Q: Where does $10 goes a long way? A: Gaza.

If you donate to one cause this month, make it this one.

Here's the email I got...

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My next trip: can I count on you? (from the real Patch Adams)

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Patch Adams	Tue, May 19, 2009 at 3:25 PM
Reply-To: codepink@mail.democracyinaction.org To: lswhitesell@gmail.com
From the Desk of Dr. Patch Adams May 19, 2009 Dear Lily, As a "doctor/clown," I have traveled the world over to bring the healing power of laughter to children and adults in virtually every corner of the world -- from Afghanistan, to Bosnia, to Haiti. Right now, there is a group of children who are really in need of healing -- the children of the Gaza Strip. Please help me bring some healing and laughter -- as well as playgrounds, sports equipment and medicines -- to the shattered young lives of this war-torn region. The 1.5 million people of the Gaza Strip (more than half of them children) have had their homes destroyed, their playgrounds crushed and their schools gutted in the recent Israeli attack on this small, crowded corner of the world. Their borders -- both on the Israeli and Egyptian sides --are closed, making it impossible to rebuild. For the first time ever, we'll be part of a coordinated effort to push open the borders by land and by sea! On June 5, I will join CODEPINK: Women for Peace, the Coalition of Women for Peace (Israel) and more than 100 American and Israeli peace activists -- Jews, Muslims, Christians and everything in between. We will set up an encampment on the Israeli border calling for a lifting of the siege. We will be joined by over 150 people trying to enter Gaza through Egypt and others coming by sea. We will bring materials to build playgrounds, sports equipment, children's medicines -- and performances that will get the children to forget their dire circumstances for a little while and laugh. But we need your help. We need your donations to sustain a presence at both borders to put pressure on the Israeli and Egyptian governments. And we need money to purchase the playground materials, sports equipment and medicines. Please donate today. While President Obama and the Middle East leaders talk endlessly about talks, we can actually DO SOMETHING to lift the siege and flood Gaza with love and laughter. Let's show them that the power of laughter can't be extinguished! Patch Adams PS: Join CODEPINK and Global Exchange Reality Tours on our upcoming "Peace, Gender, and the Environment" delegation to Ecuador. Tuesday, July 7th 2009 Donate Today! Help lift the siege and flood Gaza with love and laughter Join CODEPINK and Global Exchange "Peace, Gender, and the Environment" delegation to Ecuador unsubscribe from this list

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Which reminded me of this amazing story from my church:

Hiroshima Children's Drawings
Gifts of Peace and Hope

On Sunday, April 5, All Souls Church commemorated and celebrated an important moment of global solidarity from more than fifty years ago.

"In 1948, inspired by the sermons of the Rev. A. Powell Davies, children at All Souls collected school supplies to send to children in Hiroshima, Japan. In appreciation, the school children in Hiroshima created original works of art in crayon, water color, pen, and calligraphic brush, which they sent back to All Souls as gifts. Sixty years on, the church has had these precious creations restored.

"You are invited to view these drawings (high-quality reproductions) in Pierce Hall, where they will be exhibited through the middle of June.

"Also, inspired by the story, the Intermediate classes (3rd-5th grade) will collect school supplies (washable markers or preschool crayons only) to help support our homeless or hungry neighbors who attend the after-school activities at Martha's Table. Place your donations in the baskets at the 16th Street and Harvard Street entrance. In 1948, they collected over a half ton of supplies. Let's see how much we can collect!"




There is also a longer version of this story. It tells how the art that was made by the survivors of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is considered almost sacred in Japanese society. The artwork that is now displayed in the main hall of All Souls Church now is particularly special because they are such hopeful drawings, a testament to life's ability to continue after such a tragedy, the drawings of children.

I've taken a few Sundays to look at them now; I see something new each time.

- lily

photos from http://all-souls.org/

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Other links of the day:

- Here's some more info about Lt. Dan Choi getting fired for being truthful about his sexuality. http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/dontfiredan

- A very cool bed and breakfast in Lexington, VA recommended by my friend Jeanie. Lexington sounds like a very cool area. http://www.applewoodbb.com/general.html

- High quality products + American jobs = bailed out bank should do the right thing. Add your voice here. http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/hartmarx/

- This from Just Foreign Policy:

"Can Treasury Sneak IMF Money Through the Supplemental?
Lost in the drama over the war supplemental is a sneaky play by Treasury Department to get $108 billion in U.S. tax dollars for the IMF. If Treasury can get the money through the supplemental, it can avoid any Congressional debate over the policies of the IMF and whether this is a wise and just use of U.S. tax dollars; and whether Congress should insist on meaningful, observable reforms of IMF policy as the price of new U.S. funding.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/can-treasury-sneak-imf-mo_b_204058.html"

and this:

"1) After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Obama said that Israel "is going to have to take some difficult steps," the Washington Post reports. "Settlements have to be stopped," Obama said."

- The Union of Concerned Scientists put out a report, Climate 2030.

"Today, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released the Climate 2030 Blueprint, a peer-reviewed study showing that the United States can dramatically cut global warming pollution while saving households and businesses in every region of the nation billions of dollars in energy costs."

- I'm also outraged that the University of Virginia denied one of the best professors I've ever had, Dr. Wende Marshall, tenure. I feel very fortunate to have been her student. Why am I going to my five year reunion? To hang out with Wende.
http://www.virginia.edu/anthropology/faculty/wende.html

- Finally, the Higher Awareness email quote. "Journey home - 'Everything seeks its source.' -- a universal principle" (it's true that one must always journey home, but it's also true that opposites attract. -lily)

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Whew! I get enough emails between Monday and Tuesday to keep me busy all week!