Word of the Day

I wandered into the kitchen the other night and saw an apple on the counter. It had been sliced into 8 perfect pieces by a stainless steel apple corer. None of it had been eaten and the core stood upright in the middle, browning from neglect. My daughter walked out of her bedroom with her laptop in hand ready to do some research for her homework. I said, "Is that your Apple Cored?" She said, "I've told you a hundred time this is my apple cord." dangling her AC adapter for her computer. "Yours is longer," she said. I pointed toward the fruit on the counter. I think we laughed for ten minutes. Yes, the apple cored.

The techno digitalization language is ganging up on us and stealing our language and our spelling (who has time to type our the word "are" as in "how are you?") It is my job as founding mother of the Definition Protection League to speak up once again in defense of words and meaning. I use a dictionary as my shield.

As we progress into this unpredictable era of political insanity, climate instability I want to be intimate and respectful with words that have mattered to me very deeply. When I call their names they resonate clearly in mind, like a macintosh which is a kind of a tart crisp apple that grows on a tree and is harvested in the fall or a raincoat made of rubberized cloth.

Let's examine the phrase "I touch". At present this is a gadget with fancy screen that can download a bunch of aps and so on. But when I say "I touch" I mean; With my hand I reach out and feel you, pet my dog, embrace my wife, Hold my daughter's hand.

My cell is not the portable wireless phone that I carry.

My cell is the very smallest unit of living matter. All living things including plants and animals are made up of cells. The cell membrane contains cytoplasm and the nucleus. All humans start life with one cell and through mitosis cells divide and create the living organism. That makes the question, "Where's my cell?" much more interesting.

A web is something that is woven, usually by a spider. Or a liar " Oh what a tangled web we weave." A duck may have webbed feet as well. Some Indigenous natives believe the universe was woven by spiderwoman and we are connected through her web.

A net is a tool used to catch fish, butterflies or crazy people. Some people use one to keep their hair in place especially in the food service industry.

Windows are transparent and made of glass. One uses them to look outside. Whether in a house of a car windows allow you to see what's going on in the immediate world around you. Right now I'm looking out my window at the ocean, the Albion River and a whole lot of eucalyptus tress, red wood and conifers.

Safari is a trip that you go on, usually related to hunting for big game. Some just enjoy seeing the Lions, Elephants, giraffe's and so on and choose to shoot only photographs.

Yahoo! is a term that one uses when one is especially excited especially if you ride horses.

Googol spelled googol is a number that is equal to 1 followed by 100 zeros or 10 to the hundredth power.

Twitter and tweet are what birds do to talk lightly and rapidly, especially of trivial matters.

Blog, Skype, and Reddit are nonsense words

So at this time I want to encourage everyone to remain calm, not .com. Stay in touch with each other, reach out not just on face book, but call on a telephone, have lunch in a restaurant face to face. Then go to your library or local booksellers and get a good book to read. not a kindle(which means start a fire), not something that will no longer exist if if the satellite fails, or the government doesn't like you or mother nature unleashes her forces, that you will still be able to hold it in your hand and sit in the sunshine or by fire light and read.

Oh Yes, and the word of the day today, according to my calendar is "Aflattus" a noun A divine imparting of knowledge and inspiration. If you have a word that needs protection and to be put on the endangered definition list leave a comment here.

H2 uh O

After last weeks' snow blizzards, sky cracking thunder, wildly rowdy lightening and super full moon we have at last, crossed the threshold of Spring in Mendocino County. The equinox is upon us. Brrrr. Yes the day is lengthening, now in equality with the night. the sun is shining, but the forecast is wet, very wet and cold. The weather seems extreme, out of balance and the birds the last few days have been shouting at me on my daily walks.
"I hear you" I say. The earth is changing quickly. yes, We know it. Brilliant, shocking, terrible, dramatic unquestionably. This is it. Am I prepared for whatever is ahead and the answer is no. My family and I do not have an emergency plan. How to get back together should we have an earthquake or a monster Tsunami and the bridges go down? How many days supplies do we have? Don't know. Do you? If you do great, if not. It's time

I take these triple tragic events in Japan as a major wake up call and I am answering. I know you are too. So much fades in the shadow of these kinds of threats, but at the same time it is essential for me to keep a bright eye on the future. For my sake, my children and my grandchildren and my great grand children if you will.

