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<div style="color:black;font:10pt Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hi Folks,<br>
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<div>Below is: A Reflection: PACHAMAMA PONDERING, 2022, on the 10/24 mass shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis.</div>
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<div>Attached (if you can get them) Photos: CVPA Vigil, Balloon Release, Town Hall Meeting</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">PACHAMAMA
PONDERING, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">One
more time the alarm shrieks!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">(Ironically,
paralleling folks’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">being
attracted to Halloween week’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">scarey,
shriek-filled haunted houses and horror flicks, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">and
faux death skeleton and ghost yard décor,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">while,
simultaneously, shying away from engaging<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">with
life’s real scarey issues)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Another
mass school shooting!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This
time, it happened (well, it doesn’t “just happen”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">in
Central Visual Performing Arts HS, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">St.
Louis, MO (still dealing with implications<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">from
Michael Brown’s death, Post WW II radiation waste<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">contaminating
Jana Elementary School and other places,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">and
having one of the highest murder rates in the U.S.):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">3
dead: a 16 year-old girl, a teacher and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">an
isolated 19 year old shooter, a former graduate,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">plagued
by mental health issues;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">7
others injured,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">mostly
young life, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">facing
the unexpected real horror of : “YOU are going to die!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">by
long gun—acquired via lax state regulation,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">maximum
capacity cartridge,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">600
rounds of ammunition— <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">now
a long crimson line of school terrorism <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">stretching
from here to Uvalde, Parkland, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sandy
Hook, etc., etc. etc. to Columbine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The
next evening, I look around <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">the
intermingling, interracial Vigil crowd,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">gathered
under moonlit shadows, outside the school<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">a
place of learning, growing, enjoying the arts,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">a
place of discovering, developing and deploying<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">the
gifts of young talent;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">now
a crime scene of bullet holes and shells,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">shattered
walls and windows and scattered belongings<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">abandoned
as panicked, shrieking students quickly ran for safety,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">barricading
doors and jumping out windows;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">now
mostly calmly quiet with an occasional sob or wail<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">or
car revving by, honking in solidarity,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">black,
yellow and white balloons reaching skyward,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">tethered
to lit candled hands,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">flames
flickering in the wind, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">cascades
of wax tears,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">dropping
to the asphalt covering PACHAMAMA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">as
she also weeps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">PACHAMAMA
pondering . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; background-color: transparent;">Preachers
and others invoke the name of Jesus,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">(or
whatever other name or tradition may be present)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">praying
for comfort, healing, peace, justice,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">words
of accountability <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">for
the litany of gun violence in this nation,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">for
impotent politicians and a public<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">that
choose guns and death over safety and life,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">for
the sickness of this society—enough, already!—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">words
spoken about being community and <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">supporting
one another, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">interspersed
songs, lamenting—How long, O Lord?—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">words
lifting up the name of each person killed and injured,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">and
those who heroically rushed to the scene to stop the shooter,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">sad
and angry words of hurt, broken, and traumatized souls, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">mothers
grieving from the depths, echoing PACHAMAMA’S lament for this Pandemic of Empire and Colonialism:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">violence
and racism,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">nationalism,
autocracy, aggression, and greed <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">that
fabricate lies and threaten to destroy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">the
fabric of families, communities and nations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mother
Emanuel AME, Tree of Life<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">El
Paso, Las Vegas, and Boulder,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Iraq,
Afganistan, Yemen, Syria, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Somalia,
Sudan, Ukraine, Russia, etc., etc., etc.—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">their
predecessors and successors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">PACHAMAMA
pondering . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The
loud speaker bleeps off and on, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">muffling
some words, making others unintelligible,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">yet
one does not have to hear them to know what is being said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Candles
melt down as balloons perk up, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">earnestly
alert for the signal to be launched heavenward<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">where
some hope their loved ones are waiting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">And,
finally, in a cathartic expression of memory and hope—Lift Off!—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">a
cluster of sparkling dirigibles, airborne, gently separating,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">filling
the sky and fulfilling their mission, dancing with stars,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">temporarily
