JRDOG's Open Salon Blog

Something's gotta give

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:10:05 -0400

Dear Friends,

Thank you for all the times you've read my writing and made kind, insightful or challenging comments. I've learned a lot from you and continue to hold you dear in my heart.

This week I start a new job as an Asst. GED Teacher for the local community college. I'm excited but it will be challenging as well. As I looked at my schedule and the creative path that is before my eyes, I realize that I need to let OS writing go. That doesn't mean I won't read my favorites but I won't be on Open Salon as much and will rarely be writing here.

Open Salon is a great place for writing and I love the writers here. The thing is I can both write and have my art on a site called Redbubble so if and when I post writing, I will post it there. I'm more of a poet than an essayist or political commentator. It's good to learn this and YOU all have helped me discern what really matters to me.

Peace to you. You are all blessing.

“To know you have enough is to be rich.” - Tao Te Ching

Protect the young

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:09:50 -0400

Friends and supporters show their emotion while attending a memorial service in Beason, Ill., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. A couple and three of their children were found brutally slain inside their home in this tiny central Illinois farming community, and authorities warned residents Tuesday to lock their doors at night while investigators try to identify possible suspects. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

There is no single effort more radical in its potential for saving the world than a transformation of the way we raise our children.

Marianne Williamson

A vital part of any spiritual path includes praying for others. Praying for others takes us outside of ourselves to look at the larger world. While substitute teaching I found myself praying for the kids in the lunchroom and suddenly thought of a man from my congregation years ago.

Every Sunday J. lifted this prayer up during the communal prayer, "Lord, keep all young men and women out of harm's way." J. was an older man as handsome as Morgan Freeman but with a soft southern accent. His brother was on trial for knowing the wrong people and being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but J.'s prayers were for the larger community there in Charlotte. Because their family store had been in a dicey part of the city, J. had seen one too many youth gunned down by bullets or drugs. The streets of the city are hard and tough. Fast paced and dangerous with so many place to hid in the dark streets, many think that these troubles don't reach beyond a certain neighborhood or the city limits.

While the city life is often faster paced and filled with more opportunities for mischief, the daring of the young knows no bounds; no city or town limits stop youth from feeling invincible. Yesterday I asked a teacher a question that led him to talk about his son and a foundation he and his wife have founded called Connor's H.E.A.R.T. I asked if Connor had heart problems and then heard the tragic story that Connor had died from "the choking game". This young man was not from the mean city streets, but a resident in a small secluded town in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.

Later the same day, Facebook friends commented on McKenzie Phillips' latest announcement of incest as a publicity stunt. While only Phillips knows the truth of her statement, the reality is that instances of inappropriate sexual behavior, molestation, rape and incest happen to both sexes of children. If your son/grandson/nephew/brother or your daughter/granddaughter/niece/sister ever talks to you about a sexual problem, do not doubt the child. If a child has bruises that seem unusual, ask the child what happened so that they are not being bullied or abused by another. You are their protector. You are the one they need to be able to trust. You are their hope.

The irony of this, is that children are our hope. Life is hard for all human beings and in our busy world not only are our children exposed to more outside influences through the internet, television and other media, many are often left alone while both parents work just to get by in this day's economy. Even when a parent stays home, there is no way to anticipate all of the challenges a child faces in the course of an ordinary day.

Looking out on a sea of teenagers at lunch, the energy of life is palpable, noisy, boisterous and for the most part happy. But if you look closer and more carefully, there are students sitting alone and sad. Over in the corner is a young man seeking to impress the boys who throw things at him. In the upper level, a group of girls are consoling each other and you can see the concern in each girl's eyes. Yes, some of the events are the challenges of growing up and learning how to work and move among others. Sometimes however, the adults have not taken a child or a teen seriously and the only person the child can turn to is another child or a teenager.

These children may not be my children or yours, but they are our hope, our future goodness. Paul tells us that we ALL are children of God. We are one family. My friend, J., died many years ago after a long battle with emphysema and yet, in this moment I can hear his voice praying, "Lord, protect all young men and women standing in harm's way."

If you want to work for world peace, go home and love your families.

Mother Teresa

Each of us must come to care about everyone else's children. We must recognize that the welfare of our children is intimately linked to the welfare of all other people's children. After all, when one of our children needs life-saving surgery, someone else's child will perform it. If one of our children is harmed by violence, someone else's child will be responsible for the violent act. The good life for our own children can be secured only if a good life is also secured for all other people's children.

Lilian Katz, Dir. of the ERIC Clearinghouse for Early Childhood Education

Child Abuse and Neglect: signs and Symptoms

Symptoms of Sexual Disturbance Among Children

Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)

Games Adolscents Shouldn't Play (GASP)

Connor's H.E.A.R.T. (Help Eliminate Adolescent Risk Taking)

A short video from my friend at the ELCA

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 07:08:12 -0400

Wanted to share a sweet video from my friend Pastor Katrina Foster. We went to seminary together and she was fortunate enough to be at the Assembly where the historical vote took place.

Pastor Foster is the pastor at Fordham Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx.

Miracles in my lifetime

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:08:02 -0400

Twelve years of exile and pain, that's what life has been for me. In 1997 I chose to be honest with my Bishop and came out to him. They promptly got rid of me even though many stood up for me. Here in the mountains great healing has occurred in spite of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. This morning I received an email from a new friend who is at the ELCA convention in Minnesota saying:

They just voted YES! It's not perfect. We already see the issues ahead of us, but it is now possible! There are discussions for people like you who have been derostered because of orientation. Just a thought for you. Your pain isn't in vain....

I'm crying as I write this. It means I could possibly serve as a pastor again. I didn't think this would happen in my lifetime. This is my denomination, where I was trained...so much feeling exploding into my heart, pain leaving. A miracle for more than me....

'Monogamous' Gays Can Serve in ELCA

Largest Lutheran Denomination in U.S. Split on Divisive Issue

By Jacqueline L. Salmon

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 22, 2009

Leaders of the nation's biggest Lutheran denomination voted Friday to allow gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy in the church -- making it one of the largest Christian denominations in the country to significantly open the pulpit to gays.

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Nothing to say...

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:08:44 -0400

...but I wanted to share something beautiful with you for the weekend. Here are some blue skies over the Appalachian range in Western NC.

And a song to cheer your heart: