Kaleidoscope

The Race

2009-09-25T23:20:00.000-10:00

Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face,
my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.
A children’s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well,
excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn’t hard to tell.

They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race
or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place.
Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son,
and each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they flew, like chariots of fire,
to win, to be the hero there, was each young boy’s desire.
One boy in particular, whose dad was in the crowd,
was running in the lead and thought “My dad will be so proud.”

But as he speeded down the field and crossed a shallow dip,
the little boy who thought he’d win, lost his step and slipped.
Trying hard to catch himself, his arms flew everyplace,
and midst the laughter of the crowd he fell flat on his face.

As he fell, his hope fell too; he couldn’t win it now.
Humiliated, he just wished to disappear somehow.
But as he fell his dad stood up and showed his anxious face,
which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win that race!”

He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit that’s all,
and ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall.
So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win,
his mind went faster than his legs. He slipped and fell again.

He wished that he had quit before with only one disgrace.
“I’m hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn’t try to race.”
But through the laughing crowd he searched and found his father’s face
with a steady look that said again, “Get up and win that race!”

So he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last.
“If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought, “I’ve got to run real fast!”
Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight, then ten...
but trying hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.

Defeat! He lay there silently. A tear dropped from his eye.
“There’s no sense running anymore! Three strikes I’m out! Why try?
I’ve lost, so what’s the use?” he thought. “I’ll live with my disgrace.”
But then he thought about his dad, who soon he’d have to face.

“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “you haven’t lost at all,
for all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
Get up!” the echo urged him on, “Get up and take your place!
You were not meant for failure here! Get up and win that race!”

So, up he rose to run once more, refusing to forfeit,
and he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit.
So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been,
still he gave it all he had and ran like he could win.

Three times he’d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again.
Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.
They cheered another boy who crossed the line and won first place,
head high and proud and happy -- no falling, no disgrace.

But, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, in last place,
the crowd gave him a greater cheer for finishing the race.
And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud,
you would have thought he’d won the race, to listen to the crowd.

And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.”
“To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”
And now when things seem dark and bleak and difficult to face,
the memory of that little boy helps me in my own race.

For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all.
And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
And when depression and despair shout loudly in my face,
another voice within me says, “Get up and win that race!”

The Race
by D. H. Groberg

Dreams

2009-07-23T10:32:00.003-10:00

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. ~Henry David Thoreau

Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is a mystery,
and today is a gift;
that's why they call it the present. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our greatest glory consists not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. ~ Confucius

The will to do, the soul to dare. ~Sir Walter Scott

Never Ever Give Up

2009-05-30T08:21:00.004-10:00

This morning I was feeling a little weary from the tasks that lay ahead, namely my senior paper. I usually love to write, but this time...I don't know...I guess I have what is called writers block. The words just don't seem to want to come. Last night I finally gave up and went to bed very discouraged. I spent most of the night laying awake disheartened and trying to figure out what I am going to do...I have less then a week 15 pages to write and a 15 minute video to edit.

This morning when I got up I started watching some of the videos I have favorited because...well, they inspire me. While watching I came across one that I hadn't seen before. In it had this picture. Here a stork is trying to eat a frog and the frog is having none of it. He is going to fight with every breathe that is left in him.

Water, Consciousness, and Intent

2009-05-29T14:28:00.001-10:00

A Leader

2009-05-26T16:11:00.001-10:00

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)

My Stroke of Insight

2009-05-26T16:10:00.001-10:00

One of the greatest lessons I learned was how to feel the physical component of emotion. Joy was a feeling in my body. Peace was a feeling in my body. I thought it was interesting that I could feel when a new emotion was triggered. I could feel new emotions flood through me and then release me. I had to learn new words to label these "feeling" experiences, and most remarkably, I learned that I had the power to choose whether to hook into a feeling and prolong its presence in my body, or just let it quickly flow right out of me.

I made my decisions based upon how things felt inside. There were certain emotions like anger, frustration, or fear that felt uncomfortable when they surged through my body. So I told my brain that I didn't like that feeling and didn't want to hook into those neural loops. I learned that I could use my left mind, through language, to talk directly to my brain and tell it what I wanted and what I didn't want. Upon this realization, I knew I would never return to the personality I had been before. I suddenly had much more to say about how I felt and for how long, and I was adamantly opposed to reactivating old painful emotional circuits.

Paying attention to what emotions feel like in my body has completely shaped my recovery. I spent eight years watching my mind analyze everything that was going on in my brain. Each day brought new challenges and insights. The more I recovered my old files, the more my old emotional baggage surfaced, and the more I needed to evaluate the usefulness of preserving its underlying neural circuitry.

Emotional healing was a tediously slow process but well worth the effort. As my left brain became stronger, it seemed natural for me to want to "blame" other people or external events for my feelings or circumstances. But realistically, I knew that no one had the power to make me feel anything, except for me and my brain. Nothing external to me had the power to take away my peace of heart and mind. That was completely up to me. I may not be in total control of what happens to my life, but I certainly am in charge of how I choose to perceive my experience.

--Jill Bolte Taylor, from "My Stroke of Insight"
www.ijourney.org

Be With the Storms

2009-05-19T11:04:00.003-10:00

How to free yourself from the grip of storms? This is the only basic problem in this universe. The first thing is to become aware of it and stop regretting it. Like waves come and go, storms in your life too will subside. No one storm can be there for ever. One storm comes and subsides, another comes and subsides and it goes on. As the storm subsides, you experience that inner cool, soft, delicate aspect of yourself. In that space of calm, all the anxiety, fear, feverishness lose their grip on you and you become yourself again. Love dawns.

When you stop resisting the storms of life and start accepting them with open arms, they will subside on their own. That is the purpose of all spiritual practices, or sadhana, and meditation. When you realise that somebody really cares for you, you feel at rest and all fears and insecurities drop off.

You keep running away from small things -- your feelings, sensations, desires -- and this leads to more feverishness. Realize that like the ocean cannot be there without the waves, storms are inevitable in your life. Every storm touches you somewhere and makes you grow stronger. A storm pulls you out of your likes and dislikes and purifies you. So accept all that comes with both arms open. [...] Even when the storms come, you are still the same ocean, as deep as ever.

This realization is the culmination of knowledge. When this knowledge dawns, you rise above events; you grow out of them. Everybody in the world goes through crises, insecurities, confusions. It's like drowning in the ocean of life. But the person with the life jacket can survive even the worst turmoil. So keep your life jacket of knowledge handy.

[...] Do not be in a hurry to get rid of the storms, be with them. Looking for perfection creates imperfection inside you. If you are peaceful, everything around you becomes peaceful. You are the center of this universe. Wherever you go, you carry your own mind, and wherever you go, you will create your own storms. It may appear to be calm and quiet for sometime but the storm will surface sooner or later. Unless you realize this, nothing will hold. There is no other permanent solution. Don't resist the storms, instead see them as an amazing play of your personality.

--Sri Sri Ravishankar
www.ijourney.org

My Choice

2009-05-12T14:06:00.001-10:00

Just what I needed to watch...

An Uncommon Way

2009-05-09T08:11:00.002-10:00

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way. ~ Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)

Excellence is a matter of the stand we are and the stand we take—a stand that allows for performance that surpasses what was previously possible, performance that defies old limits and maps new territory.

The Star Thrower

2009-04-05T13:59:00.003-10:00

There's a story I would like to share with you. It was inspired by the writing of Loren Eiseley. Loren was a very special person because he combined the best of two cultures. He was a scientist and a poet. From those two perspectives, he wrote insightfully and beautifully about the world and our role in it.

Once upon a time, there was a wise man, much like Eiseley himself, who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had the habit of walking along the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore; as he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day, so he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead, he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing Starfish into the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked; why are you throwing Starfish into the ocean?"

"The sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"But young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and Starfish all along it, you can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely, then bent down, picked up another Starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves. "It made a difference for that one."

His response surprised the man, he was upset, he didn't know how to reply, so instead he turned away and walked back to the cottage to begin his writings.

All day long as he wrote, the image of that young man haunted him; he tried to ignore it, but the vision persisted. Finally, late in the afternoon, he realized that he the scientist, he the poet, had missed the essential nature of the young man's actions. Because he realized that what the young man was doing was choosing not to be an observer in the universe and watch it pass by, but was choosing to be an actor in the universe and make a difference. He was embarrassed.

That night he went to bed, troubled. When morning came, he awoke knowing that he had to do something; so he got up, put on his clothes, went to the beach and found the young man; and with him spent the rest of the morning throwing Starfish into the ocean.

You see, what the young man's actions represent is something that is special in each and every one of us. We have all been gifted with the ability to make a difference. And if we can, like the young man, become aware of that gift, we gain through the strength of our vision the power to shape the future.

And that is your challenge, and that is my challenge. We must find our Starfish, and if we throw our stars wisely and well, I have no question that the 21st century is going to be a wonderful place.

Remember:
Vision without action is merely a dream
Action without vision just passes time
Vision with action can change the world

By Joel Parker

There is a video of this story at: http://www.starthrowerstory.com/
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did...We can make a difference one "starfish" at a time...

Pulling to Higher Ground

2009-04-04T22:13:00.000-10:00

"There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up." ~ Booker T. Washington

Don't Give Up...Isn't it good to be alive?

2009-04-02T23:58:00.003-10:00

"Negative will come in whenever you try to do good." That is what Braddah Skibs, the founder of Basic Image Inc, said today in a forum I went to. "You have to stay positive no matter what negative is goin down...Don't give up." Braddah Skibs used an analogy of 'the weeds' to explain what he was trying to get across. When you plant a garden you have to take care of it, nurture around the plants, and remove any weeds that may be coming up. AND if you don't do anything the weeds will grow and grow and grow until they eventually run the garden over choking any of the good plants. "You can't let the weeds win!" Stand firmly rooted in the land. Turn the negative to a positive "Don't let the weeds win! Never give up!" We have gotta DO something or we will get run over by the weeds...Isn't it good to be alive?

