Wow!

:)

Ivette

Thanks Bill. I believe. God Bless.

Bill, Thank you for sharing that story. I sincerely appreciate it. It's comforting to know there are other Believers in the forum.

Sherilynn-- I'f you've ever been to the front page of my website, you'd know I am. :-)

What a wonderful testimony

The site given above is from one of the most evil people in modern American history-Charles Colson. The story is sweet, but the man behind it is not. This man is a Creep,(literally), authored Nixon's enemy list, was involved with the Nixon Plumbers and persecuted Daniel Ellsberg (the man who exposed the truth about Vietnam with the Pentagon Papers). After serving some time in Federal Prison he became a "Christian" who hates two people of the same sex having the same rights as anyone else in this country.

He also co-signed a letter incouraging a Pre-emptive war with Iraq in 2002. He has been called the 'spiritual Karl Rove'. I guess he hates innocent people enough to want to murder them ,destroy their families and their way of life, destroy their environment and poison it with depleted urainium.

Oh, and he hates science too and the scientific method, and would ban Darwin and replace it with "Intelligent Design". Whatever became of the Christian Belief that "The Truth will set you Free?" This man and his organization preach nothing but lies, and hides behind a "Christian" Mask.
There is such a thing as an unpardonable sin, and as the old folk song goes: "not even Jesus could ever forgive what you do." (from B.Dylan "Masters of War")

There are alot of good people of many faiths working for peace, truth and justice. They are trying to care for all of God's children. This man I swear works for the Devil.

Bill: I believe in miracles and I believe they are happening all around us. Thank you for posting that beautiful story.

Alexr: The purpose of this particular thread is not to discuss certain prominent personalities who may or may not be associated with the story that was linked in the original post. While I can certainly understand your need to vent, believe me, such words will only serve to close down this thread. Please do not ruin a thoughful, inspiring post by bringing extraneous issues into the discussion.

I'm grateful that peace is important to you. Thank you for working for peace. Only when every soul on Earth orders their life toward that goal will humanity have any hope of achieving it amidst the chaos that creates fear and division that seems to dominate our world. This is the sort of hope that the story Bill posted inspires, which is why it is so important to let it be what it is meant to be.

Well Cupofkindness, After reading that saccharin story of J.C. healing a child's burn, I thought of all the mothers who pray endlessly for their children to be spared. Do THEIR prayers not deserve an answer? I thought of my own very devoted and devout sister who died of breast cancer before she reached the age of 48, and who I took care of and worried about every day...And I thought, well, live or die there is a purpose unto Heaven. I just hit the big ad for Colson's book on the same page of the posted story, and then I went to "Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul" homepage and noticed they have a book in their series called "Cup of Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul" .. "A Tribute to the women who uphold the written and unwritten oaths of service and marrage".

I'm just tired of all the propaganda that the 'Christian' conservatives put out. And then this Poster who calls himself a 'Christian' has on this forum, shown pictures of his son in Iraq, as hey, isn't this something? And people wrote "Wow look at that gun", and "thanks for protecting our freedom"... but I don't think it's something at all, and I know who protects our freedom of speech and child labor and the 8 hr. day and the civil rights movement, and the very air we breathe, and it ain't the military .. so Bill threatens us not to turn it into a political discussion...

It's either miracles or fear. And I'm tired of it. Whatever happened to Lysistrata? That's the story of a woman who persuades the wives of Athens and Sparta, in the 21st year of the Peloponnesian War, to shut themselves up away from their husbands until peace was concluded. And they dictated the terms. Fair's fair.. Here's a link to Arundhati Roy , the author of "The God of Small Things" speaking about these things.

Here is a link that might be useful: Arundhati Roy

Let me start by telling you how sorry I am that your sister died. I'm 47 and can well understand that your sister probably left a lot of important things behind, like her family, as well as a beautiful future. I've very, very sorry. That's tragic and I am trying to understand your feelings about life and death matters vis a vis the sort of spiritual experiences described in the link in the original post.

