I put out a "call" awhile ago, for POETS LIVING ANYWHERE IN THE U.S. TO PLEASE SUBMIT POEMS ABOUT PEACE....
I have extended the deadline to November 1st.
The poem should be preferably less than 18 lines, and can be any form or point-of-view, so long as the theme is PEACE...There are no restrictions on language or style, either.
The poems selected will be included in a project I am going to propose to local Filmmakers--this means if selected, you MUST be willing to appear on film.
And speaking of Peace, I had the extreme pleasure of meeting the been-nominated-for-the-Nobel-Peace-Prize, Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy at my Pax Christi meeting this past Wednesday. What a maverick man--God Bless Him for all his work in Peace & Social Justice areas...

I had written a poem entitled "Two Views Of Christianity" which I read at the Decatur Book Festival, and I brought a copy to the Pax Christi meeting....
Fr. McCarthy asked me to read it aloud, and then commented that a Fr. Yoder had expressed to him that "We have ENOUGH theologians preaching Peace; what we need are the ARTISTS to do it...painters, poets...they can influence minds."
So there you have it--perhaps we poets and artists have more power than we believe.If this Eastern Rite priest who has worked for the cause of Peace all his life believes in our abilities, then we should have belief in our abilities...

Other topics discussed included the "adolescent brain" and John Carmody's study of this. I'm hoping to hear a more in-depth discussion of this in the near future, perhaps with John Carmody as our guest leading a seminar one weekend, right here in Atlanta.
The example Fr. McCarthy gave about the brain was this:
If a 5-year-old is about to cross a busy intersection, and someone says "Be a big boy--go ahead, you can do it.", what would we call that person?I was thinking "murderer", but someone said, "a recruiter." Apparently, Neurological studies have PROVEN that the brain of a young person CANNOT "process" information properly(understanding risk, consequence, destruction, etc.), until approximately age 24 or 25.(!)

"Old men create wars, and young people die for them..."

Christ's first word in teaching was Metanoya--"Repent", or literally, "Change of Mind."Let's hope this country can take on a type of Metanoya for the hurt caused for every day that we continue the occupation and devastation of Iraq. It devastates the Iraqi people, their homeland, and our young men and women, too.

Get your poetry submissions in to me--please copy-n-paste,
NO ATTACHMENTS, PLEASE!!
to:

originalsylvie@bellsouth.net

or you may snail-mail to:

Lisa Allender
720 Society Street
Alpharetta,GA. 30022



Pavarotti, the man who moved me enough to finally enjoy opera--his voice always gave me chills-- has died at age 71.
Pancreatic cancer.This devastating disease has killed--in just the past few years-- two of my Maternal Aunts(Aunt Helen, June 14th, 2001), and Aunt Mary, May 23, 2003), and a dear friend and neighbor, Bob Fritsch(Feburary 14th, 2007).

John Carmody, the fellow I met at Pax Christi on Wednesday, had been very ill. I was told only that he had cancer, and of course, for several months had been praying for him.
He announced he is in REMISSION.The cancer he had?
It was Acute Myeloma/Leukemia--which, if you've been reading My Blog lately, you know that astounded me-- because it is the cause I had asked for clarification on--I had prayed for a "sign" that I chosen the "right" path (I'm in training for this cause), and have received tremendous "feedback", if you will, from the Universe...

More news upcoming on my training, and fundraising that I'll be doing in conjunction with Tream-in-Training's Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Thanksgiving Day Half-Marathon.
I've never been athletic, but am truly loving the daily walk/run, and have even begun running twice in one day-- when I need more energy:it sounds counter-intuitive, but this endeavor is giving me MORE energy, not lessening it!

Stay tuned for more on how you can help--and remember, the Leukemia & Lymphoma research is what led to the FIRST use of Chemotherapy, and Bone-Marrow translants--both of which are now the most-used treatments for ALL forms of cancer...
Blood Cancer research helps AIDS research, and ALL cancer research!

Have a beautiful weekend, kids!