Be wise men and women--bring presents to every impoverished, homeless child via World Vision

During this senseless, unjust time of social delusion, oppression, persecution, abuse, and war between Christians, Muslims--endless conflict and suffering...
similar to the tragic time of infant Yisho (Aramaic), whose birthing mother only had an animal trough for her new born...

Follow in the long journey of the wise humans and bring gifts to those in need...
a goat, clean clothes, adequate food, a fishing kit, clean water, education, loving care...


Bring deliverance from hate,
disease, poverty, human rights violations,
exploitation, the ravages of current conflicts--Orthodox Christian Russia's horrific invasion of Christian Ukraine, the mass civilian slaughter by monotheists (Muslims, Jews, Christians in the Middle East, the Congo, the Sudan, Nigeria...

Through the peace-spreading
and poverty-ending by World Vision, or some other reliable,
world-changing nonprofit.

Give hope!

Do how Jesus/Yeshua parabled of the unexpected, kind, caring acts of one traveling individual of the hated Samaritans.

Herald the Glad Tidings for the Good, the True, the Just, the Kind, the Caring...

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

The LADY in the GARDEN

On a picture-post-card date near the swirling
Serpentine sway of the wide Schuylkill River
Meandering through Central Philly's park garden,

Towered over by leaning elms, while 3 long canoes
Swift by to the paddling of Ivy League rowers.
Gazing at my dear partner in this verdant garden;

My Friendly girl, Karen--ebony caped-round
In waist-length hair like a swaying black cloak--
She's an aspiring concert violinist and rights activist;

Vivid in her red chambray shirt and Levis, she
Converses intensely of King's D.C. March in 3 weeks,
Me listening intently to my companion in the garden.

I, the drafted conscientious objector, work for Uncle Sam
With forsaken kids confined to sterile mental wards,
Disturbed by parents' wrong living; but still am

So youthfully focused on my comely girlfriend’s
Figured shape more than humanity’s ship of state.
A warm date with my dear companion in the garden.

We sit cross-legged on a wide lush parkway green,
Getting ready to munch our carefully bagged meal
Of 2 peanut butter and grape sandwiches,

Yet we discuss war’s ravages in far-off Nam
And Bob Dylan's 'hard rained' croons.
Loving my dear concerned friend in the garden

But then I inhale a fuming putrid odor;
Twist my neck and see this bagged lady in a filthy rag
Of a dress lunging slowly forward, hanging

Onto her trashy mesh of a shopping bag, her rancid
Stench to high heaven wafts, and I pinch my nose;
Turn back to Karen, not this intruder in the garden.

But lo and hold--my violinist, instead, rises
And welcomes the old hag, “Hi Lady, will you join us
For our little Sunday snack here in the warm sun?”

The homeless stranger sprawls haggardly on our grass,
Her grimy shift wrinkling on her scraggly legs.
Karen gazes warmly at this unknown one in the garden

I'm all upside-down in my face as this invader,
Reaches out her grubby hand to our blanket,
Grabs one of our 2 sandwiches, and half crams

It in her narrow jaws, chews open-mouthed and teethed,
While I fume, separated from my date
By this chomping vagrant in our parked garden.

But then I awake, remembering almost too late,
The very deep story about the least of these; I turn,
And finally join my dear musician's caring psalm,

We now communing 3 of human kind,
Under these verdant swaying trees of warmth.
Sharing friends,--in this present park garden.


--Dan Wilcox

First pub. in The Oak Bend Review
in different form;
in Selah River, a collection of Daniel's
published poetry,
And before, in Dark Energy, a book of poems by Daniel
published by Diminuendo Press


In the LIGHT,

Dan Wilcox

Guest Post: Teens Create Portable, Solar-Powered Tent for the Homeless

Teens Create Portable, Solar-Powered Tent for the Homeless February 23, 2021 by Cathy Stack San Fernando, CA - A team of 12 teenage girls have invented a portable, solar-powered tent.

