Evil exists," he says, not flinching at the word. "I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Somebody has power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people - that is my idea of evil."

"Apathy is the glove in which evil slips its hand." Vw

Apathy is spiritual self mutilation of each individual member of the body. It is sad that I have repeatedly witnessed more compassion from a bum on the street than from an indifferent "good Christian". And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

I have learned working with the public that the happiest people I have ever met were more spiritual and didn't have much property to worry about. And the absolute unhappiest folk I ever communed with where the ones with all the responsibility for stuff. I realized I spent all my time managing my stuff, taking care of my stuff, securing my stuff, insuring my stuff, polishing and admiring, displaying the conspicuous consumption for which I was responsible. Worrying about how to get more stuff is not living. Sharing sunsets and thanking God you got to see his beauty is living; talking to an eight year old kid that is busy at something else is living(they will tell you or make up what ever you want to hear to get rid of you, like: Lots wife was a pillar of salt in the day time and at night she was a ball of fire); talking to another human being outside your comfort zone with genuine interest counts most.

 People should immediately recognize the love of God in others by example. Charity is evidence of love of God, Apathy is evidence satons love of evil. Seems too much shit causes apathy; seems we are too busy tending our shit to care about anything else. Is that life?

 Many, many people, without a charitable heart, me one, God will slap down with a, sometimes catastrophic, life change, like the end or between. Many call for the first time on God he will not say 'wait till I finish polishing the boat' to aid and comfort us if he thinks we deserve his helping hand. His mind is already settled between your Ipod and the poor. Pity the toys I so coveted could not restore my health. They wouldn't even fit in the hospital bed with me, decisions, life choices, every body always said you cant take it with you; but me, like a fool tried to get a plasma screen into heaven. He told me to go work with the poor and learn some charity and humility; your going to stick around and put that smart mouth of yours to work for God, dude!  I was like woahhh, man. God just gave me a spiritual spanking. You are reading this because I am obedient and I speak for all those who cant by the authority of God, not me. The survivors get in Gods spiritual-life boat, the rest cast off the life preservers and die. Because of apathy we don't know how many die. It is a bunch, many more than all conflict and disease combined to be sure. God knows.

What's the difference between ignorance and apathy? I don't know and I don't care.

"I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate - it's apathy. It's not giving a damn." lb

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity." Jbs

Apathy is the greatest shield. With it, no one can hurt me

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.

He who does not punish evil commands it to be done. ldv

Evil exists," he says, not flinching at the word. "I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Somebody has power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people - that is my idea of evil." Jk

"The religion that is afraid of science dishonors God and commits suicide.... Every influx of atheism, of skepticism, is thus made useful as a mercury pill assaulting and removing a diseased religion, and making way for truth." RWE

Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. I am Kosmicdebris.

More on poverty

That so many people are poor in a nation as rich as ours is a social and moral scandal that we cannot ignore.

Poverty a general word used to describe the state of being without enough money or resources to live at a standard considered normal or basic by society. It can be used to describe varying states of need, from lack of material comfort to near-starvation; destitution poverty that is so extreme as to be life-threatening; indigence a formal word used to describe a state of very severe poverty; deprivation a state of severe poverty, emphasizing the fact that those affected have been denied the material benefits that others enjoy; penury a fairly severe state of economic need; social exclusion used in political or sociological contexts to suggest a lack of money or resources sufficient to sustain a basic standard of living, causing those affected to be disadvantaged; want is a formal or literary word used to describe a situation where people do not have the money, food, or resources they need to have a basic standard of living. I am embarrassed, but not surprised anymore, that Americans have more labels describing the degrees of poverty than the resolve to do anything meaningful and productive about it. Don't get me started, ok start me up ill never stop.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.

The obligation to evaluate social and economic activity from the viewpoint of the poor and the powerless arises from the radical command to love one's neighbor as one's self. Those who are marginalized and whose rights are denied have privileged claims if society is to provide justice for all. This obligation is deeply rooted in Christian belief.

As followers of Christ, we are challenged to make a fundamental "option for the poor" – to speak for the voiceless, to defend the defenseless, to assess life styles, policies, and social institutions in terms of their impact on the poor. This does not mean pitting one group against another, but rather, strengthening the whole community by assisting those who are the most vulnerable. As Christians, we are called to respond to the needs of all our brothers and sisters, but those with the greatest needs
require the greatest response.

