Dave Dellinger Quotations Blog

Dellinger is a Jesus of our day. Now deceased, this one time seminarian, life long nonviolent revolutionary hero must be studied and understood by any would-be champion of Love, Justice, Christianity, Brotherhood....

A new blog dedicated to the quotes and quotations of David Dellinger is beginning here:

David Dellinger Quotations

THE WORDS THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD

Oh my, I've received the gift of reading some of the great books, some of the great authors of the world: Jesus, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Alfred Adler, Dr. King, Zinn, Barbara Demming, David Dellinger, Teresa of Calcutta, Pitirim Sorokin, Saul Alinsky, Ashley Montegue, Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, Abraham Maslow....

The words I've quoted recently from David Dellinger strike me as the words that could save the world: "Very few people chose war. They chose selfishness and the result was war. Each of us, individually and nationally, must choose: total love or total war. "

Yes, absolutely these words stand on their own. They are a miracle of Truth, of insight, a Revelation.

But these words explode in my mind, and I hope that maybe they will explode in your mind. These words of Dellinger explode into the entire thing, they explode into a statement of the entire problem!

Every EVIL STEMS FROM some form of SELFISHNESS. Here are some examples; they are arbitrary; YOU CAN THINK OF BETTER ONES:

Very few people chose global warming. They chose capitalism and the result was....

Very few people chose 18,000 kids starving PER DAY. They chose Starbucks and the result was ....

Very few people chose divorce. They chose alcohol and the result was ....

Very few people chose Darfur Genocide. They chose a safe neighborhood and comfortable house for THEIR "family" and the result was ....

Very few people chose U.S. child health being ranked 19th among the richest nations. They chose "health" clubs and games and the result was ....


Very few people chose 80% of the world in abject poverty. They chose "normal" life style and the result was....


Very few people chose 650,000 murdered in Iraq. They chose "Christian" hypocrisy and the result was ....


Very few people chose 3-6 million slaughtered in Congo. They chose high tech electronics, the Internet and video games and the result was ....

Very few people chose...

Very few people chose...

Very few people chose...

Very few people chose...

Dellinger also told us the only solution: "Each of us, individually and nationally, must choose: total love or ... "

Dorothy Day told us, "The only solution is love."

Jesus told us, "Love as I have loved... Do unto others ALL that you would have them do unto you."

Dr. King told us, "We [will] be extremists for love or extremists for hate."

"The Golden Rule is to steadfastly refuse to have what millions cannot have," Gandhi.

Ignoring these words is murder.

"SELFISHNESS IS MURDER," brother jay.

"WAGE LOVE, OR YOU WILL WAGE MURDER," brother jay.

David Dellinger, a Saint in our Time

More than Dr. ML King except in his last few years, more than Gandhi, more than Teresa of Calcutta... David Dellinger is the most relevant Saint of our age, our greatest model, I think. His autobiography is one of the three most important books I have ever read: "From Yale to Jail." #1 for me is "The Gospel in Brief," Tolstoy; and #2. "The People's History of the United States," Howard Zinn.

Quotes:

"Very few people chose war. They chose selfishness and the result was war. Each of us, individually and nationally, must choose: total love or total war. "

"Our nonviolent activism would be more positive if we stressed reaching out with love for our fellow human beings--love not only for the victims, but also for those who defend the existing system, including those who think they benefit from it, even toward the police and other security forces. Love for those who defend the system, including the police who harass and arrest us? Is that unrealistic? Let me testify that this kind of love makes a difference. In 1987, twenty of us invaded the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, protesting against U.S. sponsorship of the terrorist Nicaraguan Contras. When we were arrested and taken downstairs to be fingerprinted, an officer recognized me and introduced me to the other officers. He said, "This is Dave Dellinger, who I want you to meet because his actions are based on love for everyone, including us." I also recognized him: The second time he had arrested me he had grabbed the arm of another officer, who was about to hit me on the head with a club, and said, "Stop. This is a good guy who doesn't need to be hit like that." Love for every human being is necessary for our individual growth and fulfillment. Those who practice this love benefit spiritually as they help others. While there are still badly needed changes in our anti-democratic society, I see positive signs that acting with love for other people and their needs does succeed."

