Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

April 21, 2007

Today’s Announcements

 Happy Birthday to our wonderful Nigerian writer: George Waters Ojeigbe: gojiegbe@oregun.jhplc.com

From Bill Walker:

I think you will like this tribute to Virginia Tech on Heavens Gates. Check it out: http://heavens-gates.com/vatech/

Tinker and Poo; The Boys Write

http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-35741-5

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Please note that Storytime Tapestry is a free newsletter to members and there will never be a cost for the newsletter. Donations are purely voluntary and no member should ever feel guilty for not making a donation at this time.

Today’s Stories

~**~**~

 A response to “A Brutal Tragedy”

A Brutal Tragedy

By Cynthia Groopman

A most sorrowful and brutal tragedy befall the Virginia tech students yesterday,

Causing our nation to mourn and to be outraged in a solemn way.

With a weeping heart,

I console with the ointment of love

the families of all those who did tragically depart.

Full of extreme emotional pain,

Tears cascade from the clouds within my soul with torrents of pouring rain.

Response....

It is that rain of love that washes away the pain of loss or, if not completely washed away, then molded as sand on a river bank into a pathway for our emotions. The more pain we experience, the more love we experience, and the deeper our emotions flow. We are better people for having experienced both pain and love. These tragedies inspire in us renewed compassion for people, mostly unknown to us, and awake the deep desire to work to make our community, society, and world a better place.

~ ~ ~

Snuffing out such precious young lives,

Never enabling them to flourish and thrive.

Is beyond my understanding and deep thought,

for thou shall not kill, we were by God instructed and taught.

Response....

To us, in our finite world, these lives are lost. But in the infinite world they continue living and have begun again with rebirth into eternal perfection. They will flourish and thrive in an even greater way than had they remained here with us. I do not believe that it is part of God’s plan for these people to be killed so brutally and senselessly. But I do believe that it is in God’s plan for us to benefit from these lives, brief as they were. We are reminded that life is a moving event that continues on around us, out of our control. We only have “now” to show others of our love and concern for them. If we examine our lives and recommit ourselves to goodness and compassion for those around us, then those people whose time with us was suddenly ended, did not die in vain. God indeed instructed us not to commit murder, but also gave us freedom of choice. When someone chooses to disobey a law, there are consequences not only for them to endure, but also for the innocent people affected.  We derive our strength from God to endure and grow stronger, and even to try to correct the cause of the disobedience. We learn and grow.

~ ~ ~

For an enraged beast had two guns in his hand,

Blazing terror, fright, and bloodshed across the campus tranquil learning land.

Response....

We will never really know what caused this man to become  beast-like. It appears that he was foreign to our society and from a culture that has a tradition of extensive familial support. He was apparently alone and trying to find stability, unfortunately outside of himself rather than from within. We cannot depend upon others for our own sustenance. Although we can rationalize and perhaps reason why he took out his sadness and frustration on others, but we can never justify that he succumbed to his weakness and tried to eliminate those of whom he was probably jealous. His victims were apparently happy, industrious, productive and a part of a campus family. We must consider the effect of our behavior toward other people, both strangers and friends. Perhaps that dirty, unkempt beggar that we pass on the street, withholding our precious change from his cup, needs a smile more than a quarter. The tears of the soul wash away many kinds of pain. Even a small gift of ourselves can be of great value to someone in need.

~ ~ ~

Please dear Lord, hear my plea,

For peace and inner serenity.

Life is so sacred, precious and dear,

All should never dwell in a land of fright and fear.

To the Lord for consolation and comfort we must turn,

So, the evil deeds we can better discern.

Cynthia.Groopman@verizon.net

Response....

The Lord hears all of our pleas and many times seeks to answer through other people. All of us who now know of Cynthia’s request to God are potential vessels into which answers may be poured. We need to calm ourselves, open our minds and hearts, and listen for that voice from within that will gently suggest something that we can do. In life there is going to be fright and fear, but this darkness can be, if not lifted, at least penetrated by shining the light of God on those around us by our actions. We receive not only God’s consolation and comfort, but also the great gifts of discernment and knowledge. Armed with these incredible weapons we can stand guard and be ready to fight when the war reaches us. We are never alone: we have each other and therefore we have God; we have God and therefore we have each other.

~ ~ ~

Bruce Cornely

Gainesville, FL

http://baskerbeagles.com hydrant502@yahoo.com

Bruce Cornely

Scritchies and Haruffaroo-bahawow...
Bruce and the Baskerbeagles at HowlingAcres
http://baskerbeagles.com

~**~**~

  We already gave away Our Rights

Robyn Cavalera

In my opinion the answer to the killings in Va. is very simple.  Put God back into the schools where He used to be.  Teach the Word of God and read it daily the first thing in the day before classes.  Bring back the right to pray, so students can pray Psalms 91 over their school and friends.  Like they say, guns do not kill people, people kill people.  Give teachers and employees of the schools the right to carry arms to protect themselves and students.  A gun in the hands of a well trained person is a weapon of peace and safety!

I have been an advocate and counselor of the Vietnam Vets for 18 years now.  Most have legal rights to carry guns.  If there is a problem in this nation EVER, and the people are being attacked here instead of abroad, I will find one of my nearest Vets and take my family with me to stay with them!  I have often thought of getting my own gun, but money is just to tight, so I do the next best thing.  I support those who carry weapons legally, and stand behind their right to bear arms (literally stand behind them LOL)  I grieve for the family whose son did this horrid thing, but had I a gun legally and been there when it happened, I would not hesitate for even one moment to fire my weapon at him.  Thus saving lives.  Then go to God later for forgiveness, for his soul.

