Day of the Dead

I woke up early in the morning of 31 Octubre and knew that I had to make a Day of the Dead altar for the fallen in Iraq. I spent part of the day making a 17x44 inch poster of thumbnail photos of members of the US military forces who died during the past year. I added the words from my favorite bumper sticker and mounted it on a big piece of foam core. Then I went to Carniceria Guanajuato and bought velas and pan de muerto. I spread petals from our late-blooming dahlias on the ground, arranged the velas and lit them, added a pumpkin from my stepson's garden, a glass of water, and a plate with the pan de muerto. I propped up the poster along with another poster I'd made earlier this fall that had on it the names of all the confirmed US dead from the beginning of the Iraq war to 4 Septiembre 2007. That evening I sat on my front steps next to the altar, ate my supper, and handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Some of them thought it was cool. Cool.

A song

I wrote this song during the first few minutes of Meeting for Worship yesterday. A string of messages about anger prompted me to stand up and sing it as my own contribution.

I'm not afraid of dying of old age or disease
Or in some accident that I could not foresee
I'm not afraid of death because my life would be too short
But I'm afraid of dying with hatred in my heart.

So let me make peace with all that I've come to resent
And remember that everyone I meet is heaven sent

I'm not afraid of dying in mighty hurricane
I'm not afraid of being run over by a train
I'm not afraid of growing old depending on Depends
But I'm afraid of dying before I make amends

So let me make peace with all that I've come to resent
And remember that everyone I meet is heaven sent

I'm not afraid of dying before all the world's at peace
Though my anger at injustice will always need release
Let me use the energy it gives with courage and with grace
And let me die knowing that I've made the world a better place

So let me make peace with all that I've come to resent
And remember that everyone I meet is heaven sent

Hello world!

A pilgrimage is what it is. Not a journey to a specific holy site, because those holy sites are everywhere. But it is without doubt a journey, and what a long strange trip it's been. Friends have asked me to share my thoughts pictures links songs and other outpourings of the Spirit so now it seems like it's time for a blog. Postings to follow!