Peace to us all for Pink Saturday....

Clockwise, from wind chimes: Wiccan beltane, Buddhist nuns, Muslim girl in hijab, Christian Minister, Hindu bride, Jewish woman in Tallit

We're all in this together, this thing we call life.

Most of us want the same things.  Peace.  A healthy and happy family.  Good kids.  A warm, dry and safe place to live. Enough food on the table. Love. A chance to worship as we believe is right.  We are all so much the same. And yet so wonderfully different.

It really doesn't matter whether we put on a hijab or a tallit or a robe...and when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter how we address the Creator, whether in words or song or one name or another.  Our paths are different, but the mountain top is the same one.  We have just been placed on different roads to get there.

Today, on this anniversary of an act of hate, carried out by a few individuals, let's spend time remembering that we all...

Cry
Laugh
Sing
Smile
Grow
Love

If someone else's customs seem strange, ask questions.  If their words sound foreign to your ear, listen with your heart.  If they look different, ignore their clothes or their skin colour and look at their eyes. You'll recognize the kinship there.

And the next time you're tempted to say "They all..." about another religion -- or you feel that it might be better to remain silent when someone else heads that way -- remember that it's your sister or your brother who is being hated. And speak up, in love, for peace, for every member of our human family.

A joyous and peaceful September 11th Pink Saturday to you all.

Flying flags or taking action - which matters more?

The week has raced by.

My last post was about Shabbas plans, good food, guests, time focusing on those I love. And it seems that I barely blinked and it's a week later.

It's been a good week. Busy with family and friends. Lots accomplished at work. I'm tired. Not feeling 100%. But I'm here. And that, as Martha S. is wont to say, is a good thing.

I've been thinking a lot about this September 11th thing. Got a ton of e-mails telling me to hang a flag. And that bothers me. I am so proud of the brave firefighters and police officers who risk their lives every day to save the rest of us from horrible situations. Firefighters hold a very special place in my heart, as some of you know. So the idea that just hanging a flag up was a suitable way to honor them really and truly bothered me. They deserve so much more.

I responded to a few of the e-mails...and this is some of what I wrote.

Sorry. Flag waving and wrapping oneself in the flag are empty gestures to me. I will never see that a proof of anything valuable. I honor the firefighters and police officers, but hanging pieces of cloth seems to me a meaningless choice. Getting out and honoring their memory by fighting for our freedoms -- not with guns and rockets, but with the courts and the press and the ballot -- is a much more appropriate tribute to all they gave.

A flag is a piece of cloth. Hanging it is easy. If you want to show/promote real patriotism, get out and reclaim the rights and freedoms stolen by the previous administration. Work for the repeal of the so-called Patriot Act laws. Work to disband Big Brother. Fight surveillance on ordinary citizens, demand prosecution for elected leaders and government officials who engaged in wiretaps and warrant-less searches and fear-mongering.

Forget hanging flags. Be a patriot and reclaim your country. Those who died trying to save others deserve that from you.

If political action isn't your forte, use today to go out sign up to feed hungry children, take steps to help a homeless person get back on their feet, get out your garden tools and beautify an abandoned city lot, or go to a hospice and hold someone's hand. Or just start by saying thank you to a firefighter or police officer.