the gift of mercy

In an age of anger and rage,

I am asking for your mercy.

Those who hate, forgive them.

Those who legislate intolerance, 

forgive them as well.

We do this for our own sake.

Anything less and we risk

becoming that which we would oppose,

and losing that which we could be.

Mercy is a wonderful gift,

and when you give it to someone

you also give it to yourself.

So give, and give again.

And yet again.

james lee jobe 

The effort isn’t in trying to stop the mind but in paying attention in a receptive way to what’s actually happening. 

Mark Van Buren

Sarah Jarosz, TELL ME TRUE

Do not try to become anything.

Do not make yourself into anything.

Do not be a meditator.

Do not become enlightened.

When you sit, let it be.

When you walk, let it be.

Grasp at nothing.

Resist nothing.

Ajahn Chah

From "Tao & Zen"

I  am sleeping in a bed made of magic, and I begin to dream. In the dream I am trying to put together a crew to rob a bank. I am looking for certain people, very special criminals, as I believe I can do this robbery without weapons or even the threat of violence. “I need people who can work with love,” I keep saying, “I need love criminals.” Then the dream changes, becoming dark and frightening, and I am unable to speak. I know a rather heavy secret that some people will need to know to stay alive. I want to write out this secret, but there is nothing to write with. Acting out the answer has failed, and now, one by one, these people are dying. In the end I am surrounded by piles of bodies, and I am weeping. Eventually I struggle to my feet and I start trying to find my way out. Night. The magic bed. Oh, how complex this thing called living is, even in sleep.

james lee jobe

(previously in The Original VanGoghs Ear Anthology)

Conservatives want live babies so they can train them to be dead soldiers. 

George Carlin

My friend,

what have we been given?

and what do we deserve?

Time is our equalizer;

what we earn matches only

what we have given,

and we what deserve

is the ability and strength

to make our own choices,

nothing more.

james lee jobe 

This place is my place, where I belong. I have dug in, planted my roots here. Raised a family here, lost a son. Buried some friends, too. Right here. Whatever is coming the rest of the way through, I'll face it right here.

james lee jobe 

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jlj