"I see the illness when people take pleasure in beating out their fellow humans in the competitive pursuite of private success that produces winners and losers, victors and victims. So it is not just the suffering of the victims that upsets and moves me, but also the illness of the victors."

"There is nothing more fulfilling than to work in a Beloved Community of people who are laboring to cure that illness [striving for domination/exploitation], in ourselves and in the society, and do not demand a sterile conformity of ideology and action among those who share that goal. In such a community, the members are working, each in her or his own way, to create the "proper capability" of living a sisters and brothers in a world in which everyone will be equal - a world in which people are really born equal and will never cease to be treated as equal, whatever their individual diversities and failings; a world that will not make a mockery of the U.S. claims that we live "with liberty and justice for all."

"For a long time, the demonstrations played a crucial role, not just in showing the public, the traditional peace organizations, the government - and the Mobe (Mobilization) - how widespread and serious the oppositon was but also in giving heart to the demonstrators... When [the citizens] became so upset over teh war that they finally set aside this conditioning [that marching was making a spectacle of oneself] and marched in their first demonstration, it frequently led to a psychological breakthrough, one that I observed ina number of people... The main effect of participating was energizing and empowering. They went back to their local communities ready to play a more confident and active role... After a while, though, the demostrations tended less and less to work that way. Periodic demnstrations bagan to take on a life of their own as the be-all and end-all of the movement. The line got bluurred between participating to end the war and participating in order to enjoy the exhilirating experience of experessing one's antiwar views in solidarity with thousands of like-minded people. There were indications that some people were going to a demonstration much as some people go to a church, synagogue or meditation center. For them, the marches and rallies had become periodic self-satisfying rituals that weren't consistent enough in leading to follow-up activities elsewhere. Instead of helping people to gain new insights and energy to go home and express them in new relationships and practices, they [demonstrations] were becoming almost a substitute for doing so."

}}}}}}} CHOOSE SELFISHNESS AND YOU CHOOSE TO LEAVE GOD {{{{{{{

(from an early February email)

Hey brother.

"Nobody chose war; they chose selfishness and the result was war." Dave Dellinger

This phrase has been playing around in my mind constantly for the last week or so, and it was an extreme lightning bolt of illumination for me a year or so ago when I read it in Dellinger's "Radical Nonviolence" which is in your audio collection. Do you see the implications? 'Nobody chose war / prostitution / divorce / rape / murder / vehicular homicide / environmental destruction / disturbing the peace / fascism / depleted uranium / ACTIVIST-IMPOTENCE - collusion... THEY CHOSE SELFISHNESS AND THE RESULT WAS (SEE ABOVE).

The phrase has been in my mind as I've worked these endless, lonely weeks on the project for you as my life-long struggle with addiction to (online) pornography arose. Also in my mind as I've struggled, more successfully than ever (so far) with my addiction, is something new. "Start, YES you want to indulge in the addiction, with practically every ounce of strength that you have. BUT THAT IS NOT THE QUESTION. The question is, do you want to leave the realm of hopefulness / helpfulness / Life / Goodness / Love / HOPE / GOD for the time it will take to indulge your addiction, your SELFISHNESS?' Brother, I've never had this last "question", this CHOICE in mind before; I've never seen it; and it has been a Salvation for me. For entirely selfish reasons, now that I have SEEN the choice I have had encouraging new levels of success (complete) against my addiction. YES I want to indulge in pornography. NO I don't want to leave the realm of Goodness / Godness that is available for me to inhabit. I never saw that this is what I was choosing - to leave Life / Goodness / Hope / Potential... for my addiction, for my selfishness. I'm finding that if when the temptation arises I BRING THIS CHOICE CONSCIOUSLY TO MY MIND, to ask my self, "Start, do you want to leave Goodness?," it causes me, if FORCES me to make much more Joyful decisions.

Your Loving brother, Start

Few people chose War. They chose selfishness and the result was war. David Dellinger, From Yale to jail.

Few people chose War.
They chose selfishness and the result was war.
David Dellinger,
From Yale to jail.