"If your faith can't be tested, it can't be trusted."
Robyn Cavalera
Prayer Warrior/Demon Buster
robyajesusfreak@netzero.net
2950B Temple Lane
Mims, Florida  32754
need prayer or deliverance?  Are you ready
to meet God?  If not call me,
I'll tell you how to be sure you will be
welcomed by HIM!
call: 321-268-0390
"We need a baptism of clear seeing.
 We desperately need seers who can see
 through the mist-- Unless they come soon
it will be too late for this generation.
And if they do come we will no doubt
crucify a few of them in the name of our
worldly orthodoxy." -A.W. Tozer

Be kind to your enemies!  It
messes with their heads!

Need a Spirit filled Speaker?
Rev. Brenda Kelly
brendakelly@mail.com
http://www.brendakellyministries.org

Scripture Meditations?
www.scripturemeditate.blogspot.com

Home site:
www.home.bellsouth.net/p/pwp-JesusKids

~**~**~

Why?

Bill Walker

missourisage@yahoo.com

Why?  That is the question Why?  Why does these things happen? Virginia Tech, why? There is no easy answer to what happened. There will be many second guess answers, all too late to have had it to never happen.

We live in a world of mystery. Why did Cain kill Able?  Same reason this person went on a ramps to kill and destroy others. Hate, Lust, and Greed all took a part in what happened. We can not undo what happened.  The sad thing is it don't end, it just keeps on marching along.  In this country, and most other free nations,  you can think a person has a problem, but the way we live, and the way the laws are wrote, we can't put every one in lock up because we think might be a loose nut.  If we did there wouldn't be enough left on the outside to keep the doors shut.  I am sure many thinks I am a loose nut, but so far haven't figured a way to put me away. Most of us gets steamed about something that happens,, and maybe we grumble some,  but we keep it under control. There is always the few that come unglued and goes on a ramps doing what this mixed up person did.

You see he was one that blamed others for his problems. Cain did that to Able.  He blamed Able for his problems with God.  He never looked at his self, and said he was the problem. This fellow took the same road. It was the others that was the problems, not him.  He looked at what others had, and was doing. He didn't like it because he couldn't do the same. He never said to his self, well boy, maybe someday I could do things,, right now just can't. He wanted it now or else, make those or some of those pay for his not being able.

My friends I am sorry to say, hind sight is worth millions of dollars. What happened God forbid,, but I am in great fear it will happen again and again.  There is always the loose nut, that comes unglued.   Cain and Able all over again.

Tinker and Poo; The Boys Write

http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-35741-5

Poetry Corner

~**~**~

With Sorrow So Deep

Cynthia Groopman

Expressing sorrow so intense and deep,

As hearts shudder and souls weep.

To think that human life was taken by the gun of a deranged man,

Is really unfathomable in God's Divine plan.

To hear voices cry in mournful moan,

Saddens me, as I speak in a sorrowful tone.

Oh, Lord above, why is the world so upside down?

with storms, terrorism, disasters, murders and doleful frowns.

When will we ever learn to love and not to hate?

Oh, Lord please help us before it will be too late.

So, let us lift our voices in unified prayer,

To those who grieve, we must console, love and care.

Cynthia Groopman

Cynthia.Groopman@verizon.net

Readers Feedback

 Carol,

Why is it that a person may not speak their opinion with following it with an apology? We are constantly afraid that we will “offend” at least one person on this planet. No! You were NOT wrong! You were right, and should not apologize for BEING right! I am tired of people putting others down for expressing an opinion.

JAH

Love is very complicated.  Loving one's neighbor might mean protecting one's neighbor from another nasty neighbor.  It also might well mean keeping guns out of a neighbor's hand when that neighbor is unstable.  A well armed professor might have saved lives.  A well thought out security policy might have prevented the tragedy in the very first place.  In a complex moral world, love promotes peace, and sometimes must resort to violence to maintain the peace.  A mother teaches her children peace and yet will use violence to protect them.  Both are expressions of love.  There is a time to kill and a time to heal.  The trouble is that we as weak mortals don't always know just when that time is.

Chris Hansen author: "Revelation Revisited," "Secret of the Psalms," "Grandfather's Journal."

1-888-795-4274 www.xlibris.com local bookstores. 

My Dear Friend Carol,

I feel for what you must have gone through over the gun issue.  It is an issue that hits to the very core of many people.  I'm from a hunting family, too, as some others have said.  For a time when I was traveling quite a bit alone I had a permit to carry.  I eventually decided against it, because I am uncertain whether I could react before someone could disarm me and use that weapon against me. 

The only point I do want to make, however, is the NRA is constantly saying they won't give up their gun until it is taken from their cold stiff fingers.  (something like that).  Well, Monday they took two guns from cold stiff fingers, after those fingers pulled the trigger and had taken 32 lives.

I have seen many people that carry guns and worry me.  Some are unstable.  Some are too confident and over zealous.  And some are just plan irresponsible.  It is a right to bear arms.  But it should be a responsibility to be trained to do so.  And the responsibility of someone to carry out much better psychological evaluations of anyone who wants to buy guns.

I won't go on.  I have a busy day planned.  So, I can't go on.  Sorry.  I just wantted to give my two cents.

Carol, lastly, you have the freedom of speech and press.  You do not have to apologize for doing that.


Love, Peace and Joy,

Pam

You can also visit me at: http://www.bellaonline.com/site/Relationships;

http://www.gather.com/register.jsp?ref=bza_70691; and, http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeecn7n/

*****

Today would have been Hitler's birthday.
Look what he did without firing the first shot from his gun.  He took
his own life also.
It was not the gun but the mind of a very sick person who pulled the
trigger at all these senseless killings.  
Carol, we all have opinions as well as choices. Don't apologize to your
well read readers.  We can stop reading if we don't like what the author
is writing just like changing channels. Tennie Winter

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