Typing on the computer, I found a file dated 1/14/2012 to a friend Amanda I met during Occupy protests and counterprotests. I found out in July of last year that she died in January of 2015. I was hoping and planning to work with her on peace and justice projects, as she was the one person I found who believed in the same goals but was worse than I was about putting the consent of others before her own. So she was even more vulnerable to abuse than I was, and I believe that's what led to her demise. Too gentle for this harsh planet, she could not bear the pressure, and she died during an attack of depression. She suffered an extreme reaction to medication, lost control and hurt herself, and died before anyone found her and called for help. I will always regret the loss, and can only find comfort in working with her friends suffering even more grief than I did over the loss of Amanda.
Finding this poem, and letter she will never read, makes me want to cry. For her, the planet, and the suffering that humanity has mostly brought on ourselves. We need to work together, and make the world safe again for children, for all life to sustain naturally, and maybe we will deserve to have gentle souls like my friend Amanda. She wanted to change the world, had the energy to do it, but not the support and was crushed.
Dear Amanda: You are one amazing person I will always respect no matter what happens. It renews my faith to find someone like you I know I can trust to do the right thing for the right reasons, even at a great personal cost to yourself while others who benefit may never understand the extent of your sacrifice. You do a better job of enforcing standards I can only aspire to live by. Where I have failed, may you continue to succeed in changing the world as one of the few people who can understand the gaps between social mentalities that clash and reject each other. I am honored to help you in any way, in any pursuits you are called to explore in life. If you asked me for a million dollars, no questions asked, I would give it to you. Of course, I have to get a hold of a million first, but I am working on that! I am deeply sorry about Dexter, and will work on whatever programs and policies it takes to make neighborhoods safe for all little ones to run and play freely as when I was growing up. We all lose our innocence, like Adam and Eve in the Garden, but in Christ Jesus we become as little children again and can regain Peace on Earth. God Bless you, Amanda, as I am blessed to know you, and humbled to support you in your plans and goals, great or small, wherever these lead.
MLK Day Poem: Prayer for Civil Obedience
I don’t condone violence or unfair attacks,
But who fights for gun rights when shooters are Black?
Breaking the law is the wrong thing to do,
But how would you feel if the Shooter were you?
What if your Family and Life were at stake?
Would you ask forgiveness for making mistakes?
That no one was killed is a blessing from God.
I pray no more students are bullied or shot.
May God heal the wounds of our own enmity
With the same Grace and Mercy that I’d ask for me.
Let’s lay down our weapons of anger and pride,
And cast out dark fears we have loaded inside.
What happened to schools where children could play
Before drugs and gangs took our freedom away?
Can we punish teens, forcing them to grow up,
While adults still deny acting spoiled and corrupt?
Our rights under law are for equal defense,
Not helping ourselves at another’s expense.
Where we make a vow to uphold Civil Law,
We’ll see lasting Justice and true peace for all.
-- For Amanda, For Tim, For all neighbors and friends who deserve to see peace and justice in our lifetime
Finding this poem, and letter she will never read, makes me want to cry. For her, the planet, and the suffering that humanity has mostly brought on ourselves. We need to work together, and make the world safe again for children, for all life to sustain naturally, and maybe we will deserve to have gentle souls like my friend Amanda. She wanted to change the world, had the energy to do it, but not the support and was crushed.
Dear Amanda: You are one amazing person I will always respect no matter what happens. It renews my faith to find someone like you I know I can trust to do the right thing for the right reasons, even at a great personal cost to yourself while others who benefit may never understand the extent of your sacrifice. You do a better job of enforcing standards I can only aspire to live by. Where I have failed, may you continue to succeed in changing the world as one of the few people who can understand the gaps between social mentalities that clash and reject each other. I am honored to help you in any way, in any pursuits you are called to explore in life. If you asked me for a million dollars, no questions asked, I would give it to you. Of course, I have to get a hold of a million first, but I am working on that! I am deeply sorry about Dexter, and will work on whatever programs and policies it takes to make neighborhoods safe for all little ones to run and play freely as when I was growing up. We all lose our innocence, like Adam and Eve in the Garden, but in Christ Jesus we become as little children again and can regain Peace on Earth. God Bless you, Amanda, as I am blessed to know you, and humbled to support you in your plans and goals, great or small, wherever these lead.
MLK Day Poem: Prayer for Civil Obedience
I don’t condone violence or unfair attacks,
But who fights for gun rights when shooters are Black?
Breaking the law is the wrong thing to do,
But how would you feel if the Shooter were you?
What if your Family and Life were at stake?
Would you ask forgiveness for making mistakes?
That no one was killed is a blessing from God.
I pray no more students are bullied or shot.
May God heal the wounds of our own enmity
With the same Grace and Mercy that I’d ask for me.
Let’s lay down our weapons of anger and pride,
And cast out dark fears we have loaded inside.
What happened to schools where children could play
Before drugs and gangs took our freedom away?
Can we punish teens, forcing them to grow up,
While adults still deny acting spoiled and corrupt?
Our rights under law are for equal defense,
Not helping ourselves at another’s expense.
Where we make a vow to uphold Civil Law,
We’ll see lasting Justice and true peace for all.
-- For Amanda, For Tim, For all neighbors and friends who deserve to see peace and justice in our lifetime