The Phenomenon of Boredom

2009-03-17T12:51:00.002-10:00

The labeling of a huge part of human experience as boring is a relatively new phenomenon. The concept of boredom -- a sense of emptiness and a lack of stimulation -- didn't even exist until the nineteenth century. Before that, it was used only in the context of a person who spoke too long or rambled off the topic: "Oh, she's such a bore!" Now it is a state of being that is a fate worse than death.

Psychologists say that the problem we think is "out there" -- in the book, movie, job, relationship -- is actually in us. Boredom, they say, is created by an inability to delay gratification and a low tolerance for frustration, both of which have serious implications for our success in life and in love.

Any time we proclaim something boring, what we really are saying is that we don't have patience for it. Rather than looking at ourselves for the source of the problem -- and therefore the solution -- we look at whatever is provoking the feeling and label that the problem.

A lot of human experience can be considered boring. There are huge stretches of parenting, in relationships, in work, where "nothing" is happening, or at least nothing obvious. We can consider those moments boring and seek to alleviate that boredom with any distraction available. Or we can see such occasions as opportunities to tap into our patience and look more deeply.

Try it yourself. Go on a fast for a week in which you refuse to consider any experience boring. When your mind begins to use that label -- in traffic, say, or on hold -- challenge yourself to find something of interest in what is going on, either in yourself or the world around you. How does that change your experience?

With attention, nothing is boring, even the most routine tasks. If you tune in to how the warm soapy water feels as you wash the pots and pans, how does that change the experience for you? Or weeding the garden, how does it feel to bend and stretch in the sunlight? What *is* the name of that gray bird with the crested head that suddenly appeared? This level of experiencing life isn’t one that we tune in to, but it is one that can bear many riches of wonder at the very fact of being alive in this amazing world.

The Phenomenon of Boredom
--by MJ Ryan
_____________________________
"Any time we proclaim something boring, what we really are saying is that we don't have patience for it. Rather than looking at ourselves for the source of the problem -- and therefore the solution -- we look at whatever is provoking the feeling and label that the problem." These few phrases blew me away. I have a choice...a choice to choose how I will react in what ever situation may come my way. I could be in the deepest darkest of pits and still choose how my heart and mind will feel in that moment...Happiness? Sadness? Anger? Hate? Love? Joy?....It's my choice. Perhaps happiness comes from choosing the fix the things that can be fixed (i.e. my own feelings) and not dwell on the things that cannot be fixed...The solution to all my problems lies within myself and God and it is my choice whether or not to except His help or not..........

Ka Po’e o Ka Malamalama

2009-03-11T14:14:00.000-10:00

This article was an answer to my prayers....

Ka Po’e o Ka Malamalama

In a world filled with technological advances
we are starved for wisdom
Our quiet knowing is obliterated
by the frantic stress of a modern world.
Perhaps one day soon we will conclude
that faster is not always better,
and more is never enough.
At the dawn of a new millennium,
it would be wise to re-write the script.
Let us consider giving greater value to the sacredness of
our everyday lives,
bathed in stillness long enough to remember when we were
Ka Po’e o ka Malamalama
How different our circumstances would be if we
remembered that as
one race, divinely human,
we were born for a higher destiny.
Like ancient mariners who charted their canoes into
unknown seas,
we are now the voyagers.
As it was with our ancestors, our resources as we know
them on this vessel called Earth are finite,
making our reliance upon one another crucial.
It is time we cast light into the dark places called fear,
a fear which separates us by color, culture, and economies.
Call it what you will prejudice, hatred, anger, judgment,
self-inflicted pain.
it is borne of the same bitter, diseased fruit, which serves no one.
Into this yet unwritten chapter entitled “The 21st Century”
upon pages crisp with promise, we, the authors of its
beginning,
would be wise to compose an enlightened legacy for
those yet to be,
a composition of wisdom and courage, of humility and
forgiveness;
a place where success is not measured by wealth and
power
but by compassionate concern for others,
and where the value of youthfulness gives way to the
wisdom of age.
Like the stars which guided our forefathers into vast new
frontiers,
this literary endowment would serve to illumine
the path for future generations.
Imbued with our love and sealed with aloha, this magnum
opus
would reveal our return to our sacred birthright,
Ka Po’e o ka Malamalama,
The people of the Light

Dr. Elizabeth Kapu’uwailani Lindsey Buyers: President, LLB Productions

The time to start is now...

2009-02-27T13:26:00.006-10:00

I was surfing on Facebook and found this saying posted under a picture...

... Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun...

The time to start acting is now...it is time to step out of our comfort zones and set aside our fears and selfishness to help those around us whether in our homes, communities, or the world. Peace comes from within and then spreads outwards.

My Escape...

2009-02-25T11:36:00.005-10:00

I have begun to realize that writing is my way of escaping to figure out this crazy journey called life.

Someone once told me that writing is a magical process; a journey that explores, picks apart, evaluates, discovers, and this list can go on and on but basically it is a magical journey of trying to make sense of what is happening around me and within me.
I used to say that I loved to write because it doesn't talk back, but the other day I was reading through my journal and there are parts that I couldn't believe how silly or dumb I was...In other words rereading what I have written "talked back" to me. It showed me places in my life were I still need to improve; places that I still struggle with; places that I find joy in; places that I love to be.
There is something calming about writing...

Reallionaire Affirmations

2009-02-20T16:44:00.002-10:00

1.) I was put on Earth to fulfill a specific purpose. I only have to name it to achieve it.

2.) Opportunities are everywhere. I can rise above any circumstance with hard work, integrity, faith, and especially persistence.

3.) I can dream alone, build alone and strive alone, but true success always requires the help and support of others.

4.) When things are at their worst, I am at my strongest.

5.) I am honest with myself about what is working, what is failing, where I am and where I need to go. I have the courage to make decisions based on the facts instead of fighting the tide.

6.) I'm moving forward in a positive way. I'm honest with myself and others, and I'm eager--not willing but eager--to give back to those around me with no thought of my own reward.

7.) I believe in my market, my product and my contacts. I know what I know. I know what I don't know. And I know how to fill in the "in-betweens."

8.) Inside every seed is the potential for an incredible harvest.

9.) Only what's real will last. I will last.

Farrah Gray was a millionaire by the age of 14. He has a book entitled "Reallionaire" where he gives nine steps to becoming rich from the inside out. The above are affirmations he learned, discovered, and made in his journey. He writes, "My story, though unique, is not unlike others who began with nothing more than a dream fueled by sheer determination. Even if you've never walked the streets of a housing project or seen food stamps up close, I believe my story will remind you of the kid in all of us who knows no limits and believes anything--and everything--is possible...."

I checked this book out a couple of weeks ago, but today is the first time I have been able to read it. Today has been a day of reevaluation and rediscovery of the passion that burns within my heart--a passion to make the world a better place one step at a time...This book helped me regain my focus--to regain the fighting spirit--My Dreams Are Possible!

Man of Humanity

2009-02-18T09:18:00.001-10:00

" A man of humanity is one who, in seeking to establish himself, finds a foothold for others and who desiring attainment for himself, helps others to attain." ~ Confucius (551-449 B.C.E.) Chinese Philosopher

Finding Peace

2009-02-16T13:48:00.002-10:00

Peace cannot be imposed. It must come from the lives and hearts of men. There is no other way.
Satan whispers "You cannot save the world; your small efforts are meaningless. You haven'ttime to be concerned for others." Let us turn our heads from such falsehoods and make certain our feet are firmly planted in the path of service and our hearts and souls dedicated to follow the example of the Lord. In moments when the light of resolution dims and when the heart grows faint, we can take comfort from His promise, "Be not weary in well doing...out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord Requireth the heart and a willing mind." D&C 64:33-34 ~ Thomas S. Monson

For Every Worry...

2009-02-16T13:41:00.002-10:00

For every worry under the sun
There is a remedy, or there is none.
If there is one, hurry and find it.
If there be none, never mind it.
~LeGrand Richards

Happiness

2009-02-16T13:39:00.001-10:00

"Happiness is not given to us in a package that we can just open up and consume. Nobody is ever happy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Rather than thinking in terms of a day, we perhaps need to snatch happiness in little pieces, learning to recognize the elements of happiness and then treasuring them while they last." ~ James E. Faust

Gathering Strength

2009-02-15T17:49:00.001-10:00

"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection." ~ Thomas Paine

The Moment of Peace...My Heart Will Go On

2009-02-15T02:19:00.004-10:00

Gregorian is a German band, headed by Frank Peterson, performing Gregorian chant-inspired versions of modern pop and rock songs. Because it features both vocal harmony and instrumental accompaniment, the music cannot be considered true Gregorian chant. However, as I listened to them I...well...I fell in love with the sounds of their voices...

Inspiration

2009-02-15T01:56:00.002-10:00

It will never cease to amaze me how powerful quotes, poems, music, etc. can be...Quotes and poems are just words, but there are times that a passion--a connection with humanity--is made and my soul is touched. It is in those moments that the spirit of fighting--of not giving up--gains a new strength. Then, there is music. Music for me has always had a way of speaking that words could never express. The melodious sounds have penetrated past the mental barriers I have erected or past the blinders I have put on and when that music sinks deep within my soul, I am able to see things in a new light--through different eyes.

Champions

2009-02-12T16:32:00.001-10:00

"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them--a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill." ~ Muhammad Ali

The Metaphor of "Dance"

2009-02-08T00:05:00.002-10:00

To dance.

