Dear Komen Foundation...

Dear Komen Foundation...

I've always been a "Race for the Cure" fan. I've been to several, and have been deeply moved to see the thousands who turn out to run/walk. I've watched members of my family run/walk, in memory of my grandmother. I've cried tears when survivors are introduced. I even used your organization in a sermon illustration once.

But tonight, I am stunned to hear you are cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood's breast cancer screenings.(1)

Based on what I am reading on the internet, I am not the alone.

My understanding is that you have cut off funding because Planned Parenthood is the target of a congressional investigation, launched by an untra-conservative member of that body.

This is a disturbing precedent on several fronts.

First, the political front. In a single decision, you have emboldened the most radical elements of our society, You have given them the encouragement that a mere investigation might result in groups like yours taking pre-emptive action.

Your spokesperson, Lesli Aun, said this: "We want to maintain a positive relationship with them...We're not making any judgment."

Actually, you are making a judgment. That's exactly what you're doing. Please do not pretend otherwise.

You want to "maintain relationship?" Then why do anything at this time?

Your actions speak louder than your words.

The second "front" is what you have done to split a community in this country who passionately support the health and well being of our nation's women.

Tonight, you present women and men a "Sophie's Choice" between supporting your organization and Planned Parenthood.

I know Planned Parenthood to be a fine organization the provides low-cost health services to millions of women in our country. A part of that health screening has been screening for breast cancer.

This is the funding you are cutting? Funding to prevent the very disease you claim to want to cure? This makes no sense whatsoever.

It is hyperpolitical, not a-political.

I was deeply moved by the comments of Patrick Hurd, who is CEO of a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Virginia, which was in turn a recipient of a 2010 grant from your organization. His wife, Betsi is battling breast cancer, and has been a participant in many of your races.

I think he put it best when he said this:

"...cancer doesn't care if you're pro-choice, anti-choice, progressive, conservative."

So true.

So why do you?

(1) Disclosure: In addition to being a fan of your group, I am a fan of Planned Parenthood. Once upon a time, I served as a clergy member of the Religious Advisory Committee of Planned Parenthood of Dallas and Northeast Texas.

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Running the Numbers on 2011

We've got some year-end stats now for Connections in 2011. And, the results are pretty amazing.

It was clearly our best year yet. This was on the back of our single-largest concert ever: "The Concert for AMK," last June. That one show, by itself, surpassed our fundraising for every other single year in our history. Pretty dang amazing.

This first graph shows our all-time funds raised over time.

As of year-end, we've raised $180, 547!!

This graph shows the funds raised, per-year:

As you  can see, 2011 blew the roof off of every other fundraising year we've ever had. The "Concert for AMK" was. of course, the thing that more than doubled our fundraising over every previous year.

However! When you factor out the "AMK Show," 2011 was still our second largest fundraising years ever!!

Taking out that show, for an apples-to-apples comparison with other years, not only was 2011 our second largest fundraising year, but it was only $350 from being number one!!

So, it was an incredible year, no matter how you run the numbers.

Finally, a breakdown of the funds raised, per beneficiary. Our two primary beneficiaries are UMCOR, and "Imagine No Malaria." (Follow the links to learn more about each). The "Other"category is the "Concert for AMK."

Connections' 2012 Spring schedule is now available at our website. At all our Spring shows, we're rolling out our new show: "Superhits of the 70s, Part II."

Check out the dates here, and come out to see us.

Connections continues to be an incredible gift to all of us in the band. We're grateful to be able to share great music, offer fun shows, and raise money for these incredible causes. We are profoundly grateful to the thousands of people who, simply by coming to see our shows and enjoying some music, make a difference in the world.

