Blood Donation

I guess these people thought sticking a large needle into your arm wouldn't be scary enough--they had to add clowns to the situation.

I donated blood on Friday. I'm happy to report that my employer provided a clown-free environment for the transaction.

That I was allowed to donate at all is good news. The last five attempts I made resulted in rejection on the grounds of insufficient hemoglobin. It was always a borderline situation. I'm not anemic. The phlebotomist told me, "You have enough iron for yourself, but not enough to share." But this time, the blood dropped right to the bottom of the liquid in the test tube. I'm giving credit to Kellogg's Special K Red Berries, which I have been eating nearly every single day for the past four months.

My main motivation for donating blood is so I can brag about my blood pressure: 90/52. All right, it's no big deal, but since I'm not going to win any beauty contests or athletic competitions, allow me my pathetic little vanities. My cholesterol is low, too, but this time they didn't test for it. I have to go back to the other county next time (The county where I live, they test for cholesterol. The county where I work, apparently not.)

Snowflakes

Helen Keller was blind and deaf from the age of 18 months. When she grew up, she said she had one sight-memory: the crystals hanging from a lampshade, refracting the light. I often think of that; certainly any time I see a chandelier; it's such a beautiful sight, and somehow we must be genetically programmed to be fascinated by it. Maybe it has something to do with the evolutionary role of fire. Anyway, I had a similar reaction to these photos of snowflakes (click on individual photos to enlarge). I just enjoy looking at them. Hope you do too.

Coincidence? I don't think so...

Achenblog had a big discussion about coincidences a while back, initiated by a Dumb Question of Tom Shroder's. Everybody weighed in on the subject. People in general really want to believe that there is a big plan, or that God is making specific things happen to them, or that there is a reason they are here, and so on. Achenbach has no qualms about debunking these notions. He was very clear about his beliefs. He is a rationalist. So that's why I say there is some divine message in the fact that the letters of his name can be rearranged to spell

CHANCE? BAH!

Right? That couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

[I'm kidding, okay? I completely agree with Joel. I think everything could be explained by logic and reason, if (BIG IF) we were smart enough.]

John McCain Anti-Torture Amendment

Finally, somebody has taken action to try to stop the U.S. Military from being the world's foremost advocate and practitioner of torture. John McCain, who was tortured while he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, authored an amendment to a military appropriations bill. It is the mildest, most conservative language possible. McCain didn't try to define torture or impose any new standards. He cited the U.S. Army Field Manual on detention and interrogation, which was revised in April 2005 to specifically prohibit the abuses that were highlighted at Abu Graib. The amendment would give those rules the authority of federal law. Most importantly, it is a statement of intent by the Senate. It remains to be seen whether the House of Representatives will join the Senate in making this statement to the world. The White House has indicated that Bush might veto the appropriations bill if the anti-torture language is attached to it. That's not something that happens a lot, a military appropriations bill being vetoed. It's a strong statement by Bush that he favors the use of torture, and it is an indication that even if the law is passed it would not be vigorously enforced. Nevertheless, this amendment is a light in the darkness and it lifted my spirits briefly this morning. God bless John McCain.

John Prine

I never liked the Rolling Stones, but I do appreciate the darker side of life and art. My main man is John Prine. I guess Prine is upbeat in his way; his theme might be, "Life is meaningless and painful, and I am not equipped to handle the hardship that has been piled on me, I am just a poor schmoe who stumbles my way through and it's pathetic to watch, BUT still I can have fun sometimes, and love is a good thing (until your heart gets stomped)" Prine is a poet for the regular people. He was born in Kentucky, and raised in Chicago I think. He was in the Army and worked for the Postal Service. He's not very good looking and his voice is only fascinating, not lovely.

Here's a typical lyric:

"Take it back, take it back
Oh no, you can't say that
All of my friends are not dead
Or in jail..."

Here's one I really like:

"I got kicked off of Noah's Ark
(I turn my cheek to unkind remarks)
There was two of every thing, but one of me..."

Prine has a wicked sense of humor, and his songs make me smile even though there is always pain there too.

The Beatles

Kurt Vonnegut, in chapter 1 of Timequake:

"I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.'"

George Harrison was once asked to sum up the message of the Beatles' music, and he replied, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

The legend of how John met Yoko was that he went to her art exhibition, and there was a piece that required the viewer to climb up on a ladder and uncover the message written in small letters on the ceiling, and the message was "yes."