Now I have to say that I can't dance one step, but there have been many times in my life that I have used the phrase "to dance" in a metaphorical way. Dancing first of all requires getting up--it requires one to start moving. Much like life nothing can get done if one stays in bed or hesitates to start acting. Sitting it out is easy--but getting up to dance takes stepping out of ones comfort zone--of letting go of ones fears, to lay aside our selfishness, and reach out to those around us even knowing there is a risk of getting hurt. Next, dancing has a range of motions and angles--each expressing a rhythm of life. The journey in life is not always clearly charted. There are times there are some rocky roads and tidal waves, but learning how to see a range of possibilities--of not limiting oneself to one road or one way of doing things--knowing that the sky is the limit when it comes to dreams--if only one will get up and move to dance...

Lost Generation?

2009-02-01T22:48:00.001-10:00

This video says it all...

A Search for Common Ground

2009-02-01T00:10:00.005-10:00

There are a lot of people in the world trying to do good in their own small ways. THERE IS HOPE! I am finding more and more how powerful music is, especially and well done music video...As I listen--even if I do not understand the language--I am drawn to the passion, the emotions that the singer and instrumentalists are trying to convey. It is like my soul connects to theirs for a brief moment and I am able to see past our differences and connect with their humanity--to see the world through their eyes.

Search for Common Ground works to transform the way the world deals with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem solving. We work with local partners to find culturally appropriate means to strengthen societies' capacity to deal with conflicts constructively: to understand the differences and act on the commonalities. David Broza and Said Murad (two well-known Israeli and Palestinian musicians) wrote the song; it was performed by David Broza and Wisam Murad.
WEBSITE: http://www.sfcg.org/

Beauty from Pain

2009-01-31T18:43:00.003-10:00

I found these three songs really intriguing. I have been through a ton in my life and as I look back I have come to realize that there really are times when it seems that the crying in my heart will never stop, but it does....and i have learned that beauty does come from that pain. In the end it will all work out...all you have to do is believe=] all you have to do is have hope and love with all your heart...As the rain comes pouring down Stand UP and dance the song of life--not letting a day pass by...

These songs comes from a band I just found called "superchic[k]" They are an American Contemporary Christian band and their music incorporates various styles such as punk, rock, rap, and R&B.

In Our Hands...

2009-01-30T23:26:00.000-10:00

John A. Widtsoe said: “The only way to build a peaceful community is to build men and women who are lovers and makers of peace. Each individual...holds in his own hands the peace of the world. That makes me responsible for the peace of the world, and makes you individually responsible for the peace of the world. The responsibility cannot be shifted to someone else. It cannot be placed upon the shoulders of Congress or Parliament, or any other organization of men with governing authority.”

A Song For Peace

2009-01-30T21:33:00.006-10:00

At times when the heart is crying perhaps the things to do is listen to "A song for peace." To listen to the voices around the world expressing their hopes, dream, fears, pain, and joy. To realize that the crying is not done alone, but together and it is not time to sit down, but to stand up and sing--sing for peace, love, and hope.

What questions have I not asked? It is so easy to go with the flow and stick inside my comfort zone--not seeking to stretch and grow--to learn new things--to experiences new ways--to see different world views.

I too have a dream...a dream that if followed perhaps knows the way...

WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER! We are not a one man island, but are placed on this earth to learn to live together...if not, to die together. Going hand in hand takes courage to stretch out our own and place it in another's; Going hand in hand takes love to open ones heart to new understandings. We...are in this together

Perhaps faith, hope and charity are often paired together because peace within and without cannot be complete without one or the other...One must have faith in their self--that they have the potential to succeed and take action to make the world a better place--having faith in humanity, in our brothers and sisters. One must have hope, for "the moment you lose hope you’re not a thinking person, open to change. You have nothing to strive for. End of story" (Movie: Promises). One must have charity for "without charity man is nothing" unable to love he stands alone...not together with his fellowmen.

Recognizing the Real Fear

2009-01-26T21:52:00.002-10:00

I came across this article from iJourney and absolutely loved--and hated if possible--this piece. It instantly reminded me of Martin Luther King Jr. words, "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. There was no one there."
................................
In the sphere of human relations, faith is an indispensable quality of any significant friendship or love. “Having faith” in another person means to be certain of the reliability and unchangeability of his fundamental attitudes, of the core of his personality, of his love. By this I do not mean that a person may not change his opinions, but that his basic motivations remain the same; that, for instance, his respect for life and human dignity is part of himself, not subject to change. […]

To have faith requires courage, the ability to take a risk, the readiness even to accept pain and disappointment. Whoever insists on safety and security as primary conditions of life cannot have faith; whoever shuts himself off in a system of defense, where distance and possession are his means of security, makes himself a prisoner. To be loved, and to love, need courage, the courage to judge certain values as of ultimate concern – and to take the jump and to stake everything on these values. […]

Is there anything to be practiced about faith and courage? Indeed, faith can be practiced at every moment. It takes faith to bring up a child; it takes faith to fall asleep; it takes faith to begin any work. […]

The practice of faith and courage begins with the small details of daily life. The first step is to notice where and when one loses faith, to look through the rationalizations which are used to cover up this loss of faith, to recognize where one acts in a cowardly way, and again how one rationalizes it. To recognize how every betrayal of faith weakens one, and how increased weakness leads to new betrayal, and so on, in a vicious circle. Then one will also recognize that while one is consciously afraid of not being loved, the real, though usually unconscious fear is that of loving. To love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.

- By Erich Fromm, From "The Art of Loving"

When the Goin' Gets Tough...

2009-01-26T11:45:00.005-10:00

Feelin a little discouraged has been a reoccuring theme over the past few days. Every now and again I like to read inspirational quotes and poetry to give me a lift and motivation, or just to realise that someone else has been there before...

"Success is usually earned by persevering and not becoming discouraged when we encounter challenges. Paul Harvey, the famous news analyst and author, once said: 'Someday I hope to enjoy enough of what the world calls success so that someone will ask me, "What's the secret of it?" I shall say simply this: "I get up when I fall down" ' (quoted in Marvin J. Ashton, Conference Report, Oct. 1981, 126)."

"If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity, it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, "I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me." ~ Ann Landers

"It's not whether you get knocked down. It's whether you get up again." ~ Vince Lombardi

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all." ~ Dale Carnegie

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much." ~ Mother Teresa

"The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges." ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

May peace and love be with you...

Wanna Dance?

2009-01-24T13:15:00.004-10:00

Last semester I was introduced to this video, "Where the Hell is Matt?" and it touched my soul. I love it. Every time I watch it I am reminded of the connection we can have with each other...Everytime I watch it I see a new face--a new personality--a human being enjoying a moment to dance....

When I saw this video I started to do a little research on the maker and meaning of the lyrics....which only made me love it even more...

The lyrics to "Praan" were taken from a poem by a Nobel Prize winning Indian author named Rabindranath Tagore. While the poem was written in Bengali (or Bangla), I [Matt] chose it based on its English translation, which I [Matt] later learned to be more of an interpretation that captures the spirit of the original without matching it word-for-word.

The English version of the poem is called "Stream of Life." Here it is:

_____

The same stream of life
that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world
and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life
that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life
that is rocked in the ocean-cradle
of birth and of death,
in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious
by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages
dancing in my blood this moment.

_____

To fit the song, we had to chop things up a bit; turning one verse into a repeating chorus and omitting other sections. Here are the lyrics as they ended up in the song, translated in a more direct way from the original Bengali:

_____

I will not easily forget
The life that stirs in my soul
Hidden amidst Death
That infinite Life

I hear you in the thunder
A simple tune
A tune to which I will arise (3x)

And in that storm of happiness
As your music plays in your mind
The whole wide world
Dances to your rhythm

I hear you in the thunder
A simple tune
A tune to which I will arise (3x)
WEBSITE: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/?fbid=Mh1pAjz8DI1

Playing for Change

2009-01-23T22:30:00.005-10:00

I just happened upon this group by accident, but fell in love with the concept and music at once....

Here is "One Love"

Then there is this wonderful song, "Stand By Me"

PLAYING FOR CHANGE is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. It is a group of artists and inspired people who have come together to connect the world...The above videos speak for themselves...
WEBSITE: http://www.playingforchange.com/

A Day for Change

2009-01-21T21:38:00.002-10:00

"Now as we face the fact of this new, emerging world, we must face the responsibilities that come along with it. A new age brings with it new challenges...This world is a world of geographical togetherness. This means that no individual or nation can live alone. We must all learn to live together, or we will be forced to die together." ~Martin Luther King Jr.

In light of the new President of the United States, perhaps it is a day to reflect on the potential for change--a change for the better. To look into our own lives, homes, and communities to see the cracks that need repaired and mended. It is a time to unite and "learn to live together." to take responsibibility for the choices we make--good or bad.

Below is the 44th President, Barrack Obama's, presidential acceptance speech. Eloquently written and delivered Barrack Obama has stirred in my heart the need to change--for the better--to make the world a better place...A world were together we face the challenges place before us and learn to live together.

"Yes WE can. Yes WE did. Yes WE will...welcome to the future." ~Mason Isom

Franklin Tri-Quation

2009-01-20T14:57:00.002-10:00

This equation was given in my Business Management class. I am not sure what I think of it...and I have been thinking on it for a week now (sad uhh...I can't seem to figure out my thoughts.) Anyway, people and businesses pay up to $700 dollars to get this information and it is the most sought after time management help given by the Franklin Company...so maybe I don't understand it completely...Here goes...

Self-Esteem = Productivity = Event Control

One needs to take control of the events in their life (it is not taking control of ones self-esteem or productivity, but events)--to become proactive instead of reactive. To do this one must 1.) PLAN 2.) PRIORITIZE 3.) STRETCH your COMFORT ZONE

The ONLY way out of a comfort zone is a GOAL...One has to have a reason to leave--something that has higher value then the current comfort zone. Comfort zones are the destroyers of most plans

So, How do you make a plan?

* Write down all the things you would like to do if life where perfect..."the unconditional list"

*Now break items down into A (Due today, absolutely needs done), B (ought to do), C (Wish list) --> Then break the A, B, C 's into 1, 2, 3, 4 's

* This focuses the energy..."The magnifying glass"

* When finished with an item put a check mark. Why? it releases endorphines knowing you've done something that you were going to do...in other words, by taking control of the events in ones life your self-esteem and productivity will increase keeping the equation equal and progressing to becoming better.