***** nd 'Few choose Evil. We choose Selfishness and Evil is the Certain Result.' Loving informed by Dellinger

***** nd 'Few choose Evil.  We choose Selfishness and Evil is the Certain Result.' Loving informed by Dellinger

nd 'I've felt, hmm, I've BEEN, Excruciatingly Alien since birth, except for my dad, a few kind souls, and when reading Gandhi, Jesus, Tolstoy, MLK Jr, Diane Wilson, Bonhoeffer, Montegu, Teresa of Calcutta, Oscar Romero, Rachel Corrie, Alice Paul, Diane Nash, Dave Dellinger, Barbara Deming, Phil Berrigan, Maslow, Kohlberg, Erikson, Rogers, Frankl, Adler, Sorokin.... Then I don't feel alien, but kinfolk; same-species.' Loving

nd 'I've felt, hmm, I've BEEN, Excruciatingly Alien since birth, except for my dad, a few kind souls, and when reading Gandhi, Jesus, Tolstoy, MLK Jr, Diane Wilson, Bonhoeffer, Montegu, Teresa of Calcutta, Oscar Romero, Rachel Corrie, Alice Paul, Diane Nash, Dave Dellinger, Barbara Deming, Phil Berrigan, Maslow, Kohlberg, Erikson, Rogers, Frankl, Adler, Sorokin.... Then I don't feel alien, but kinfolk; same-species.' Loving

Christian? Visionary.

During the "Q&A" period after a Friends of the Congo meeting this week I ranted at some length how the letter writing campaign they were calling for would do no more than kill years worth of time. Only people standing with their lives would make a positive difference, I said. You know, my usual speil. There were a few heads solidly nodding in agreement and a lot of blank stares. The usual.

When the meeting ended and I was walking out by myself (the usual :-) I heard, "sir, sir...." A tall late 20's man from Congo had followed me out. "I share your vision," he said. "May I have your contact info so we can stay in touch?" He probably will not.

The second time this week that the word "vision" struck me came while constructing a previous post -
Howard Zinn Remembering Dave Dellinger. Howard was saying, "...I was in World War II, I was a bombardier in World War II, I wasn't thinking about pacifism or war. You know, I was imbued like everybody else with the idea of a good war. Dave Dellinger saw beyond that. He saw farther than that."

This is what The Lord's Prayer is utterly and entirely, 100% about - developing our vision:
1. "Our Father in Heaven" Developing our vision: 1. That we are ALL ONE FAMILY; and 2. What a Father of all-one-family would want me to do this instant!
2. "Hallowed be your name" Developing our vision of who our Father is - the "Goodness" we can see in Jesus, the Saints (except for the "miracle" shit), an incredibly loving person in your life (if you are really lucky)....
3. "Your Kingdom come" Vision of what the Kingdom looks like.
4. "Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven... Vision that our behavior must "look" exactly like it would in Heaven.
5. "Give us [all] this day our daily bread." Vision that we are required to be Visionary Leaders. The "bread" is vision-of-what-our-Father-wants-us-to-do-today! We are required to give that "bread," to "be" that vision for our brothers and sisters. Everyone! Leadership is everyone's job. You are Evidence. YOUR LIFE might convince/convict us of what? "...the fulfillment of the Father's will depends on each man's effort and striving to make people see that life is given, not for oneself personally, but for the fulfillment of the Father's will, which alone saves from death and gives life." Jesus (Leo Tolstoy, "Gospel in Brief.")
6. "Forgive us our trespasses," 7. "As we forgive ... Vision of my errors, vision that "understanding" of other's errors is mandated.
8. "Lead us not into temptation," 9. "But deliv... Vision that environment determines who we become. We must guard the environment within our own minds; this is the only place "temptation," "error" can happen. We must "be" the environment for others.

Not visionary? Not yet Christian.

!!!! GOD IS THE LOVING TRUTH OF LIFE !!!!

We will NEVER know more than that.

I have never written a more important post. And as usual, I'm the messenger, not the source. The source? The Hebrew Bible on which the life lived by Jesus, and the Corruption we know today as the Bible and New Testament are based.

Jehovah within the Hebrew Bible of Jesus' time was - the divine forces that we all feel, but will NEVER BE ABLE TO NAME.