I should say now that I do believe that these miracles do take place, I've seen them. But I also believe that most of the miracles that change people take place in the spiritual realm, only a fortunate few experience the levels of physical healing documented above. In other words, for the majority of those who are beseeching God for a life-altering miracle, their prayers are usually not answered in the way that they hope for. Which on so many levels is absolutely crushing. So it does seem like miracles *or* fear and dispair. And this is where faith fills the gap.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time tonight to get into a discussion on a political or religious level any deeper. I did view part of the video on your link, but after about five children interrupted I just decided to post here rather than watch the link. I'm sorry. However, like most of us, I guess, I do find myself absolutely boggled by what is happening in our society and globally, so I really can't address the larger issues that you are raising in any way that would make any sense, because I can't make sense of it myself. Nor do I want to say something trite or snobbish that may perhaps make you feel more frustrated about such things.

Two figures from the twentieth century that I look to for inspiration are Maximillan Kolbe, who was executed in a concentration camp because he traded places with a condemned prisoner, and of Mother Theresa, who worked tirelessly to give dignity to the poorest of the poor. It is very hard to stay focused on good things when so much evil seems to have so much power. But we have as much personal power to do good as people like they had. I only ask that you not tear down the good things that are posted on this thread, even though you might not understand. I think that being a peacemaker means having a very open mind when it comes to differences of opinion. I wish we could go to Starbucks to talk about these things at length, but I have to get my children to bed, so I've got to go. Stay hopeful!

I feel compelled to compare Mother Teresa to Archbishop Romero. Both cared for the poor. Mother Teresa even had an order here in San Francisco so I could compare her to a local minister, Cecil Williams, of Glide Memorial Church as well.(Glide feeds thousands every day, and has built wonderful housing for the poor and homeless, etc..) I know what Shakespeare said about comparisons. Let me just say that while Mother Teresa cared for the sick and poor, she seemed to believe in poverty and suffering. This would be fine if it was the rich like Charles Keating who gave more than a million dollars to her to help him in his trial for stealing more than 250 million from the American people, much of that retirement savings.Yes, he even used her as a shill to Judge Ito! Sickening... Right or wrong, Mother Teresa was asked to give the money back to the people it was stolen from and refused. She also took millions from scum like Baby Doc Duvalier, or maybe it was his father Papa Doc Duvalier,(ex-communicated by the Vatican).Dictators loved her because she didn't make waves. She was strongly against abortion. Doctors who visited her Hospital in Calcutta as well as ex-volunteers have been critical of the care given. Christopher Hitchens has written a scathing book about her and testified against her beatification to the Vatican. Not that she didn't love and care for the poor, but she really didn't want to do anything politcal to help their condition. So she became a Saint and the media loved her and she was very safe to support. I feel she actively kept women down.

Archbishop Romero on the other hand tried to raise the poor up- part of the "Liberation Theology" movement and was murdered by American sponsored death squads. Back then we sent 1.5 Million dollars EVERY DAY for twelve years to Death squads in El Salvador.This is worth mentioning because usually the church higher-ups support the wealthy and political class ...

I wanted to say that my sister was the best sister a younger brother could have. I moved with my college girlfriend to the west, and while I saw my mother every year, I saw very little of my sister. She had two marrages and one son. After he went off to college, my sister went back to school at Ohio State. She called me because her cancer had come back and needed someone to take care of her while she had a stem cell treatment(bone marrow transplant). I guess we spent about 2 weeks together, I remember a canoe trip we took in Southern Ohio after she got out of the Hospital.

The last time she got sick she was living in Texas and I spent 3 months with her. She loved to sing. She once sang at a party for Luciano Pavarotti. She'd sing while getting chemo, she's sing Broadway show tunes while getting her chest drained (Pleural cavity). She was brave and cheerful beyond any description.

I give up.

Oh, and Alex, get your facts straight-- it was my son's best friend. Although if I were a few years younger, it could have been ME. When the towers went down, the next day, I was on the phone to a recruiter to see if I could reenlist, but unfortunately, I was over the age limit. You want to be a panzy hiding behind the soldiers who protect you and at the same time tear them down for doing just that, have at it. I'm not even going to respond past this.

What a jerk.

All this from what was SUPPOSED to be an uplifting story.

Also, Chicken Soup is copyrited by Jack Canfield.

That's o.k. Bill, I don't mind the name calling. Really, I understand you've got strong emotions. But when Oklahoma City was bombed by Tim McVeigh, what nation would we have invaded?

