STAND IN THE STORM...

Have you ever felt Shadow less,

Like the world is moving

And your life is on pause?

You know when your life feels like a program on Spanish TV?

You see the images and hear the sounds,

But nothing is getting through…

 Feeling commonly cast into the wind,

Blown hither and thither by fear and uncertainty…

By way of choices…by way of fate.

And you can’t find that resolve and fortitude,

So you stare gazingly,

Exit to that place

Hoping that you could escape out of this maze,

Make your stop

While the smoking mirrors fill you with despair & desolation.

As you give into the dark no longer seeking the light…

You are that parched soul that remains dry,

Unable to drink…

 In a state of unrest,

 Times of perplexity are upon you

Because your leaving this world is the only thought that comforts you…

You are tired of being that weeping,

Melancholy child is full of guile

Pervaded by thoughts of bad intentions

You gave up on trying to attain purity,

Looking for the real,

Positive & enduring value life offers.

 Your soul is SO mentally drained from life and its teachings

You are vocally unable to utter a sound,

Sometimes silence is the best answer.

 So you think why not just end it all?

Life is a mess,

And no one would miss you anyways…

You think of how easy it would be to step outside of yourself…

 Soothe that troubled soul,

So you can vanish with your pain.

 

But something inside tells you that

The last record of one's life

Is in accord with one's struggle, one's strife

 

So you think,

What will last record will be?

And something tells you that you should wait and see…

 

Because nothing is lost

Except illusions have their cost

So when life gets us down…

 You know you need to find a way to reverse things

Because you cannot create or destroy your form

And all you can do is stand in the storm…

©tgk

 

THIS POEM WAS WRITTEN FOR THOSE THAT THOUGHT OF ENDING THEIR LIFE...I'VE BEEN THERE BEFORE...

 

¿IS THAT SUNLIGHT I SEE?

Today marked the beginning of what I think is a HUGE step in the right direction for my cousin. She decided that she wanted to go for counseling in order for her to get her life back on track and I couldn’t be HAPPIER! When I wrote about her about a week ago, I felt her isolation N’ pain and I was glad that she picked up the telephone and called me for help. She realized that death is not an option for her and decided that she wanted to live despite where she is in life right now…So she decided to let me know things that brought her to a VERY dark AND lonely place…She told me about the family friend that raped her this past Saturday, but not before he started doing this to her @ the tender age of ten (10). Of course that made me EXTREMELY upset because I HATE when adults use children for the sexual pleasure…This is young lady who was VERY much child like into her teens TOTALLY blew away my room-mate and friend that was @ the house when I brought her here. You see my cousin was one those girls that didn’t look her age and if you see her now you would say the same thing…She looks frail N’ thin…VERY weak and her speech isn’t what it used to be and death looks like he has her in his grip…

I only wished she had told me about her pain sooner so I could offer some help, but there is NO time like the present, right? Hearing about her struggles and how she views herself was painful for me. So I know being called a slut and everything else would make her feel even worse about herself. I told her that everything will be fine because from today onward things will change. Of course I knew that I had to get my mom, aunt and her father together to let them know how she became the person we see standing in front of us today…

So yesterday I drove to my family home to pick her up and as luck would have it everyone was there…though I didn’t see the opportunity right away, I soon noticed my chance because as she came towards me, her father said to me KISHNA TALK SOME SENSE INTO THIS GIRL PLEASE? I smiled because for me that meant talking some sense into you and the rest of my family so we can help her…I told them the past is the past and we all need to move forward, but in order that to happen we need to understand the past N’ present so we can work towards a better future…I told them what she told me and their emotions ranged from shock, pain, anger and tears…You see my family is VERY hard and they don’t show LOVE like that so to see them react this way, it surprised the hell out of me. I was all set to let them have it for the way they have treated her because I felt that they added to her pain though I am not excusing some of the things she did, I feel like they are the adults that and should have taken her cries more seriously…

But to my surprise, a miracle took place and I felt sorry for them because they are like SO many others that don’t like to confront issues dealing with child molestation…I am SO happy that I made a CONSCIOUS DECISION to go against that popular ignorant behavior…How could they deny the things she say when she gives them vivid images of what took place with her the first time he raped her and his most recent attack on her this past Saturday? For the torn underwear to him penetrating her, they realized that her not sleeping home AND going out partying was her way of not loosing herself to the pain of molestation AND lack of support from a family that she has come to know as her safety net for SO many years…