I'm not trying to scare you. Fear can be very useful when there is something to truly be scared about, but we spend a good deal of time being afraid of what might happen. That can itself bring disaster and self fulfilling prophecy. It's alright to be scared. But don't make stuff up.
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Check your immediate circumstances. How are you? How's your family. Do you have basic needs and services. Is there an imminent threat in your vicinity?
Yes, there is a real concern about a cloud of radiation descending over the west coast. How will we know? I mean it's invisible right?

Americans are hoarding Iodine and taking it as a precaution to radiation exposure. But wait, taking iodine randomly out of fear will make you sick, kind of like radiation poisoning. symptoms of iodine overdose from supplements or medications that exceed one gram can cause a burning sensation in the mouth, stomach and throat, abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea, weak pulse, diarrhea and coma. There is a simple test one can take to find our if your levels are normal. This is from Home test for iodine deficiency includes taking some iodine and a swab of cotton. You can find tincture iodine in a drugstore. Dip the cotton swab in the tincture iodine and paint a circle in the inner part of your upper arm or the thighs. Once you have done with that, wait for an hour. After an hour if you find that the circle has disappeared, it means that your body is deficient in iodine. However, on the other hand, if the circle remains as it is for at least four hours, it means that the iodine levels are fine. This is one of the easiest self test for iodine deficiency which you can use, but if you are still not sure, you can get a iodine deficiency test done in a laboratory.
Iodine levels are important nuclear fallout or not. Here's the good news:
One of our great local resources, seaweed is the natural food source for iodine. Local Harvesters are in the process of defending their rights to sustainably harvest now with the introduction of the MLPA (Marine Layer Protection Act) (listen to the Universal Perspective Archives for more info on that). These folks have spiritual,long term, respectful relations with our mama ocean and they have been standing up for all of us. There are three seaweed companies on the coast, rising Tide, Mendocino Seaweed Vegetable Co and Ocean Harvest. Each one has been inundated with orders for Wakame, Kombu, as a protection from and detox for radiation. Many of us have been eating sea veggies for years. Don't stop and make sure your kids munch on Sea Crunchies and Nori as often as you can. Little thyroids are most vulnerable to exposure.
We as a community have a real sensitivity to our environment. We know that our water, our air, and soil have been compromised sometimes to the point of toxicity. What can we do when the threats are invisible to the naked eye.
Prayer is strong, millions, even billions are praying right now and the Japanese are receiving and appreciating that.
Is that real action? I mean we can't see prayers, they are invisible. Well, radiation is invisible but it's real. Think of prayers the same way or even stronger. Direct them toward water. As Japanese Scientist Dr. Masaru Emoto has shown us in his studies and his book "Hidden messages in water" prayers for the water changes it's biochemistry, it's physical form . In experiment after experiment, He shows us water molecules respond beautifully to love, appreciation For my equinox ritual I walked in my backwoods and kneeled by the creek, did water prayers. rushing by so clearly and beautifully, thank you water, blessed water, holy water, knowing that this water is the water in the louisiana gulf, the Niger Delta, the Mekong river, the Tigris and Euphrates. And if our positive thoughts effect water that way, why not the air, the earth around us? Let us imagine it is true for all our elements and daily prayers of gratitude, peace, love, understanding, blessings will change molecules.
And you know how much we love this place and the people in it. I know everyone out there cares. Everyone within the sound of my voice cares. That really matters, literally.

See you on the Other Side

Watching and witnessing the devastation in Japan, after New Zealand a few weeks ago and Haiti, which still suffers unimaginable diseases and devastation, I cannot imagine how one goes about recovering and rebuilding. I have a hard enough time cleaning my house. Image after image over the Television and internet shows us that where there were once thriving towns and cities there is now rubble ,back to the beginning. Looking at similar images of Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq I am also left with the sentiment this is the epitome of a world war. War on the people, the trees, the ocean, the skies, the soil, the animals. This has nothing to do with borders and everything to do with life here on this earth. Mama has been very patient with us and even at this very moment. I can go out into my garden and pick some Kale and chard. The plum tree is in bloom and there crocuses and daffodils everywhere I look.