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What's Going On

Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, yeah

Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me
So you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going
What's going on
What's going on

Mother, mother
Everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply because our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today

Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Come on talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
What's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you ya, what's going on
--Obie Benson, Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye

(Place: Occupy Dallas, October 2011)

For The Time Being

"Well, so that is that.  Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes --
Some have got broken -- and carrying them up to the attic.
The holly and the mistletoe must be taken down and burnt,
And the children got ready for school.  There are enough
Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week --
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted -- quite unsuccessfully --
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers.  Once again

As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and
failed
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable
Possibility, once again we have sent Him away,
Begging though to remain His disobedient servant,
The promising child who cannot keep His word for long.
The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory,
And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware
Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension at the thought
Of Lent and Good Friday which cannot, after all, now
Be very far off.  But, for the time being, here we all are,
Back in the moderate Aristotelian city
Of darning and the Eight-Fifteen, where Euclid's geometry
And Newton's mechanics would account for our experience,
And the kitchen table exists because I scrub it.
It seems to have shrunk during the holidays.  The streets
Are much narrower than we remembered; we had forgotten
The office was as depressing as this.  To those who have
seen
The Child, however dimly, however incredulously,
The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.
For the innocent children who whispered so excitedly
Outside the locked door where they knew the presents to be
Grew up when it opened.  Now, recollecting that moment
We can repress the joy, but the guilt remains conscious;
Remembering the stable where for once in our lives
Everything became a You and nothing was an It.
And craving the sensation but ignoring the cause,
We look round for something, no matter what, to inhibit
Our self-reflection, and the obvious thing for that purpose
Would be some great suffering.  So, once we have met the
Son,
We are tempted ever after to pray to the Father;
"Lead us into temptation and evil for our sake."
They will come, all right, don't worry; probably in a form
That we do not expect, and certainly with a force
More dreadful than we can imagine.  In the meantime
There are bills to be paid, machines to keep in repair,
Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem
From insignificance.  The happy morning is over,
The night of agony still to come; the time is noon:
When the Spirit must practice his scales of rejoicing
Without even a hostile audience, and the Soul endure
A silence that is neither for nor against her faith
That God's Will will be done, That, in spite of her prayers,
God will cheat no one, not even the world of its triumph."

-- WH Auden




(Place: Home, January 7, 2012(

Home By Another Way

In honor of the day...

Home By Another Way

Those magic men the Magi
Some people call them wise
Or Oriental, even kings
Well anyway, those guys
They visited with Jesus
They sure enjoyed their stay
Then warned in a dream of King Herod's scheme
They went home by another way

Yes they went home by another way
Home by another way
Maybe me and you can be wise guys too
And go home by another way
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

Steer clear of royal welcomes
Avoid a big to-do
A king who would slaughter the innocents
Will not cut a deal for you
He really, really wants those presents
He'll comb your camel's fur
Until his boys announce they've found trace amounts
Of your frankincense, gold and myrrh

Time to go home by another way
Home by another way
You have to figure the Gods saying play the odds
And go home by another way
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

Home is where they want you now
You can more or less assume that you'll be welcome in the end
Mustn't let King Herod haunt you so
Or fantasize his features when you're looking at a friend

Well it pleasures me to be here
And to sing this song tonight
They tell me that life is a miracle
And I figured that they're right
But Herod's always out there
He's got our cards on file
It's a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inch
Old Herod likes to take a mile

It's best to go home by another way
Home by another way
We got this far to a lucky star
But tomorrow is another day
We can make it another way
Safe home as they used to say
Keep a weather eye to the chart on high
And go home another way

words and music by James Taylor


(get it here)


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My Songs From Winter SolstiCelebration

Hey Friends: I've been telling you what a blast the Winter SolstiCelebration was.

There are now YouTube videos of Saturday night's performance, so you can see/listen for yourselves.

"Thanks" with Lainey Bernstein, Rahim Quazi, Shanti Webb, and the Global Heart Band.

"I Will Sing" with Robin Hackett, Lainey Bernstein, Rahim Quazi, Shanti Webb, and the Global Heart Band

Thanks again SO MUCH to Dick Williamson for editing these.

And, especially, thanks to all the incredible musicians I got to hang/play with, to the other talented performers, and especially to Amy Martin for asking me to be a part.

What a great night.

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Five Regrets of the Dying

This post originally comes from Bonnie Ware, a songwriter who worked for years in palliative care. These are folks who have come to the place where they are very near death and, more than most of us, are able to look back and see what they might have done differently.

It's a great blog, and worth your time.

The "headline" regrets are these:

"Five Regrets of the Dying" 

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself,
not the life others expected of me.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

You can read the whole thing here.

Good stuff to consider during the first week of a new year.

Or anytime, really.

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