A Peaceful Warning: Amidst the Perils, Love!

LOVE! WHY? It’s God’s command, here and now,
besides who will if you won't?
Take some down time; Look around.

Multi channels visit the globe; NOISES BLARE!
Feel the sombre stare of SCREAMING PAGES pulled up through the web.
Burning sun and shooting stars yell and cry and warn...
Of bitter justice soon scrawled on walls and doorways!

At the guarded gate to paradise,
Mythic states jeer in defence of forged creeds.
Shadows of our past echo in prideful conflict
FORCING the children of men into a nightmare.

Green peasant's lands suffer afflicton,
as silvered rivers, damned for electric amenities,
flow wth pesticides, fungicides, wasted antibiotics.
Vigor is sterilized and rotten wealth is made.

A strange preacher leads his flock awry,
and authorities bring the fire and brimstone!
Is Love on holiday?

Kids bully and are bullied to take up arms
and little towns cry for lost minds.
Convicted killers are shut in dusk and doom,
like parched trees,
dying to be posters for deception and vengeance.

Terrible gauntlets fly;
A mighty fortress is cracked open
and the deathday dawns upon a city of liberty;
Cries of faith punch at apathy and sacrifices begin again.

Silent lamp posts hang down,
marking lonely days and nights.
Even the whole planet shudders,
leaving cities and nations swamped as by its tears.
Crystal cups of sorrow haunt the yearly festivals.

LOVE! Why? … It’s essential, required, demanded!
Seek the Face of THE HOLY ONE,
The healer of all wounds.
LOVE! AND MARCH FORTH TO ETERNITY!

LISTEN UP! Are you interested in mental health?

Is it OK to be mentally ill?
Going by the evidence most Canadians appear to believe it is.

The Globe and Mail, in its Breakdown series, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/breakdown did a fine job last week on highlighting the ongoing struggle many individuals and families face in dealing with the crushing realities of mental illness. In October, 1998, Scott Simmie wrote a similar, and award winning, series in the Toronto Star. His title 'Out of Mind' revealed the uncomfortable truth that the Canadian public has had little interest in compelling our leaders to act. In the intervening years, virtually nothing has changed on the front lines where most sufferers and helpers are fighting the battle for health and wellness.
We are still waiting for supportive housing, the crucial element in any plan to address this crisis.
The National Scandal of damaged people being shuffled from one government department to another, trying to find assistance, plays out like a tragic farce. Specifically, people are forced to travel back and forth between agencies providing 'social services' (money) and those providing health care, housing or shelter, food, clothing and sense of community, often while also dealing with more acceptable illnesses such as cancer and AIDS.

The Ministry of Health is not set up to work together with Provincial or Municipal Social Services Ministries. There is little or no coordination between these agencies for people who do not fit neatly into the medical model for physical illness.
Do we accuse a person with diabetes or epilepsy of being responsible for his or her illness?
Would we send blind people to three different branches of the CNIB?
Why is it acceptable tell a mentally incapacitated person to 'just get a job'?



People are a bit like buildings. Sometimes they look sad and forlorn, sometimes comical and fresh. Looking from the outside doesn't say much about the inside. What strengths, surprises, costs and depravities remain hidden? Agents and friends can help to find self-identity; enemies, mis-directed friends and enviromental pests attack both foundation and structure.

Last year Canada finally established a Mental Health Commission to attempt to address the lack of attention given to those Canadians who suffer cracks in their foundations, that 10% of us who are likely to experience severe, debilitating mental and spiritual distress at some point in our lives. The hope is that money will, at long last, be dedicated to research for treatment and cure for those things that afflict our minds and spirits. But throwing money around in the ivory towers of academia will not be enough. Certainly research must be done. Counselling heelps. The heart of the matter will begin to be addressed when we can discuss together and pray about the harsh realities which have been swept under the proverbial rug.

Why are our religious institutions largely silent on this issue? When have you heard a message about the spiritual resources available to bring to bear on this topic? Are there ever connections between mental illness and evil spirits? Do chaplains and medical professionals coordinate their efforts to heal? What would Jesus have Us do?
Thank God for the good work that is being done.
Much, much more is needed.

We, who have suffered schizophrenia, psychosis or depression will not tolerate society's stigma. The taboo is broken. Praise the Name of JESUS!
Lend us your ears!
Invite us to speak at your places of worship, community centers, schools, anywhere interested people will gather. Let us tell how God heals and delivers. Let us work and pray that no more of us, or our loved ones, suffer needlessly due to neglect and ignorance. Let's make good use of the quality programs that already exist and build together the healthy communities that we all need.
Let's free up funding, and other resources, and empower all Canadians to help each other!

Let us be rebuilders of the breach.
Mental illness should never be OK!

O Canada! Watching for the Vision

Whatever projects we get up to, I'm sure our Heavenly Father has some great laughs, sometimes in derision, sometimes delight.

Whatever mischief we create or encounter, don't you think many tears from mingled sorrow and joy come easily from His eyes?

Consider Canada
Comment ça va avec lui? avec nous?

What keeps us together?
The Trans-Canada highway? Maybe.
The Federal government? Eh, say what?

But remember!
Our governors separated us into Upper and Lower Canada.
Then one day a true first-rate fellow took an act of political hubris to curb our inferiority and brought our constitution home from across the pond.
Now we can follow our dreams, if only we can agree on what they are.
Romance clashes with work ethic. In our national anthem we sing, en français,
'Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée des plus brillant exploits'...and yet...Quebec feels left out.
So do the Atlantic Provinces … the Prairies and B.C.
We’ve no Grand Canyon, just a few noisy fire-crackers, dissidents who avoid responsibilities while promoting rights!
What about the privilege of duty?
What of Ontario?
The Place to Stand, Out in the cold with the North?
So what can keep us together? Simple convenience and compromise has so far.
But a little more is required:
Charity, friendship, common sense,
hope, the Word of life, hot apple cider and sticky
maple syrup.
Mon Dieu!