http://www.epluribus.us/blog/ en Copyright 2011 Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:04:23 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification The flag is done now and well ensconced in Charlotte's Place. The response has been terrific. For me the experience was so fulfilling. I have been working on this project since 2003 and working mostly by myself. While I try very hard to conceive of ways in which to honor, respect and celebrate the various cultures represented in the flags the missing link has been community. I have throughout the years spoken to the occasional individual to hone my plans for a specific flag. My friends have helped me a lot donating ideas drinking lots of wine to donate corks and even donating fabrics to make into flags, but until now I have not experienced a real connection to the wider diverse community of New York. It's true that I do have a fabulously diverse community in my immediate friends and family but what a delight it has been to meet so many new people from all over the world at Charlotte's Place. So many tourists, local workers, students, and residents came in during the project and traced their hands or stuck around to do some drawing, cutting and sticking on of hands. I gave many tours of my flag exhibit and answered the same collection of questions; why the flags, when did I start and how did I come up with the idea. Quite a few people were disappointed that their culture or country was not represented yet: some Australian ladies, two Spanish girls and a Dominican Republic contingent all had great ideas for more flags to be included in the collection. So I have my work cut out for me, or I should say not cut out yet but waiting to be cut out. I feel as if the project has taken a great leap forward. It is a delightful ride and it is so very gratifying and such a deep honor to be working on something that is so appreciated and that creates it's own momentum. Recently I showed up to do a bit of stitching; now that the flag is all together we have concluded that we'd like to stitch the hands to make sure they stay on. If you want to help please let me know. Anyway, I was doing that and a writer showed up; suddenly I was doing an interview for Suite 101 with Jean Terepka. She has very eloquently summarized the project and my work and I invite you to check out the article at Suite 101. It is good that we finished when we did because shortly afterward the Occupy Wall Street folks arrived and discovered Charlotte's Place so the space is now very busy with groups earnestly discussing how to create a better future for us all. So come down and check out the work and get involved in the democratic conversation.]]> http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2011/10/out_of_many_one.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2011/10/out_of_many_one.html art community Culture Diversity E Pluribus Flags harmony Muriel Stockdale peace USA Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:04:23 -0500 ]]> http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2011/07/out_of_many_one_first_layer_bl.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2011/07/out_of_many_one_first_layer_bl.html Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:03:01 -0500 ]]> http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2011/04/gender.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2011/04/gender.html Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:24:51 -0500 This weekend I was so delighted to participate in a fabulous event at the Wang Center hosted by Sunita Mukhi the gracious director of Asian/American programs at the center. I am so grateful to Sunita for being welcomed into the beautiful space of the Wang Center as well as being welcomed into the inspiring community of the Wang Center. Here is a lovely place and community that exemplifies to me what my E Pluribus project is about: sharing our celebration of diversity. On Saturday the treat was called TellebrAsian, it was a uniquely tailored yearly story telling event that this year was inspired by the flags. A talented group of story tellers, some professional and some students, chose a flag and launched into either a personal or a cultural story. The setting was intimate in the Wang Center Interdenominational Chapel with Oriental rugs comfortably welcoming kids and families to lounge as if they were on their own living room floor. The less flexible audience sat in comfort around the edges of the elegant room in chairs. Nine delightful stories were told beginning with a half dance autobiographical story about the weight of making life decisions regarding career and boyfriend. Following were stories of a magical fish and a greedy wife, an inebriated Irishman mistaking thieves for the devil, a personal recollection of crabbing, why the sun follows the moon, ten ancient Chinese super-powered brothers, a covetous crane from the Mahabharata, the entire epic of Gilgamesh in ten minutes and finally a delightful story of a sparrow which was