In one of the richest, most powerful nations on earth, tens of millions of people lack some of the basic material necessities of life. The existence of such widespread poverty amidst such enormous wealth is a moral and social wound in the soul of this country. Even while the economy as a whole prospers, this scourge of poverty is getting worse, and the harm it inflicts on our entire nation continues to grow. The fact that this powerful economy is leaving so many behind is a sign that that something in our social and economic system is seriously broken.

The needs of the poor take priority over the desires of the rich; the rights of workers over the maximization of profits; the preservation of the environment over uncontrolled industrial expansion; the production to meet social needs over production for military purposes. That about cover it, did we miss anything? Take that 'option for the poor' , speak for those that cant speak for themselves.


If I have brought a gleam of light
To cheer a darkened day,
If I held out a friendly hand
To help along the way.
Then in these acts of kindness done
It is not me you see,
But glimpses of that Loving One

Who chose to dwell in me.

A Poet's Voice XV

Part One


The power of charity sows deep in my heart, and I reap and gather the wheat in bundles and give them to the hungry.

My soul gives life to the grapevine and I press its bunches and give the juice to the thirsty.

Heaven fills my lamp with oil and I place it at my window to direct the stranger through the dark.

I do all these things because I live in them; and if destiny should tie my hands and prevent me from so doing, then death would be my only desire. For I am a poet, and if I cannot give, I shall refuse to receive.

Humanity rages like a tempest, but I sigh in silence for I know the storm must pass away while a sigh goes to God.

Human kinds cling to earthly things, but I seek ever to embrace the torch of love so it will purify me by its fire and sear inhumanity from my heart.

Substantial things deaden a man without suffering; love awakens him with enlivening pains.

Humans are divided into different clans and tribes, and belong to countries and towns. But I find myself a stranger to all communities and belong to no settlement. The universe is my country and the human family is my tribe.

Men are weak, and it is sad that they divide amongst themselves. The world is narrow and it is unwise to cleave it into kingdoms, empires, and provinces.

Human kinds unite themselves one to destroy the temples of the soul, and they join hands to build edifices for earthly bodies. I stand alone listening to the voice of hope in my deep self saying, "As love enlivens a man's heart with pain, so ignorance teaches him the way of knowledge." Pain and ignorance lead to great joy and knowledge because the Supreme Being has created nothing vain under the sun.



Part Two


I have a yearning for my beautiful country, and I love its people because of their misery. But if my people rose, stimulated by plunder and motivated by what they call "patriotic spirit" to murder, and invaded my neighbor's country, then upon the committing of any human atrocity I would hate my people and my country.

I sing the praise of my birthplace and long to see the home of my children; but if the people in that home refused to shelter and feed the needy wayfarer, I would convert my praise into anger and my longing to forgetfulness. My inner voice would say, "The house that does not comfort the need is worthy of naught by destruction."

I love my native village with some of my love for my country; and I love my country with part of my love for the earth, all of which is my country; and I love the earth will all of myself because it is the haven of humanity, the manifest spirit of God.

Humanity is the spirit of the Supreme Being on earth, and that humanity is standing amidst ruins, hiding its nakedness behind tattered rags, shedding tears upon hollow cheeks, and calling for its children with pitiful voice. But the children are busy singing their clan's anthem; they are busy sharpening the swords and cannot hear the cry of their mothers.

Humanity appeals to its people but they listen not. Were one to listen, and console a mother by wiping her tears, other would say, "He is weak, affected by sentiment."

Humanity is the spirit of the Supreme Being on earth, and that Supreme Being preaches love and good-will. But the people ridicule such teachings. The Nazarene Jesus listened, and crucifixion was his lot; Socrates heard the voice and followed it, and he too fell victim in body. The followers of The Nazarene and Socrates are the followers of Deity, and since people will not kill them, they deride them, saying, "Ridicule is more bitter than killing."

Jerusalem could not kill The Nazarene, nor Athens Socrates; they are living yet and shall live eternally. Ridicule cannot triumph over the followers of Deity. They live and grow forever.



Part Three


Thou art my brother because you are a human, and we both are sons of one Holy Spirit; we are equal and made of the same earth.

