the propeace community - what we focus on expands - Comments

re: Portia

Hakon312 — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:37:44 -0500

ok---Shakaespeare (or Bacon) was writing during the Elizabethan period when mangling of civil liberties in the role of amalgamating royal power was occuring (which ultimately led to a civil war)
and as such that soliloquy from the Merchant of Venice was timely and appropriate----

it seems as though its time again

Serving with Mercy

Susan Livingston — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 15:39:48 -0500

The following is slightly adapted from Act IV, Scene 1 of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.

The quality of mercy is not strained. It drops as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed. It blesses him that gives and him that takes. It becomes the throned monarch better than his crown. His scepter shows the attributes of awe and majesty. But mercy is above this sceptered sway. It is enthroned in the hearts of kings. It is an attribute of the Divine. Thus earthly power is most divine when mercy seasons justice.

"Blue in a Red State"

Peace vs Compassion

Rainbow Brain — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 15:06:34 -0500

Dear*XXXX,

Thank*you for your invitation to join in the up coming meditation for World*Peace.

Your right itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s not really my*thing (meditation), but i have pondered, studied, and sought the why* of humankind's inability to gain this desire throughout history, and I'm not trying to tell you your wrong or any*thing like that in your quest, I'm only expressing my trust* in what i*see, feel and know*....

Which is, that the Ã¢â‚¬Å“Cart is all*ways put before the HorseÃ¢â‚¬Â in such matters*.... by asking for peace before requiring compassion, a self defeating situation is created. People are allowed to live in Peace without being held responsible to compassion for others, there*for they can not possibly understand or care for what Peace has to offer*them...

It is my trust*.... that compassion must be the next*step in any direction taken toward an Age of Peace, thus the Age of Compassion is what should be sought*now.... all*else will come once this time is entered...

World leaders and corporations understand this, and they fear a loss of control and power, so they use the band*aid approach to maintain their grip on developing opinion and thought*... by seeking something that can not be sustained..... Peace without compassion.... and this enables the continued support of military action, build ups, genocide, hunger, hate and fear. etc. etc. All of which are very profitable to the few, in the short term, and extremely costly to the world population in the long term.

I know it may seem like I'm dealing in semantics but my*reality is that seeking Peace*Now will only delay the onset of Global*Compassion... the choice is War vs Peace, or Greed vs Compassion, as the world stands now, it should focus on fighting the battle of Greed vs Compassion, this will end the cycle of War & Peace.

Which of course threatens the few, who can not accept the wonderful opportunities which will open for discovery and invention that a compassionate society can accomplish.

thanks*again for the invite*....

BL*M

global-luvolution.blogspot.com

what we focus on expands

Jason White — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 03:58:45 -0500

We watch in expectation as more and more of our elected officials hear their constituents' wishes to end the madness going on in Iraq. But there is also a sense that just getting the military out, however slowly and whatever the competence of the Iraqi security forces, is not enough. Beyond an exit strategy for our military, we need our elected officials to focus on peace-building, mediation and conflict resolution. Let's neither "stay the course" nor "cut and run". Let's send in 160,000 peace-builders, mediators and conflict resolution specialists to get some real work done.