punctuated and enhanced by a Japanese percussion troop. The broad range of subjects from Ancient texts to personal recollections was a rich and fascinating field of discovery for the audience. Skilled story tellers led the audience with experience and the inexperienced story tellers held us with their enthusiasm and so the entertainment never dipped in capturing our attention. The audience was entranced and often moved to laughter. Most delightful were two Chinese students, Erica Xie and Stella Yu telling their story of the ten brothers and minimally but very effectively acting out their super powers. Stories were also told by Robin Bady, Lorena Doherty, Shrikant Iyer, Pamela MacFarlane, Eva Nagase, Jorge Portillo, Kadhambari Sridhar and featured guest artist Dr. Donny George Youkhanna who is an Iraqi Assyrian archeologist, anthropologist, author, curator and scholar now visiting professor at SUNY Stony Brook and internationally known as "the man who saved the Iraq National Museum". It was a thoroughly delightful afternoon wittily MC'd by Francesca Calarco and followed by a delicious meal of Asian cuisine from the Wang Center restaurant; Jasmine. This kind of event is the growing vision for E Pluribus; that it may promote further conversations about harmony in diversity and further celebrations of our diversity. By sharing these stories of life, love, dreams, hopes, aspirations and terrible mistakes we can really connect with each other in profound ways and recognize each other respectfully. Whether same or different our hearts resonate with similar feelings and to see another is to see deeply within ourself to our core humanity. I would like to also thank Jennifer Iacona for her over the top support and generous coordination efforts on behalf of E Pluribus and this event. I thank Sophia Dang, Manami Hotta, Luke Diorio and Allison Conley for their very careful and exacting assistance in hanging the artwork. I am also grateful to Graduate Assistants; Dan Woulfin and Sarah Feltham as well as Senior Student Assistant; Sumreen Dar, Student Assistant; Nastareen Khandaker and interns; Francesca Calarco and Madiha Hamdi and the staff of the Wang Center for their part in creating this great event and the exhibit of E Pluribus. http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2010/12/tellebrasian.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2010/12/tellebrasian.html celebration culture diversity E Pluribus flags Stony Brook story telling Wang Center Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:28:28 -0500 ]]> http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2010/10/beautiful_deadline.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2010/10/beautiful_deadline.html Sat, 23 Oct 2010 18:25:34 -0500 The Hmong (pronounced [m̥ɔ̃ŋ]), are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in southern China. Hmong groups began a gradual southward migration in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land. A number of Hmong people fought against the communist-nationalist Pathet Lao during the Secret War in Laos. Hmong people were singled out for retribution when the Pathet Lao took over the Laotian government in 1975, and tens of thousands fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States but also Australia, France, French Guiana, and Canada. Others have been returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs. Around 8,000 Hmong refugees remain in Thailand. Hmong Women in Traditional Dress: ]]> http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2010/08/treasure_trove.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2010/08/treasure_trove.html American Art Asian culture ethnic flags Thailand tribal Vietnamese Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:10:19 -0500 Well it takes me a while to get back to the blog because I don't have a lot to say about the work until I'm in front of it and introducing it to people. Fabrications in Newport, New Hampshire, is a great show, I am so honored to be a part of it. The work is exquisitely exhibited and the pieces representing other artists were so exciting. I was inspired to explore creating some 3D projects and think even more outside the framework of the US flag but I am so far from representing enough of the diversity of people here in the US so I will stick to the current project for a while. I was particularly inspired at the show by a lovely young lady, Lea, I'm not sure how she spells her name or how old she is, maybe 10 or so, but she was so smart. As we processed from flag to flag, the installation was such that each flag hung by itself yet you could see them together in the distance, brilliant. Anyway back to Lea she nailed every one of them; immediately recognizing the country or at least the continent by the qualities of the materials in the flag. I was impressed. Kids really get this project. I have a vision in the future of a generation that freely embraces cultural difference and celebrates that in life. Imagine a future workplace, maybe offices will be obsolete, who knows but imagine OK the mall: a man walks by in a colorful dashiki, a woman elegantly flings the palu of her sari over her shoulder, two guys hold a meeting wearing Hawaiian shirts, some girls are running by wearing stacks of beads and batik printed sarong skirts, a boy wearing a tartan kilt flirts with them. Why not? My sincere thanks go to Cynthia Reeves for inviting me to participate in FABRICATIONS, to Sara Mintz for tracking me down and making that introductory call which is so exciting to get, thanks also to Azariah Aker for his remarkable installation and for showing my work so exquisitely. http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2010/07/fabrications.