Darfur Vigil Day #23, June 5: Darfur Dies for want of 1 question

23rd day in DC / Holocaust Museum / White House on round the clock vigil to Rescue and Restore Darfur

Our Darfur "family" dies for want of the question that WOULD BE OUR PERSONAL CENTRAL QUESTION were it not for the " "; that is, if Darfurians REALLY WERE LIKE OUR FAMILY (like most religions say they should be?). OUR Life depends on seeing them as such - family.

WHAT TYPE OF MIRACLE MUST I PERSONALLY TRY TO SPARK so that we, WE, RESCUE AND RESTORE DARFUR, NOW? If we saw them as our family, we wouldn't know how NOT to be consumed and mobilized, and transformed by this question. Some "rescuers" made a leap similar to this during the Holocaust; and now we must learn the make the same leap.

But we CAN'T do it by ourselves! There is the whole US Forces would endanger Darfur thing! Let's not get distracted. If they WERE OUR FAMILY, we would find a way, NOW. Come on, with all our recent decline in influence, WE ARE STILL AMERICA (unconscionably resourceful.)

What would we do?

1. We (WE THE PEOPLE, some of us) would PLAN how to do it, fast. We would devise an answer to: WHAT IT WILL TAKE, NOW? A perfect plan? No. As Eisenhower said, "Plans are WORTHLESS, Planning is EVERYTHING."

2. WE-THE-PEOPLE WOULD GET OFF OF OUR BUTTS, INTO THE STREETS AND STAY THERE SO AS TO UNMISTAKEABLY DEMONSTRATE OUR WILL TO OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES - TO GIVE THEM THE COURAGE TO ACT. Ok, maybe some of us would intelligently go to streets of Europe to raise will there. BUT WE WOULD START TALKING LESS, AND ACTING, DEMONSTRATING MORE.

3. This is unrealistic! They are not our family. THEY ARE OUR FAMILY, AND IT WOULD BE AN IMMESURABLE JOY FOR US TO SEE THAT AND ACT ACCORDINGLY. THE MOTIVATION OF TAKING THIS STEP CAN SAVE AMERICA. Missing this step may be to miss our last chance to save ourselves.

Let's stop killing time, and get on with it.

By the way, THERE ARE ANGELS. Met this one today. Before graduating college in May she was a strong advocate for Darfur on her campus: Brought John Pendergast to speak, brought 4o people to the April 30 Rally for Darfur on the Mall. And, when she asked and I told her I had not received a meal for 3 days, she brought dinner. Hmmmm. Thank you dear.

Darfur Vigil Day #22, June 4: Did you ever sacrifice McDonnalds for Outback Steakhouse?

On the streets of Washington DC, away from White House for just 2 more days on (arduous) special assignment.

Hmmmm. Sorry for the analogy using juicy meat - I've been pretty much vegetarian for quite some time. But it is the analogy that comes to me.

Did you: Did you ever sacrifice McDonnalds for Outback Steakhouse? I mean, you had a choice like this? You could have gone to McDonnalds but you preferred and chose Outback Steakhouse; or something like this? You chose GREAT/TIME TAKING/EXPENSIVE/COSTLY/SACRIFICE over Good/OK/Easy/Fast/Cheap.

AND, YOU WERE GLAD YOU DID!!!!!!!!!!!

AND, YOU PROBABLY RECOMMEND IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND YOU PROBABLY DO IT AGAIN, AND AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND YOU PROBABLY SACRIFICE A LOT TO DO SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's how it is with STAND WITH DARFUR - WHITE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I chose GREAT/TIME TAKING/EXPENSIVE over Good/OK/Easy/Fast/Cheap.

The JOY, PEACE, PURPOSE, HUMANITY, HUMAN UNITY, DISCIPLESHIP, GOODNESS, HELPFULNESS-FOR-DARFUR, CHANCE AT A MIRACLE is so overwhelming that it obliterates any thoughts or concerns for what I sacrificed to have this LIFE.

For me it required sacrificing Good/OK/Easy/Fast/Cheap ACTIONS FOR DARFUR. Well, not really. I can still do many of the cheap ones down here in DC. No, I can't do them locally in PA where I lived.

For me it required sacrificing Good/OK/Easy/Fast/Cheap - COMFORT/SAFETY/SECURITY: a home (for the streets and a bench), time with family (pretty isolated here; so far? :-) ), insurance (all my funds have gone toward this effort), food (kind people have lovingly supplied about 700 calories per day, but not more), position (I ran a prestigious retail store), American Dream, safety (pretty exposed on the streets), security (no idea what tomorrow will bring. Thy will be done), social acceptability, normalcy (ok, I left that behind years ago)....