I am happy to know that she reached out to me and a friend and I were able to arrange her first counseling session today. We all know that the longer someone is in isolation, the harder it becomes to reach them. It felt GREAT when the counselor that did the evaluation on her called me into the office and told me that she is VERY open and receptive which is a good sign of someone that wants some help…And it was @ the moment that I remembered the Monday night she slept @ my house and I had to deal with her seizures and ramblings because her mind seems to be going in SO many different directions @ once. I lost two days of personal time that I can’t get back and that’s fine with me because for the first time in about four years I think I can see some sunlight peeping through those dark clouds that has been plaguing her for such a long…And though the road will long and hard, I will pray for more sunshine AND send positive energy her way every chance I get…

MICHAEL JACKSON: A FITTING FAREWELL…

Michael Jackson was eulogized in words and song by an all-star list of musicians, athletes and other celebrities during a mournful ceremony in downtown Los Angeles, with the most poignant moment delivered by his sobbing 11-year-old daughter. "I just want to say ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine. And I just wanted to say I love him so much," Paris-Michael Jackson said before almost collapsing in the arms of her aunt Janet Jackson.

Watched by millions around the world, the memorial struck a tone more spiritual than spectacular. I LOVED the musical numbers performed by Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Mariah Carey. However the spoken word got my attention and the salutes that raised my emotions and MUST be highlighted are: 

"Michael always knew he could count on me to support him or be his date. ... We had a bond and maybe it was because we both understood what it was like to be in the spotlight from a very, very young age. I used to tease him and say, `I started when I was 11 months old. You're a slacker. You were like 5?' Both of us needed to be adults very early, but when we were together, we were two little kids having fun. ... M.J.'s laugh was the sweetest and purest of anyone I've known." — BROOKE SHIELDS.

"I'm here representing millions of fans around the world who grew up listening to Michael, being inspired and loving Michael from a distance. ... Somehow when Michael Jackson sang and when he danced ... we felt he was right there. ... He made you believe in yourself." — QUEEN LATIFAH.

  

"When he did his iconic moonwalk, I was shocked. It was magic. Michael Jackson went into orbit and never came down. Though it ended way too soon, Michael's life was beautiful." Gordy also said, "some sad times and maybe some questionable decisions on his part," the title King of Pop wasn't good enough for Jackson. "I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived." — MOTOWN RECORDS FOUNDER BERRY GORDY.

"This is a moment that I wish that I didn't live to see come. But as much as I can say that and mean it, I do know that God is good and I do know that as much as we may feel — and we do — that we need Michael here with us, God must have needed him far more." — STEVIE WONDER.

"Every time he got knocked down, he got back up," Sharpton said, and the applauding crowd jumped to its feet. Sharpton rode the moment, building to a crescendo. "There wasn't nothing strange about your daddy," he said later, addressing Jackson's three children in the front row. "It was strange what your daddy had to deal with!" – REV. AL SHARPTON. 

The ceremony wrapped up with group performances of "We Are the World" and "Heal the World" sung by Lionel Richie, Hudson and Jackson family members — including his children — before a backdrop of symbols of religions from around the world. They were joined onstage by children in white and several other people who had participated in the ceremony. Then members of Jackson's family took the stage to thank the crowd and share their own thoughts, barely able to hide their emotion as they hugged in the ceremony's final moments.

WE’RE HERE. WE’RE QUEER. WHAT’S NEXT?

PLANETOUT DOT COM ASKS…WE’RE HERE. WE’RE QUEER. WHAT’S NEXT? SO I THOUGHT I’D ASK THE SAME THING HERE TODAY…

There was a time when as a collective group, gay people needed to band together to have our voices heard. We were persecuted, had our bars raided, had our homes taken when our long-term partners passed away and their families didn't approve of our relationships or lifestyles. the government turned a blind eye when thousands of us started dying from a mysterious disease, so heroic people within our community formed advocacy groups. These groups supported our "families" and gave us a place to turn for help when we needed it since it didn't seem that many others cared. We had medical groups, social groups and, of course, activists. It was this last category that showed the world what it had turned its gay community into: angry, frustrated people who weren't going to sit back and be ignored anymore.

One of these groups, Queer Nation, eventually adopted a slogan that many of us have embraced over the last 20 years. "We're here. We're queer. Get used to it" became a rallying cry, a line chanted at parades, outside government buildings, at events. But over time, as gay people became more and more accepted into mainstream society through TV, movies and everyday regular people feeling more comfortable to come out at work, "We're here" became something people used to toss off a joke or just say, "Hey, pay attention to me. I'm talking and I'm gay!" 