ALL WE CAN EVER KNOW ABOUT GOD FOR SURE:

GOD IS:
LOVING-ABSOLUTE-TRUTH-ABOUT-SECURING-ABUNDANT-LIFE-FOR-THE-INDIVIDUAL-AND-OF-ALL-HUMANITY.

FATHER? MOTHER? SENTIENT? COGNIZANT? ALIEN? INFINITE? WE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO NAME ANY OF THIS FOR SURE. WE ARE MAD NOT TO IMAGINE ABOUT "FATHER," "MOTHER," ETC. BUT WE MURDER WHEN WE LIVE AS THOUGH OUR IMAGININGS ARE "TRUTH."

My source on this about Jehovah? Saint David Dellinger. God help the person that doubts Dave Dellinger as a source without God Damn good reason and authority to do so.

"Be HEROES," Jesus said. No?

"Heaven on Earth = REIGNING OTHERISHNESS Elimanting Selfishness," Jesus said. (Do you disagree?)

Truly, to articulate and promote this may be why I was born. I think it embodies everything that Jesus told us, and everything of value that I've learned from countless authors, HEROES and decades of striving:

"Be Heaven on Earth. REIGN OTHERISHNESS to Elimante Selfishness," Jesus said. (Do you disagree?)

"LIVE Heaven on Earth. Reign Otherishness to Elimante Selfishness," Jesus said. (Do you disagree?)

[Site not yet begun BeHEROES. My hope is to create and maintain a site broader than DARFUR Dying For Heroes to encourage and insprire heroes in every applicable realm: Human Rights, Religion, Environment, Anti-War, Anti-Nuc....]

Otherishness, Heroism - the antidote to Selfishness (the root of all evil) - is the object of this site. The insight that led to its creation includes prominently this quote from David Dellinger:

"Very few people chose war. They chose selfishness and the result was war. Each of us, individually and nationally, must choose: total love [Otherishness] or total war. "

There are many permutations of this - many forms of selfishness, many forms of evil that result. Check out:

DELLINGER'S WORDS THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD

"History is made by... people who commit their lives..." Dave Dellinger

"History is made by people who commit themselves, their lives, and their energies to the struggle." David Dellinger

"Each ... must choose ... total love or total war."

"Very few people chose war. They chose selfishness and the result was war. Each of us, individually and nationally, must choose: total love or total war. " David Dellinger

Dear Family,

Today I went with a group of 20 or so, mostly Marylanders, to Senator Barbara Mikulski's office as part of the Occupation Project to end the atrocities in Iraq by bringing home the troops. I went not intending to risk arrest but my resolve slipped away as the action got underway. :-)

As it turns out, none of us were arrested during the hour and a half that we peacefully and respectfully occupied her outer office, largely reading the names of people from Iraq and the US that have been killed by your war, and mine. (Our silence is complicity. OUR SILENCE KILLS PEOPLE. We are "ALL EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY.") Upon leaving I gave my commendations to the Senator and her staff for the civility they showed us. Their behavior was more than a tactic I think. Susan from the Jonah house during our preparation meeting spoke very, very highly of the love and support that Jonah House has received from the Senator over the years - support from the Senator for Jonah House and the members that have gone to prison so often Waging Peace.

While with these folks I had time to talk with Mary a with-it, late 60ish woman, well to do I'd guess. She has been arrested 10 times or so for anti-war actions and mentioned in a pensive sort of way that maybe she was getting tired of it, and "is it doing any good?" She was neither discouraged nor worn out. Pensive. Thoughtful. Tired. I told her that when I think of such things I realize that if I knew for certain that my actions would make no difference in the world, I would continue to do what I do. "Yes, we must do what is right," she instantly and cheerfully agreed.

Later, while napping today I thought further about this. :-) Actually, I know that my breathing every few seconds or so really will make no difference - I'm going to die some day. But I want to breathe just the same.

In fact, as I have realized, and realize all the more clearly in the light of David Dellinger's wisdom above, Life, to Live IS to be WAGING "TOTAL LOVE." If we are not WAGING "total love," CLINICALLY we are not fully aLive. I will stake my knowledge of this subject against anyone living or dead in the field of psychology, philosophy, religion, biology.... Further, I challenge anyone, any of you to think about this. I feel certain you will see in your heart that this is true.