Their inspiration for the ambitious and innovative project was the growing problem of homelessness in their community. Improving the lives of homeless individuals and addressing their daily struggles with a lack of shelter and privacy was their guiding goal. They set out to create a highly durable, water-resistant tent that offered more air, light, sanitation, privacy, and a cell phone charging station.

https://www.passiton.com/passiton-blog/31-teens-create-portable-solar-powered-tent-for The team consists of San Fernando high school students who have had no formal engineering training, only a compelling desire to help their community. The students teamed up with a nonprofit organization called DIY Girls which supports girls in science, technology and engineering. Team members learned new skills ranging from coding and 3-D printing to sewing and soldering. They also taught themselves how to plan, print and assemble a product to complete the tent’s prototype.

America Hernandez and Casandra Salazar, two team members, decided to participate in the design and engineering project to help make a difference. “We decided that homelessness was something that was growing in our community and it was something that not a lot of people focus on,” commented America. The long hours and dedication required did not deter the students. “Since this project was meant for other people, we did feel more motivated,” added Casandra.

There are many state-of-the art features and design elements that make the tent unique. It is made to be both portable and lightweight. It neatly folds into a rolling backpack to make it convenient to travel with. The tent’s interior is equipped with lights, a pair of USB ports, and one micro-USB port specially powered by solar energy. The solar power is used to charge electronic devices, provide light and sanitize the tent’s interior.

Now that the prototype is complete, the team aspires to get their invention patented and mass distributed to the homeless population. The team also hopes their invention can eventually aid many different displaced people around the world, such as refugees.

Pass It On and The Foundation for a Better Life is highly impressed with these young innovators who identified and worked to resolve a problem in their community using their own skills and intellect. They are a great example of the value of Teamwork. As a team, they experienced the empowering feeling of witnessing how their combined skills could be put to good use to improve the world. Please help us honor these young heroes by sharing their inspiring story.

Watch video here: https://youtu.be/wddoKEicmio

Please tell us about your everyday Hero. The Heroes among us are ordinary people whose actions leave a lasting and positive impact in their communities and demonstrate the potential in all of us. Their heroic acts uphold our shared values. Help honor these individuals by creating a billboard and sharing their story at: http://www.passiton.com/your-billboards/create

Sign Up to The Foundation for a Better Life PassItOn blog to be inspired: http://www.passiton.com/passiton-blog

PASS IT ON®

The Tails of the New Cat and the Old Mouse

Another homeless cat has adopted us the last few weeks:-) We're calling him Cinder. He's all black on top and sides, with white paws and underbelly. In honor of this new owner of us...here's a poem I wrote for another black cat that owned us a few years back, Zorro:-)

The Tails of the Cat and the Mouse

Beneath my hand the smooth mouse moves, gray and black, Its long, fibered tail swishing this and that way While I, its master, move it around. Sometimes Its corded tail catches on the keyboard tray; Perhaps I ought to buy a tailless fastback.

So goes the tail of the cat and the mouse.

My feline master, Zorro, is at the door; The living tux, white-fronted and black-masked Slinks in to claim my lap, his throne. Having just Fed himself, the cat yowls and demands a task From me. I had been working—but no more.

So swishes the tail of the cat and the mouse.

One hand's fingers peck at the disarranged Glyphs of black and white upon the keyboard; The other strokes his black crown and white jaw, And the mouse again to add more to the hoard Of text that slowly scrolls down the white page.

So curls the tail of the cat and the mouse.

Zorro, in command, sees all; the furry sphinx Adjusts his paws as I move his seat (my knees), And tracks the pad-bound motion of my mouse. Sometimes he lays a white paw on the keys; Then jumbled text appears -- a real screen jinx.

So twists the tail of the cat and the mouse.

The mouse and I, we know who holds the power; My feline Lord meows imperiously Demanding my attention, all at once. What else have I to do but serve? So he Leaps down with tailed pride from his catnap hour.

So waves the tail of the cat and the mouse.

Impatient and commanding, Zorro stands Begrudging time I spend to clear the screen. I open the door; the king of cats takes leave While my obedient mouse sits, quite serene. The jungle tale, not tech, surely rules my hands.