* Life has many interruptions, but if one has a plan one will treat these interruptions with a much different persona then without one.

There are 1, 020 minutes in a day (60 * 17) that we can be doing something...If we have a plan then those minutes will not go to waste and the items we have listed down as A, B, and C will get done increasing our self-esteem and productivity....

There is also a Franklin Pyramid that I will add later when I understand it better then these notes above....

Any thoughts that come to mind after reading this gibberish called my class notes...:)

Five Ways to Succeed

2009-01-14T08:31:00.002-10:00

These five steps were found in my syllabus for my mediation class. The professor listed them as ways to succeed in the class, but perhaps they are applicable to my life as well...

1.) Commune with God. Give self quiet time every day to meditate, ponder, and pray. Listen to the spirit and let it teach and guide you.

2.) Read and learn with passion. Seek for new ideas. Wrestle with them.

3.) Rediscover yourself. You cannot know what to think if you do not know who you are. Learn to think for yourself. Don't be afraid to challenge old ideas and ideas of those around you.

4.) Learn to live with uncertainty. there are no easy answers to the problems that plague our lives and the world. At times contradictory ideas will be present. Immerse yourself in different viewpoints. Try to sit with contradictory truths.

5.) Step out of your comfort zone. We must be the change we wish to see in the world. Change can be scary. Don't be afraid.

On the Mindless Menace of Violence

2009-01-10T23:41:00.004-10:00

I was reviewing some of my favorite quotes and came across this speech given by Senator Robert "Bobby" F. Kennedy at the City Club of Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio on April 5, 1968. Perhaps this speech is still applicable...

This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.

It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one - no matter where he lives or what he does - can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on and on in this country of ours.

Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr's cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of reason.

Whenever any American's life is taken by another American unnecessarily - whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of the law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence - whenever we tear at the fabric of the life which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded.

"Among free men," said Abraham Lincoln, "there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and those who take such appeal are sure to lose their cause and pay the costs."

Yet we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach non-violence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.

Some look for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is the slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.

This is the breaking of a man's spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man among other men. And this too afflicts us all.

I have not come here to propose a set of specific remedies nor is there a single set. For a broad and adequate outline we know what must be done. When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered.

We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this, there are no final answers.

Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is not what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence.

We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of others. We must admit in ourselves that our own children's future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.

Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanquish it with a program, nor with a resolution.

But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

There is also a great youtube video of this speech that I love to watch and be reminded once again of the powerful words of Martin Luther King Jr. "Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love." A love for our brothers and sisters everywhere.

We cannot be silent any longer...it is time to speak up.

The Formula 4 Success

2009-01-09T12:05:00.003-10:00

This formula for success was given by a professor at BYU Hawaii...I found it very interesting and have thought a lot about it...

From J. Paul Getty
1.) Get up early--No later than 6:30 am. Why? This is a habit of excellence.
2.) Work Hard--Why? This is a prerequisite for success.
3.) Find your oil--find your talent/skill, something you are good at.

From David B Haight
4.) Get an education--get all the training you can get.
5.) Make your mark in life--make a difference in the world.
6.) Get prepared to serve

The real magic in this formula is what you are doing it for...you are doing it to serve our brothers and sisters--all the people around us. Instead of focusing on the success that might be coming our way we focus on the needs of others and work hard at making a difference in the world.

Hooping with the Enemy

2008-12-03T11:59:00.002-10:00

By Chad Ford
ESPN.com
With violence escalating on several fronts in the Mideast, many are wondering what, if anything, can ever stop the madness consuming a region that, for many Jews, Muslims and Christians, is one of the holiest places on Earth.
Wars, diplomacy and mediation have failed to bring peace to the region. The cloud of failed accords hover over the area.

Not everyone has given up hope. A handful of brave and visionary people think the answer may lie, believe it or not, in basketball, specifically a nascent program called Playing for Peace.

Before the most recent hostilities began, ESPN.com sent Chad Ford, a professor of international conflict resolution at Brigham Young University-Hawaii and an ESPN basketball writer, to Israel on May 1-9 to check out PFP in action. What he saw was complicated, risky … and hopeful.

***
You'd expect it to be like this:

Khaled, 14, is supposed to be kneeling in a mosque, praying to the East five times a day. He's from Issawiya, a gritty Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem. At night, he sneaks out of the house and works by candlelight in a bombed-out factory, helping to build explosive devices for attacks on Israel or maybe the United States. His life is a palette of dust and dirt.

He prays that Allah will avenge him, will give him back the home, the life, the hope that his parents lost in 1967.

Hate is supposed to consume him. When he graduates from school, he'll have no job, no prospects. His life is over before it begins. The script has been written. Just play the part and go to Allah in a blaze of fire and smoke, where 40 virgin brides await.

Playing For Peace
For more information about Playing for Peace or to contact them, visit their Web site at: Playingforpeace.org
You'd expect it to be like this:

Pini, 14, is supposed to be going to school, getting a good Hebrew education. He's from Bet Shemesh, an Israeli Jew from a poor suburb west of Jerusalem. He'll serve in the Israeli military for two years, then go on to college. He'll become a doctor, maybe a lawyer.

He prays at night that God will protect him, allow him to keep his home, the life, the hope his parents achieved in 1967.

Hate is supposed to consume him, too. Someday, he'll build a three-bedroom house with a safe room in it. The walls of that room will be made of cinderblock, two feet thick, and guarded by a steel door — and an Uzi on the bookshelf.

You'd never expect it to be like this:

Pini dribbles the basketball through his legs in a dimly lit high school gym in Shemesh. His defender stumbles, literally faked out of his yarmulke. As Pini penetrates to the basket, the defense collapses. Pini spins and finds Khaled with a perfect pass on the baseline.

Khaled rises from the court. His shot glides off his hand and through a crooked, netless rim. His arm above his head as he falls away, he turns and smiles. As he jogs back down the court, Pini raises his hand. With a little hop, Khaled jumps up and smacks it.

Two worlds collide, but there is no blood or charred soil. Glass and body parts aren't littered throughout the scene — just 50 Israelis and Palestinians cheering in the stands, playing on the court, coaching on the sidelines.

Trying to get along.

Basketball Détente
One week earlier, Khaled and Pini cram into a minibus seat together, three rows back on the left side. The engine roars, and the long, bouncy ride from Bet Shemesh to the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon begins. It is dark, the only light provided by an array of glowing cell phones. Fingers are flying as kids on the bus play games, show off pictures or text message their friends.
There are eight kids on the bus with me: four Palestinians — Khaled, Mohammed, Ahmed, Saleh; four Israelis — Pini, Atiel, Seamon, David. They are going to a professional basketball game together. Neither group really speaks the other's language, but Arabic and Hebrew are close enough, with some broken English mixed in, that they manage to communicate. Khaled and Pini pass the time e-mailing MP3s of 50 Cent and pictures of Shakira to each other on their cell phones. Khaled wraps an arm around Pini, holds out his camera and takes a picture.

My phone goes off. The ringer is set to the Bouncing Souls' soccer anthem, "Ole!" By the third "ole," the kids, both Palestinian and Israeli, are singing along in unison.

Sitting in the back are Tomer, an Israeli settler from just outside Jericho, and Basil, a Palestinian shopkeeper from Issawiya. They've volunteered to coach for a new organization in Israel — Playing for Peace — that has developed a creative approach to bridging differences through the game of basketball. The philosophy is simple, yet profound. Kids who play together learn how to live together.

Tonight, the kids are meeting off the court for a trip to see two of Israel's top pro teams, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Rishon, square off. If the PFP kids on the bus were like any other kids from Israel, they'd be decked out in yellow tonight. Maccabi Tel Aviv is not only the most popular sports team in Israel but, for many young Israelis, the real god of Israel. The team has just won two straight Euroleague titles and, on game night, Israel usually is draped in yellow and blue.

But Khaled and Pini are not like many other kids from Israel. Tonight, they aren't attending the game to cheer for Maccabi Tel Aviv. It's Maccabi Rishon that will earn their affection.

From New Jersey, With Love
You'd never expect it to be like this:
Matt Minoff, a Cherry Hill, N.J., native who played college ball at Yale, is a starting guard for Rishon. Professional basketball players, especially young ones like Minoff, are supposed to be living the life — nightclubs, women, fame, money, glory.

Minoff, though, is also the managing director of PFP-Middle East, spending up to 12 hours a day traveling around Israel running basketball workouts and providing training for coaches in the program. He drives a squatty white Opel Corsa, with advertising for the Maccabi Rishon team and its sponsors plastered on every square inch. His office is the spare bedroom in his modest apartment in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. Each Rishon home game, Minoff rents a bus to pick up a handful of PFP players, provides pizza for them at his apartment and gives the kids a rare opportunity to attend a pro game.

Both gigs are labors of love. "I first fell in love with Israel when I played in the Maccabiah Games in 2001," Minoff says. "Herb Brown was my coach, and there were a lot of guys on the team who played professionally in Israel. I got excited about living there and felt like someday I'd find my way back."

After his college career ended at Yale in 2004, Minoff flew to Israel without a job. He had one month to find a team or return home. "I just started trying out for every team in Israel," he says. "It was hard. I felt I was good enough, but everywhere I went, they passed. It took me a month before I finally clawed my way onto Maccabi Rishon."

Minoff spent much of his first season there as the 12th man but came on strong at the end of the season and earned a contract for the next season. In Year 2, things changed. A new coach and a new management philosophy that emphasized defense and hard work landed Minoff a starting job on one of Israel's best teams.

In Israel, Minoff is known as "the hustle guy." He has scabs on his knees and court burns on his forearms. He's the Shane Battier of Europe and relishes the role. He'll stroke it from 3-point range effortlessly for hours before the game. But once the ball is tipped, he has to be wide open before he even thinks about pulling the trigger.