The Beatles' theme, "All You Need Is Love"--I can never stop myself from contrasting it with the Rolling Stones, "I Can't Get No Satisfaction." Both are facets of the human condition. But which would you choose to be remembered by?

The Beatles had a tremendous opportunity--they were in the spotlight and the microphone was on. The whole world was watching and listening. They didn't waste the chance. They told us, She Loves You! I Wanna Hold Your Hand! "The love you take is equal to the love you make." I think Jesus wouldn't even mind if the Beatles were more popular than He was, during the 60's and 70's. They were doing His work, anyway.


The Word

Lennon/McCartney

Say the word and you’ll be free,
Say the word and be like me,
Say the word I’m thinking of,
Have you heard the word is love.
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine,
It’s the word love.
In the beginning I misunderstood,
But now I’ve got it the word is good.
Say the word and you’ll be free,
Say the word and be like me,
Say the word I’m thinking of,
Have you heard the word is love.
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine,
It’s the word love.
Everywhere I go I hear it said,
In the good and the bad books that I have read.
Say the word and you’ll be free,
Say the word and be like me,
Say the word I’m thinking of,
Have you heard the word is love.
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine,
It’s the word love.
Now that I know what I feel must be right,
I mean to show ev’rybody the light,
Give the word a chance to say,
That the word is just the way,
It’s the word I’m thinking of,
And the only word is love,
It’s so fine it’s sunshine,
It’s the word love.
Say the word love,
Say the word love,
Say the word love,
Say the word love.

Populism

Senator Mel Martinez (my senator, but I didn't vote for him) gave a speech at the Americas Conference last week in Coral Gables and warned the attendees of the dangers of "Populism" in Venezuela. He went on about how the U.S. needs to be "proactive" and "engaged" to prevent Hugo Chavez from spreading his political philosophy throughout Latin America--what, is he afraid that the government will fall into the hands of "the people?"

Martinez is an immigrant from Cuba. I believe that, on the whole, immigration is great for America, but what I've seen of Cuban immigrants in Miami has convinced me that their understanding of democracy is based more on what they hate about Fidel Castro than on any positive love for the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law. For example, time after time, cultural exchange programs have been halted because Cuban-Americans threaten violence or disruptive demonstrations in protest of Cuban citizens' being allowed to perform in the United States. These protesters don't really believe in freedom; at least, not for other people. Martinez' remarks have to be taken in that context. After decrying "populism," he has the nerve to quote Lincoln's phrase, "of the people, by the people, for the people"--that is populism! What Martinez hates most about President Chavez is that he is friendly with Fidel Castro, and that he is critical of U.S. imperialism. I am appalled that the word "populism" is going the way of "liberal"--what will be left to us?

Populism has a glorious history in the United States. After the Gilded Age, when the diparity between rich and poor reached an untenable level, a level not seen in the U.S. before or since (until now) it was populism that pulled us out of the spiral and set us back on a more reasonable track, with government regulations to curb the excesses of big business. Populism can be right wing, too--Pat Buchanon and Ross Perot, for instance, are sometimes cited as examples of populist politicians, and white supremicists have appropriated the term for their purposes in recent years. However, historically, populism in the U.S. is associated with farmers, with true "grass roots" politics, and with the defeat of a powerful elite through democratic action. I object to the vilification of the term. It seems to me that in the face of U.S. imperialism and indifference to international law, a little populism is highly appropriate.