We have been long calling the violent conflicts on the earth, World Wars. There was I and then there was II. But, you know me and my passion for definitions. For in recorded time, I'm talking biblical, there has been one war after another, and a bunch of simultaneous ones as well. In reality what we had were many, many wars between people. A lot of people, but the world herself, stood idly by. She withstood the blasts of dynamite, the gun powder, the smart bombs, the stupid bombs the nuclear bombs, mining, oil drilling and spilling and the recent blowing up of her mountaintops with impunity. Now the time has come that the earth has begun to defend herself and the best way to do that is to undo us.

I have heard the earthquake Tsunami combination while practically destroying the north eastern coast Japan had the impact of several nuclear bombs NASA scientist Richard Gross reported that the earth’s rotation was also affected. Initial estimates show the rotation of the planet has shortened by approximately 1.8 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second), and also shifted Earth’s figure axis by about 6.5 inches. These are not time scales that would be noticeable by people but can be read by satellites, Gross told CBS News
The quake occurred as the Earth's crust ruptured along an area about 250 miles (400 kilometers) long by 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide, as tectonic plates slipped more than 18 meters, said Shengzao Chen, a USGS geophysicist.
What does this mean for us, for our seasons, our magnetic fields or gravitational pull? The intelligence and delicate perfection of this planet gave birth to life. Microscopic and magnificent elements conjoined to create a living system that with our own creative abilities have manifested both the beauty and the beast. But the violent and subtle changes, shifts in the weather, the chemistry, the temperature will undoubtedly lead to chaos and ultimately regeneration after we've blown our circuitry. As John Stewart said at the Rally to Restore Sanity. Time to Turn it down a notch.

There are many who are rejoicing that these are signs of the apocalypse. And there are many more who mourn and grieve the senseless behavior of those in power who for these many years have been ignoring and abusing the power and privilege of living on a planet such as ours. Forever she has provided us with the organic ingredients to create heaven on earth. To ease our existence to energize to accessorize, to gorge ourselves on the precious renewable resources that come with seeds, with cycles, but alas greed, the mortal sin we see has seized the day and practically rendered us powerless. But wait, with her cunning creativity and natural immune system Mama earth has a plan. A plan which preempts any fatal blows, because with a wave or a shake, eruption or flame she can disable any advanced, billion trillion dollar economy, weapons system or government. And if some of us survive we will be reduced to the simple form. The systems of bargaining trade and cooperation. Then rapture returns to it's true definition of beauty that we will be hold in the dark night, the quiet air when all the systems are washed away to sea and are nothing but a memory. So strap in, hang on to each other, it's going to be a wild ride. I hope I see you on the other side.

Till We Outnumber Them...

According the the pop clock there are 7 billion 905 million 574 thousand 331, 32, 33 of us. Yes, there are a whole hell of a lot of us human beings. Now out of that seven billion, according to luxist.com there are 24 million millionaires. Now if you think of them as the rich and the richer and then add up, their henchmen and thugs that keep them in power, you could probably quadruple that number and will would only have 100 million. And if not all of them are evildoers, jut because they are rich, let's say that a 1/2 of them are decent folks. That only leaves. 50 million really bad guys. that's not very much. The odds are certainly against them. when you think big.

What we are witnessing today, is a global popular revolt against teeny tiny repressive regimes, (with big guns) and even democratically elected administrations that have stolen our money, livelihoods and our dignity.They are completely out of touch with reality and the power of civil society, now known as the social network. It is strong and growing exponentially and even if a nasty despot, or governor wants to shut down the internet, he will also be cutting off his military's and financial systems from being able to function. We are all connected. We are one. Now, Instead of having to rely on phone trees and leaflets, with the click of a button we can reach thousands, millions, and potentially billions in a moment and they will appear as if out of the woodwork to dispose of unwanted dictators and Corporate rapscallions.

This Weekend in Britain social activists invaded forty banks across the country and turned them into day care centers, classrooms,walk in clinics and launderettes to protest austerity measures that are being inflicted on truly hardworking people. (The ones not responsible for the global financial meltdown). International governments in cahoots with The Wall street tycoons have mismanaged our precious resources and treasuries and now are putting the burden on us, instead of the 24 million millionaires and billionaires and the corporations they use as a magic invisible shield under which they pay absolutely no taxes. We're talking Citicorp, Wells Fargo, Exxon,GE and Boeing who paid no taxes last year. That is not only unfair, it doesn't make any sense. The people, who are hungry and very tired of it, say enough is enough.