Minoff also has Battier's brain. Even basketball players have to be smart at places like Yale. Minoff spent time in college studying military conflict and history. What he learned reframed the world for him. "I realized how much suffering there was out there and wondered what I might be able to do to help alleviate it," Minoff says. "I was pretty naive about so many things. When I came to Israel, my family was worried about my safety. I realized that there are so many sides to this conflict that you never see in the U.S. It was a rude awakening."

It wasn't long before Minoff pitched an idea to PFP co-founders Brendan and Sean Tuohey in Washington D.C. The Tuoheys actually had recruited Minoff to work on a program in South Africa while he was still at Yale. Minoff had something bigger in mind.

"I just saw that Israelis and Palestinians share this tiny little space in the world," he says. "But they don't actually talk to or know each other. There are two separate worlds here crammed into close proximity. I thought that Playing for Peace could provide opportunities for Israelis and Palestinians to interact with each other."

Within a week, Sean Tuohey was on a plane to Israel, Minoff was named managing director and they had recruited another American playing in Israel, Ryan Lexer, to help in the cause. Playing for Peace-Middle East was born.

Founded by the Tuohey brothers in 2001, PFP's goal is to bridge divides in polarized communities through the game of basketball. PFP started work in Northern Ireland and South Africa in 2001, then launched its program in Israel in 2005. Since its inception, PFP has coached 12,000 10- to 14-year-old Catholic and Protestant children in integrated settings in Northern Ireland, and taught basketball to 25,000 children in Durban, South Africa. In Northern Ireland and South Africa, basketball training is supplemented with programs that promote tolerance, ethnic sensitivity and community leadership training.

A 2005 study of the "Bridging Divides" program in South Africa, conducted by the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State, found that the majority of children exposed to PFP expressed fewer racial stereotypes compared to non-PFP children. A larger proportion of children who participated in PFP also was in favor of racial integration. The early conclusion is that PFP might have a winning model. But would it work in Israel?

Northern Ireland and South Africa are post-conflict societies. In Israel, things haven't been this hot in years.

"Getting started was amazingly difficult," Lexer remembers. "No one trusted anyone. So many people were leery about who we were and what we were trying to accomplish. Groups that come here with the solution to the problems disappear just as quickly as they came. We had to start from scratch."

"We learned from our experiences in Northern Ireland and South Africa that you have to gain the trust of people by learning from the environment and building relationships," Brendan Tuohey says. "Everywhere we go, we look to develop a long-term sustainability plan. Israel is no different. It starts with relationships, then it moves to great basketball training, and eventually we are able to delve into meaningful reconciliation work."

Over the course of the past year, the progress has been impressive. It has 200 kids in the program in eight cities, coaches who run the program on a weekly basis, relationships with important people on both sides of the divide, and the level of basketball play has increased dramatically, Brendan said.

"We're now at the point where the kids have gained enough trust that they are ready to start talking about their differences as well as their shared interests," he said.

A Modest But Meaningful Tipoff
The kids on the bus from Issawiya and Bet Shemesh are part of a pilot program that is the cornerstone of PFP. The program takes a youth basketball team from Palestine and one from Israel and mixes them together once a week. To the casual observer, a mix of a few Muslims and a dash of Jews is a volatile recipe. But for PFP, the idea is that meaningful bonds created from sport can break down walls and stereotypes and create friendships that can withstand the surging waves of conflict in the region.
Peace And Hoops
Look for Chad Ford's complete academic journal article, "Peace and Hoops: Basketball as a Role Player in Sustainable Peacebuilding" in Willamette Law Review, volume 42, issue 4 2006. To read an adapted excerpt, click here.
Khaled and Pini began playing together five months ago. Attending this pro game is the first time they've done something together off the court. When they walk into the arena, the differences that seemed so insignificant on the bus are magnified in this unfamiliar environment.

Pini watches Maccabi Tel Aviv games regularly and is used to the notorious fan behavior — pounding drums, lighting flares, chanting, boisterous singing, a catcall that sounds like a thousand angry locusts on the move. Whether in Durham, N.C.; Sacramento, Calif.; or Athens, Greece, no fans come close on the decibel scale to Maccabi fans.

Pronouncing it "fun," Pini joins in on a few Hebrew chants. He edges closer to the court as the game goes on, immersed in the action. At the same sights and sounds, Khaled confesses later, his heart quickens. To him, this is enemy territory.

The term "proxy warriors" was coined by political scientist John Hoberman to describe athletes, and with good reason. Nationalism and sports often are intertwined, as sports historically have provided a venue for symbolic competition between nations; sports competition often reflects national conflict. Nations use sports in an effort to prove their strength both to other nations and to their own citizens.

Such zeal can look harmless when you belong to the dominant group. But from the nervous looks Khaled keeps shooting the Maccabi fans, it's clear the Israel-flag-waving zealots on the sideline also can evoke fear.

When the Israeli national anthem begins playing, Pini and the other three Israelis quickly get to their feet and stand at attention. Khaled and his Palestinian friends hesitate. To Khaled and many Palestinians, Israel is an occupying force that has stolen their land and oppressed their people. Do they stand? After a moment of hesitation, Khaled rises from his chair and his teammates follow. His smile is crooked, though. Sweat runs down his forehead. Peacebuilding isn't easy.

As the game progresses, the tensions dissipate and the bonding continues. Kids chatter with each other, pose together for photos and, at one key moment, Mohammed has a discussion with David, an Ethiopian Israeli, about his skull cap. At the last second, Minoff's team upsets Maccabi Tel Aviv, and the PFP kids storm the court. Minoff dances around with David on his shoulders.

An improbable victory on an improbable night.

Unfortunately for Minoff and crew, running PFP isn't always fun and games.

Into The Fire
Tul Karem has a rep among Israelis as a haven for terrorists. During the second intifada, Palestine's uprising against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a number of suicide bombers in Netanya, a coastal Israeli town north of Tel Aviv, were thought to have come from Tul Karem. That led to a formal Israel military blockade of the only road leading in and out of Tul Karem.
Tul Karem is just a 30-minute drive from Tel Aviv, but you might as well be going from L.A. to the moon. Tel Aviv is a modern city that feels more American than European. Glistening skyscrapers line the white sand beaches of Israel's most populous city. Women in G-string bikinis play paddleball on the beaches. Children frolic in the surf. High-end fashion stores line the boardwalk.

On the road east toward Tul Karem, the landscape begins to change from green and tree-lined to sandblasted. Ancient stone and chalky powder bleach the surroundings. Tul Karem itself is a jungle of concrete buildings that haven't been painted or repaired in years. Old men sit outside dilapidated storefronts smoking pipes. Children use the deteriorating streets as soccer fields. Butcher shops line the road to Tul Karem. There, on the concrete sidewalks lie slaughtered goats and cattle, their throats slit. Blood trickles through dust and dirt, down the gutter.

Separating these two worlds is an Israeli checkpoint, one of the institutions feared by Palestinians most in all of Israel. Young soldiers (everyone in Israel is required to serve in the Army, men for three years and women for two years, between the ages of 18 and 22) wear olive green suits with bulletproof vests, M-16s slung over their shoulders. A long line of cars and trucks wait to find out whether they'll be let through that day. Sometimes, getting past is a breeze; other times, you are turned away. No one is ever sure what mood the soldiers will be in.

Tensions are high. The previous week, Israeli forces looking for a suspected jihad militant raided a home in Tul Karem and an innocent Palestinian woman was killed in the gunfire. Though the raids, and the casualties, are common here, security, given recent events, is especially tough.

Palestinians complain bitterly about the checkpoints. They feel like rats trapped in a cage. They are not allowed to enter Israel without permission. It's even against the law for Israelis to enter the West Bank. The only way to get in, or out, is to have a foreign passport, a press card or, if you are Palestinian, some sort of job in Israel.

Matt Quinn, Playing for Peace's program director in the Middle East, says getting in today will be a hit-or-miss proposition. He usually parks his car in a lot near the checkpoint and walks a few hundred yards to the soldiers. Today, even the parking lot is blocked, forcing us to abandon our car on the side of the road and hitch a ride to the gate.

Quinn, a tall, boyish-looking Irish-American ballplayer, cut his teeth at the prestigious St. Thomas More prep school in Connecticut and went on to play four years at Bucknell. He wants to be like his father, Jere, a high school basketball coach. Quinn left for Northern Ireland after finishing at Bucknell and was a point person in developing drills and practices, and in organizing leagues. He has a wonderful touch with the kids and was brought over to help get PFP's program running in Israel.

While he was prepped extensively by PFP before he arrived, no orientation could've prepared him for Tul Karem.

"After having a good experience in Northern Ireland, I really felt like all of the danger is overplayed," Quinn says, earnestly. "Once you are living there, you know your chances of getting killed in a car accident ... outweigh your chances of getting killed by a bomber. But the West Bank? When I first got to this checkpoint, I was like, 'Whoa.'"

Quinn has developed a good rapport with many of the checkpoint guards, but sometimes he's turned away because Israel is running military operations in Tul Karem and the guards don't want him to get hurt. Other times, he suspects the guards might not like what he's doing. Not infrequently, kids and coaches are left hoping Quinn actually will arrive. He might or might not show from week to week.

I have my own second thoughts when the soldiers begin harassing an ABC film crew that's trying to cross the checkpoint with us. An Israeli soldier checking the crew's Land Cruiser opens a door, and a box of heavy equipment falls on her foot. We're off to a bad start. After maybe 20 minutes of negotiation between the ABC producer and the soldiers, Quinn gets out of the car and walks to the checkpoint. He's wearing a tattered St. Thomas More practice jersey and high tops. The Israeli soldier says, "Basketball?" in broken English and makes a gesture as though he's shooting hoops. Quinn nods. We're in.