I choose "total love" because I choose Life. I choose "total love" because it might spread "total love" and therefore total Life to those I love - you, and everyone else.

This is the ultimate selfish choice. This is the ultimate unselfish choice.

Love forever, your brother, jay

ps: In talking with Mary she also said when only three of us had shown up (we were early), "If it is just a few of us will it make any difference?" Also, "The Senator is only one person!" This stimulated a reply from me that I found quite helpful. I said, "If what we are trying to do is analogous to spreading a virus, then yes, even if we are few and she is just one, who knows, if we can infect her maybe she can carry it to millions."

"Who knows?"

pps: More on this from Dr. King and his miraculous Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)

"Was not Jesus an extremist for love -- "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice -- "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ -- "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist -- "Here I stand; I can do none other so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist -- "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist -- "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist -- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice--or will we be extremists for the cause of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill, three men were crucified. We must not forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thusly fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.

"There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period when the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." But they went on with the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest."

"Father's Will" is a way of Life: Physical properties

Hmmm. This is a working piece for me - as I try to understand what I am learning through this recent walk / adventure.

Living "Our Father's Will"=God's Will=Goodness=Humanity (what through prayer/contemplation/meditation I IMAGINE it to be) has predictable properties / outcomes.

What do I mean? A few examples.
* David Dellinger is in Mid 1960's Fla talking at a church in a positive way about the Cuban revolution. Cubans hating the revolution swarm in threatening violence. One smashes Dellinger in the back of the head. He responds by turning to face the attacker and extending his hand in friendship. Instead of a fight, dialog ensues.
* jay 30 days ago left the US culture of competition, greed, stuff, addiction; left with what he had left after paying his last debts - nothing but bus fare and some clothes. Making not one request for help of anyone he has received:
- a donation of $200 beyond the price of a laptop he was selling [thought I didn't notice? :-) ]
- personally donated food all but two of those days
- Warm clothes and a sleeping bag
- A new warm jacket
- Offers of lodging on cold nights
- Encouragement from some of the Park Police and Secret service....

What is going on here? Our Father's Will/God/Goodness is predictably (there is NO CERTAINTY in ANYTHING in life) called forth in the face of extreme Humanity/Brotherhood. EXTREME Humanity/Brotherhood.

When we Heroically, Extremely exercise our own Humanity/Good/God/Brotherhood the odds increase from near zero that others will begin to exercise theirs.

Our religion in this society is to place as much insulation between us and God/Good as possible! WE DO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD/GOOD/OUR FATHER'S WILL. We do not trust in Good/God/OUR FATHER. "I'll take care of myself, of my own!" Thereby we kill Good/God/OUR FATHER through atrophy in ourselves and starve it in others.

"War IS the answer - War of Mass Construction. The Killing continues till then." SL

"War IS the answer -
War of Mass Construction. 
The Killing continues till then."  SL

EVERY TIC TIC TIC of the second hand
you and I lose a young son or daughter
to easily preventable causes of poverty.
You think the poor don't hate us for that?
I would, wouldn't you?  28 mil. needlessy/yr.

We westerners live as though we are here
for our own pleasure and so are the global resources.
Buxx Shxx!

We exist for the least of these, and instead we
keep our heel tightly clamped on their air hose.  Our
endless pleasures, and their pursuit are the cause of war.

"Few people chose war.  We chose selfishness and the RESULT
was war.  Each of us, individually and nationally, must choose total
love [War of Mass Construction], or total war."  David Dellinger 1915-2004,
his famous essay being "Declaration of War," from "Revolutionary Nonviolence."

"Endure how much suffering Father," Jesus asked?

I woke in a cold sweat last night. It was like this. It was like one was an older brother in Vietnam. You find this amazing, brightly colored toy and joyfully give it to your younger brother. In the middle of the night you wake up in a cold sweat realizing to your horror that the "toy" might be one of those U.S. dropped cluster bomblets (anti-personnel bombs that send out thousands of anti-flesh fragments to destroy civilians) you've heard about!