Audiobooks

My life used to be simpler. Fewer choices, fewer distractions. In the 1980's, Tocci and I lived in Key West with no television, no computer, no car (do I need to mention, no air conditioning), no extra money. We worked during the day, and in the evenings we talked, visited with friends, played cards or backgammon, and read library books. On the weekends, we spent long hours at the beach. We did some political work, which involved meetings and organizational work, and sometimes we worked evenings at the Sunset Celebration. But in general, the pace of life was reasonable. We had a baby in 1987, moved to the mainland for good in 1993, got our television set in 1998, and our computer in 1999. (The tv doesn't have cable or an antenna; we only use it to watch videotapes and dvd's.) In the past few years, I have started to notice that I'm reading less, especially books. I enjoy watching movies and browsing the internet, and there are only so many hours in the day. One remedy for this situation has been multi-tasking, and for reading purposes that means audiobooks. With books on tape/cd I can "read" while I do housework, exercise, crochet, pull weeds, paint the walls, or drive. At one point when I just started with audiobooks, I had one story on cd in my car, one on tape in my Walkman, and I was reading a third at home in the evenings, an actual book. That got a little confusing, and I only did it once. My audio selections are much more random than my book selections because the choice is more limited--I can't afford to buy/rent them regularly, so I make do with what the library has. That has led to some mediocre experiences (Seabiscuit) some bad experiences (a terrible Stephen King story about a haunted car) and some good experiences that were happy accidents (Sin Killer, by Larry McMurtry). Audiobooks have also gotten me through some books that I probably would not have finished in the print version. Since it's more passive, it's less effort, and I was glad to experience a biography of Shakespeare and David McCullough's John Adams. Recently I have been having trouble finding the chunks of time I need to give Jonathan Franzen's first novel, The Twenty-Seventh City the attention it deserves, so I went to audiobooks.com to see if they had it on cd. They don't, but they have Tom Robbins' latest, and that's something I'm likely to want to listen to more than once, so I ordered it. Amazon.com has audiobooks, too, and sometimes I forget that. I was on Amazon yesterday, too, ordering the latest Vonnegut (A Man Without a Country) and Paul McCartney's newest offering. So now I have something to look forward to. Anticipation is one of life's greatest pleasures. A complicated, busy life can also be a happy one.

Cooler Weather

In south Florida, October means I can stop planning my life around the weather, for a while. We do not use our air conditioner, so all through the summer months--that's April through October--I'm strategically placing fans and scheduling my cooking and laundry activities, opening and closing doors at key times to control the air flow and so on. In the morning, getting ready for work, it's important not to shower too soon. I need to shower just before dressing, in order to get the pantyhose on without sweating. On days I'm riding my bike to work, I can wear shorts and sandals, but then there's the whole separate strategy of getting my clothes to work in the bike basket, folded and protected so they won't be too wrinkled to wear when I arrive.

All this effort saves us hundreds of dollars each year in electric bills. It also contributes to the ecological health of the planet. But mostly, it means that we can enjoy fresh air and breezes, and the sounds of nature, all year round. Sitting at the computer right now, I can hear the sound of water flowing in the backyard fishpond, and the distant call of a hawk, and the songs of mockingbirds, as well as the rumble of automobile traffic and an occasional train. I'm not shut up in a closed box with piped-in air. It's my preference. It's a big part of the reason that I live in Florida.

Admiral Lord Nelson

Glory was his constant desire; duty his steadfast aim.

A hero for the ages: Horatio Nelson. October 21 will be the 200th anniversary of his great and final victory, the Battle of Trafalgar. Nelson commanded the British Navy as it went up against the combined naval forces of France and Spain. As the battle was about to begin he ran up signal flags on the H.M.S. Victory to proclaim: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” At the end of the battle, 14,000 French and Spanish lay dead, and 1,500 British lost their lives including Nelson himself. Napoleon was defeated, and the British established an indisputable dominance of the high seas.

The man who would become Admiral Lord Nelson was the sixth of eleven children born to the village rector of Burnham Thorpe. He went to sea as a midshipman at age 12, and worked his way through the ranks to become Admiral of the British Navy. He fought alongside his men, and wore a conspicuous uniform that made the fact evident to friend and foe alike. He lost an eye and an arm in battles, suffered disease and deprivation, storms and wars. He maintained his sense of humor and intelligence and inspired an unprecedented level of devotion and loyalty from the men under his command.

Along the way, he married and fell in love—unfortunately, two different women were involved. Emma Hamilton was his great love. They had a child, but never married. Lady Hamilton’s situation was not approved by society, and she eventually died in relative poverty.

Nelson has served as the inspiration for at least two great book series: the Captain Hornblower series by C.S. Forester, and the Aubrey-Maturin books by Patrick O’Brian.

Read-Think-Live: The Theme

Comment by Pixel: "...I truly don't understand why people care about the lives of celebs."

There is no way to argue with that point. Although it is obviously a common human trait, it isn't logical or defensible. I'm sure there is some primitive evolutionary advantage that could be teased out if we thought hard enough [something about the survival benefits of paying close attention to the alpha pack members], but there's no real justification for purchasing People magazine or The Enquirer.