I'VE SACRIFICED EXISTENCE in exchange for LIFE!!!!! I am radically nonviolent. (Yes I advocate NATO or UN Chapter 7, just as Gandhi advocated KILLING if it was the only means to stop a madman (Sudan's government are madmen).) But I can absolutely identify with General George Patton: "I love war... . Peace [would] be hell for me." LIFE IS A WAR. ALL LIFE IS A WAR - A WAR AGAINST CANCER; A WAR AGAINST ENTROPY; A WAR AGAINST DESTRUCTION. As Dr. King wrote, "A man is not fit to live, unless he knows what he would die for."

If I, or you, ARE NOT AT WAR for LIFE, WE ARE NOT ALIVE. We may be existing, but are not alive.

The above is not from my head, but from my heart. There has not been a second in the last 3 weeks when my choice of GREAT over GOOD has been called to question by my sacrifice. The last time you went to Outback (or whatever) was your enjoyment diminished by the ENORMOUS COST? No. What you got was infinitely better than what you sacrificed. What you got was so GREAT that it held your attention away from awareness of sacrifice. That's how it is with DOING GOOD. As Teresa of Calcutta said: "I have learned the paradox that if I love until it hurts, there is no more hurt; there is only more love." This is not metaphysics - it is neurophysics. (Will we ever learn this in time for Darfur?)

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! ON THIS BASIS ALONE - THE SHEER JOY OF IT - I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. STAND WITH DARFUR - AT THE WHITE HOUSE, OR AT YOUR STATE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STAND UNTIL YOU SEE THAT THE DARFURIES WILL BE LOVINGLY RESTORED.

ALL THAT IS STANDING IN OUR WAY IS LACK OF THE WILL, IS THE COURAGE, IS CLEAR VISION OF GREAT OVER GOOD (ABOVE). STAND THAT YOU WILL GIVE THE COURAGE TO OTHERS, OUR LEADERS AND FELLOWS, TO DO WHAT THEY KNOW THEY MUST DO, THAT THEY WANT TO DO.

STAND WITH DARFUR, for LIFE.

Darfur Vigil Day #21, June 3: What Darfur Genocide Looks Like

From PROTECT DARFUR



















This is what our response looks like:
















Something is wrong with this picture.

Let's STAND WITH DARFUR at the WHITE HOUSE in support of RESCUE AND RESTORE.

WHY WON'T SOMEONE TELL ME!!! Why shouldn't, mustn't our behavior look EVERY BIT AS URGENT, COURAGEOUS AND COMMITTED as this? NOW?...








BECAUSE IT MUST. IT SHOULD. ANYTHING LESS IS - GENOCIDE.

Let's do it for Darfur. Let's do it for us. It is almost too late.

Darfur Vigil Day #20, June 2: What if there were an Army?

DC area on the last 2 days (?) of the project away from the White House Darfur Vigil

If there were an army of us for Darfur - Standing With Darfur at the White House in vigil, fast, and or hunger strike - the Genocide would stop. That is why I am here. That is why I am here, despite being alone. As Dr. King said (I paraphrase), 'Doing what is right, is right even if no one knows about it."

Sure, during the course of the day it will flash through my mind - what are you doing here in DC in a Stand With Dafur all by yourself? Reason would suggest several possiblities:

1. That this Stand With Darfur is correctly recognized by others as a mistaken, futile, irrelevent, inappropriate, counterproductive campaign.
2. That we have not allowed ourselves the honest thought to evaluate the worthiness of such a PERSONALLY COSTLY campaign for Darfur, as an instinctive defense against being drawn in.
3. Participation in such a Stand With Darfur would be a direct violation of that religion in which we have supreme faith - Stockpiling Money for the safety, comfort and pleasure of Me and Mine.
4. Our culture so dismisses our humanity as irrelevent and not useful that our humanity is all but non existant thru extreme attrophy from non-exercise. Hence, we can look at a Stand WITH Darfur and see - nothing.

Honestly, #1 above does NOT seem the correct answer. I find that #2-4 are the explanation as to why I fight alone thus far.

In terms of humanity, we in the West are all but dead; and the people in Darfur are all but dead. But not entirely. I am drawn to exercise my humanity for the shred of hope that holds for the Restoration of our Darfur family, and for the revitalization of my US family.

Darfur Vigil Day #19, June 1: IF YOUR LIFE LOOKS "NORMAL," YOU ARE NOT STOPPING GENOCIDE

On the streets of DC, working to bring the special assignment to a close, that return to the White House Darfur Vigil can be achieved.

GENOCIDE, UNCHECKED, IS NORMAL; IS THE RESULT OF NORMAL.

THE FOLLOWING IS EXTREMELY PHILOSOPHICAL FOR A BLOG SUCH AS THIS. Yes, it will distract and disengage most readers. BUT IT MAY BE MORE INSTRUCTIVE TO WHY WE NEVER HAVE STOPPED GENOCIDE, THAN IS ANYTHING ELSE POSTED IN THIS BLOG. We that want Genocide to stop must face, grasp, and embrace the following concepts.

(Maybe I will re-write or remove this "uncharacteristically esoteric" entry when I can get some objective distance. It is 1:15 a.m. and yes, I've had little sleep in quite a few days. On the other hand, that is what it takes?)