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2010/07/fabrications.html Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:01:56 -0500 It's been a long time since I wrote the last blog. So there's a lot to share. I am delighted the work is out there again for people to go and see it at LaGuardia 's Atrium Lobby Showcase Gallery East. There are three gorgeous glass cases in the lobby of the building and I have 8 flags in each of two cases and 4 in the center, including the new Mexican, Mali and Zaire American E Pluribus flags.The show will be up until January 30. Meanwhile the project is always in progress. Right now my Mum has almost completed embroidering the English American flag it is amazing with rows of Tudor roses and heraldic crowns. We are both happy to see this flag come together because we are English and until this design came together we were feeling a bit left out. There are so many different cultural facets to this country that we could be making these flags forever. Currently in progress are the Uzbekistan, the Madagascar, the Dutch, the Canadian two Italian and the French American flags. The way it works is that I ponder the recognizable imagery, or gifts of the various cultural demographics until I can come up with a really strong visual that applies comfortably to the US Flag design. The materials are very diverse and fun and allow me to explore all kinds of creative traditions from various points of view. For example, I just found a lovely Suzani cloth in Rome that I will use for the Uzbekistan flag's star field. For the stripes I have some fabulous hand woven silk ikat that I bought online. When I was in Amsterdam earlier this year I bought 100 wooden red tulips and a bunch of miniature clogs for the Dutch flag. I am still trying to figure out how to cobble it together. And believe me 'cobble' is a very good word for this here. The Madagascar flag is a very fun project. I am crocheting out of raffia a dimensional flag in the style of a great basket bag that I bought at Blue Bag at 266 Elizabeth Street in NYC. I'm always sending people there because everyone comments on the bag. All of my friends are saving wine corks for me because, for the French flag I plan to stitch together about 1200 corks so that the red or white tips of the corks will express the stripes of the flag. The star field will be made from champagne corks with wire stars fashioned out of the champagne cork cages. They are looking really cool. Last year I collected dried and stored two boxes of bright red maple leaves for the Canadian American flag. I can't believe I still haven't had time to put that one together, I have all the parts. The field will be birch bark that I found in my local woods. The stripes out of the red maple leaves and the stars will be pine cones. My image of Canada is of rich and glorious wild forests. I have Venetian papers for one Italian flag and a design ready for construction of a marble tiled Italian flag. So you can see there is plenty to do. Often I do get sidetracked like with the Mali flag which came together very quickly. I found the fabric after stumbling into a favorite shop on Greenwich Avenue and then I went to my local weekly flea market hoping that the African bead vendor would have some Mali wedding beads. How lucky I am, he was there for only the second time this year and he had only two Mali wedding bead necklaces so I bought them. One went into the flag, the other I've been wearing. Well, I said there was a lot to share. I hope you can get to see the flags in person. If not please enjoy them at the online gallery of www.epluribus.us http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2009/12/work_in_progress.