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“Ohio” was one of the great protest songs of the Vietnam War era. The song was drawn from the famous incident involving students and Ohio National Guardsmen at Kent State University in Ohio. Three and four years ago our leadership sold the citizenry on the idea of pre-emptive war. This was the war on terror. Instead we’ve discovered that once again, war is terror. It doesn’t matter whose side your on, war is proof of man’s inhumanity to himself.

Here are Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young performing this classic in a concert from 1974 at Wembley Stadium. I read recently that there is an increase of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) among Vietnam veterans. It seems that images of this war are overstimulating veterans of my generation and causing them to relive the horrific experiences of Vietnam. In honor of veterans then and veterans now I’m sharing this clip of CSNY performing Ohio. Peace.

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Come down we beseech you O Lord upon this house and drive from it all the snares of the enemy. Let your holy angels dwell in it and keep us in peace. And may your blessing be with us always. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

This is the Compline Prayer of the Benedictine Monks of Mt. Saviour Monastery in Pine City, New York. I have it hanging on a wall in our home. It reminds me of my times at Mt. Saviour, but it also is a beautiful prayer to end the day with. Paula has posted several prayers lately and it’s great to be reminded of them.

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“Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

I like this passage taken from today’s Gospel of St. Matthew. Another counter cultural message from Jesus. Let your life speak. Let that be the witness to the Gospel. No need to remind all around that you are a Christian. No need to demand an apology from others who don’t believe as you do. St. Francis said, “preach the gospel everyday and only use words when necessary.”

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Thank you to Friar Minor for a great post. Peace.

a minor friar: Do Unto Others

When the great Tao is abandoned,

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Here’s a link to some of what is going on at Red Hat Linux. There are some really interesting items to read about the future of open source software. Follow this link to this month’s Red Hat Magazine.

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“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Today’s reading are very powerful. I love the first reading from Kings, but this too is one of my favorite Gospels. This is what sets the message of Jesus apart from others. It was counter-cultural then and now. Who loves the enemy? All around us the MSM and the politicians beat the war drum. Jesus is radically different. Peace.

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Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it–The Talmud

This came to me in an email today from Gratefulness.org. This is an encouragement to me and I hope to you also. Peace.

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I run Ubuntu Linux as my OS on a Pentium M notebook that I use. If you’ve got Ubuntu running and you’d like to put a Windows XP virtual machine on your computer. This works.

Mac On Stuff

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My wife often speaks of the three eared rabbit that lives in our yard. That’s a curiosity to those of us fortunate to live on the edge of the ‘hundred acre wood’. This morning I spotted our three eared friend close to the house and I was able to get a picture. If you look closely you can see what appears to be a third ear. We have many animals who live near us. It is not uncommon to see white-tailed deer, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, hummingbirds, robins, and cardinals. We even have some field mice who attempt to make themselves comfortable on our porch. This morning I’m sitting here listening to the rain and you can almost hear the grass on our lawn saying thank you. Peace.

animals creation