WE CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE. I'll try to explain. This has to do with why we never have stopped genocide - it is because of how we view the world; a mistaken view of "reality."

Yes, what I am doing here in DC is ABSURD, MADNESS. I see that. You should see my physical appearance! "Wild man of Borneo!" Yes, and my countenance is becoming quite wild to the eye, as well. I see this, in the mirror AND my mind's eye, and it brings what I've just mentioned to MY MIND!!!! I look wild! Crazy! Bizarre.

But then, these glimpses of myself also bring to my mind the scripture where Jesus speaks of John Baptist:
"Jesus began to say to the crowds about John,"What did you come out into the desert to see?A reed shaken by wind?But what did you come out to look at?A person in soft clothes?Look, the ones used to soft things are in the houses of the kings.But why did you come out?To look at a prophet?Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.This is the one about whom it has been written: Look, I send my messenger ahead of you,who will prepare your way before you.
"Amen, I tell you, there has not arisen among those born of women anyone greater than John the Baptist...."

NO, I'm not having "Jay is John the Baptist" fantasies. The point is 'coming out of one reality, that another reality can become possible, or likely.' The point is NOT me, any more than the West Coast of the US is about Louis & Clark. Lewis & Clark were simply among those who first went to the West Coast. By leaving what was "normal" and traveling West so far, THEY ARRIVED AT THE COAST OUT OF NECESSITY. The only way they could have escaped arriving there, was to NOT REALLY TRAVEL SO FAR WEST!!! Now MANY folks have followed L&C and are out west now, and presumably better off for recognizing and embracing the L&C discovery. THE POINT IS THAT WE HAVE TO COME OUT OF THE WORLD WE HAVE CONCEIVED OF, AND LIMITED OURSELVES TO, TO RESCUE AND RESTORE DARFUR. Otherwise, we can't get there from here; we can't Rescue and Restore Darfur by doing life the way we always have done it.

WE HAVE NEVER STOPPED GENOCIDE BECAUSE OF THE WORLD WE HAVE CHOSEN TO VALUE, AS WE HAVE CHOSEN TO CONSTRUCT, VALUE AND CONSTRAIN OURSELVES BY IT. "IT IS OUR VALUE SYSTEM, STUPID." IF YOUR LIFE FEELS NORMAL,YOU ARE NOT STOPPING GENOCIDE.

Jay "looks" like what a revered, heroic "soldier" in an outlying Pacific Island may have looked like during WWII. Am I more hopeful to our little friend, to our little brother, now that I have left the "world" and gone to my post on that Pacific Island? YES.

IMAGINE HOW "CRAZY" we would have thought our factious "soldier on the Pacific Island" if instead of going there, he said, "I'm going to fight for the US! And I'm going to do it as a furrier in Hoboken, NJ!" INSANE. Just as it is insane to say, "I'm going to stop Genocide for the first time in history! And I am going to do it as a 9-5 intern, professional, or even volunteer, living a "normal" life.

"NORMAL LIFE" CAN BE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE NORMAL RESULTS! NORMAL RESULTS ARE - GENOCIDE.

Why is the insanity (or hypocrisy) of our factious furrier (above) so obvious? Because his behavior is viewed from the perspective of FIGHTING TO PROTECT ME AND MINE! It is NORMAL to do extreme things in the service of ME AND MINE!

Why does Jay's behavior look so crazy??!?!?! Because we look at his behavior in the light of serving ME AND MINE. AND WE DEFINE ME AND MINE IN BIOLOGICAL TERMS!

To stop Genocide, we have to STOP DEFINING, AND EXPERIENCING "ME AND MINE" IN BIOLOGICAL TERMS.

Darfur Vigil Day #18, May 31: Lonely battle

On the streets of DC; still on special assignment away from the White House Darfur Vigil for a few more days

For reasons of heightened effectiveness I wish I were not fighting alone. Among radically committed fellows I could be more sure, faster, more effective.

But as I struggle to comprehend this battle to Rescue and Restore Darfur and what I am called to contribute at this juncture - RADICAL BROTHERHOOD STANDING "WITH" DARFUR NO MATTER THE COST - I am at peace that I am doing what I am called to do, as best as I can. If others, or enough others, were contributing this piece right now, I wouldn't be alone, but my attempts wouldn't be as needed either.

No one else thinks my attempts are needed?!?!!?!?!? :-) Yes, with just a few exceptions, I am sure this is QUITE the perception!

At times like this one might find appropriate comfort in the words of Deitrich Bonhoeffer:

“Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God – the responsible man, who tries to make his whole life an answer to the question and call of God.”

If only the fate of 2,000,000 of our Darfur family were at stake, this crazy (futile?) attempt on my part would be acceptable. But MUCH MORE IS AT AT STAKE. THIS IS A PIVOTAL OPPORTUNITY FOR THE US, AND FOR MANKIND.