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2009/12/work_in_progress.html Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:29:26 -0500 Yesterday was my first talk about the flag series E Pluribus. I am very honored and delighted to be a part of Mayor Bloomberg's 6th Annual Immigrant Heritage Week and I want to thank Esther Hughes of the Mayor's office and Doris Jones of the Queens Library Office for their generous assistance in making this happen. I also want to thank Andrew Jackson of Langston Hughes Library and Gina Fazio of the Flushing Library for arranging for the gallery spaces. I also want to thank Susana Galli for inviting me to participate in the International Immigrant Foundation's gallery show. Thanks also to Jamel Dixon for hanging the Langston Hughes show so beautifully. There are 4 flags hanging in a lower lobby area of the Flushing Public library and I gave the talk in a very nice adjacent auditorium. It was fun and though the weather was dreadful quite a few hardy souls came out for the discussion. It took me about 2 and a half days to construct my first powerpoint presentation. It was interesting to go back through the completed projects and retrieve the images that inspired them, like edelweiss flowers, keffiya head wraps and bamboo furniture. I am now always looking to find objects that represent the great offerings of the diverse cultures here. I am open to suggestions too. My talk really focused on the value offered by different cultures coming to live together here in the States. It is always about the people, about the value of individuals, about the value of what individuals can do together in groups whether they are tribal, communal, cultural or spiritual. I found myself repeating the idea that I have chosen uplifting symbols to represent these flags. I feel it is critical to remember the gifts we share together and to emphasize the life affirming symbols and actions that we can celebrate and practice to make our daily experiences better and better. Let's dance rather than fight, let's make art instead of bullets and gardens instead of battlegrounds. Everyday we face choices and I personally resolve to choose actions, thoughts and words that affirm life, freedom, liberty and justice for all. Hmmm, I think I read that somewhere. Anyway, this art project is an exercise in remembering the fantastic ideals written by the founders of this country that created the space for so many diverse cultures to come and live together in harmony. We are an example for the world. Let's keep it working; kudos to Queens and the diverse residents there who show us all throughout the world how to live together. I hope you can get to Langston Hughes Public Library in Corona or Flushing Library to see the flags. This Saturday there will be a reception at 1 PM with music by the Senor Lucky Blues Band starting at 2 PM at the Langston Hughes Library. I will give the talk again at 3 PM Saturday and tomorrow I will give it to some groups of school children also at the Langston Hughes Library. I hope to see you there. Langston Hughes Public Library: April 17th to May 30th during library hours. 100-01 Northern Boulevard, Corona, NY 11368 Contact: (718) 651-1100 Artist's reception: Saturday, April 25, 1-4PM with Senor Lucky Blues Band at 2PM Flushing Queens Public Library: April 17th to April 30th during library hours. 41-17 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11355 Contact: (718) 661-1200 Artist's talk: Monday April 20, 6PM (www.queenslibrary.org) International Immigrant's Foundation: April 17th to April 23rd 7 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036 Contact: (212) 302-2222 (www.10.org) http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2009/04/e_pluribus_in_queens.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2009/04/e_pluribus_in_queens.html Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:51:12 -0500 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Muriel Stockdale Artist E PLURIBUS 88 Greenwich Street #2102 NY NY 10006 www.epluribus.us 212 475-1875 646 522-3819 Diverse US Art flags become part of 6th Annual Immigrant Heritage Week. New York City April 9, 2009 Muriel Stockdale's E Pluribus series of American Art Flags will be shown as part of Mayor Bloomberg's 6th Annual Immigrant Heritage week from April 17th to April 23rd. Visit over 25 diverse expressions of the US Flag at the Langston Hughes and Flushing Libraries in Queens as well as the International Immigrant's Foundation in Manhattan. The artist has carefully designed and hand made her series of flags to celebrate the diverse contributions of the various cultures living together in harmony in the United States today. See Austrian, Indonesian and Mayan American flags made from cloth, crystals and cornhusk dolls along with Danish and Philippine American flags made from wood as well as Japanese or Mexican American flags crafted from Papel Picado and Origami papers. Stockdale will discuss the inspiration behind this project, speak about her own immigrant experience, and facilitate an open discussion of the meaning of E Pluribus Unum. She invites you to contemplate your American Flag and the beauty of our United States ideals that make our country strong enough to contain and empower diverse voices and expressions. The exhibit begins April 17th at the following locations. Langston Hughes Public Library: April 17th to May 30th during library hours. 100-01 Northern Boulevard, Corona, NY 11368 Contact: (718) 651-1100 Artist's reception: Saturday, April 25, 1-4PM with Senor Lucky Blues Band at 2PM Flushing Queens Public Library: April 17th to April 30th during library hours. 