The line still has an impact but is it necessary today? Yes, we still aren't fully integrated into society and, yes, we are fighting for the basic civil right to marry our loved ones. But is telling people that we're gay and around and to basically, well, get used to it, a little aggressive? 

An article written by Christopher Ott on Salon in 1999 had a headline "We're here, we're queer, I'm sick of it," which talked about how the gay "agenda" morphed its focus from a political activist viewpoint to one of partying, when in reality we should've been focusing on obtaining equal rights. It's interesting that we're still talking about this last point today.

That said, maybe it's time to come up with a new slogan that we can all embrace and get behind. Someone jokingly said to me that we should say, "We're gay, we're pretty, please don't beat us up," at which time I told him to shut the hell up. We don't want people to think of us as weak or meager, but as equals. Not every straight man is butch and into sports. Not every straight woman is soft and feminine. Just in the same way that not every gay man or woman can be pigeonholed into stereotypically categories.

So yes, we're here and we are queer and yes, people need to get used to it. But do we need to throw it into their faces? Can't we just live our lives and let people get to know us as people and not as gay people? Of course we need people to know who we are otherwise we will never get our rights. But we've advanced tremendously in the last few decades. So is it time for a new slogan? What do you think?

THE "HEATHEN’S GUIDE" TO RELIGION

Author William Hopper describes his work as "an examination of the lust, greed, murder, and sheer stupidity that have contributed to the history of the world’s religions."

By tracing each faith from its inception to modern day, Hopper's book is a rare combination of exhaustive research and flat-out hilarity. “I tend to stomp where angels fear to tread” Hopper explains.

And stomp he does. From Moses to Mohammed, Buddha to Baha’u’llah, The Heathen’s Guide spares no faith from Hopper’s acerbic examination of their history, tenets, and origins.

“I genuinely believed in religion at one time.” Hopper explains. “Then I did the one thing that religions hate: I educated myself. I studied World Religions at university, and that pretty much killed any faith I had. I soon discovered that there was far more documentation and history out there than is taught from the pulpit.”

Asked why he chose humor as a vehicle for the information in The Heathen’s Guide, Hopper explained: “When you tear away the sanctity and look at who really did what, you either laugh or buy a high powered rifle. As a religious studies student, I couldn’t afford a rifle.”

The Heathen’s Guide is now in its seventh edition, and has had a cult following for over a decade. Now, however, the book is finding mainstream success, even acclaim. When asked about the newfound popularity of the title, Hopper explains that he always has always believed that The Heathen’s Guide would do well.

“When I was sixteen and a good Roman Catholic, I was taken to meet Mother Teresa. The priest introduced us, and she took my hand, looked me in the eye. A second later she told her aides to get rid of me. I was summarily dismissed and escorted away from her with no explanation. It was then that I first realized that I might be onto something.”

Press kits and review copies are now available for the seventh edition of this very popular title. To get a copy or to arrange and interview with the author, simply e-mail press@heathensguide.com  or visit www.heathensguide.com for more information.

WOULD YOU READ THIS BOOK?

DROPS OF JUPITER

DROPS OF JUPITER (TELL ME) is an alternative rock song by California rock band Train on their second album Drops of Jupiter (2001). It was their first single from the album, and hit the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 5 and remaining in the Top 40 for 38 weeks.^[1] The song has spent over 100 weeks on the Adult Contemporary charts, and is still charting on the recurrent chart. Although the song was released years before digital download became commonplace, the song has sold over 100,000 downloads (giving it a Gold certification by the RIAA), and hit the top 50 of the Digital Downloads charts five years after its release due to Ace Young singing it on the fifth seasonof American Idol. I chose this song because of its unique and enigmatic lyrics, the meaning of song has been the subject of many speculation so feel free to come up with your own…As you do, I hope that you allow the references to the planets, stars, galaxies and so on gives that otherworldly feeling…I feel this song is bound to change your worldview if you endeavor to enlighten yourself. I hope that you would realize that there is more in the universe than our imaginations are capable of bringing to life when you hear this song…

MOTTO FOR LIFE...

LAUGH TIL’ IT HURTS.

HOPE TIL’ IT WORKS.

LOVE TIL’ IT FILLS YOU.

LIVE TIL’ IT KILLS YOU.