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.