Well, in my case the "bomblet" was yesterday's posts regarding Dave Dellinger's
Revolutionary Nonviolence: QUOTATIONS FROM "DECLARATION OF WAR" 1945. Bomblet? Dave is pretty sure that the U.S. Government was the one that several times sent bombs to assassinate him through the mail. One almost took out his entire bio-family when they were all gathered at his house. It was for writings like this, and his actions in line with these writings. More particularly regarding myself, the words "sabotage" and "war" appear frequently in what I have been posting. Yes, "Waging Love," Total Love, All-Out Brotherhood are the entirety of what I mean, but this can be overlooked.

I have never in my life contemplated "sabotage." If I try to recall any reaction I have to sabotage, or any other type of destruction, it has been negative; with the exception of the "Resistance" of Germany in France, etc. during WWII. When my nightmare caused me to contemplate it further last night, when I could look past the terror that the CIA had seen these words on my sites and were any second going to burst in and take me to Guantanamo for torture (seriously); when I could look past this terror my reaction to the thought of "sabotage" was about the same as Jesus' or Gandhi's reaction. Nope. (Although I pretty much have concluded that the Catholic (and other) "Churches" are the anti-Church in Jesus' eyes, the opposition to Liberation Theology by Rome may be correct for the reason that follows.)

Attention to stuff, superiority and systems/institutions is the problem. Addiction to stuff, superiority, systems/institutions is the problem. Addiction to stuff, superiority, systems/institutions was the problem Jesus tried to save us from. His teaching on this? His approach? "I drive out evil by summoning people to fulfill the will of the Spirit, the Father, who gives life to all." p106 "The Gospel in Brief," Jesus (Tolstoy's translation.) This is the entire strategy that they and I have faith in. Everything else is to diminish our chances of success. Well, maybe the Plowshares type of action is an exception.

Back to the title of this post: "Endure how much suffering Father? The cross? Torture? Prison? Humiliation? Hatred? Crown of Thorns? Flailing? Death?..." Well, yes, I actually spent a few moments contemplating that maybe the CIA has seen my posts and is going to take me to Guantanamo. Really. So Jay, what do you do? Do you delete the offending words - "sabotage" and "war?" Etc. Etc. Well, all this took only about 10 minutes of contemplation. It has broader implications for me. The path I am on, despite my absolute and total commitment to and belief in Anti-violence / Brotherhood / Love could well lead me into the sights of the CIA. Jay, do you stop now?

Did Msgr. Romero stop? Did Jesus stop? Did Francis of Assisi stop? Did Gandhi stop? Did Dr. King stop? Did Bonhoeffer stop? Did Rachel Corrie stop?

"Endure how much suffering Father," Jesus asked? "An infinite amount," Father answered with love and compassion. "Love as I have Loved," Jesus told us.

ps: Do I really think that Homeland Security or the CIA could be about to pounce on me? Yes. Don't you?

A few want to help. MOST want to help-themselves. SL

"Few chose war.  They chose selfishness, and the result was war." 
David Dellinger

A few want to "help."  MOST want to "help-themselves."  SL  :-(

WHERE IS THE SELFISHNESS / SIN IN MY LIFE?

Hmm. What is the big deal about selfishness? A fair amount is posted on this site regarding the subject, but for here: "Few people in the world chose war (WWII). They chose selfishness and the result was war," David Dellinger.

Germany was in agony after WWI and all we in the west could think to do was further exploit, "benignly" of course, through our U.S. corporations. In that most sacred of all essays by Rabbi Heschel in 1938: "Let modern dictatorship [Hitler pre WWII] not serve as an alibi for our conscience. We have failed to fight for right, for justice, for goodness; as a result we must fight against wrong, against injustice, against evil. We have failed to offer sacrifices on the altar of peace; thus we offered sacrifices on the altar of war."

Hmmm. What selfishnesses would we-the-people of the 1920's and 1930's needed to have sacrificed? What if, to avoid the carnage of WWII, and to avoid the heinous suffering of Germany post WWI it would have cost us almost every single one of our luxuries? Would it have been worth it?

Gandhi offers us these on the subject of finding the murderous selfishness in our lives:

"The golden rule is to steadfastly refuse to have what millions cannot have."

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away." - One of the last notes left behind by Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought.