So ends the tail of the cat and the mouse.

--Daniel Wilcox

First published at Anthrozine

Baptizing Cars and Us, (the Friendly Way)

A serendipity, an unplanned blessing, came one morning as I drove down Bradley Road. Very unexpectedly, as I had been struggling through a severe spiritual crisis, yet another pilgrim's regress.*

It's Saturday. I’ve run an errand, am headed for work. But then I see that hunched, elderly man, the one who stands on Bradley at a narrow crossroad, his thumb out, hitchhiking most days of the week.

I never stop because traffic here is bad, very heavy and there is no side lane, and, besides, there are miles to go before I rest. I haven't earned enough money, self-employed.

But today, incredibly, no cars are crowding my back-bumper, so I go with my alert conscience and concern, and stop for the oldster.

Swarthy, leather-skinned, in old wrinkled clothes, he almost looks homeless, and is hunched over as if someone has curled his spine; his one gnarled hand holds a small trash bag, maybe his lunch.

Gingerly, he climbs into my Sienna and thanks me.

But I can hardly understand what else he is saying because he speaks with a heavy Spanish accent and has a serious voice impediment. He sits there bent forward, his face weathered, like dark brown parchment.

But finally, I figure out he has 13 grandkids and his wife died from cancer 18 months ago and
that he works at a carwash
and is 82 years old!

We commune, even though it is hard to understand most of his rumpled words.

My heavy load of grief lightens.

I leave him off near his work where he baptizes cars with water Baptist-style.

But even though we speak no religious language and Friends don't practice rituals such as baptism and communion,
the hitchhiker and I live in a precious moment,
a present meeting,
a transcendent baptism
in the Light.

In the Light,
Daniel Wilcox

*(Does a person's spiritual journey ever reach the proverbial mountain top? Or at least a little peaceful oasis in the barren desert of ached spiritual longing?)

The Lady in Our Garden

The Lady in Our Garden

A picture-post-card date near the swirling
Serpentine sway of the wide Schuylkill River

Meandering through Central Philly's park garden,
Towered over by leaning elms, while 3 long canoes
Swift by to the paddling of Ivy League collegians.
Gazing at my dear companion in our garden

My Friendly girl, Karen, chestnut-caped round
In waist-length hair like a swaying black ephod,
Vivid in her red chambray shirt and blue jeans,
Is an aspiring concert violinist but converses
Passionately of King's March to D.C. in 3 months.
Listening to my dear companion in the garden

I, the principled drafted objector, work for Uncle Sam
With forsaken kids confined to sterile mental wards
Disturbed by parents' wrong living, but still am
So youthfully focused on my beautiful girlfriend’s
Figured shape than humanity’s ship of state.
Desiring my dear companion in our garden

We sit cross-legged on a wide lush parkway green,
Getting ready to eat our carefully bagged meal
Of 2 peanut butter and grape sandwiches
As we discuss war’s ravages in far-off Nam
And Bob Dylan's 'hard rained' croons.
Loving my dear companion in the garden

But then I inhale a fuming putrid odor;
Twist my neck and see this bagged lady in a filthy rag
Of a dress lunging slowly forward, hanging
Onto her ugly mesh of a shopping bag, her rancid
Stench to high heaven wafts and I pinch my nose.
Focusing instead on my companion in our garden

But lo and hold it! my violinist instead rises
And welcomes that old hag, “Hi Lady, will you join us
For our delicious Sunday snack here in the warm sun?”
The homeless alien sprawls haggardly on our grass,
Her wretched, spotted, shift wrinkling on her scraggly legs.
Karen gazes at this unknown companion in the garden

I am all upside-down in my face as this invader,
This illegal, reaches out a grubby, dirty hand,
Grabs one of our 2 sandwiches, and half crams
It in her narrow jaws, chews open-mouthed and teethed,
Me fuming at this chomping ugly interloper.
Separating my dear companion in our garden

But then awake, remembering almost too late,
The very old story about the least of these, turn,
And finally join my dear musician's psalm,
We a communing 3 of human kind,
Under those verdant swaying trees of compassion.
Sharing, so dear companions in our Garden


--Daniel Wilcox

First pub. in The Oak Bend Review
in different form;
in selah river, a collection of Daniel's
published poetry.