The theme of this weblog is that most of the events in my life are literary. Not that I have no life, but that my physical-world life is somewhat linear: in real life, one thing happens and then the next thing happens. It's limited, and it's also repetitive. But the stuff I read--that has no limits! And as I read, I'm thinking, and that is also a multi-dimensional, infinity-based experience. So, yes, I read the celebrity gossip, just about every day. I also read the headlines and the local news and numerous magazines and books, books, books. I read labels and billboards and personal notes and emails and so on. [I read every word of Achenblog, every day.] The most momentous event in my life this week was the Battle of Trafalgar—more about that tomorrow.

Celebrity Gossip: Demi and Ashton

The news of Demi and Ashton's wedding reminds me of the item a couple of years ago when Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt were going to get married. There was an on-line poll: "Will this relationship last?" And one hundred percent of those who responded said, "NO."

Self-Loathing

“Psychologically healthy people will pause at least once a day to say, out loud, ‘I hate myself.’ This is a kind of purgative, a casting-out of the demons that cause one to do stupid things. You feel better instantly. And you can be proud that you have the courage to get in touch with your Inner Loser.” –Joel Achenbach

I liked being reminded of this. It is such a positive way of looking at a negative trait. The positive and negative are so twisted, so entwined, like two vines tangled. I hate myself, but I don’t accept that, so I deny that I hate myself. I don’t hate myself!! I’m not disgusted with my every thought! I’m not looking around at everyone else, thinking that they have it all figured out while I am the poster child for alienation. But all this denial is just digging me deeper into the muck. So if I can have a moment of clarity, I can admit that, yes, I am alienated, and for good reason–that sometimes I’m like the John Nash character in the movie, A Beautiful Mind: “I don’t much like people, and they don’t much like me.” Whew. That’s a relief. Now I can start anew and maybe salvage some positive thoughts.

I am keenly aware of the pleasure I derive from other people. And not just my family and friends. Today when I was walking at lunchtime I passed a young woman on the street; she looked at me and said “Hello, there!” It made me smile.

I like helping people at work and it’s great when I can solve someone’s problem and be the hero of the moment. For that matter, I also enjoy the feeling of being a steady member of the team, just doing my part, day by day.

The internet has opened a whole new world of ideas and the interchange of opinions with others. I’m amazed that so much gratification can be derived from typed words on a computer screen. No physical manifestation of humanity at all. We could just be brains floating in vats of fluid, sending signals back and forth, and it would be the same.

There is wisdom in Achenbach’s humor. If I can keep the negativity under control, and just pause to purge once a day or so, I can hope to achieve this “psy-cho-log-i-cal health” that he speaks of.

Disney vs. Victor Hugo

Sometime in 1994 or 1995 I learned that Disney was planning a movie based on Victor Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris. It was inevitable--and appropriate--that my daughter, Danielle, then about eight years old, would see the movie. But I was horrified by the prospect that she would be introduced to this magnificent story in an abridged, adulterated form. I immediately checked the book out of the library so I could read it to her. I had read the book years before, but my tendency with great literature is to rush to the next paragraph, the next chapter, read it as fast as I can, all the time promising myself that I will read it through a second time, more slowly. Of course when it is finished there is always another book waiting that I've never read and I'm off to devour it. So it was with happy anticipation that I sat down with Danielle to read aloud from Victor Hugo's great novel.

It became a wonderfully memorable experience because of my own delight in the story, shared with my daughter who was equally if not more engrossed. I was once again enchanted by the poet Gringoire, the classic archetype of the artist, who is not deterred from his ambition to become the greatest poet in history by the mere earthly fact that he cannot read or write. Danielle greatly admired Esmeralda and of course the little goat, who is literate, bringing to mind Truman Capote's phrase, “that's not writing; that's just typing.” The humor of the story is perfectly balanced by drama and tragedy. An important philosophical point that we discussed at length was Frollo's "love" of Esmeralda–by his definition, he loves her so much that he prefers to see her dead rather than married to someone other than himself. Every young girl should be made aware of this common human trait. In middle school Danielle endured some jealous friends and I was able to refer back to Frollo to help her understand the phenomenon. Reading the novel aloud prevented me from rushing through it, so I appreciated it even more.