Or... there is always simply turning a blind eye and allowing WWIII or its equivalent to continue to unfold unopposed. Hey, who will point the finger at me? NO ONE; except me. I do not want to view myself as impotent, incapable, insignificant, irrelevant, helpless.... And, I am not.

[to be continued. SL]

Share in my Joy!

Dearly Beloved,

This entire site will help you through the next weeks. This post in addition should help. It is taken from one of the essays in the 1972 - Peace and Nonviolence, by Ed Guinan (a Divine collection - a must read):

LOVE IN ACTION, by Thich Nhat Hanh. Some quotations:

"The nature of the struggle is not a doctrine to be materialized by a program of action; it is communication and love. Thus, its leaders must create and inspire love for the masses in the hearts of their people. They touch the people by altruistic acts born from their own love. When Nhat Chi Mai burned herself because she wanted to be a "torch in the dark night," she moved millions of Vietnamese. The force she engendered was the force of love for non-violent action." [Side note from Start Loving: I always felt more horror than anything at the self immolation of Buddhist monks in Vietnam. Last month in reading Dellinger, and close advisor of King, I learned that such an immolation by a Buddhist Monk was largely responsible for Dr. King coming out against the Vietnam war. It touched Dr. King's heart as nothing else had.]

"We have witnessed tragic and heroic scenes of love: a monk seated calmly before advancing tanks; women and children raising bare hands against clubs and grenades; hunger strikes held in patience and silence. Only love and sacrifice can engender love and sacrifice. This chain reaction is essential to the non-violent struggle. Thich Tri Quang did not make strategy; he fasted 100 days. And everyone who passed by the Duy Tan clinic at that time had to hold his breath.

"The usual way to generate force is to create anger, desire,and fear. But these are dangerous sources of energy because they are blind, whereas the force of love springs from awareness, and does not destroy its own aims. Out of love and the willingness to act, strategies and tactics will be created naturally from the circumstances of the struggle. Thus, the problems of strategy and tactics are of secondary importance. They should be posed, but not at the beginning."

"...Our struggle's purpose... the destruction of fanaticism and inhumanity, which are the real enemies of man."

"At a joint press conference with a Buddhist monk, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King declared, "both the colored people struggling for civil rights in the US and the Buddhist struggling for peace in Vietnam are bound to the cause of peace and social justice, and are determined to sacrifice themselves to achieve their goal."

"Westerners often misunderstand and see self-immolation as and act of violence. To the Vietnamese it is quite the opposite. By accepting extreme suffering, one lights the fires of compassion and awakens the hearts of the people, as Christ did. Among a number of Vietnamese who immolated themselves for peace were Thich Quand Duc, a monk, and Nhat Chi Mai, a yound girl student."

"Another means - the one most often used by Gandhi to communicate with the people - has been fasting. Thousends of Vietnamese, both as individuals and in groups, have fasted to try to end the war. One fasts to pray, to purify one's heart and strengthen the will - or to arouse the silent awareness and compassion of the population. In 1966, Venerable Thich Tri Quang fasted for 100 days, deeply affecting the people of Vietnam.

"There have been other painful sacrifice. In 1963, a girl student named mai Tuuyet An cut off her hand as a warning to the Diem regime, unleashing tremendous emotion among young people. In 1966, ten university students, Nhat Chi Mai among them, pleedged to kill themselves to try to end the war, but the church forbade them. A year later, Nhat Chi Mai burned herself.

"There have been strikes, business licenses returned, resignations of university presidents, deans and professors (40 professors at Hue University), boycotts of classes and refusals to participate in the war. One typically Vietnamese act mentioned earlier has been the carrying of family altars into the streets to oppose tanks, a demonstration of the people's determination to pit the most precious symbols of their traditional values against the instruments of inhumanity and violence.

"Humanist efforts in Vietnam are suppressed by secret police, tear gas, suffocating gas, TNT, grenades, prisons and torture. False nuns and monks infiltrate the Buddhist movement, damaging its prestige and sowing seeds of fear. Extremists are thus encouraged to pervert and destroy the leaders and cadres of non-violent moments. Uncounted numbers of Buddhists and non-Buddhist leaders from all walks of life have been liquidated or sent to prison. In the School of Youth for Social Service, whose only aim is to help the peasants, eight young people have been kidnapped, six killed, eleven seriously wounded. Why? Because they refused to accept American aid or to participate in the war."

