art, which include Classical Feng Shui, Life Destiny Reading, Time and Space Metaphysics. With the wise knowledge in the law of Yin & Yang and Life Destiny Reading, he has helped and counseled many, both online and onsite, to acquiring and experience the benefits and joy of balanced living.

Article Source: http://www.newagearticles.com/

Advocacy group for children of incarcerated parents

This is an advocacy agency for newborns and children of incarcerated parents. They provide services to address the needs and
issues of children experiencing the trauma of parental incarceration.

No More Victims, Inc. was founded in 1993 by Marilyn K. Gambrell, a former Texas parole officer. After witnessing the repeated trauma that children with parents in prison were experiencing, Ms. Gambrell created NMVI to support and assist children and families in crisis. The organization offers school, community and corrections-based programming. Over 700 children are currently enrolled in the No More Victims program at M.B. Smiley High School in Houston, TX. The students are graduating, going to college, joining the military or attending vocational school. The older children are role models for the younger children. NMVI has greatly impacted the M. B. Smiley High School through the reduction of violence and crime on campus, teen-age pregnancy and gang involvement. The students participating in the program have greatly improved behavior, grades and attendance creating an overall safer school environment.

The organization has received tremendous media coverage such as articles in the U.S. News and World Report, People and PrismMagazines. A Lifetime Movie Original titled "Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story"was released in August, 2005 on the Lifetime Movie Channel. CNN's - "NewsNight with Aaron Brown" released a special feature news story about Ms. Gambrell and the organization which received an Emmy Nomination as an outstanding feature film.


http://www.nomorevictimsinc.com/about.html

A Letter from Amnesty International

Dear Giusi,

You've seen the images on YouTube and in the news papers...
... Chinese security forces brutally attacking unarmed, non-violent protestors, including Buddhist monks, in Tibet.
But, you don't have to sit idly by and just watch. You can take action right now to help secure the freedom of 15 Tibetan monks who were arrested on March 10 for staging a peaceful protest in Barkhor, Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

We have no information on the monk's current whereabouts. We don't know the nature of the charges brought against them. And, they're at very high risk of torture or other ill treatment.
What we do know, is that by acting together we can place enormous pressure on the Chinese Government at a moment when they are trying to put their best face forward in the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games. By acting now, we can secure the immediate release of the 15 monks and the other peaceful protestors that were detained with them.

In recent days, Amnesty International has met with Congressional leaders, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and with senior White House officials. We are placing enormous pressure on the Chinese Government to stop the violence, open up the region to foreign reporters and to free peaceful protestors.
But, we need your immediate help to keep the pressure on.

Sincerely,
Larry CoxExecutive DirectorAmnesty International USA


Please sign the petition:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=jhKPIXPCIoE&b=2590179&template=x.ascx&action=10084

Take a chance......

Take your chances when they come along......they might not be there tomorrow.

Scrapbooking

Time to sort my journals, and there are so many. I am not sure that I like the style I have had in the last year a bit dark, a bit confused and lacking focus. I pilled them with all the bits I've collected, probably too much......... but a change is coming, i can feel it. I want to fill my journals with life and lots of color, i want to fill them with the positive emotions that i am filled with myself these days, and give them a reason. I feel as though i am going towards new realizations, new things..... and my journals will be the first to reflect that, the eyes that see what I believe my dreams will be..... through them i will see what i feel. I thought I had lost my inspiration, but tonight, I felt it come back in a surge. I think tomorrow will be a productive day.

“Sometimes you've got to let everything go - purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything . . . whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self comes out.” Tina Turner