In due time, the Disney movie came out, and Danielle went to see it. She was able to enjoy the splendors of the animation without being misinformed regarding the plot of Hugo's novel. "Mom," she said to me in an exasperated tone of voice, "At the end, Esmeralda marries Phoebus, and the 'deaf' Quasimodo sings at their wedding!" Ridiculous, indeed.

New York State of Mind

What a pleasure it is to wake up on Sunday morning and have The New York Times on my driveway. Real life has to stop for a while, at least until I've read the magazine and the book review--oh, and let me just glance through the arts section. Look, Polanski's new Oliver Twist movie is "now showing"--in New York. And the American Ballet Theater has a new production, and Harry Connick, Jr. is on Broadway (at least that's one item that doesn't incite helpless spasms of longing). Out here in the rest of the country, we have to wait for the second wave. ABT sometimes comes to Miami Beach. Oliver Twist will be at the multiplex soon enough. But the magic of NYC is that everything happens there, first, best, all at once.

The summer after we got married (1982), Tocci and I went to New York, lived there for three months. We stayed at Sullivan's rooming house in Rockaway Beach (bathroom down the hall; shower in the back yard; 45 minutes from Manhattan on the CC train). We spent our days on the streets of New York, trying to sell enough artwork to buy food and subway tokens. We mostly succeeded. We sold Tocci's paintings and glass engravings in the financial district, on Broadway, in Greenwich Village, in Central Park (Bethesda Fountain), and our most ironic location, across from Fortunoff's. Those were the days before the clean-up of the theater district--it was full of porn shops and peep shows. Crime was rampant. Once, Tocci went into a bar to use their bathroom, leaving me holding the money and watching the merchandise, and he walked into an armed robbery in progress. "You too!" the robber barked at him, "Against the wall! Take out your wallet!" Probably the same conditions that allowed that to happen down the street from the latest Broadway hits also made it possible for us to earn our living as unlicensed street vendors. Later the same week, we saw Woman of the Year, starring Raquel Welch. [She used to be a huge star, but now, typing her name, I realize that she hasn't been in the news for a long time, and she didn't leave any classic body of work to perpetuate her legacy. I guess Myra Breckenridge will have to be her ticket to immortality.] We also saw ET before the rest of the country had that thrill--we stood in line for over an hour for the privilege. I have always thought that movie was overrated. Also, that summer, in addition to watching for cops and living on hot dogs and Italian ices, I took a course in children's literature at NYU. So, my point is, New York has everything, and in three months we sampled it. Now, we live in south Florida. There are a lot of New Yorkers here. That makes driving less pleasant, but we do have pretty good bagels. And there's always The New York Times.

From My Quote Collection, Random Samples

"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of the demand."
--Josh Billings

"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
--George Bernard Shaw

"The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive and unrealistic."
--John F. Kennedy

"The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper."
--Eden Phillpotts

"So long as I remain alive and well, I shall continue to feel strongly about prose style, to love the surface of the earth, and to take pleasure in solid objects and scraps of useless information."
--George Orwell

"It belongs to every large nature, when it is not under the immediate power of some strong unquestioning emotion, to suspect itself, and doubt the truth of its own impressions, conscious of possibilities beyond its own horizon."
--George Eliot (Romola)

"The means are part of the truth, as well as the result. The search for truth must itself be true; true research is truth spread out before us, the scattered members of which are reunited in the result."
--Karl Marx

"There is no inevitability so long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening."
--Marshall McLuhan

Recent Tocci Artwork

Tropical foliage

And more tropical foliage

(from our backyard)

Patronizing the Arts

My husband is a professional artist. When I met him, in 1981, he was homeless, sleeping sometimes on friends' couches or, more often, in a vacant lot by the electric company. He moved in with me less than thirty days after we met, and 24 years later, here we are. In all these years, the only time he had to get (as he pronounces it:) "a j-, j-, a j-, a job," was the two years after our daughter was born. During that time, he put on a suit, created a resume and got hired by a series of companies as a "marketing consultant." Our friend, Will, who makes his living as a street performer, says, "What Tocci is really, is a flim-flam man!" (That is high praise coming from Will.) One of Tocci's more recent career moves was getting his auctioneer's license, so he could run a weekly Art Auction and Comedy Show, with Himself as mc, auctioneer, talent and caterer. His comedy routine started like this: "Comedy comes easy to me--I'm married. When I first saw her, I knew I had met "Ms. Right." What I didn't know then was that her first name was "Always." [The better you know me, the funnier that joke is.] The routine is downhill from there; think Henny Youngman for the Bingo/Sesame Street crowd. Riddles are big with the kids: "What did 0 say to 8?" "Nice belt." "What did the fish say when he swam into a concrete wall?" "Dam!" You get the idea.