"The non-violent struggle in Vietnam goes on - amid vast pain and hardship. The world is just beginning to understand that peace everywhere, as well as the future of Vietnam, is linked to this movement. Its success and its contribution to the humanist revolution throughout the world depends upon your understanding and your help."

***** EDF 01.09.13 D7 Wm. Thomas, died, age 62 - White House Peace Vigil. Jan. 2009. RIP. The only...

***** EDF 01.09.13 Wm. Thomas, died, January, age 62.  RIP. 2009.



Thomas, the world-class activist that backed me unconditionally.  [We agreed on almost nothing, LOL, in terms of policy, cept for what really mattered, like the Genocide of our Palestinian brothers and sisters by US, by backing our insane, criminal, right wing Zionist brothers and sisters.]  Yet, a few ever have, he saw in me a Spirit, "Loving, as long as I am alive you shall have a roof over the head of your work."  And for 3-5 years (I don't recall) he was true to his word.  Thomas realized that Spirit is Everything.  No one realizes that, but Thomas did.

Thomas was scathing, of near everything, and everybody.  In the activist world he saw "actors," hypocrites, but not the real thing.  Yet, among the greatest honors, the greatest validations I've ever received he told me, "You remind me of David Dellinger... and Phil Berrigan," his two greatest (deceased) heroes [aside from Jesus, and to a lesser degree Gandhi, and MLK Jr.], who he'd known personally and well;  Diane Wilson being his lone, living hero.

I figured I'd outlive his 62 years!  LOL

[BTW, Thomas founded, and was 100% of the Spirit of the 29 year White House Peace Vigil.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE else.  NO ONE.... Tho everyone has been criminally fooled into thinking it was Connie - his antithesis, his demise, largely.]

WHEN THE BIBLE IS RE-WRITTEN 1000 years hence, this chapter in Thomas life will be included:

Biblical Wandering in the Desert Do him the Honor, and yourself the favor, of completely reading this multi,  multi, multi link essay... that was one of the great leaps of Faith of our liftime, and, he felt,  the crowning achievement of his.

Thomas rests with Creation, with the Creator.

Am I finding my "Unit?"

Gosh, for so many years (my entire adult life?) I've been yearning to find my Unit - fellow fighters in the War of Total Love I've been so crudely waging. For the last 5-15 years the metaphor so often comes to my mind - that I am a Resistance fighter in the French revolution but can't find the other Resistance fighters!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Several days ago I announced it was time for me to leave the house that Ellen and Thomas use as a base for the 25 year Peace Vigil. They knew it was just a matter of time. What happened next was utterly astonishing to me. Ellen and Thomas in extremely appropriate ways made it clear that they didn't want me to leave. Well, I've had others (not many) that didn't want me to leave, and that was wonderful. But it was because they loved me, they feared for me, they found my Quixotic antics entertaining, they found me not to threatening diversion for their altruistic tendencies, I was "family"....

But several days ago with Ellen, Thomas (and maybe even Connie) it was different. They deeply wanted me to stay because I was needed in their "Unit" (military usage) as an able fighter - to help them in their fight to bring Peace to this world.

Last night at the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House I began to feel that they were seeing me as more than an outsider, but more like one of them, one of the "family," a fellow fighter for Humanity.

Yesterday afternoon I saw Mike Dorn and Eda from the Jonah House. They are definitely fighters and they lovingly embraced me as "family." Eda, like an angel said, "boy are you a sight for sore eyes."

Also in the verses that my Dave & Mary Rachel St. Joseph's Bible opened to this morning was, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first."

But how does Jesus mean this? MOST IMPORTANTLY He means that as we move from Selfishness/Lust/Damned to Otherishness/Love/Saved (see diagram; also PLEASE CLICK HERE) we rejoin the human body, THE ENTIRE HUMAN BODY - about 6 billion now! They all become your brother and sister in your heart. Heaven. BUT ALSO He meant that what is a real brother, someone in your fighting "Unit" was now possible, and maybe even likely. Am I finding my "Unit?" Is my "Unit" finding me?

Dellinger called this the "Invisible Church."

King called it the "Ecclesia."

:-)