Why you and your congregation should oppose SOPA

Thanks for stopping by ReadTheSpirit today, Wednesday, January 18, 2012! The entire Internet is quirky today—full of dead ends and blacked out pages—as many Web giants we all use, including Wikipedia and Google, are “on strike” for a day to protest dangerous legislation working its way through Congress.

We are striking, too!
Our mid-week author interview, this week with best-selling author Bishop John Shelby Spong, will be delayed one day. Similarly, our daily OurValues series, our regular Holidays column, our Spiritual Wanderer blog and our Friendship and Faith series are all on strike today. No new stories will appear on Wednesday.
Fresh stories will return on Thursday.
Because we are a news magazine, covering important stories affecting religious life and values around the world, we are only publishing this analysis of the SOPA issue today.

The two acts before the U.S. Congress may sound great but actually would wreak havoc on many important Web resources—and might have dire effects on peaceful freedom movements around the world. The two pieces of legislation are known simply as the U.S. House’s SOPA and the U.S. Senate’s PIPA. They stand for Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect Intellectual Property Act. They appear noble: Any serious media professionals, including all the writers and editors at readthespirit.com, want to protect copyrights and properly credit the work of other professionals.

But here is the dangerous flaw: This legislation is overkill. It’s basically a giant club that media moguls in places like Hollywood and Nashville want to swing against websites they claim are improperly using copyright content. And “claim” is enough, in this case. Court action always has been available in copyright cases, but the proposed legislation lets a mere “claim” shut down entire accused websites—or block off entire regions of the world.

WHERE SOPA MIGHT HIT YOU
AND YOUR CONGREGATION

WIKIPEDIA STAFF POSTED THIS EXPLANATION.Most of our readers are part of religious groups, nonprofit organizations and countless online groups that have noble spiritual motives. Imagine if some online robot documenting your website spotted a photograph or a bit of text or music—even if it was posted by a well-meaning but clumsy amateur in your group. If such a Web search turns up such a flaw—and a claim is filed against you or your group—then: BANG! Your entire website can be shut down.

A DANGEROUS WEAPON
TO HAND TO DICTATORS

Even if you think that copyright infringement deserves a tough response, this new legislation poses global problems of serious concern to most of our readers. For example, in our popular new Blessed Are the Peacemakers book and online efforts, global peace negotiator and author Dan Buttry is encouraging all of us to help nonviolent freedom movements. SOPA and PIPA target entire regions of the world where copyright infringement and piracy occur regularly. While knocking out piracy is a noble goal we share—imagine giving this big club to dictators clinging to power against the Arab Spring or other freedom movements. Or, consider all the American-supported, religious-freedom campaigns aimed at helping faithful men and women in countries like China. That’s a nation that would be targeted for Web blockades in this new legislation. We all could wind up dodging clubs and blackouts—in some cases based on claims made by brutal dictators who suddenly seem to be getting tough on copyright laws as a way to repress grassroots movements. In the waning days of Egypt’s dictatorship, unsuccessful attempts were made to black out the Internet. Imagine if SOPA and PIPA gave such brutal strongmen a seemingly noble way to go: BANG!

INFRINGEMENT IS SO TRICKY,
EVEN SOPA SPONSOR FELL VICTIM

U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith violated the terms of SOPA on his own website by using the background photograph of a rural area to frame his home page. Smith’s webmaster never contacted or credited the photographer.You may ask: Why shouldn’t everyone just start living by copyright standards? In an ideal world, that might be a solution. But this problem of infringement—on giant and on small websites—is such a difficult challenge that the sponsor of SOPA, U.S. Rep. Lamar S. Smith (Republican of Texas), was exposed in a Forbes article as having violated SOPA rules himself in his own website. Someone built his website with a gorgeous rural photograph as the backdrop—a photo used without proper permission from the photographer.

