“Like a tree that’s planted by the water ....”




Archives 2016

Dear Friends,
We urge you to sign the petition, Barbara Lee, Speak For Us All. Please take a moment, and tell your friends about it. would mean a lot to me if you took a moment to add your name because: Barbara Lee has a high reputation of speaking truth to power. We ask her to stand on that ground and speak again on some major issues coming up in the next administration.

Thank you!
Carolyn & the EPI Board

We had a great Fall Dinner with Norman Soloman.

You may now view photos, listen to audio and watch videos of Michael Rufio & Norman Soloman.

Thank you, all who attended, and have a great holiday season, however you celebrate it, with emphasis on “rest”, as we’ve a lot of work ahead of us!

Peace,
EPI/CALC

The fall 2016 issue of our newsletter, “Planted By the Water” is now available: Download PDF

From our Poetry Corner:

Dechoukaj
 

The tree stump remains in the field

after the tree is cut.

Deeply its roots grasp the soil;

it is not dead.

 

From it will spring

a dozen shoots

filling the field

hindering the plow

choking the seedlings

stealing the harvest.

 

With machete and hoe

with strong back and arms

the farmer attacks the stump

digs below its roots

chops off its tendrils

hauls out the tangled knot

to be burned in the cooking fire.

 

The grain will fall on the fertile field

will sprout and grow.

The harvest will come.

 

© 1995 Carolyn S. Scarr

    Christ Destroying His Cross

    from Jose Clemente Orozco, Cristo Destruye Su Cruz
     

    He stands, left hand raised, fist clenched.

    His wounded feet straddle the blood-stained wood,

    of the felled cross.

    His pierced right hand

    grips the heavy ax.

    The stump shows the imprint of the blows

    which brought down

    the instrument of agonizing death.

    The Ionic column of twisted law,

    fallen behind the cross,

    lies on a sheaf of knives.

     

    Arms cropped, a toppled Buddha rests

    in a bed of gun barrels,

    legs in half-lotus position,

    eyes closed, in oblivious serenity.

     

    Gun turrets bristle.

    Tanks rumble across a swath of mutilated statuary,

    annihilate all in their path.

    Armless Venus is headless now.

     

    Christ’s eyes glare above sunken cheeks.

    His skin hangs from flayed thighs.

    The muscled figure

    reflects fire and the blood-red sky.

    Ax in hand, the revolutionary Christ

    stands in rough resurrection.

     

    Carolyn S. Scarr
     Jan 18, 2011
    Modified April 6, 2011
    Modified May 8, 2011

For those of you unable to attend our 2016 Good Friday Interfaith Service, or who wish to re-visit it:

WE HOPE YOU HAD A BLESSED 2016, AND ...

Read about the Peace Pole Project.

Archives 2015

The EPI 2015 Fall Gathering,
The Color of Empire: At Home &Abroad,
was a great success!

Tony Scarr recorded it, and edited it into 8 clips:
 



Welcome by Rev. Max Lynn of St. John’s Perbyterian Church

 



Daniel Zwickel ben Avrám leads his adaptation of “De Colores” for the fall.

 



“Ella’s Song” by Bernice Reagon of Sweet Honey In the Rock

 



Devonté Jackson, Black Alliance for Just Immigration & Black Lives Matter

 



Rev. Deborah Lee, Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights

 



 Pierre Labossiere, Haiti Action & Ecumenical Peace Institute

 



Rev. Silvia Brandon Pérez, Ecumenical Peace Institute, School of the Americas Watch
&  Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

 



Closing remarks

Fifty years ago Your Humble Webscribe wrote a song that started like this:

.

Tuesday the 4th we walked:

Those Of A Certain Age will remember Country Joe McDonald.

Our thanks to Bob Hanson and Rick Serling for the photos!

Click on: from
The United Nations Charter
Regarding the Use of Military Force

Mark Coplan took lots of good photos of the Dinner gathering. You can to to his Flikr webpage to view them. Thanks, Mark!

EPI's new phone number: (510) 990-0374 or 510.99.00.EPI

A TPP webpage has been created. For information, click on: TPP-Jeju

Alameda Poet Laureate Mary Rudge Dies: Mary, Stella Maris