Understanding violence

I am torn between the need to protect our freedoms and the need to hoard our goods. To me, most conflicts are about stuff...this bullshit about establishing democracy throughout the world is just a sham to keep us engaged. It's power driven, oil driven, money driven conquests. We can sit by while thousands of people are being slaughtered in civil war and find reasons to stay on the sidelines. I keep thinking of the Buddhist principle of detachment...perhaps we can cultivate that principle to the point that if things are taken we can still live in peace. If we are not afraid of scarcity we have personal freedom.

I really need to study Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr's nonviolent methods...we will need those in the future.

The Walk of St. James...Camino Del Santiago...why there? What is the inspiration? I would love to walk with you. A true spiritual journey.

The reason that I asked about B#2's allergies is that according to the study findings it is the off spring of the abused who develop early symptoms (before 2 yrs). He may have inherited that tendency from one of our parents. The abused survivor generally develops the allergies at a later age...like S#3 and myself. I am just trying to see how relatable the results are to my world experience.

If we want to truly understand violence and violations, I think that we can inquire about the difference between survivors and survivor/perpetrators...are there any specific characteristics? I want to get as much info as possible...then we can sift through it and choose what we write about. This week I am going to sit down and develop a rough draft of a survey/interview. I have to do a similar task for the DV shelter and have been brainstorming it. Then perhaps we can sit with our first subject and work out the kinks. Maybe I could travel back up for that and we could edit the paper at the same time. I have to look at schedules, but it may be a possibility.

I have an opportunity to meet the headmaster of the Quaker school in Costa Rica this week. I believe it is the one that your daughter spoke of assisting at. I hope that I can make it to the gathering.

I hope that you are enjoying your Sunday...our baseball was cancelled so I worked in the yard for several hours and then walked. It was glorious.

Love and Light,
Maggie