Just imagine what might happen with your church’s, or your denomination’s or your nonprofit’s website if this kind of club is handed to media moguls. Imagine a member of your youth group proudly posting a YouTube video with a bit of copyright music on your church’s site? A colleague in ministry might post a helpful tip about a new hymn for worship and include a little audio clip. Some volunteer might build a great new website for your charitable group, and it turns out one photograph deep in the site is owned by Getty. BANG! It happened to Rep. Smith; it could happen to you.

HOW WE SHARE CONTENT WITH YOU AT READTHESPIRIT

At ReadTheSpirit, we are defenders of the Bill of Rights, especially freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of press. We also defend the principles of copyright—the right of creators to own their intellectual property. But we also believe in new forms of licensing that allow creators to widely share their work. The entire ReadTheSpirit website is produced under Creative Commons licensing. Basically, that means our writers, photographers and artists own our material, but we are formally offering to share our online stories widely with our readers. Creative Commons allows us—and Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons website that provides many of the photographs we publish—to specify how that content will be shared. We require, for example, that a link back to the readthespirit.com website accompany any sharing of our stories. See our Creative Commons logo at the bottom of our home page.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?

First, make yourself aware of these issues. Properly police your own websites and publications. Even if current versions of SOPA and PIPA are torpedoed, some new forms of tougher anti-piracy legislation are on the horizon. Penalties for violating intellectual property rights are likely to rise. Contact members of Congress. Let them know you are concerned.

We encourage sharing at ReadTheSpirit. Look for special sharing arrangements like ReadTheSpirit’s provisions through Creative Commons, which is linked at the bottom of our home page.

WANT TO READ MORE?

Wikipedia is “down” on January 18, 2012, but has an in-depth article on SOPA with lots of background information and links. There’s a separate article about the Protect IP ACT, called PIPA.

Legal expert Laurence H. Tribe made quite a stir by coming out in public opposition to SOPA and PIPA. Here is a story covering Tribe’s decision to go public with his opposition. You also can read Laurence H. Tribe’s entire analysis of the legislation.

On February 17, 2012, Forbes reported that U.S. Rep. Smith intends to keep chugging away on his legislation, no matter what happens this week. Interestingly enough, even though Forbes is a business-themed news publication, a number of Forbes writers seem clearly to oppose SOPA and PIPA.

Here’s an ABC News report by Ned Potter posted on January 17.

Please help us to reach a wider audience

 We welcome your Emails at [email protected]
We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, AmazonHuffington PostYouTube and other social-networking sites. 
You also can Subscribe to our articles via Email or RSS feed.
Plus, there’s a free Monday morning Planner newsletter you may enjoy.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

Songwriter Fran McKendree’s song of hope

Fran McKendree talks with ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm on his porch.Singer-songwriter Fran McKendree responded to our request for hopeful songs by sending along a video of his stirring song Times Like These.

We introduced Fran McKendree to readers in 2010 during our American Journey series. Since then, Fran has returned several times with news, fresh music and creative ideas for small groups.

This song is terrific if you’re burned out, or as Fran puts it: If you’re “choking on the front-page news” and mourning in our angry political climate “the grave of our civility.” Despite all of that, Fran is convinced that “hope is breaking through somehow” and “it brings me to my knees—in times like these.” Most importantly, no matter how bad things may seem, the One still “stirs the wind that shakes the trees and shouts the truth—in times like these.”

CLICK ON THE FRAN McKENDREE VIDEO BELOW to hear his song Times Like These. If a video screen does not appear, try clicking on the headline of this story to reload it with the video. Or, Click Here to jump directly to YouTube and view the song there.

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Care to learn more about Fran McKendree?

Visit Frank McKendree’s website.

Get his music via the CD Baby website.

Care to read more on Caregiving?

See our complete Caregivers list of Songs to Remember Our Hope.

Guide for Caregivers: Learn about this very helpful book and online project.

Guide for Grief: Help in Surviving the Stages of Grief and Bereavement after a Loss.