The success of non-violent revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt have inspired those in Wisconsin, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq, Morroco, Iran, and have fueled the fires of Libyans who are dying as we speak to lift the yolk of totalitarianism from their necks. As of this morning the protests have jumped the Atlantic into Central America, Nicaragua has begun online protests, started by a young blogger, because the people as of yet are so afraid of repercussions from the Ortega regime, (financially backed by the murderous Qaddafi) and are gathering strength in numbers before they hit the streets. It's almost impossible to resist the invitation to rise up.

So many are speculating, especially on the mainstream new stations as to what the future holds. How can anybody really predict what will replace the corporate criminals and defunct dynasties. Will it be worse, fascists? extremists? terrorists? But the Egyptian faces that I saw on the cover of Time magazine don't look like they are ready to destroy anything, quite the contrary, they want life and freedom and peace in this world. A lot of these young adults have lived their whole lives in poverty and war zones. It is not conducive to their artistic, creative desires to have a future. They see the futility and it is my assumption that they believe in human rights, not based on nationality, but rather on, existence. and the right to have food, housing, education,sustainable industries, and decent services, including water, electricity, and sewage.

It is particularly the youthful demographic that has up till now defied labels, to become the revolutionary generation mastering the art of text messaging, twittering and facebooking to organize, expose, and blog the night away,

This is what we've been praying for; Self-made, representative democracy, with the help of digital media, made in alliance with the weary militias and worn out police who realize, they are working class too and their budgets are all but busted. They see that the odds are against them and they become bound to the resistance. Whether it's the police in Wisconsin refusing to kick the protesters out of the state capitol building or the army in Tripoli defecting or the Egyptian tanks that did not fire on it's own people.There's something happening here. The people are on the move. Where there is injustice, poverty, and political greed the natives are restless and willing to lay down their lives for the future. They have so much in their favor and what becomes clearer with every tick tock of the population clock, there's more of us than them.

Valentine's Day/All you need is Love

Ah dear hearts, what a week. Sending out great admiration and appreciation of the Egyptian Revolution overthrowing a corrupt and cruel regime with non-violent tactics, beauty, song and dance and a social networking that one can only dream of.

Revolution on Friday, into Lincoln's Birthday on Saturday and today it's all about the love. My parents are celebrating their 52nd wedding anniversary in Heaven It's my brother's 14th wedding anniversary and My wife and I are celebrating our 4th. Romance runs in the family.

I saw the Egyptian revolution as a love thing as well. That popular uprising had so much love and faith and courage. Did you see how they cared and protected each other? Yes, they have triumphed. Watching this unfold over the last three weeks was a privilege and a duty, or as Obama would say "a teachable moment". What did we learn? We learned that there is an exciting youth movement in the world. That young minds adept at cyber communication are using it to advance freedom and democracy all across the Arab world. We learned that even when "they" send in government thugs demonstrators must remain calm and non-violent. We learned that what seems impossible is only so in our minds. The power of collective cooperation is unstoppable.

The underlying causes of the Egyptian revolution were the thirty years of oppression and dictatorship, the immediate cause was the self immolation of a vegetable vendor in Tunisia who set himself on fire in protest of Failed economic policies and hopelessness. this sparked the revolt in Tunisia and spread like wildfire into Egypt. They say Yemen, Iran, Jordan, Algeria and Syria are poised on the precipice of revolution as well. I say huzzah. In'shallah, That means God willing, or Allah willing.

People wonder if the same kind of popular revolt could happen here, what with the unemployment rate, unprecedented foreclosures, food and gas prices going up, the gutting of the US economy by corporate raiders in cahoots with the Feds. People are scared and angry, but the likely hood of a non-violent overthrow of the gov't doesn't seem destined for us. Why? We'll first and foremost one of the key factors to the success of Egypt's revolution was the fact that they were all Egyptians. Egypt is not a "melting Pot" like the U.S. supposedly is. We are not one people.

We don't care for each other or pretend to love each other in America. Class and Racial divisions are dangerous, mean, violent and resentful. The power of unity/similarity like mindedness common ground is essential for that kind of victory. We have nothing like that in this country.