41-17 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11355 Contact: (718) 661-1200 Artist's talk: Monday April 20, 6PM (www.queenslibrary.org) International Immigrant's Foundation: April 17th to April 23rd 7 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036 Contact: (212) 302-2222 (www.10.org) For hours and events see: (www.nyc.gov/immigrants) For more information please contact Muriel Stockdale at 212 475-1875 To see the flags online please go to (www.epluribus.us) http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2009/04/immigrant_heritage_week.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2009/04/immigrant_heritage_week.html Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:15:13 -0500 Today I finally launch the BIG project. You are invited to participate in a brand new E PLURIBUS US FLAG. This one is to celebrate our President Elect Barack Obama. It will be 36 feet wide and 24 feet high and made from cloth pieces 3" by 6" from all your different cultures, a true expression of E Pluribus, Unum: one flag out of many. This project is an invocation for a new USA where we work together in harmony, where we willingly through the work of our hands stitch our future together to create something wonderful. The diversity of this country is a magnificent asset and we are already an example of how diverse people can live together with respect. I have been working to clarify this concept for a few years now and I am only beginning to see a change in the tide of understanding. Let's keep working on it. We are one country, one humanity, one world, one heart, one spirit but we can be in different places, wearing different clothing, of different colors, dancing different steps, eating different food, making different treasures and celebrating different ideas; that's what makes life exciting. I love and respect your difference from me, I delight in you being different from me, I enjoy those times and places where we interact, where I learn new things about you and about me. I remember that we are essentially vast beings resounding with potential so let's play together with respect. The world is changing and in difficult times we must remember who we are and celebrate our heritage that supports us. Our United States of America heritage is a grand vision, a sacred vision of respect and a vision inspiring to all throughout the world. "One country indivisible", "freedom and justice for all", "pursuit of happiness". These are ideas that belong to all of us and within that we bring with us ideas of community from our personal heritage. We can bring all this together; unify ourselves and unify our community yet still express and celebrate our diversity. This new E PLURIBUS flag is a project that celebrates, "Made in the USA". It is a project that promotes respect for all cultural ideas. It is a project that shows patriotism can be of various forms and yet still red, white and blue. Most pointedly it celebrates harmony, like an orchestra we need diversity in order to produce the richest experience of the music of life. Please join me in making this celebratory US flag out of the symbols of our diverse cultures. To participate check out the participate page on my website; http://www.epluribus.us/site/participate.php. We need about 7,000 pieces of (strong) cloth to stitch together to make this flag. Send a piece of red, or white or blue cloth. You are welcome to embroider, weave, knit, crochet, appliqué or otherwise create a cloth in your style. I would also love to hear if there is a story about your submission but please keep it to a single typed page. Please do not send old treasures that may be weak with age instead frame them and put them on your wall for your descendents. I welcome you to donate to the construction costs or to volunteer to help in the construction of the flag. Information about how to do this is on the participate page. I hope that you will join me in creating this flag together. If you are only interested in updates on our progress please sign up to receive emails. http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2008/12/barack_obama_unity_in_communit.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2008/12/barack_obama_unity_in_communit.html culture e pluribus fabric flag flags multicultural Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:24:16 -0500 So here we are in the middle of the new season of presidential elections. I'm watching and I'm concerned. In the very late 90's I finally applied for US citizenship after 33 years of living in this country. Why I waited so long I don't know, I think I felt the trade off between getting to vote but having to do jury duty made it worth while. I did not realize how deeply I had disenfranchised myself; how much I had allowed myself to hold a space of distance from my chosen country of residence. Finally becoming a citizen was just great. It was like taking a deep breath and sinking into the couch between good friends rather than sitting beside the party in a straight backed chair. Then I voted. I was so excited, it