Check out Caregivers on Facebook.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

Guide for Caregivers: Songs to remember our hope

WANT A SHOT OF HOPE? Watch “Down from the Mountain,” a musical documentary about the music used by the Coen brothers in their film: O Brother Where Art Thou?We want to get your toes tapping and your spirit soaring with great music!
At ReadTheSpirit, our team of journalists and authors is focused on providing practical inspiration for daily living—in many forms of media. In the winter of 2011-2012, we are rolling out a wide array of resources to help the 65 million caregivers nationwide—plus the millions more who receive care, who are wrestling with crises in their health, their families, their work and their communities.

Why enjoying music matters

ENJOYING MUSIC is one of many helpful techniques in our new Guide for Caregivers, one of the books we are publishing to help individuals and small groups.
Why music?
Because music shapes our lives in powerful ways. Read these reflections by Quaker songwriter Carrie Newcomer and Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield about the potential of music to “open our hearts” and “create sanctuary.”

Please, add to our list!

Tell us what songs help you to remember hope: Email us at [email protected]

SONGS TO REMEMBER OUR HOPE

  • CLICK ON THE COVER to learn more about the book.Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
  • Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy
  • Copland’s Appalachian Spring
  • Dvorak, New World Symphony
  • Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus
  • Mozart, most of his works
  • Saint-Saens, Organ Symphony
  • American folk music, O Brother soundtrack
  • Hawaiian music
  • A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
  • Amazing Grace
  • America the Beautiful
  • Ave Maria
  • Christmas carols
  • How Can I Keep from Singing?
  • I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
  • Jesus Loves Me
  • Kum ba yah, My Lord
  • Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
  • Joy to the World
  • My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less
  • O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
  • O God Our Help in Ages Past
  • O Holy Night
  • O World of God
  • Old Rugged Cross
  • On Eagle’s Wings
  • Open My Eyes, That I May See
  • Simple Gifts
  • T’Filat Haderech by Debbie Friedman
  • This Is My Song, set to Finlandia
  • Tu Has Venido ala Orilla (Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore)
  • We Shall Overcome
  • A Spoonful of Sugar
  • Blue Skies
  • Chariots of Fire soundtrack album
  • Don’t Rain on My Parade
  • Hair, much of the soundtrack
  • Happy Talk
  • I Whistle a Happy Tune
  • Impossible Dream (The Quest) from Man of La Mancha
  • It Might as Well Be Spring
  • Mary Poppins, soundtrack album
  • On a Wonderful Day Like Today
  • Rainbow Connection
  • Sing! (Kermit Frog version)
  • Singin’ in the Rain, soundtrack album
  • Somewhere (West Side Story)
  • Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Wizard of Oz soundtrack album
  • Sound of Music, soundtrack album
  • Star Wars theme song
  • Thank you, very much (From the Albert Finney version of Scooge)
  • Up With People
  • When You Wish Upon a Star
  • Allman Brothers Band, many songs
  • Aretha Franklin, many songs
  • Beatles, many songs
  • Blue Bayou
  • Blues in the Night
  • Bridge Over Troubled Waters
  • Good Day Sunshine
  • High Hopes
  • I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
  • Imagine
  • It’s a Beautiful Morning
  • Morning Has Broken
  • My Way
  • Oh, Happy Day
  • Stand by Me
  • Tapestry, by Carole King
  • The Weight, by the Band
  • What a Wonderful World
  • You’ve Got a Friend
  • You’ve Got a Friend in Me

LISTEN TO MUSIC NOW WITH GOOD FRIENDS

FRAN McKENDREE on his back porch.SINGER-SONGWRITER FRAN McKENDREE SENDS US A SONG: From the Carolinas, occasional ReadTheSpirit contributor Fran McKendree didn’t just send us a song title—he sent us an actual song!

SPIRITUALITY & PRACTICE: Our friends at the Spirituality & Practice website also have assembled a list of Songs about Hope, which includes links to some YouTube videos of music by artists including Jimmy Cliff, Chicago and Bruce Springsteen.

INVITE YOUR CLASS OR SMALL GROUP TO LIST SONGS: If you send us a list you have gathered from your small group or congregation, we are happy to provide a link back to the website for your house of worship. That’s a great way to do a little outreach for your congregation—and help readers. (See the example, below, crediting a church in Ann Arbor, Michigan.)