In the Light of Sharing,

Daniel Wilcox

In Honor of Those Who Suffered in the Past, Work for Peace NOW!

by Shane Claiborne

"One of my favorite Veterans (other than my dad of course) is Charlie Liteky.

In 1968 Charlie Liteky was given the highest award in the US, the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon Johnson. In the movie, "Forrest Gump", they dub over Charlie to put Tom Hanks in as he is given the award.

What is not as well known is that in 1986 Charlie joined some of the most decorated veterans in the US as they returned their Medals of Honor and renounced all war.

Charlie and I got to be in Iraq together in 2003 with the Iraq Peace Team.

One of the things he taught me is that veterans often know the horrors of war better than anyone. We can see it in the suicide rate (one a day for soldiers, 22 a day for veterans) and in the rate of homelessness and addiction of vets (there are 50,000 homeless veterans).

When we fight for peace, we are fighting for them. We honor the men and women in uniform by trying to put an end to war. In Iraq, I remember Charlie holding a sign while we were there that said:
"I hate war as only a Veteran can."

It reminded me of the words of Ernest Hemingway: "Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead."

Let's commit ourselves today, as many folks celebrate "Veterans Day" -- to honor the infantry and the dead by committing to build a world without war.

In the name of the Prince of Peace. Amen."

by Shane Claiborne

--

My response:
May we all remember that the best honor we can do for those who suffered in wars of the past is to work for peace NOW. Vote for candidates who will stop funding Islamic rebels, stop supporting undemocratic governments, stop sending our young adults into quagmires where every side is doing wrong.

For instance, why are we supporting the Islamic government of Afghanistan which supports Sharia Law? Just this week, Afghans stoned a young woman to death again! Most government leaders there oppress women, support punishment of Afghans who reject Islam.

Let's start a new movement in support of Martin Luther King's ideals. Be a peacemaker, not a warmaker.

And give and help those veterans who are still suffering from the past.

http://civilianpublicservice.org/storycontinues/hotline

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox

Concerning the Petition by World Vision and Others to Rebuild Gaza

https://youtu.be/9J2R-f5iFVU

Check out this video recently released by HAMAS.
Does it look like HAMAS is dedicated to peace?

In one new video a HAMAS terrorist slaughters an Israeli even though the Jewish person is down and not a threat, while in the background worship of Allah plays.

Really sick…

HAMAS Terrorists Attacking Into Israel from Tunnels



Then there is this new appeal by Aid organizations such as MCC and World Vision, who urge the nations to rebuild Gaza, and stop the suffering of many thousands.

--

Would the Allied Commanders at the end of World War II let the Nazis remain in power, and continue to rearm and commit terrorist attacks, while we rebuilt German cities?!

"A majority of Palestinians say that suicide bombing is often or sometimes justified “in order to defend Islam from its enemies,” according to a new Pew Research survey.

“Support for suicide bombing and other violence aimed at civilian targets is most widespread in the Palestinian territories, with 62% of Muslims saying that such attacks are often or sometimes justified in order to defend Islam from its enemies,” the report said."
--By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times

"A leading Palestinian Authority said in an interview broadcast earlier this month that he supported violence against Israel, including a nuclear attack.

“I swear that if we had a nuke, we’d have used it this very morning,” said Jibril Rajoub, the deputy secretary of the Fatah Central Committee and the chairman of the PA Olympic Committee..." He made the comments during a television interview with the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen television channel, which was then posted on his personal Facebook page.

Two more leading PA officials also touted support for the killer of Evyatar Borovsky, an Israeli who was stabbed to death while waiting at a station for his bus...

“We salute the heroic fighter, the self-sacrificing Salam Al-Zaghal,” said Abu Al-Einstein, a former minister to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas...