As we wind through the streets of Tul Karem, it's hard not to be hyper aware that we're seeing a part of the world few Westerners (or Israelis, for that matter) will ever see. Khadori College is just a 10-minute drive from the checkpoint. Quinn's students, a group of college physical education majors who want to learn how to coach basketball, are waiting outside, cheering. A friendly bunch, they always are eager to see someone brave enough to come from the outside.

Inside the college, there seems to be little to worry about. Though rundown, it looks a lot like most college campuses, with a couple of notable exceptions — large portraits of Yasser Arafat on walls on the campus and the numerous photos of suicide bombers plastered about on the walls, doors and even the sidewalks. Suicide bombers in Palestine pose for one last photo before they go on jihad, and apparently the pictures are something of a collector's item here in Tul Karem.

Quinn takes the coaches through the training, and I spend an hour or so with Maha Jarrad, the dean of Khadori College, talking about her life in Tul Karem and how she hooked up with PFP.

Jarrad was one of the first people in Palestine to encourage Playing for Peace to work within the West Bank. Currently, PFP is laying the groundwork for a basketball league there. Most Palestinians do not play basketball; soccer is the sport of choice among young and old. There are few courts and even fewer organized leagues. Currently, PFP is training 10 coaches, all undergraduate students at the college. They, in turn, each have taken on a youth team in the area and, on Thursdays, PFP sponsors a game night on a dusty converted downtown soccer field.

If You Can Make It In Tul Karem …
The program in Tul Karem might be the key to the success of PFP in the region.
The official stance of both the Fatah and Hamas governments in Palestine has been to discourage any cooperative activities with Israelis, making it difficult, though not impossible, to pair Palestinian and Israeli kids. PFP has to coordinate with the Israeli army just to get Palestinian kids into Israel, and the truth is that many Palestinians don't feel comfortable letting their children travel into Israel. At PFP's first overnight camp in August 2005, no Palestinian children were present, just Arab Israelis.

If PFP is going to succeed in helping the peace process in Israel, it has to do well in places like this.

What is Jarrad's secret? Like just about everything in Tul Karem, she doesn't conform to easy stereotypes. The Muslim women the West see portrayed on TV are shrouded, literally, in mystery. Their veiled faces and flowing black robes mask their identity in the West. Jarrad's a young, energetic, powerful woman who dresses in modern workout clothes and teaches physical education. She earned a bachelor's degree in physical education in Norway and a master's in international education in Jordan and wants to pursue a Ph.D. in physical education in the United States. She is very interested to know what a visitor from America would think about Tul Karem. She's also eager to dissolve the many stereotypes she knows exist about the place.

"[People] are so scared to come here," she says. "They hear we are a conservative people, that we are suicide bombers. I keep telling them, no, we are nice people. We care for our visitors. You must come and see."

Persuading people to come and see for themselves is the problem for all Palestinians, she says. They've earned such a bad rap in the media that few are willing to make the journey. She first hatched the idea when she signed up for a free coaches' workshop PFP was offering shortly after it began operating in Israel. She felt as though her city, her college, was the perfect place for PFP to begin. She worked numerous hours persuading the Ministry of Education to give her permission.

At first, Quinn said, he was "scared to death" to run basketball camps in the West Bank: "I was like, 'Is this really worth it?' My parents were freaking out. My heart was beating a 100 miles an hour at the checkpoint. I got comfortable over time. I even spent the night there a few weeks ago with the guys."

Jarrad also went out of her way to recruit the "right" people to become involved. Brahim is a perfect example. A college student by day, he's a Palestinian police officer by night. He wants to be a P.E. coach in a high school, someday. Right now, there are no jobs. Even his police job hasn't provided a paycheck lately, since the West stopped sending almost all foreign aid to Palestine.

"I wanted to learn the game more because I want to coach someday," Brahim says through a translator. "But I also want our Palestinian children to learn moral thoughts. It is dangerous here. They stay late on the streets and get in trouble. I want them to move their aggression to the court, learn how to be a good teammate, maybe someday even cross the border and play with someone else. We need this."

Brahim fidgets as we speak. He has been looking over his shoulder all day. People like Brahim take huge risks when they start collaborating with American peacemakers. He intervenes numerous times during the day, telling us whom we can talk to and where we can aim the camera. When asked to talk about what he does for the police, he refuses to discuss it, quickly concluding the interview.

Jarrad gives him reassuring looks throughout the day and pulls me aside after the interview to assure me that Brahim is just trying to make sure that no harm comes to his family or the kids involved.

Building Peace, Brick By Brick
After Quinn is done training the coaches, we head down the street to the court to see PFP in action. Fifty kids arrive, dressed in soccer shirts and shorts decorated in glossy colors of green, red, black and orange. Why soccer outfits? PFP isn't allowed to bring in uniforms, so it has them made locally. Unfortunately, there are no basketball uniforms in Tul Karem to use as models, so it has to go with the next best thing.
The kids are inquisitive. Who are you? Why are there cameras? They run drills with great energy. "Defense!" they shout in English, as they slap their hands on the gravelly court. Still, it's clear PFP has its work cut out. The kids are adept on the soccer field but are still learning this new game. During a break in the games, a young boy makes a basket by kicking a soccer ball into the hoop. Shooting it? That's another story. They lay enough bricks off the backboard to help Israel build its 25-foot tall concrete wall that will snake across the Palestinian-Israel border (twice as high as and four times longer than the Berlin Wall, which stretched 96 miles).

The games begin and, though only PFP participants and a small smattering of parents are in the stands, the crowds are loud. Local residents peer through gates or stand atop adjacent buildings to watch the action. It's DJ day at the game. A woman, dressed in traditional Muslim tunic with a hijab wrapped around her head, blasts Usher's "Yeah!" from the loudspeakers. The kids in the stands start dancing the Cabbage Patch. As Usher yells "Yeah!" for the last time, the song effortlessly blends into a traditional Arabic pop song. The rest of the day's soundtrack is a mixture of American hip-hop and traditional Arabic music. It's one hell of a mix tape.

After the game, the children grab Matt and Brahim and form a big circle, joining hands to begin a traditional Tul Karem dance. This goes on for the next 15 minutes. Afterward, Jarrad is candid about PFP's chances of helping to bring peace to the region. "I hope so," she says. "I hope so. I hope so. This is a hard question. A good one, but a hard one. The kids are doing something. They are learning not only basketball but morality or, how do you say, team? They have nothing to do here. They are on the street. Sometimes, bad things happen. Bad people say things to them. Now, I worry less. They are here. They are learning. They know someone cares."

Still, Jarrad doesn't feel they're ready to be integrated with Israeli kids on the basketball floor. "Maybe someday," she says. "We cannot do what we want or go where we want. With the checkpoints and walls, we have no freedom. I think we must first learn this ourselves, then others."

At the checkpoint, we are delayed nearly an hour by Israeli soldiers nervous about the footage we filmed.

There are a lot of justifications for the checkpoints. Safety is paramount. Attacks from Tul Karem and other places in the West Bank have occurred. Building a barrier will help prevent those attacks in the future. But the wall also allows the Israelis to control the popular discourse about the struggle and the region. Normally, reporters going into the West Bank are there to film terror rallies or bombings.

The stuff we filmed today is footage that rarely gets filmed, let alone aired.

Most of the people in Tul Karem, as in almost every troubled community in the world, are good people in awful circumstances trying to make the best of life. PFP is not naive, however. The organizers know the people of Tul Karem tried to put their best foot forward today. We didn't see the more dangerous elements that live here. But it's the best foot that PFP is interested in. This is the foot we rarely see in the West and gives people like Matt Quinn hope that it exists.

"If I can overcome the fear and stigmas I had coming here," Quinn says, "I think others can, too. That's what we're about. Breaking down walls. It's a powerful experience to get past those barriers and meet the other side. So much of the negative disappears. And so much of the hope you have for humanity becomes strengthened."

The Other Side Of The Wall
The wall Israel is building will separate millions of Palestinians from millions of Israelis. But it cannot separate them all.
Jerusalem, a holy city, is the most contested piece of real estate in the world. Jews and Muslims have struggled over the land for thousands of years. They're still fighting today. Diplomacy and mediation have failed to bring calm to the region. Hatred and fear have led to segregation and damaging stereotypes.

In Jerusalem, Palestinians and Jews have been living together, in close quarters, for more than a thousand years. Since 1967, when Israeli forces took the old city during the Six-Day War, many Palestinians and Israelis remain wary neighbors. But they are still neighbors. In the city founded by King David on a mountain many believe was the creation point of the world, there's no convenient place to build a wall.

Jerusalem has changed hands hundreds of times in the past 3,000 years. No one really has figured out how to hold it exclusively. The city is in a key position politically and spiritually, and conquerors over the years have used both as excuses to occupy it.

Jerusalem is perhaps the only city in the world with the unique ability to divide and unite simultaneously. Walking through the Jaffa Gate near the Western Wall, Christians head north, down a narrow pathway filled with merchants pawning Jesus trinkets, in search of the Holy Sepulcher, which Catholics believe was the site of Christ's death and resurrection.

Muslims head north, toward the Dome of the Rock, the most sacred Islamic spot in Jerusalem. Under the dome sits the stone from which Mohammed, their founding prophet, is said to have ascended into heaven. It is widely considered the third holiest site in Islam, after the Kaaba in Mecca and the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina.

Jews head south, toward the Wailing Wall, to offer their daily prayers to God. Before we can get to the wall, we must negotiate our way through a maze of security barricades and metal detectors. The plaza near the wall always has been a prime target for would-be suicide bombers, and this area — like other holy shrines — is heavily guarded.