Care to read more on Caregiving?

Guide for Caregivers: Learn about this very helpful book and online project.

Guide for Grief: Help in Surviving the Stages of Grief and Bereavement after a Loss.

Check out Caregivers on Facebook.

Special Thanks to Contributors!

Special Thanks go, first, to First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor, where an adult Sunday school class contributed the first titles to this ongoing song list. Then, to many individuals nationwide (most of whom sent nominations without names). Our named contributors include: Judith Bowers, Tom Carter, M.J. Coots, Roger Cunningham, Celeste Dykas, Betty Greenaway, Elaine Greenberg, Neal Hassler, Hope Janiki, Jan Jorgensen, Brian Killmer, Wallace Manfield, Emma Oates, Warren Petoskey, Benjamin Pratt, Bill and Marge Stills, Thea Strode, Suze Waltz, Fran Washner, Nancy and James White, Skip Willsy, Jan Welch. Thanks to all!

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

Interview Carrie Newcomer on East-West collaboration

KHAN FAMILY with sarods. Photo by Suvo Das, courtesy Carrie Newcomer.We welcome singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer back to ReadTheSpirit to talk about her unique collaboration with the Khan family of India. The current patriarch of the family ensemble is Amjad Ali Khan (center in the photo at right with his sons). Khan has performed and taught in the U.S. for many years, although the sarod remains a largely unknown instrument in American popular music. Together, Newcomer and the Khans created an entire album that playfully leaps across continents and cultural differences. Don’t miss Part 1 in this 2-story series about their new Everything is Everywhere album. In that story you’ll find links to her website, sample lyrics and much more!

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR INTERVIEW WITH SINGER SONGWRITER
CARRIE NEWCOMER ABOUT EVERYTHING IS EVERYWHERE

CLICK this album cover to jump to Amazon and order a copy.DAVID: Mostly, we interview writers. Sometimes, we write about filmmakers. But we rarely interview musicians. So, let’s begin with what you see as your unique form of media.

CARRIE: Music goes straight to the heart. It’s almost as if music reaches a person’s heart and mind through a different channel than other forms of expression. That’s why I love writing music—but there is also a lot of language in my songs. I like to say that my job is to put the things we all know and recognize in life, but have no words to express, into language that’s poetic—that we can experience through song. In my songs, music and words inform each other. Everything the song is saying in words is supported by what the music is expressing. They are absolutely woven together.

DAVID: That phrase—woven together—is a good way to explain how you combine American folk music with the sarod. I’ll admit that, although I have been familiar with the sitar ever since Ravi Shankar performed with George Harrison and later Zubin Mehta and others—I don’t know much about the sarod. Listening to your new album and preparing for the interview, though, I’ve read about the sarod and the Khans. Tell us a little more about these unusual sounds we’ll hear in your album.

SHARING TONES OF SAROD AND APPALACHIAN DULCIMER

CARRIE NEWCOMER. Photo by Jim McGuire, courtesy of Carrie Newcomer.CARRIE: The easiest way to describe it for Western readers is to say: We’re familiar with the sitar from the music of the Beatles. They brought that sound into Western consciousness through the Concert for Bangladesh and then so many other collaborations happened after that. Well, if you thought of the sitar as the violin of the Indian classical world, then the sarod would be the cello of the Indian classical world. It’s played seated and it’s lower, deeper and more resonant than the sitar.

I play acoustic guitar. I fool around with other instruments, too. I also play Appalachian mountain dulcimer and I used to write on the dulcimer quite a bit early in my career. I love the droning sounds of the mountain dulcimer. I’m often tuning my guitar to create a droning sound from the strings. That kind of sound fits very well with the sarod. I could say that I’ve been playing all my life to prepare to play in India and with Indian musicians.