The other extremely obvious difference is that our civilian population is armed to the teeth. 287 million guns. The Egyptians were unarmed. They did have knives and used them for self defense and defending their neighborhoods, business, hospitals and so on. But they did not have a civilian army protected by a 2nd Amendment.

The other key to their success was the alliance of the military, love if you will. That was one of the most moving images coming across the screen of this popular movement; People sitting on tanks sitting in the street and the soldiers being gifted flowers and food. Can you envision that kind of accord here? I don't think so. Americans are estranged,suspicious, polarized and looking for an excuse to blow each others heads off. So what happens next?

We ignite an American revolution of self respect and love, using social networking tools, we search for the ever allusive common ground.. How do we solicit that kind of fundamental transformation. We start with ourselves. Today is a perfect day to fall in love with yourself. Sure send your sweetheart some chocolate, but give yourself some flowers too and a great big hug and lots of kisses. Call your answering machine and leave yourself a message, everything you want to hear and promise to cherish yourself forever. That could be the key to world's liberation. Because we all know Love makes the world go round in a what? In a revolution.

The Winds of Change/Walk Like an Egyptian

The winds of change are blowing. Do you feel them? It's inevitable, Everything has been stacked so high with little infrastructure, it all must fall. Remember Yertle the Turtle? There is this underlying tense expectation today because we all know on some level that we are experiencing an acceleration of change, a climax if you will, both natural and man made.

And as we look to the East to our Arab and Egyptian Brothers and sisters. What began in Tunisia has blossomed into the most exciting dramatic display of transformation in human revolution and we are so fortunate to be able to witness this catharsis through the power of the internet. Presente!

How beautiful are these Brown faces flashing peace signs, sweeping up trash, singing, dancing. Seeing the women empowered in the street thrilled to express themselves alongside their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. This is a good sign. Until the intervention of the financially backed Pro-Mubarack mobs we were giddy with pride and hope for the actualization of a non-violent revolution organized in the Streets and on Facebook and twitter.

The symbiosis between the social networking and social activism today is a priceless addition to our progress into a promising future. The silent majority are finding the strengths of a medium that can be extra large. Even as the Dictator ship of Egypt tired to disrupt the internet broadcast of the crackdown on non-violent protestors and journalists, images, stories and audio still leaked into our hands. When the say the whole world is watching they are not kidding, not only is the whole world watching the whole world is witnessing and thinking and comparing our own very precarious positions. As it becomes more glaringly obvious that what we have here is a struggle between the World's rich Corporate Governments and the poor.

American people pay the government through taxes, as though they work for us. And they do, but They then spend all our money on a few social programs but a whole hell of a lot on it on things we said not to invest in, like wars and propping up a banking industry. Now they are telling the people who have worked really hard their whole lives they must work a little longer and endure austerity programs as they shred the social fabric. This is True in so many countries. Like the US; Ireland, Greece, Spain, and Britain. Total financial mismanagement. Then their are countries like Tunisia, Iran, Yemen, Like Egypt. Not only have government officials wasted and stolen money, and completely overindulged themselves, but some have oppressed the civil society through brutality,

So the people are idle, nervous, frightened, broke, with not even enough money for food. When people are hungry and there is food on the shelves but the people can't afford it; There's going to be unrest and uprisings.The revolution in Egypt is a direct response.

The Egyptian people are calling for change,yes, but the change in heads of government is not going to provide them with jobs or money or lower food prices. It appears we cannot rely on the patriarchal system of one leader of a government. It's over. There's got to be a better way.

The majority of The people of the world are good. Most have worked their whole lives to provide a home, food, education, safety, but it is the government assisted by the military that have dominated our lives, stripped us of our precious resources and have feathered their own nests while foreclosing on ours.

As I watch the Egyptians in the streets, doing their best to maintain their dignity and exercise their human rights I long for more signs of solidarity ( I'll make one) and decentralized leadership. The Egyptians are saying this, We take better care of each other than our government.

Governments have failed to advance with the times as far as employment They want to rely on Manufacturing, but, it's over. Our earthly resources are entirely depleted not to mention the cultures who sit on top of them. We must accept the end of the industrial age. Now, We have our selves thoroughly planted in the Age of Technology, but what they haven't figured out is how to manufacture new sustainable jobs instead of robotize the ones we have left. We must find a way for a family today to earn a living an survive.

