30 July 2011

Thimble 5 - Horse Memorial

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'Don't forget those who serve and suffer without voices...
the animals of war.'

Michelle Frost

This photo below is of a horse being offloaded from a ship in Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony, during the Anglo-Boer war.



This photo comes (courtesy of Wikipedia) from the book, Horses on board ship : a guide to their management (1902) by Hayes, Matthew Horace.

Port Elizabeth has a memorial to the horses of the Anglo-Boer war.



It's a beautiful statue that I've stopped to look at many times over the years. The words carved on the memorial always touch my heart...
THE GREATNESS OF A NATION
CONSISTS NOT SO MUCH UPON THE NUMBER OF ITS PEOPLE
OR THE EXTENT OF ITS TERRITORY
AS IN THE EXTENT AND JUSTICE OF ITS COMPASSION

ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION
IN RECOGNITION OF THE SERVICES OF THE GALLANT ANIMALS
WHICH PERISHED IN THE ANGLO BOER WAR 1899-1902
...

29 July 2011

Thimble 4 - I Am There

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Do you need Me?
I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.
You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.
You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.
I am at work, though you do not understand My works.
I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me
as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am there. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.
When you need Me, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there.
Even when you feel most alone, I am there.
Even in your fears, I am there.
Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.
I am in you, and you are in Me.
Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for
only in your mind are the mists of "yours" and "mine."
Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.
When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.
And I am in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for
I am there. I am there because I have to be, because I am.

Only in Me does the world have meaning;
only out of Me does the world take form;
only because of Me does the world go forward.
I am the law on which the movement of the stars
and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law's fulfilling.
I am assurance.
I am peace.
I am oneness.
I am the law that you can live by.
I am the love that you can cling to.
I am your assurance.
I am your peace.
I am ONE with you.
I am.

Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you.
Though your faith in Me is unsure,
My faith in you never wavers,
because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I AM there.

James Dillet Freeman - 1947
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28 July 2011

Thimble 3 - Papa's Story

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My favourite blogblast story is the story of how Mimi came to pick that besutiful blue globe for her Peace Globe graphics. See...



It looks like our planet, doesn't it? But it's not. It's actually all the love in the world wrapped up into a very personal sphere. Or as Mimi puts it:

This post was written just before midnight on the eve of Dona Nobis Pacem in the Blogosphere - quite unexpectedly inspired by a bowl of marbles - and a loving gentle tap on the shoulder by someone I loved and lost. I am still amazed at how the story of the Peace Globes really began. I would like to introduce you to this honorable man.
Please go read Papa's story here.



Thank you Mimi... and thank you Papa
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27 July 2011

Thimble 2 - Only Kindness Matters

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A beautiful video montage created for Blogblast for Peace 2011.
Thank you for allowing it to be shared, Dawn.



In the end only kindness matters...

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26 July 2011


Can one everyday person really make a difference and change the world? Isn't that a bit like trying to empty the ocean with a thimble?

Maybe... but what if you got everyone to help you?
What if we bailed with a billion thimbles?

These are my Thimblefuls for Peace... I hope they make you think.