DAVID: The blended melodies, the unusual arrangements and the words all are woven together beautifully. In our Part 1 story, we will give readers lyrics from the album’s title song and links to hear clips of the music on your site. But, please, tell us more about how you dreamed up these songs. The idea is daring—and it probably was a little scary, too, right?

CARRIE: We didn’t know what would happen when we started. Yes, we were stepping into risky, uncharted territory here. But we kept asking ourselves: What is the thread that pulls between us? What is the thread that runs through our lives? We decided to risk it. Then, when we decided that we would try to create this kind of collaboration, we first had to determine how we would work together across such a distance. I was traveling in India, but was I heading home to Indiana. The Khans were going to be visiting the United States and would be in the Midwest, so we arranged to do some recording together while they were here in the Midwest. In preparation for that, I started writing songs for our collaboration and I knew that they play the sarod in the Key of C, which is a key I don’t usually work in. But I began working on writing these songs and I really came to appreciate the droning strings of the sarod. That’s why I decided to pull out my mountain dulcimer and several of the songs on this album were first written on the Appalachian mountain dulcimer. Then, later, I wrote the guitar versions for myself.

DAVID: You’ve been making music for quite a while, but you weren’t actually a part of that early wave of Baby Boomer music, were you?

CARRIE: I was in the very last wave of the Baby Boom. I wasn’t old enough to go to Woodstock. I do remember my first grade teacher coming into our classroom and saying that President John Kennedy had been shot. The reverberations of what Baby Boomers feel as a generation are things that were part of my growing up. But I wasn’t someone who grew up with a lot of contact with people from non-Western cultures. My family lived on the edge of Amish country in Indiana. Probably, my first encounter with someone who wasn’t from a Western culture were when I was attending Goshen College in the late 1970s. Goshen was a Mennonite college and had a lot of international programs, so I encountered a lot of different kinds of people there.

Then, 20 years ago, I moved to Bloomington, Indiana, and started touring more nationally at that point. I did some touring in Europe as well, but still my experience was really Western. Even in this funky college town where I live, the diversity is still pretty Western. That’s why my trip to India two years ago was this wonderful awakening for me. This was a life-changing experience.

Our cultures and our music seem so different, yet we do share so much if we come back to our spiritual grounding. Where does our music come from? We both are tapping into deep wells within our lives—wells we share. There’s no language to express that more clearly, except to say: We play music from this deep well that we share.

DEEP WELLS IN MUSIC … AND IN JOHN PHILIP NEWELL’S WRITING

DAVID: You remind me, of course, of Philip Gulley. The two of you are friends and you’re both Quakers. But you also remind me of John Philip Newell. His new book uses that same metaphor: Drawing from the deep wells that we share. In that belief, John Philip says, we are able to talk honestly about our lives and our hopes—and we connect with the lives and the hopes of other people. We’re drawing from the same wells to use his phrase—and your phrase, too.

CARRIE: I haven’t read all of his new book yet, but yes—I do know John Philip and I’m deliberately reading his book slowly. I want to savor it. I was teaching at Ghost Ranch when he was there. We were able to spend time together. We talked about his experiences in India and his thoughts really did resonate with my own. The world is a much smaller place than we think.

DAVID: John Philip now talks about himself as connecting with the world “from the Christian tradition,” or sometimes he says, “from the Christian household” or “from the Christian family.” He’s very careful about how he identifies himself religiously.

CARRIE: I understand that. Right now, I think we’re at a time when to just tell people you’re “Christian”—just using that one-word label—may put you in a category that’s associated with things like claims of exclusivity. I choose not to say it like that. I’m coming at this new musical project and collaboration as a spiritual seeker. I was raised in the Christian tradition and so my references are from my Christian tradition. I find my Christian tradition beautiful and rich. I am especially drawn to the social justice teachings of Jesus. And I definitely describe myself as Quaker, but you know there are lots of flavors of Quakers just like there are lots of flavors within almost any major religious group. I have attended a silent or unprogrammed Quaker meeting for over 25 years now, so that’s my spiritual home. But I also love being a respectful visitor in all kinds of worshipping communities. There’s something wonderful about all the smells and bells we find in other forms of worship. I guess you can say that I’m a person who pushes the edges of theology and always wants to ask the good, hard questions. But, then, I’m also a nice Midwestern person at heart, so I do this in a gentle way.