There are two ways I see going; One is back to the small family farms, like the Heifer International Model. Just getting a chicken coop is a bright beginning. And together we could usher in the age community organizing and of recycling. taking all of our manufacturing infrastructure and using it all to remake, recycle. That takes care of employment and our never talked about garbage crisis. (Like taking those trillion plastic water bottles filling them with some pebbles and making musical rattles). We call for an artistic recycling economy, Shift the paradigm. This is not just a solution for us, but for the whole world. Change isn't easy, Whether it be on the economy, climate, human rights, change is coming. So let the winds blow and fill our sails.

God Bless You and Your Children

The whole world is watching, and tweeting as the people of the Arab world are rising up with relentless energy, courage, and strength. The revolution started in Tunisia on January 5th with the strike of 26 year old vegetable seller, Mohammed Bouazizi's match. May he rest in peace.
He went up in flames followed by the government in Tunisia, now in Egypt, and it looks like Yemen, Algeria and Jordan all have tons of kindling.

Our prayers of protection go out to all who risk their lives to bring change where change wants to come. Few know exactly what that will look like, but they are willing to find out. They are willing to let go of the familiar oppression. same old dictatorship and have that leap of faith. May God Bless and protect them. Or should I say Allah? It's all God right, God in a different language. Still in doing so we speak to a God who is beneficent not vengeful.

And while we constantly ask for God's protection. We see the hand of Man, especially the Man of the United States happily vending the arsenal to put down the people's revolution. Amy Goodman on Democracy Now today reported that the major weapons systems for the Egyptian regime from Tanks to tear gas are provided by the US. You knew that didn't you? You knew that the US is responsible for 30 percent of the worlds ammunitions. Our economy hinges on people killing people. As of this moment while the Egyptian people struggle to liberate themselves from 30 years of dictatorship they are being put down by chemical weapons made in the good old USA. (I remember those non-lethal weapons well from our uprising in Seattle back in 99. Especially the tear gas. It makes me cry just thinking about it. Many of you who have stood up to Big Timber and Big government are familiar with Pepper spray, rubber bullets, sonar weapons made right here at home.) Does God Bless this?
I think of the Presidents SOTU address and every speech that he makes for that matter because it always ends with God Bless America. Does that mean that God should make America stronger than other countries or does it mean safer than others. Does it mean that God should ignore the 194 others or curse them. Does it mean that God will give us the courage and strength to come to our senses and disarm? What is God blessing? The second amendment? Guns. Don't weapons interfere with God's job? Isn't it up to God when we die? Or is it up to General Petreus, Jarrod Loughner, Mark David Chapman or Dylan Klebold?

They say President Obama is about to address gun control in a speech. I look forward to it. Because everyday we see almost a hundred people killed by guns in this country. We see a new rash of police killings too. Michele Bachman may be pleased to know the people are armed and dangerous. Here and abroad. Yes, by this measure, We're number one and growing stronger every day. We need to stem the rising tide. Just a couple of days ago a mother shoots her two teenage kids in their heads because they were mouthy. So it is imperative that we follow the connection between anti-depressants and homicide. The combination of Pharmaceuticals and guns can lead to death. We're talking major side effects here.
Two weeks ago President Obama spoke at a memorial for the victims of the Tucson massacre. I was moved by his compassion and his call for civil discourse and the idea that our country to live up to the expectations and trust held by 9 year old Christina Taylor Green before she was gunned down. Even the first lady composed an open letter to express her feelings about the tragedy in Arizona. And yet neither of them went beyond our borders with their final blessing. How about extending that prayers to the children of the world who are killed on a daily basis? How can they be so empathetic toward one little girl in Tucson and not the thousands of children in Afghanistan, Iraq, Congo, Ivory Coast? How 'bout living up to their expectations and calling for an immediate moratorium on the manufacturing and sale of all weapons? While I do appreciate their prayers for the dead and wounded, actions speak louder than words. And If the President is going to invoke the Lord. Perhaps he could say instead of God Bless America. God bless you and your children. That way any one who is listening, Here or across the world, the sane or crazy, will be given a blessing.
Here's a few of my favorites

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Gospel of St. Matthew 5:3-10