Think about not bearing false witness and the dog and pony show Colin Powell gave. We are the occupying army, not the otherway around.

I'm also not sure what your pro-war enthusiam has to do with 9/11, since the general consensus is that those bad people were from Saudi Arabia. And how that translates to murdering innocent people in Iraq, I just don't get, and I bet you're too upset to tell me. I believe you simple can't respond rationally.

I don't see how enlisting protects our constitutional freedoms that this administration is taking away.

I think, by now more American men(boys) and women(girls)have been killed and certainly wounded in Iraq than the World Trade Center toll. Why doesn't that upset you? Bush has harmed more of us than whoever caused 9/11. The Lancet, a british medical journal has estimated more than 650,000 human deaths, and I know the administration disputes that. What happened to bread and fishes?

What I do know is this war certainly isn't protecting me and I believe the Pentagon has acknowledged that fact.

And what soldier gave women the right to vote? Most of our freedoms were won by ordinary people going out in the streets, whether it was the shoe factory strikes, or the miners in Ludlow, or the Civil Rights movement of the 60's. You might read a book by Howard Zinn, "A People's History of the United States." He was a history teacher who taught for awhile at Spellman college in the South during the 60's. Several famous students of his have praised him, like Alice Walker and Marian Wright Edelman.

I do think that the plausibility factor of our administration is worth questioning, especially concerning this war. The costs are just termendous.

There is alot of solid information about how fast those building came down to suggest maybe it was more than just airplanes. It's certainly isn't the main issue for me, but maybe you're interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: another doc umentary about 9/11

Bill don't get too upset here's what is happening to you here I think. This "alexr" obviously has his/her own left wing political agenda and he/she travels around Internet forums just looking for an opportunity to launch into a series of comments that serve his/her own purpose. Just so happens he/she has seen your harmless contribution and seized upon it to voice his/her own information. He/she knows there is no other way to puke this type of garbage without making it look like he/she is objecting to someone elses offerings, otherwise his/her comments would be deleted immediately. Notice the way he/she hops from political hot issue to political hot issue without missing a beat.

This is reminiscent of a few months ago on another forum when I suggested to a DIY'er in Pennsacola that she go to Home Depot and hire one of the Mexican workers she would find there on the street corner soliciting work for the day. I told her she would get excellent results. Some character (probably this same alexr) lowered the boom on me and my comments and called me racists. He made the biggest mess of things and when no one got involved he continued to post exhaustive comments about racism and using me for his punching bag as if I was the culprit.

I wouldn't worry too much about this 'cause alexr will say all he has to say then he'll go back into the hole he crawled out of. I wouldn't feel too bad about his sister either, he probably has/had no sister to begin with, this is simply another of his ploys to get people to listen to his bias.

Time to move on guys.

I'll now be attacked exhaustively then it will be over and back to business as usual. Good day all.:)

Hi Bud, I don't have a view about the latin american illegal immigrants, except that I'd give the same advice as you did. My sister, the one you don't think existed, was in El Paso. A Mexican woman helped my sister to keep her condo clean, helped do the laundry...etc. When she died I went to see Maria and thanked her for helping my sister, and gave her a sum of money. I saw where she lived and how she lived. I don't want to give my sister's name, because I'm concerned you might insult her, and that would bother me.

Locally, we here in the Bay Area have alot of immigrants, or day workers, and my girlfriend hired two to help her with her move. My opinion is that they are human beings like everyone else. So I don't think giving someone work is putting them down. Politically, well, sometimes the folks who work in the grape vineyards, esp. in Sonoma County, have to sleep outside on the ground. So I would like them to be treated better. If that makes me a bleeding heart, then so be it. I don't mind the name calling, certainly I would never even think, let alone say that someone crawled out from under a rock... That certainly says more about you than me.

Today, I was talking,in person, to a mid-level editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, and he too was concerned about our Constitutional Rights, esp after after the bill that Bush just signed concerning torture. Because now it includes American citizens, that is, it appears we've lost the habeas corpus writ. That concerns me. Anyhow, good luck to you, and good luck to Bill on giving up smoking.

Boys, boys, (I'm assuming), just let it drop because it's all politics and you are at opposite poles. I'm sure each of you fervently believes you are correct, and won't change the other's mind. Cupofkindness, you are a diplomat extrodinaire!