I really appreciate being able to jump secular and spiritual boundaries. I’ll play at a regular commercial theater, then I’ll play in an arts center, then I’ll play in a church, then I’ll spend time on a college campus as an artist in residence, then I’ll play in a bar. And, whether I’m in a church or a bar or a college campus—I don’t change what I sing.

DAVID: Well, as you’ve said before, it’s easier to sing the same song than it would be to preach the same sermon in all those venues. Music is a powerful passport, isn’t it?

CARRIE: With music and with story, people leave their hearts open just a little longer. They want to hear that song. That’s what I find. We could climb up on soap boxes and start expounding about the world—and people would close their doors right away. But if we greet them with a human-sized song and story, people will leave their hearts open just a little bit longer. They are willing to join you for a moment, to swim around in the music—and maybe discover this new water isn’t so bad!

Remember: You can pre-order Everything is Everywhere from Amazon now.

Please help us to reach a wider audience

Conversation is far better than the dangerous shouting matches we’ve been witnessing in our global culture. So, please, tell a friend to start reading along with you!
We welcome your Emails at [email protected]
We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, AmazonHuffington PostYouTube and other social-networking sites. 
You also can Subscribe to our articles via Email or RSS feed.
Plus, there’s a free Monday morning Planner newsletter you may enjoy.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

Carrie Newcomer blends our melodies East and West

See the brilliant golden scarf blowing in the wind on the front cover of Carrie Newcomer’s latest album?
Envision that scarf circling the world and connecting the spiritual hopes of men and women everywhere. The golden fabric is a metaphor for the new music that Newcomer and her collaborators, the Khan family, are weaving with colorful threads from American folk and Indian classical traditions.
“Music is a common thread,” says Amjad Ali Khan, a world-renowned Indian musician and a chief collaborator.

These new lyrics weave images. The title song, Everything Is Everywhere, begins with vivid images of lentils, rice and hot-spiced tea in a typical Indian market—but quickly takes us halfway around the world to booths at an Indiana farmer’s market close to Newcomer’s home. Then, the music is performed on both American folk and Indian classical instruments, mainly the sarod, the specialty of the Khan family.

What does this East-West collaboration sound like?

BUDDHIST TEACHER JACK KORNFIELD ON MUSIC’S POWER

ReadTheSpirit just welcomed popular Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield to talk about his new book, A Lamp in the Darkness. In the course of our interview, Jack talked about choosing uplifting music as an important way to shape our spiritual path. Here is what he said:
The music we play in our homes is part of the way we create sanctuary and refuge and this makes a huge difference. We are forming our inner sound track, the inner songs and voices we want to keep playing for ourselves. There is a New Yorker cartoon that shows a car crossing the Yukon and a sign says: Your Own Tedious Thoughts—Next 200 Miles. Some inner sound tracks are full of confusion and despair. Mark Twain once said: “My life has been full of terrible misfortunes—most of which never happened.” We can remain lost in fear and despair, or we can make a point of intentionally building our inner sound track. The music that we play is part of this. The very cells in our body can be nourished by music.

CARRIE NEWCOMER ON MUSIC’S POWER

We will publish our interview with Carrie Newcomer later this week, but here is one of Carrie’s descriptions of music’s influence In our lives and our global community:
With music and with story, people leave their hearts open just a little longer. They want to hear that song. That’s what I find. We could climb up on soap boxes and start expounding about the world—and people would close their doors right away. But if we greet them with a human-sized song and story, people will leave their hearts open just a little bit longer. They are willing to join you for a moment, to swim around in the music—and maybe discover this new water isn’t so bad!

To mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11, we published the lyrics to one song from this new album.
Today, we’re sharing the lyrics of the title song …

Everything is Everywhere

Words and Music by Carrie Newcomer

MARKETS AROUND THE WORLD: Top, a colorful market stall in India. Bottom, a farmers’ market in the American Midwest. Both images in public domain. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.There were lentils, rice and hot-spiced tea,
The sunset on the Arabian Sea,
Women swayed in yellows, blues and greens,
The finest thing I’ve seen.

There’s rhythm to the rains they come and go,
I heard Bollywood and Dylan on the radio,
The driver’s quoting Sufi poetry,
There’s ribbons tied around the trees.

Would it be so wrong, could it be that bad,
To hope for a little more happy than sad?
This is more that I can hold or bare,
Cause everything is everywhere.

On Saturdays in Indiana,
There’s a farmer’s market in my town,
There’s always music, kids and corn and beans,
The finest thing that I’ve ever seen.

When I was troubled a good friend stopped by,
She brought some soup and then she sat awhile,
Love is love it’s here and there,
Everything is everywhere.

Would it be so wrong, could it be that bad,
To hope for a little more happy than sad?
This is more that I can hold or bare,
Cause everything is everywhere.

There is still so much work to do,
Armloads of sorrow yes, this is true,
But I take heart when I despair,
Miracles are everywhere.

I like sweet salt, soda lime,
I love the patterns of flowers and vines,
From the train I watch the new moon rise,
The reflection of my grateful eyes.

Would it be so wrong, could it be that bad,
To hope for a little more happy than sad?
This is more that I can hold or bare,
Cause everything is everywhere.

Remember: You can pre-order Everything is Everywhere from Amazon now.

Please help us to reach a wider audience

Conversation is far better than the dangerous shouting matches we’ve been witnessing in our global culture. So, please, tell a friend to start reading along with you!
We welcome your Emails at [email protected]
We’re also reachable on Twitter, Facebook, AmazonHuffington PostYouTube and other social-networking sites. 
You also can Subscribe to our articles via Email or RSS feed.
Plus, there’s a free Monday morning Planner newsletter you may enjoy.

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.

9/11 Reflections: Quaker songwriter Carrie Newcomer

This year, Carrie Newcomer is circling the world with her music, releasing an innovative album this autumn that combines her American musical traditions with Indian traditions. As a Quaker, the vocation of peacemaking runs thorughout her music. Visit www.CarrieNewcomer.com to learn more about the new album Everything Is Everything. The following 9/11 reflection is part of a longer interview with Carrie that ReadTheSpirit will publish in October, closer to the album’s release date.

Table of Contents:
All of our 9/11 reflections you can use …

9/11/2011: ‘Breath In, Breathe Out’

By Carrie Newcomer

The first song is called Breathe In Breathe Out, and it says that we must let some things go. That letting go process is not always easy. We may forgive once and then we think it’s all done. But, some experiences in our lives—and in our collective community life—we may breathe in and breathe out and let go. Then, we have to breathe in and breathe out, again. That’s part of this calling to a life of love. Some things you can let go once, but other things you have to leg go of—over and over and over again.

The song says, “I held anger like a coal … with the thought that I could throw it at someone.” I can understand the pull of that idea. There is a lot of energy that can come from our anger. Anger can motivate and push us forward—it can push an entire movement forward—but it’s not sustainable. It burns out. It’s not healthy for the long haul.

We all have love and compassion for the people we’ve loved and lost. We need to recognize and be grateful for all the folks who so selflessly helped after 9/11. But we collectively need to move on to the next decade. We need to ask now: How can we make the world a better place in this new decade? We can honor what’s gone before but we don’t want to live there for the rest of our lives. My own goal right now is to do my small piece, whatever I can do each day, to make the world a kinder place, a better place.

Here are the words to that song from the album that will be released later this year:

Breathe In Breathe Out

To live we learn what we love most,
Embrace it all and hold it close.
Breathe it in and breathe it out, let it go.

To live is to love so many things,
Fly on beautiful wax wings.
Breathe it in and breathe it out, let it go. 

