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Posted on 01/02/2006 7:52:08 AM PST by Soaring Feather
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Love Our Troops
Not a new one, but suitable for a Friday in Lent:
Blood: A Meditation
The sword falls,
exposing a thin red line
separating life and death,
today and forever,
goodness in a neighbor's eyes
and the face of evil in human form.
See it cut,
opening a red stream
pouring out over the earth,
a river of grief,
and loss,
and sorrow and confusion,
exhilaration,
adulation,
oppression,
the mark of Cain
ever with the human race,
as men see themselves
as more worthy,
more deserving,
more needy,
more right,
wallowing in the river
no matter the price
as demons howl.
The whip rips the flesh,
the thorn pierces,
the hammer rends,
this blood trickles down
like all the other blood,
yet where it touches,
light grows
to combat the dark,
light to heal the anger in the neighbor's eyes,
to heal the hurt of the lost and bereaved,
to stand with the homeless,
the oppressed,
the needy.
All those touched by this light
offer up your hands,
hands for the light to use.
Pass it on,
this light given to us in blood,
in love,
in redemption.
Pass it on,
hand to hand,
word by word,
to heal the mark of Cain,
the death march of time,
and quell that demon howling,
the song of grief
that has been mankind's birthright
since the fall.
Lot's of food for thought in your post. Thanks.
On this date in history:
In 1879, attorney Belva Ann Lockwood became the first woman
to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1931, an act of the U.S. Congress designated "The Star
Spangled Banner" the national anthem of the United States.
In 1974, a Turkish jetliner crashed near Paris, killing 345
people.
In 1985, British coal miners ended a yearlong strike, the
longest and costliest labor dispute in British history.
In 1986, the President's Commission on Organized Crime,
ending a 32-month investigation, called for drug testing
of most working Americans, including all federal employees.
In 1991, a home video captured three Los Angeles police
officers beating motorist Rodney King.
Also in 1991, a United Boeing 737 jet crashed in Colorado
Springs, Colo., killing all 25 people aboard.
And in 1991, residents of the Soviet republics of Latvia
and Estonia voted overwhelmingly for independence.
In 1993, Dr. Albert Sabin, the medical pioneer who helped
conquer polio, died at his home of heart failure at age 86.
In 1995, the last U.N. peacekeepers left Somalia.
In 1996, a bus bombing in Jerusalem killed 19 people.
In 1997, Vice President Al Gore admitted he sometimes
made fundraising calls from the White House but said
he'd been advised there was no law against it.
Also in 1997, former CIA official Harold Nicholson
pleaded guilty to spying for Russia. He was sentenced
to 23 years and seven months in prison.
In 1999, an estimated 70 million people tuned in to
watch former White House intern Monica Lewinsky's
taped TV interview with Barbara Walters.
In 2001, foot-and-mouth disease, which had already
flared in Britain, was reported in Europe, where
livestock at two farms in France and Belgium were
quarantined.
In 2002, violence continued through the early days of
March in the Middle East as attacks and retaliations
took a heavy toll on Israelis and Palestinians.
In 2003, U.S. officials reported getting information
that militants linked to the al-Qaida network had
targeted U.S. military facilities in Pearl Harbor,
including nuclear-powered submarines and ships.
However, nothing came of the report.
In 2004, former WorldCom Chief Executive Officer
Bernard Ebbers pleaded innocent to an indictment on
federal fraud and conspiracy charges. The company's
2002 bankruptcy was the largest in U.S. history.
In 2005, the U.S. military death toll in Iraq
reached 1,500.
Also in 2005, North Korea announced it was dropping
its self-imposed moratorium on long range missile
testing, in place since 1999.
Today's date of birth anniversaries...
English poet Edmund Waller in 1606;
industrialist George Pullman, inventor of the railway
sleeping car, in 1831;
telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell in 1847;
U.S. Army Gen. Matthew Ridgway in 1895;
movie star Jean Harlow in 1911;
"Star Trek" actor James Doohan in 1920;
Lee Radziwill, sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis,
in 1933 (age 73);
former football star Herschel Walker, the 1982 Heisman
Trophy winner, and Olympic gold medal heptathlete Jackie
Joyner-Kersee, both in 1962 (age 44);
and actors David Faustino ("Married ... With Children")
in 1974 (age 32)
and Jessica Biel ("7th Heaven") in 1982 (age 24).
"Star Trek" actor James Doohan (Scotty) in 1920.
Gone, but not forgotten.
Good Friday, ms feather.
Happy Friday to you Kathy, ah nice stick man! ;)
Thanks for Blessed Assurance.
*HUGS*
OMG, I love that picture.
Hey there, Lady!! WoW so nice to see you!! How are you feeling now? Much better I hope.
Holy Cow!!!! That is so insane! it's awesome! :-0
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