Solstice Prayer by Janie Rezner

Many thanks to my dear friend Janie Rezner for allowing me to post her Solstice prayer. Janie is an extraordinary artist, poet and musician. She also has a radio program, Women’s Vocies on KZYX. Please visit her website to see more of her wonderful art and learn more about her work and life. .

This work is entitled Warrior of Love by Janie Rezner.

———————————————————–

Mother Earth

we call you into our consciousness tonight,
on this pivotal point on earth, between dark and light
never have we needed you more
may your energy infuse us

we know you are calling all cultures and all peoples
to come together in sacred ceremony
we have been too long from the ancient ways

Shulamit Aloni on Israeli apartheid

I made my first trip to Israel 34 years ago. I was 16 years old (do the math yourselves), wearing rose colored glasses and knowing exactly what life was about. While there I learned much, quite a lot of it at odds with what I had learned in Sunday School. Among other things, I learned that there was an Israeli peace movement, and one of it’s most powerful voices was that of Shulamit Aloni. I have been a fan of Ms. Aloni’s ever since. She recently had a piece in the Israeli publication Ynet regarding apartheid in Israel. She writes,

“The US Jewish Establishment’s onslaught on former President Jimmy Carter is based on him daring to tell the truth which is known to all: through its army, the government of Israel practises a brutal form of Apartheid in the territory it occupies.”

When I’m 103

On days when things seem particularly grim, I have been known to mutter that being an activist is aging me quickly. All those marches and rallies in all kinds of weather, burning the midnight oil too often, takes it’s toll on a girl. Of course it has always been in the back of my mind that at some point I would retire in glory and rest on my laurels. These hopes were completely dashed by an article about Irene Mensalves, an activist for 50 years who will turn 103 on January 17. And she is still going strong, albeit with a walker. A sign on her door reads, “War is not the answer” and last year she participated in a Raging Grannies action at a recruiting office. With pleasure I forgive Ms. Mensalves for dashing my retirement hopes and thank her for her inspiration.

In Memorium: Tillie Olsen

Feminist author Tillie Olsen has died at the age of 94. During the last several years, I have been reading everything I can about women writing about writing. Olsen’s “Silences” perhaps explains better than anything else I have ever read the immense odds that women writers have faced throughout history. Indeed, her own life and writing career exemplify the all too common scenario. As Margaret Atwood put it in her review of “Silences”,

“She did not write for a very simple reason: A day has 24 hours. For 20 years she had no time, no energy and none of the money that would have bought both.”

Despite that, Olsen’s work has been enormously influential. We owe her a great debt of gratitude. It is truly our loss that the circumstances of her life did not allow her more time for her work as a writer.

New Congress will have 71 women–Don’t applaud, that’s only 16%

When Nancy Peolosi was first elected to Congress in 1987, there were only 22 women in the House of Representatives.  There will be 71 women in the new Congress, making women 16% of of the House.

These women deserve a  big round of applause.

Jane Smiley: The Buck Stops Everywhere

Jane Smiley has a wonderful essay on the Huffington Post entitled, “The Buck Stops Everywhere”. In her eloquent words,

“…we have reached the stage in this disintegrating war where the buck stops everywhere, and we will be deeply sorry in the end when the face-saving surge fails.”

The gist of what Smiley is saying isn’t anything new. Perhaps Audre Lorde’s well known line says it best: “Your silence will not protect you.” The overwhelming results of the November elections in the U.S. are certainly heartening but they are only a beginning. We cannot allow the escalation of military action in Iraq to be diminished by deceptively repackaging our actions as a “surge”. Poll after poll now shows an incredibly low level of support for the President and the war in Iraq, even among our military forces. Clearly the American people want an end to this madness. The question is, do we have the continued will to not only say ’stop’, but to mean it as well.

Code Pink gives Harry hell

Several days ago, Code Pink sent out an alert asking people to contact Harry Reid and tell him that his  statement supporting sending more troops to Iraq was unacceptable. The following from CP was in my inbox this morning:

“Many thanks to those of you who took action this week to contact Senator Harry Reid about his remarks that he would support sending more troops to Iraq. His office was flooded with calls and emails on Tuesday! Below is a statement Senator Reid posted yesterday, saying that he does NOT support an escalation of the conflict and wants to bring out troops home. Let’s be clear: He only backed down because of the pressure he felt from the grassroots. Let’s see this as an important victory, and a lesson that we must be on constant alert to push this new Congress to end the war.”

How perfect that this should be the news on the day of the Winter Solstice.  Let’s take this as a sign of the great turning and let it energize us for the work ahead.  Now let’s tell Congress that rubberstamping the Pentagon’s request for 99 bilion more of our dollars is not okay, nor is it ok to give a President who has repeatedly and willfully broken the law a free pass.  Put impeachment back on the table!

Thank You Alice: A Meditation for the Winter Solstice

This piece was originally published on Buzzflash.

Thank You Alice: A Meditation for the Winter Solstice

by Lucinda Marshall

In the dark days of approaching winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, Alice Walker’s new book, “We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Inner Light In A Time Of Darkness”, offers an inspiring path of peaceful courage. In this short but eminently wise volume, Walker talks about many things, including a tribe, the Swa, where it is the job of women to say stop when behavior and actions are in damaging excess. As Walker eloquently states, in our own society and time, now is the time not only for women to say stop, but also for men to listen. She shares a statement from the Elders of the Hopi Nation that ends with these lines,

“All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner

And in celebration.

“We are the ones we have been waiting for…”"

Fiji women working for peace

The women of Fiji are an inspiration!

—————-

Subject: [pacwin] Friday 14 December 2006

Friday 14 December 2006
Suva, Fiji Islands

They gathered in silence. Close to 40 women and young women at the Holy
Trinity Anglican Cathedral in Suva, symbolizing a collective commitment to
non violence:

“I need to reiterate that non-violence does not mean passivity, but as
women¹s peace groups around the world have exemplified, it is a creative and
courageous way of living. In our own Pacific region ­ in Bougainville and
the Solomon Islands women have walked across the barriers of conflict to
negotiate peace ­ to bring about disarmament and assist in enabling peace
talks, and the revival of our Suva vigil, which will continue on a weekly
basis, is a symbolic gesture of how we can come together from our differing
social and political backgrounds, in unity for sustainable peace for Fiji,”
says Peace Vigil facilitator, Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, the Coordinator of
femLINKPACIFIC.

Alice Waters on the politics of food

Alice Waters, owner and chef of Chez Panisse had a wonderful piece in The Nation back in August that I just caught up with after it was reprinted in a local alternative paper.  But as we go into the holidays when a good ot of us will gorge ourselves silly, it seemed quite timely.  In Slow Food Nation, Waters writes,

“By now it is generally conceded that the food we eat could actually be making us sick, but we still haven’t acknowledged the full consequences–environmental, political, cultural, social and ethical–of our national diet. These consequences include soil depletion, water and air pollution, the loss of family farms and rural communities, and even global warming.”

Our lives have gotten so complicated and busy that it is all too easy to lose sight of these connections, and of course the ramifications of our shortsightedness are very damaging.  Many thanks to Alice Waters for this excellent reminder of how our lives and the welfare of our planet are so intimately connected.