Despite the segregated nature of the city, members of each of the three groups can't help but bump into one another. One of the most sacred sites for Christians, the room where Jesus ate the Last Supper with his apostles, sits two floors above one of Judaism's most sacred sites — the tomb where King David is buried. The main exit to the Wailing Wall, where many Jews come for daily prayers, leads directly into a Muslim bazaar filled with the smells of fresh falafel, kebob and sweet bread from merchants crammed into ancient nooks alongside the narrow alleyways. Follow the path farther and you will pass through the ancient gates into a bustling Muslim neighborhood and market. Here Arab-Israeli taxi drivers, panhandlers and merchants sell everything from olivewood crosses to cheap plastic menorahs. Turn right, and the hustle and bustle dissolves into a serene garden, the place many Protestants believe Christ was buried and resurrected.

The same interlocking reality exists outside the walls of old Jerusalem. There are no checkpoints, warnings or military escorts as you leave Israeli West Jerusalem and head to Palestinian East Jerusalem. Nothing brings their interconnectedness home quite like the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Safafa. The ancient Jerusalem stone town has been Palestinian for centuries but is surrounded on all sides by Israeli suburbs.

One of PFP's head coaches, "Ahmed" (his name has been changed to protect the safety of his family) has lived here his entire life. For years, he worked for the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He has traveled extensively throughout the world with Yasser Arafat and has documented many of the horrors suffered by his people.

For the first few days he says little, but one night, as the topic of discussion moves to Middle Eastern food, he opens up. Food seems to be a great conversational icebreaker, and Ahmed is anxious to talk about Palestinian cuisine. What's interesting is the nationalistic identity he ascribes to it.

Ahmed says Israelis have stolen most of Palestine's food and labeled it Israeli food. Hummus and falafel, to name just two delicacies, were developed by Arabs but co-opted by Israelis. "If you go into an Israeli restaurant and taste good hummus, go back and check in the kitchen," he says with a smile. "I promise you you'll find a Palestinian in the back."

As we drive through the streets of Jerusalem, Ahmed starts pointing out buildings with Arabic script from the Koran chiseled into doors. Muslims, Ahmed explains, built them all. This area of West Jerusalem, he asserts, all used to be Palestinian.

His family and friends all lived here until 1967. During the war, many Palestinians were dislocated. Israelis moved into their homes, claiming the spoils of war. Many other Palestinians fled to refugee camps. Almost 40 years later, many of them are still living there. Ahmed's family was lucky. They live in the one Arab enclave in this part of town, Beit Safafa.

Ahmed tries not to be bitter, but his anger seeps through when he talks. Now Beit Safafa is surrounded on every side by Israeli towns. As the Israeli government attempts to build a wall separating Palestine and Israel, he's stuck in the middle. Israelis are pushing for the Palestinians of Beit Safafa to move somewhere else. He doesn't want to move. No one does. But he also thinks it's inevitable.

"What Israel wants, it takes," he says grimly.

Israelis might be turned off by Ahmed's bluntness, but he's one Palestinian they should get to know. Ahmed is one of several Palestinians working for PFP who are defying the Palestinian government to help with the program, though his motives are not entirely altruistic. "When I was a child," Ahmed says, "I loved basketball but didn't have anyone to teach me or a place to play. I finally learned when I was 16. When I was 17, I played my first game against Israelis. It was a massacre."

The Israelis have an amazing basketball infrastructure with hundreds of club teams throughout the country. Ahmed's team, he said, was destroyed by 40 points: "I was humiliated and said I'd find a way to give Palestinian kids a chance to develop the same way Israeli kids did."

When PFP came looking for coaches, Ahmed was ready. He saw a program that could give his team coaching, shoes and a place to play. He volunteered despite the potential conflicts presented by the larger goals of the organization.

On the court, his passion and dedication are evident. His "two-hour practices" often stretch to three and sometimes four hours, until the sun goes down. His players huddle around him like chicks around a mother hen. Every word he speaks is met with rapt attention — no small accomplishment when you are dealing with a group of 11- and 12-year-olds.

Although his dedication to basketball is unwavering, Ahmed is less enthusiastic about the other goals of Playing for Peace. "I don't know if I believe in peace," he says. "I appreciate what they are trying to do, but I don't know. There is too much suffering. Too much hate. How can we love a people who are trying to destroy us? Everything here is a reminder of what we had and what was taken from us. I just want my kids to become good players. I know we have to live with them and maybe this is the first step. But peace … I don't know."

Optimism Grows In A Most Barren Garden
One of Ahmed's pupils is Khaled, whose life, like those of many Palestinians, isn't easy. As we enter his village for the first time, several of the cars in our group are pelted with rocks. You can't take it the wrong way. Kids throwing rocks in Palestine is a national pastime, kind of like baseball in the United States. We're strangers, and this is the Issawiya welcome.
Khaled lives in a simple brick home on the hillside facing the Mount of Olives. More than a dozen children are running in the street with green-and-blue popsicles in the shape of cell phones dripping down their hands. The sun reflects off the white Jerusalem stone; a translucent glow suffuses the entire village. Inside, Khaled's home is decorated with rich velvety purple couches covered with gold embroidery. The walls are adorned with calligraphy from the Koran. He serves us fruit juice and Arabic coffee. His mother is draped in a long black dress with a thick scarf covering most of her head. His brothers and sisters giggle at all the attention.

Khaled doesn't understand all the scrutiny he's getting today. "I'm not sure I know what the big deal is," he says through an interpreter. "I'm not that good of a basketball player yet."

His sister Fatmah smiles at him and says he's a good kid. Never gets in trouble. Excellent student. This isn't how it's supposed to be — sitting in the middle of a "dangerous" town like Issawiya talking to a kid who sounds a lot like the spelling bee champion of a little town in Kansas.

Khaled nervously twirls a basketball between his hands. He looks up, then away. "Why are you here?" he asks.

When asked about his relationship with Pini, he shrugs his shoulders and says, "He's a good guy. I like him. He works very well with me on the court. I like his game."

What about the fact that he's Jewish?

"I think they are OK," he says with a smile. "They are regular people. There's nothing strange about them. They are like us." He and Pini don't talk politics, Khaled says, they just talk about life, cell phones, music and movies.

Can Playing for Peace help bring peace?

"It might happen," he says, "if we ever sit down and talk about it."

Khaled is quick to move past talk of fighting and conflict. He wants to discuss "two-steps" (layups) and defense. He says he wants to coach a PFP team someday, maybe make it to the NBA. He wants to be a better player.

He talks warmly about the Jewish friends he has made, and says he harbored no hard feelings before he came to the program. They are his neighbors, Khaled says, and he wants to get to know them better. He's such a good person that the negative stereotypes are hardly believable.

What message would he like to send to Americans?

"We are regular people," he says earnestly. "We like things like everyone else. We just want to live in peace."

Make Hoops Not War
Thirty minutes east of Jerusalem are the Dead Sea and Jericho, the oldest city in the world.
Just minutes after one leaves Jerusalem, the climate changes from arid to desert. Bedouin shepherds roam on the outlying rocky hills, riding camel caravans while their sheep graze on what little vegetation remains. The Dead Sea is the lowest point in the world, 1,374 feet below sea level. At one point in history, the Jordan River flowed into the sea. That ended thousands of years ago. Over time, salt and brine built up in the water. Now, when you swim, you float. It is so buoyant it is almost impossible to dive under water.

Tomer is an Israeli settler who, along with 23 other families, set up a settlement near the shores of the Dead Sea in the heart of Palestinian territory. He, too, is a PFP coach working with Israelis in Bet Shemesh. Israeli settlers are notorious in Israel for being the most militant Jews in the country. They've been tagged with the term "settler" because they move with their families into Palestinian areas and set up camp. Many have religious or Zionist motivations. By occupying the land, they believe they're doing God's will — or, at the very least, Israel's will by helping expand its borders.

Tomer's compound is surrounded by barbed wire and an electric fence, and is guarded by an Israeli soldier with an Uzi. In fact, every family in the compound is armed and participates in shooting practice once a week.

Tomer is big, a rotund 230-pounder with a close-cut beard. He is constantly apologizing about his excessive weight, which he attributes to a recent hip operation. He speaks seven languages and has a natural curiosity. We spend a long time talking about my home in Hawaii, a place he has always dreamed of visiting. "Is it true that the native women greet you with flowers?" Tomer says. "I will live my whole life to experience this. I think this is the correct greeting for a visitor to any new land."

Tomer is hoping the PFP experience will teach his people how to live together with Palestinians. He acknowledges that many in the compound believe they are the only group that belongs there, but Tomer purposely has put himself in the mix to try to change hearts. Like Matt Minoff, he's not your typical peacemaker. He has served for years in the Israeli army, carries an M-16 just like everyone else and says he'll use it if he needs to defend his people. "My people were led like lambs to the slaughter during the Holocaust," he says sternly. "I will never let that happen again. I'll die defending my family and my country before letting anyone do what the Germans did."

But he is inclined to think — or, at least, hope — that hoops, not guns, are a better way to peace. "I don't have the same perspective as many," Tomer says. "I have good relations with the Palestinians. I buy vegetables from them. I talk to them in the city. Arabs and Jews have to introduce themselves to each other to achieve peace. I'm trying this with my own family.

"I teach my kids not to judge people because of what god they pray to," he says. "I want to know how they live. We are seeing that there are many good people here."

Tomer started with Playing for Peace because he saw a similar opportunity to introduce basketball-crazy Israeli kids to Arabs. "Everything starts with a thought," he said. "Many things happen because of one man. Hundreds of people's lives can be changed. I believe this program can make a difference. I would do anything for it."

Converting A Hard-Line Dad
Tomer makes the hour drive from his settlement to Bet Shemesh several times a week. He treats the kids he coaches like his own children. He knows each of his boys by name, has gotten to know their families and takes them out on his own to the movies. One of the boys Tomer found and has coached is Pini, who comes from a challenging socio-economic background. His father is a career soldier in the Israeli army and his town is one of the most conservative in Israel.
Pini's home is a plain concrete structure with no lawn. He lives in the home's safe room. Every home in Israel is required to have one. He dresses like an American teenager — designer blue jeans, a red Jaguar T-shirt and a plain blue baseball cap. He has a computer in his room on which he plays video games and downloads trance music off the Internet. On his walls hang a switchblade and a pair of brass knuckles.