was inevitable; my guy was (is) great, he was for sure going to win - that was Al Gore and you know how it ended. That happened again in 2004 so needless to say my new privilege to have my vote count has proved fruitless, so far. But I am undaunted. I will be back at the machines (I hope I can trust them) in November to vote for Barack. I would have loved to vote for Hillary but the issues are more important than the candidate and I will vote democratic. It turns out though that Barack Obama is a superb example of the motto "E PLURIBUS UNUM" He is himself a man who is "Out of Many, One" and he exemplifies the exalted idea that we can not only tolerate diversity but that we can excel because of it. Barack gets it, he lives it. It seems to me that very recently perhaps during this last heated primary race we have moved in consciousness from a climate of tolerance regarding diversity toward a climate of celebration. It is my hope that we will recognize diversity and celebrate, honor and respect its various expressions. That may be happening right now but it needs pointing out. For example: we have no arguments with Chinese food, Italian pizza, sushi, and Matzoh balls. Perhaps the only food discriminated against is English fruitcake - I don't get it I love fruitcake, but I think the discrimination is not because it's English but because it's dense and Americans like fluffy cake. We also seem to universally enjoy diverse music - African drums, Indian chanting, digeridoos and other ethnic sounds appear in all kinds of music. Protests and complaints are minimal; Sting, Carlos Santana and Robert Plant/Jimmy Page have all produced award winning "e pluribus" type music with diverse sounds creating excellent unified sounds. Many gifts of diversity are forged together to make this country into the incredibly interesting and exciting place that we enjoy today. For example we are made from English legal precedents from as far back as the Magna Carta, Indian spiritual gems from the Ancient Vedas, Spanish music graduating from acoustic to electric guitar, French fashion style, Italian high design, African rythm and passion, Chinese work ethic, food, and fabrics and it goes on and on. All this enriches our lives. No part of our culture, society or personal lives can be seen to be untouched by the gifts of diversity that make up this US of A. But we have to remember that this all comes from people, from individuals who bring their passion, their work ethic and their resources together to make an offering to life here in America. "E Pluribus, Unum" is a great motto, a motto that permits us as United States to re-envision and to remake ourselves as we incorporate more and more many into the one. "May you live in exciting times" is the old Chinese proverb - curse or blessing who knows but here we are, living in exciting times. If we can hold the mandate to celebrate diversity we will always live in exciting times for diversity creates change and change is exciting when celebrated rather than feared. http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2008/08/barack_is_the_unum.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2008/08/barack_is_the_unum.html Barack change democrat diversity e pluribus politics United States vote Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:33:11 -0500 Walking the Earth is a light weaving practice for Peace and Harmony. There are two parts to the exercise one is awareness of your transcendent self, and that through the other which is awareness of the physical self. It is a practice and a prayer for peace and harmony, an invocation that invites the awareness and embodiment of peace to be here with us right now. First while walking as you normally do visualize a bright flame of white light and send it down from the center of your heart and through your feet into the center of the earth. See this light connect your heart to the heart of Gaia, think of her as live, conscious, vibrant and feel her welcome. Then shoot that flame up from your heart and out through the top of your head beyond the stratosphere of the earth and on up into the center of the universe and the heart of God; feel his welcome. Remember always to ground first, especially if you are walking the city streets. Now you are walking a column of light and consciousness, walk with this awareness as long as you wish and wherever you wish. You are weaving light as you do; bringing consciousness and love wherever you go. I find this to be a sweet and calming practice that brings me into the moment of the walk and creates space to enjoy each step with focus and purpose. The second part of the practice is to be very aware of your body. This I learned from my cat, Takata, who at one time extricated himself from a tight corner at the food bowl by very carefully backing out so as not to disturb his brother, Hawayo, who was still eating at the same bowl. When I saw this I thought about the times I have bumped people on the street and also those times that I have been bumped, sometimes quite