You are here as my companion along the path of life, and my aid in understanding the meaning of hidden Truth. You are a human, and, that fact sufficing, I love you as a brother. You may speak of me as you choose, for Tomorrow shall take you away and will use your talk as evidence for his judgment, and you shall receive justice.

You may deprive me of whatever I possess, for my greed instigated the amassing of wealth and you are entitled to my lot if it will satisfy you.

You may do unto me whatever you wish, but you shall not be able to touch my Truth.

You may shed my blood and burn my body, but you cannot kill or hurt my spirit.

You may tie my hands with chains and my feet with shackles, and put me in the dark prison, but who shall not enslave my thinking, for it is free, like the breeze in the spacious sky.

You are my brother and I love you. I love you worshipping in your church, kneeling in your temple, and praying in your mosque. You and I and all are children of one religion, for the varied paths of religion are but the fingers of the loving hand of the Supreme Being, extended to all, offering completeness of spirit to all, anxious to receive all.

I love you for your Truth, derived from your knowledge; that Truth which I cannot see because of my ignorance. But I respect it as a divine thing, for it is the deed of the spirit. Your Truth shall meet my Truth in the coming world and blend together like the fragrance of flowers and becoming one whole and eternal Truth, perpetuating and living in the eternity of Love and Beauty.

I love you because you are weak before the strong oppressor, and poor before the greedy rich. For these reasons I shed tears and comfort you; and from behind my tears I see you embraced in the arms of Justice, smiling and forgiving your persecutors. You are my brother and I love you.



Part Four


You are my brother, but why are you quarreling with me? Why do you invade my country and try to subjugate me for the sake of pleasing those who are seeking glory and authority?

Why do you leave your wife and children and follow Death to the distant land for the sake of those who buy glory with your blood, and high honor with your mother's tears?

Is it an honor for a man to kill his brother man? If you deem it an honor, let it be an act of worship, and erect a temple to Cain who slew his brother Abel.

Is self-preservation the first law of Nature? Why, then, does Greed urge you to self-sacrifice in order only to achieve his aim in hurting your brothers? Beware, my brother, of the leader who says, "Love of existence obliges us to deprive the people of their rights!" I say unto you but this: protecting others' rights is the noblest and most beautiful human act; if my existence requires that I kill others, then death is more honorable to me, and if I cannot find someone to kill me for the protection of my honor, I will not hesitate to take my life by my own hands for the sake of Eternity before Eternity comes.

Selfishness, my brother, is the cause of blind superiority, and superiority creates clanship, and clanship creates authority which leads to discord and subjugation.

The soul believes in the power of knowledge and justice over dark ignorance; it denies the authority that supplies the swords to defend and strengthen ignorance and oppression - that authority which destroyed Babylon and shook the foundation of Jerusalem and left Rome in ruins. It is that which made people call criminals great mean; made writers respect their names; made historians relate the stories of their inhumanity in manner of praise.

The only authority I obey is the knowledge of guarding and acquiescing in the Natural Law of Justice.

What justice does authority display when it kills the killer? When it imprisons the robber? When it descends on a neighborhood country and slays its people? What does justice think of the authority under which a killer punishes the one who kills, and a thief sentences the one who steals?

You are my brother, and I love you; and Love is justice with its full intensity and dignity. If justice did not support my love for you, regardless of your tribe and community, I would be a deceiver concealing the ugliness of selfishness behind the outer garment of pure love.

Conclusion


My soul is my friend who consoles me in misery and distress of life. He who does not befriend his soul is an enemy of humanity, and he who does not find human guidance within himself will perish desperately. Life emerges from within, and derives not from environs.

I came to say a word and I shall say it now. But if death prevents its uttering, it will be said tomorrow, for tomorrow never leaves a secret in the book of eternity.

I came to live in the glory of love and the light of beauty, which are the reflections of God. I am here living, and the people are unable to exile me from the domain of life for they know I will live in death. If they pluck my eyes I will hearken to the murmers of love and the songs of beauty.

If they close my ears I will enjoy the touch of the breeze mixed with the incebse of love and the fragrance of beauty.

If they place me in a vacuum, I will live together with my soul, the child of love and beauty.

I came here to be for all and with all, and what I do today in my solitude will be echoed by tomorrow to the people.

What I say now with one heart will be said tomorrow by many hearts

Khalil Gibran











................kosmicdebris