Regardless of which venture Tocci has embarked upon, he has not had to sleep in any lots since he's been with me. I fully expect to be getting points in heaven for my part in facilitating his career--providing him the stability and the freedom to create artwork. My daughter was born an artist, too, so I've been blessed already by spending my life surrounded by creativity and art objects. When people hear that my husband and daughter are both artists, they inevitably ask, "do you do art, also?" and I always say, "No, but I'm a patron of the arts."

Books and Libraries, A Short, Sentimental Account

I enjoy books for many different reasons. Sometimes it's story, or characters, metaphors, tone, political/philosophical/spiritual content, humor, information. Sometimes it is a huge, uplifting experience to read a book, and sometimes it's brief and casual, a way to pass the time. But books have been my constant companions since I was a very young child, and my life has been improved immeasurably by them.

When I was in elementary school, the public library that served our part of town ("south of the river") was in a trailer--a mobile home. They crammed in as many books as would fit, and somehow I was always able to find something I hadn't read yet. I went to school in the main part of town, and there was a grand library in walking distance of the school. I still visit it whenever I can--it's the historical museum now. That library has marble steps and heavy iron and glass doors, a chandelier and the smell of old books, especially in the basement. It holds precious memories for me; it's one of my favorite buildings in the world.

All that is to introduce this paragraph, the last paragraph of the latest book by one of my favorite authors. Joel Achenbach is smart and witty, and a very talented writer. I have enjoyed his work for years (decades!) and recently because of Achenblog, I have had the opportunity to get better acquainted with him, with the result that I have even more respect for him, and a feeling of affinity based on the fact that we have a lot in common--both experiences and opinions.

I don't know how many people, when they read a book, continue reading after the book ends, into the notes and end matter. But I do. And it was my reward to reach the last paragraph and have it be this:

A final suggestion for those wishing to follow up this story: Despite the powers of the Internet, which make it possible to find, for example, the full text of a Washington quote simply by searching for a phrase, there is nothing quite like browsing the shelves of a good library, where many fine books, too geriatric or obscure to be transferred to the digital realm, languish unread, in serious danger of being consigned to the category of lost information.

p. 302, The Grand Idea: George Washington's Potomac and the Race to the West, by Joel Achenbach

JAM & All

Last night was a board meeting for JAM & All, an interfaith organization I've been working with for a few years. JAM stands for Jews and Muslims. It's a post-9/11 group, started by an American Jew who was born in Israel (David Kamrat) and a Muslim leader (Maulana Shafayat Mohamed). Our plans for the coming year include various service projects, concentrating on individual impact rather than wide-spread publicity or big events.

After September 11, 2001, my husband and I, along with millions of other Americans, obviously, felt the need to "do something," and this interfaith dialog seemed like a natural direction for us. We started by going to visit the Islamic Center that is located a few blocks from our church. We went to prayers there several times and became acquainted with some people. Then we attended services at Temple Shalom, which is a few blocks in the other direction. We found out, for example, that the rabbi at Temple Shalom has a daughter in Israel and the imam at the Islamic Center has family in Jenin. The conflict in the Middle East is closer to my neighborhood than I had previously realized.

We arranged an interfaith gathering at our church which included two rabbis, two imams and two ministers, with a mixed attendance of about ninety people. That gathering was amazing, educational and uplifting. Everyone who attended was enthusiastic. The only negative feedback we got was from one person who thought it should have gone longer. But afterwards, we found that there was quite a bit of institutional resistance to any kind of continuing program. That is understandable because all these institutions run on volunteer energy and they are always strained to accomplish their own agendas, serve their own congregations, without having outside programs added in. So I joined JAM and All, which is not affiliated with any religious institutions. It's an independent non-profit and I have made more friends there. In the end, the main result of our efforts is that we have made friends with people from different cultures, different religions and nationalities.

"...you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good." Genesis 50:20