Promoting World AIDS Awareness Day

I'm posting early since I'll be at the street festival in

Donalsonville most of the day tomorrow

(please come by my booth and say 'Hello' if you're local!)

I will be passing out HIV/AIDS information

to promote World AIDS Day.

It's frightening how backwards and tragically afraid we are in

this country; not simply about disease status and talking

openly, but with anything revolving around sexuality.

Yes, HIV and AIDS are still issues in this world we

live in. Not just "even" in small town America,

but "especially" in small town America

(and in particular the South,) because

the silence surrounding the disease--and

activity surrounding the disease--is so pervasive.

'Not talking about' something that is unpleasant

does NOT make the subject--or the dangers--go away.

I don't care how steeped in tradition that Southern custom is.

One of the myths that needs dispelling is that

people who have already contracted HIV are slated to die.

Not true, as it once was.

There are lots of new drugs and procedures for prolonging

and improving life with HIV, and staving off AIDS.

This is not, however, encouragement to disregard

protection and responsibility in your activities.

Get educated.

Speak up.

Know your status.

Abstain, or have safe sex EVERY time.

RESPECT YOURSELF;

PROTECT YOURSELF.

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"The 'God' Thang" miscellaney, part 3

11.
God is not violent or war-like or angry or condemning or unforgiving.
It does not take sides in wars; God mourns all loss of life.

The basis of love is that it does not need to justify itself or rule or infringe upon
others. All things can occur simultaneously. There is no room at the table for all
persons to be correct, but there is plenty of room for all persons to be respectful.

Love is right. Judgment is wrong. God does not need man to take any human to task,
or take up authority, or assume righteousness or assume superiority in God's name. Such actions are as far from God as one can get.


12.
God has no use for religion. God is love in action, not an exclusive select group. It is not located in a building. It is not requiring funds and donations and guilt and fear and loathing.

God sees us all equally as one; loving unconditionally and supporting fully. The closer we come to acting like God, the more we see God in our lives, but God is not absent from our lives even when we act cruelly, selfishly, or with intent to harm.

We are closer to God when we are close to one another. To care for another is to care for God.
It is a means of expressing God's gift of love, attaining a higher plane of existence, and fulfilling our purpose. Life is all about loving one another.


13.
Negativity, pain, struggle, despair, effort, and heartache are part of the lessons of life no matter how elevated we are. With greater diligence to higher goals, we can better respond to and overcome such adversities. But they are an aspect of the ebb and flow of life.

It may take time to leave the past behind and heal from prior hurts, but we can come to see our strength in creating a new, blessed, better life slowly but surely.

Our intentions form the world within us, and around us. Connecting to the light is possible for everyone. The first step is accepting that possibility. How we react to what goes on in life is the biggest battle we face; far more significant than the actual tribulations themselves. Becoming closer to God is possible for every man and woman; no exceptions.

Let no man take from you what God has promised.

God is not absent in life as a result of difficulty; God is present in spite of it.



14.
Change your mind,
change your choices,
change your life.

The opportunities and possibilities are around us every day. It is believing that fact to be untrue that keeps us disconnected from love.

It is an aversion to higher self based on the hypocrisy of those who misuse the name God.

Negativity is the result of assuming that the majority or the mighty or the mouthy have a claim to the universe more than the rest of us.