And the other PA official, also on the suspected Palestinian killer: “Blessings to the breast that nursed Salam Al-Zaghal..."
By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times



--
That is why I don’t support MCC and World Vision’s “Lift the Gaza Blockade."

Should the Nazis have been allowed to remain in power, and continue to murder innocent civilians, while the nations rebuilt Germany?

No way!

To rebuild Gaza while HAMAS spends millions on terrorism and the rebuilding of terror tunnels is insanity!

And it will only end with more innocent Gazans dying when the next war between Israel and Gaza happens, probably within 3 years.

Look at what is happening right now in the Sinai, where terrorist groups related to HAMAS have been killing Egyptian police and others.

---
"World Leaders: Lift the Gaza Blockade

ONLY AFTER HAMAS DISARMS.

DON'T

SIGN THE PETITION

YET!

To: UN Special Coordinator Mladenov, Sheikh Emir Al Thani, President Obama, President Hollande, Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Cameron, Prime Minister Solberg, EU Vice President Mogherini, and all other world leaders:
One year on from the devastating conflict in Gaza, we are calling on you to press Israel to end the blockade and to immediately remove wood, steel bars, cement, aggregates, and other essential construction materials from the list of items restricted from entering the Gaza Strip. Not one of the 19,000 homes destroyed in Gaza has been fully rebuilt in the last year. World leaders have pledged $3.5 billion to rebuild Gaza, but Israeli government restrictions on the entry of building material are costing reconstruction efforts severe delays. As concerned citizens, we urge you to take action to press for an end to these restrictions now, so that families are lifted out of the rubble and homes, schools, and hospitals can be built.


555,783 have signed. Let's get to 600,000
For a whole year the Israeli government has restricted basic and essential construction materials from entering Gaza. Not one of the 19,000 homes that were bombed and destroyed has been fully rebuilt.

One year on, around 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza are still homeless, hospitals and schools still lie in ruins, and whole neighbourhoods have no access to running water.

But on the anniversary of the ceasefire -- we can help ensure homes and hope are rebuilt.

Our governments have already pledged to rebuild Gaza, and called on the government of Israel to lift the blockade. If we now show them that people everywhere want urgent action to stop this injustice, they are more likely to insist the Israeli government stop hindering reconstruction, and families will be able to build homes and children will finally get their schools back.

Sign the petition and tell everyone -- let's get 1.8 million voices for urgent action, one for each person living in Gaza.

Just 5 percent of the 6,700,000 tons of steel bars, cement and aggregates needed to rebuild what was destroyed since the end of the war has been permitted to enter Gaza. At this rate, it could take 17 years before Gaza is rebuilt.

Palestinian political parties have failed to reconcile and prioritise reconstruction, and Egypt's closure of its border has further limited supplies entering Gaza. The principal obstacle to reconstruction is Israel’s blockade. While Israel justifies the restrictions on security grounds, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have told Israel this blockade is a violation of international law.

By placing restrictions on the movement of people and goods, the blockade is punishing innocent civilians for acts for which they bear no responsibility. There can never be a justification for leaving families without a home and the sick without a hospital.

The media's eyes are on Gaza right now, and that’ll make politicians more likely to act. Sign the urgent petition on the right -- let’s demand our government's move beyond statements, and ramp up diplomacy.

For further questions check out the Q&A page.

Signatories:

Include

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
Medico International
Norwegian Church Aid (NCA)

Oxfam

Pax Christi Flanders
Pax Christi International
Physicians for Human Rights – Israel

Secours Islamique France
Terre des Hommes Italy
The Lutheran World Federation
The Palestine Solidarity Association of Sweden

World Vision International

END OF NEWS QUOTATION

--

Again, think about it...would the Allies have allowed the Nazis to remain in power and continue to murder the innocent, while we rebuilt Germany?

First HAMAS, Islamic Jihad, etc. must be banned, or at least defanged, then the suffering people of Gaza can be helped.

But the civilians of Gaza, also, must reject totally all suicide bombing, instead of most of them supporting terrorism like they do now.

Then peace will stand a chance.

In the Light,

Daniel Wilcox