hard. Remember that walking with awareness creates a respect for yourself, your body, your space, and therefore also the space of others who may be not quite as aware as you are. With this awareness and grace we can move through our world and our lives in this garden of grace without even the slightest disturbance of the body and mind and thereby practice harmony. If bumped do not consider it an affront or disrespect, I know this is hard, I have a hard time with it; but instead think of it as a blessing. Imagine a piece of your sacred light bouncing from you through the bump to the other and lighting them up with the gift of the light that you have cultivated. Like a match lighting another match. After all it takes two to bump and somewhere an unconscious agreement for this magical encounter and exchange arose between you. Think of a school of fish or a flock of birds moving together in perfect synchrony. Remember that we are that harmony too - always. http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2008/06/walking_the_earth.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2008/06/walking_the_earth.html Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:40:43 -0500 buy STUPID WARS www.stupidwars.com. ]]> http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2008/05/unum_meaning.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2008/05/unum_meaning.html Tue, 13 May 2008 22:28:15 -0500 Last week I was amazed and not surprised to learn about the Flushing Remonstrance, today is the 350 year anniversary of that remarkable act of courage by 30 inhabitants of the Town of Flushing. All United States citizens should know it, I was amazed that I had never heard of this document before but not surprised that such a thing would originate in Queens. Queens is a remarkable example of harmonious coexistence of diverse cultures and respect for all religions today and so it is not surprising that even in its origins it was so. The Flushing Remonstrance is a remarkable protest written in 1657 by the Town Clerk and the Schout (or sheriff) and also signed by 28 residents of the colony. It was delivered to Peter Stuyvesant in response to a decree that no colonist should welcome Quakers into the community. Peter Stuyvesant was then governor of the New Netherlands. I particularly love this part of the remonstrance: "The law of love, peace and liberty in the states extending to Jews, Turks and Egyptians, as they are considered sons of Adam, which is the glory of the outward state of Holland, soe love, peace and liberty, extending to all in Christ Jesus, condemns hatred, war and bondage." It goes on to include Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists or Quakers as those they would be glad to,"see anything of God in them, desiring to doe unto all men as we desire all men should doe unto us" And finally to make the point perfectly clear the concluding chapter says this: "Therefore if any of these said persons come in love unto us, we cannot in conscience lay violent hands upon them, but give them free egresse and regresse unto our Town, and houses, as God shall persuade our consciences" As a result of the letter Stuyvesant jailed and then banished the Town Clerk and the Shout and appointed a new Flushing Town government. It takes individuals to make war and it takes individuals to make peace. If we are looking carefully at events today and back through history we may notice that it takes much more courage to make peace than it does to make war. It is ironic, sad, and immensely disappointing that on this historic day of remembering the signing of the Flushing Remonstrance that we hear about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. So many Pakistanis have been welcomed into Queens. I ask a simple question - if Pakistanis can live in harmony in Queens with Jews, Christians and Hindus in close proximity; how can this kind of harmony and respect infect the consciousness of those in Pakistan. Even though this is a document not well remembered and little celebrated, the Flushing Remonstrance is a document of such significance that its brilliant ideals were incorporated into the United States Constitution 134 years after its signing in the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting and establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" Please remember the Flushing Remonstrance; celebrate its high ideals. Like the inhabitants of the new Town of Flushing in 1657 we live in a very small world - people of diverse religions and cultures live right next door. We are all siblings and we are enriched by the presence of diverse ideas, expressions, and paths to the divine. To read the Flushing Remonstrance please go to: http://www.nyym.org/flushing/remons.html To read the Constitution go to: http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am1 http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2007/12/remember_the_flushing_remonstr.html http://www.epluribus.us/blog/2007/12/remember_the_flushing_remonstr.html Thu, 27 Dec 2007 17:09:22 -0500