A basketball rim is tied to the upper level of the house. Pini has been rummaging through junkyards and found a pole for what he hopes will be a real basketball goal, once he can afford a backboard. Candidly, Pini admits that he too joined the program because he'd get to learn basketball. The idea of playing with Palestinians was a necessary evil. "I hadn't considered it," he says through a translator. "I couldn't see myself playing with them. I thought that all Arabs were the enemies."

Six months since he joined the program, Pini says his point of view has changed dramatically: "I even like them. I saw that they are not too different from me. There are differences, yes, but we both like music, basketball and computers. Of course I don't hate them now. It's fun to meet them and share their food … some of them are good people."

The mood changes dramatically as Pini's father, Tzion, enters. He agrees to be interviewed; Pini looks nervous. Tzion speaks very little English, so the soundman and producer agree to translate.

He says that Pini is a polite boy who is slow in school. Pini recently had to be pulled out of his class and now has a full-time tutor provided by the school to help bring up his grades.

Tzion is surprised a camera crew has come all the way from the United States to interview his son. He says he has never seen his son play basketball, but now that he sees us here, he knows Pini must be special, so he's planning to come to the game tonight.

The next question rocks Tzion: "What was your reaction when you found out that Pini would be playing basketball with Palestinians?"

Tzion looks confused; he begins speaking rapidly in Hebrew. Members of the camera crew begin responding in Hebrew, but have no time to offer an English translation. Tzion's face grows redder. He looks at me with steely eyes and says something as he gestures to the crew to translate. "He says that he didn't know that his son was playing with Palestinians," the producer, Bruno, tells me. "He's upset. He thinks this is a bad idea. Palestinians are bad people. His son shouldn't be around them."

The room suddenly seems hot, too small.

We backtrack, talk about the history of the conflict through Tzion's eyes. Years of serving in the military, in wars with the Palestinians, have hardened his heart. The rape and strangulation of an 8-year-old girl in Bet Shemesh by a Palestinian illegal worker a few weeks earlier has convinced him that Palestinians haven't changed.

Between responses, Tzion pauses a long time. He says he has to think more.

I spend some time carefully explaining the program to him through the translators. At points, the camera crew and a producer from ABC chime in, as well. Tzion has seen a lot of things that aren't good about Palestinians. He doesn't know whether he can change.

But, he finally decides, maybe Pini can be different. "I give my blessing," he says. "If Pini wants to play, it's fine by me. It's his decision. If it works, let it be."

The Court Of Best Resort
By the time we emerge from Pini's room, Matt Minoff and Tomer are looking worried. After I relay what has happened, Minoff confirms one of the difficult realities of the program: A few of the Israeli families don't know their children will be mixing with Palestinians. PFP is still trying to build trust here. Many parents wouldn't allow their children to participate because of their own stereotypes and fears. Once their children get into the program, the fears melt away. But overcoming that challenge in the beginning is one of the biggest obstacles PFP faces.
We drive to a café to get something to eat. Minoff, Matt Quinn and I are eating at a table. Sitting next to us are Dudu and Shimshon, our Israeli camera crew. They are speaking intensely in Hebrew. Dudu leans over to the two Matts and says, "We've been thinking a lot about what you're doing." He tells us that he's been covering wars for 40 years. He cut his teeth as a war correspondent in Vietnam and has spent the past 25 years in the Middle East. He has seen it all and captured most of it through his sound-recording equipment.

"We want you to know that we think what you're doing might save Pini," Dudu says. "I don't see any other way. He's poor. His father is intolerant. He doesn't have any reason to have hope. Your group is giving it to him. Our children can bring us the peace we have longed for. We spend our lives talking about the human potential to destroy. This week, I'm reminded that the potential to create is even more powerful."

Later, we head to the Bet Shemesh gym to watch two Israeli teams and two Palestinian teams merge into one. It's 6:30 p.m. The game is about to start. Tzion is not here.

Pini greets Khaled as he walks through the door. They warm up together, then shake hands with the other team before the game. Finally, the game begins. Khaled grabs a rebound and streaks up the floor. He makes a perfect pass to Pini for a layup. They high-five as they trot back down the floor.

Later in the game, Pini drives to the basket. As a couple of defenders collapse on him, he makes a perfect dish to Khaled for a layup. They run back downcourt and do a chest bump. Their smiles are contagious. The crowd is loud, standing and cheering.

Jews and Muslims playing together for peace.

After the game, Pini and Khaled, their arms around each other, head to the treat vendor for hot dogs and soda.

As I leave for my flight home, Ahmed is standing in the shadows. We say goodbye, and he makes one final request. "Do me a favor," he says. "Don't write what I told you. I said I don't believe in peace. Maybe I do now. I see this tonight.

"Maybe it is not too late for us."

***
With violence escalating between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, can Playing for Peace continue to make a difference in the Middle East?

This week, Matt Minoff, managing director of PFP-Middle East, says the current conflict, which started after this story was reported, hasn't had a major impact on his program. The two fronts in northern Israel and near the Gaza strip aren't close to any of the cities where PFP operates. For most Israelis and Palestinians, conflict is part of their everyday lives.

Playing for Peace takes the summer off to correspond with summer vacation for Palestinian and Israeli children. But everything is scheduled to begin running again in mid-August.

"We even have plans to expand our current operations by adding new communities, as well as forming girls' teams," Minoff said.

***
Chad Ford covers the NBA draft for ESPN.com and is an assistant professor of conflict resolution at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. E-mail him at chad.m.ford@espn3.com.

Footprints In Your Heart

2008-11-24T20:50:00.005-10:00

These phrases I found by Eleanor Roosevelt (I believe so anyway...at least that is what the website said) are really interesting to think about....I found many of these truly motivating.

Footprints In Your Heart

Many people will walk in and out of your life,
But only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.

To handle yourself, use your head;
To handle others, use your heart.

Anger is only one letter short of danger.

If someone betrays you once, it is his fault;
If he betrays you twice, it is your fault.

Great minds discuss ideas,
Average minds discuss events,
Small minds discuss people.

He who loses money, loses much;
He who loses a friend, loses much more;
He who loses faith, loses all.

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature,
But beautiful old people are works of art.

Learn from the mistakes of others.
You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.

Friends, you and me.
You brought another friend,
And then there were three.

We started our group,
Our circle of friends,
And like that circle -
There is no beginning or end.

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift.

That's why it's called the present.*

Eleanor Roosevelt
(Source: http://www.wowzone.com/eleanor.htm)

Creating a Space

2008-11-21T22:57:00.004-10:00

So, I have been doing a lot of thinking about this whole media thing and I have come to the realization that perhaps media can create the space where peace can be talked about or discussed. Peace needs to be invited not forced on someone. If a space can be created that welcomes people and brings people together then perhaps the media has accomplished in putting a face to the people with whom we share our lives with, but might not have encountered before...it is just our part as individuals to step out of our comfort zones and meet people.

FISH-WAR VIDEO

2008-05-25T15:39:00.002-10:00

This here video was created by myself and two other fellow students Lori and Scottie. Lori found the perfect music, scottie found the pictures and helped arrange them in the order they appear, and I edited them together. Let me know what you think. We spent a really really long night finding just the right way to do this....there is more to the video, but this is the best of it.

What power does video/movies have?

2008-05-25T15:27:00.002-10:00

As my profile states, I have a dream--a dream of producing movies or short videos that can invite others to think of how they can spread of peace internationally and/or be a motivator to put thoughts of peace into action. I am still doing a lot of research on this idea--for as briefly mentioned I believe that media has the power to create or destroy human interaction. Films can either show "them over there" in a negative, dehumanizing way or films can show the people of the world as human beings. What are the pros and cons of using films as a tool for trying to spread peace? What potential does film even have of making people want to change their lives? The film itself cannot not change peoples lives, the action must come from within and through the individual so can film even be used to influence peoples lives?

Is News Media Biased?

2007-12-04T08:47:00.000-10:00

As I was reading a book entitled, "Power of the News Media," I came across this quote by former senator Alan Simpson, "Well, [the media are] not there to be cheerleaders. We wouldn't expect that of them. But they're there to replace one ism with another ism. They're there to replace skepticism with patriotism..." How much should we be relying on the media for our information? Our we getting news media or propaganda? If news mediums are presenting information that is biased, are they perpetuating conflicts?

Another thought I found was in a book entitled, "Critical Studies in Media Commercialism." In this book it talks about how audiences have come to "expect fast-paced, visually exciting programmes." What kind of effects does this have on the political life? The book suggests that "the effect on political life will be devastating. There will be less emphasis on issues, substance, and ideology, and an increase in the importance of image and style."

What effects does news media have on political decisions? What effects does news media have on public opinions towards other people?

US-Mexico Border: Immigration

2007-10-30T14:50:00.000-10:00

Immigration has always caused problems within the US. The Alien and Sedition Act of 1798, looked at the French ethnicity and ideology as the enemy. In the 1850's the Irish were seen as "savages" as a substantial number migrated to the US. During WWI there was intense hatred for the Germans (even those among us as American citizens). During WWII the Japanese were looked upon as enemies. Then during the 1950's a fear for the Communist enemy projected a suspicion upon the Southeastern European countries. Today, the target is Mexico and Central America.

What is the definition of an American? Who does this definition include? exclude? With a continuing wave of undocumented immigrants, concern has been raised concerning Americas security and welfare. Should there be a wall built on the border between the US and Mexico to control this influx of immigration? Why or why not?

This conflict between Mexico and the US has many layers and can be looked at in many ways. The more I have looked into it the more complex it becomes. I believe that there are some very deep roots that go clear back to our founding fathers that play into this conflict, but I would like to hear your thoughts and feelings on the subject of immigration and the US-Mexico border.