Breathe it in and breathe it out, let it go.
Breathe it in and breathe it out, let it go, let it go.
Breath in breath out, let it go, let it go. 

I held anger like a coal,
Burning hot but did not let go,
With the thought that I could throw it at someone.
Such a hard lesson to learn,
My own hand was what got burned.
Breathe it in and breathe it out, Let it go.

Breathe it in and breathe it out, let it go.
Breathe it in and breathe it out, let it go, let it go.
Breath in breath out, let it go, let it go.

What is won is won,
What is done is done
Let it go.
What is real is real,
What we feel we feel
Then let go.

I saw one candle in the night,
Become a thousand lights.
Breathe it in and breathe it out, let it go.
Life is fleeting this I know,
Short and draped in marigolds.
Breathe it in and breathe it out, let it go.

Breathe it in and breathe it out, let it go.
Breathe it in and breathe it out, let it go, let it go.
Breath in breath out, let it go, let it go.

Care to read more with Carrie Newcomer?

In addition to her website, linked above, you may enjoy our last interview with Carrie Newcomer.

 (Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.)

Let’s go fly a kite! Astonished by clarity & beauty!

Kites! We’re seeing kites!
Singer-songwriter Fran McKendree, who we visited in our American Journey series in 2010, has been sending up colorful kite photos from a recent retreat he led for 30 youth workers in Virginia. This is such a great idea—we’re sharing it with you today.

McKendree is a nationally known musician, teacher, evangelist and peacemaker. A former rock star, McKendree eventually settled into a mountaintop home and studio in the Carolinas with his wife Diana, who is a specialist in writing icons (the traditional art that most of us would call “painting” icons). Now, he works mostly on acoustic music. Nearly every week, McKendree travels to some corner of the U.S. and puts on concerts, provides music at conferences, teaches church people to rediscover the arts—and sometimes leads retreats.

In early February, he emailed our ReadTheSpirit home office, kicking around colorful ideas for a retreat in the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Virginia. Finally, Fran settled on the idea of inviting participants to turn white kites into handmade works of art. Among other things, this simple practice links Americans with families across southern Asia, where kite flying is a beloved spring ritual.

After the retreat, Fran was high himself. “I was really astounded at the clarity and beauty of their vision and art!” he wrote in one email—just before he began sending those images of kites.

Just chatting with Fran via email is an inspiration. One note during the kite exchange began, “Spring is in the air here. Willow trees are budding and our apricot tree is filling the air with the sweetness of its blossoms.” For Northerners still locked in icy late winter, such a note is delicious!

That’s what Fran did on retreat with the youth workers: He made them hungry for color and self-expression. Here’s how he described it the whole process in a longer note …

During our retreat, one intention was to have some Sabbath time, deepen our sense of community and share stories, songs and worship. I’m struck at this time of year at the clarity and rawness of the earth around us—fallow ground with just a hint of new life about to burst forth.

Having just read one of the recent Festivals and Holidays stories at ReadtheSpirit, I was inspired to propose that we each make a kite. I asked folks to partner up to assemble the kites, which came in kits, then to work individually on the next phase. Next, I suggested that, in the top area of their kite, they write, paint or draw expressing their dreams, hopes or visions for this new season. In the center of the kite, I asked them to show images of things that sustain them, that give them life. Along the “wings” of the kite, I asked them to add images for which they’re thankful—and at the points where the kite is attached to the “bridle,” images of people and things that keep them grounded or provide stability in their lives. 

We were like a group of first graders—some even working with their tongues sticking out! Over the next two hours, a bounty of beautiful creativity emerged. When the paint was dry, with great expectation, we made our way into the beckoning field. The wind wasn’t predictable, or steady—pretty much like our lives! But, we managed to send them all aloft. 

It was incredibly beautiful—the bold colors against the blue—dreams, hopes, visions dancing across the sky. That night, during our worship, many spoke of the power of seeing those hopes and dreams, flying free, lifted by the wind of the Spirit.

Care to know more about Fran McKendree?

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    (Originally published at readthespirit.com.)