escaping the bonds and suffering and pain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">PACHAMAMA
pondering . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Humanity’s
violence spills beyond itself—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">seeping
into the land, water, air—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">destroying
ecological systems and irreplaceable Beings while<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">fossil
fuel and other invasive mining, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">contaminate,
infect, poison, and suffocate,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">heating
the planet, melting glaciers, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">causing
erratic storms, drought, and fires</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">and
increasing the wealth-poverty divide,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">conflict
and warfare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Climate
refugees flee homelands for an uncertain future;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">carbon
dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane gas erupt,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">food
and supply chains are disrupted and disrupt, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">shortages
abound as fields become barren<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">and
mighty rivers run dry—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">another
Pandemic of devastation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">PACHAMAMA
pondering . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">But
wait, there’s more . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">COVID
and other deadly diseases<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">continue
to evolve and mutate,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">killing
millions, many in their prime,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">rooting
where protocols are not honored,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">where
vaccinations are neither<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">welcomed
nor equitably distributed,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">a
Pandemic tide of germs, surging and ebbing,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">perhaps
waiting for a more opportune time<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">to
discretely emerge and merge with a populace<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">that
defends individualistic freedom over vigilance,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">the
Common Good and the well-being and freedom of All.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">PACHAMAMA
pondering . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The
next night, the Scene segues <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">from
the school grounds to a Town Hall Meeting<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">on
gun violence and schools and bullying,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">hosted
by a U.S. Representative, where<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">more
words are intoned and gods invoked<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">in
a citizen-filled room—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">school
administrators, teachers, preachers,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">politicos,
students, first responders,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">parents
(including the mother of the girl killed),<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">feeling
powerless,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">trapped
in a cycle of unrelenting violence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">and
unraveling of civilization,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">looking
for answers, for wise and bold leadership.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A
panel of speakers portends business as usual<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">until
a young lady on the dais, a senior at CVPA,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">rises
to her feet. Incredibly poised,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">she
passionately and prophetically reads her Truth to Power,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">a letter
of proclamation to the Representative, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">and
demands that something be done: <i>Control the guns!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stop the killing! Enough is enough!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">No more excuses! No more thoughts and prayers and vigils!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">No more political posturing, postmortem
speeches, and funeral eulogies!</span></i><i style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></i><i style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">No more Cross and Stars of David
memorials,</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">stuffed animals, votive candles, and
balloons.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">DO SOMETHING to create SAFE SCHOOLS and<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS with equitable
resources,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">SAFE COMMUNITIES and A SAFE NATION! <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">DO SOMETHING! NOW!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">And
a child shall lead them . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">PACHAMAMA
pondering . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">And,
finally, to close the gone-overtime,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">anxiety-fraught
meeting,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">more
words are spoken and then,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">a
Word Benedictory:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">we
are all connected and are all called, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">for
such a time as this,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">to
live into our connectedness and interrelationship;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">words
of gratitude for those who came and who care,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">who
show up day after day, year after year,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">who
have a vision of working together,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">who
overcome paralyzing fear, despair, and powerlessness,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">who
bridge polarizing politics<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">and
passionately and compassionately<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">pour
heart, mind, soul, and strength into creating<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">resilient
communities and a world of <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">equity
and justice for all our relatives—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">animal,
vegetable, and mineral,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">who
carry within and elicit from others<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">the
unfolding adventure of <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">an
ever wondrous Creation Way of Possibility,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hope
beyond hope and Love unconditioning,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Truth
consistent with Earth’s Truth,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Peace,
Wholeness, Shalom,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">turning
swords into plowshares,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">instruments
of death into tools cultivating Life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As
the crowd exits and trickles into the night,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">into
separate domains and spheres of influence,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">many
wonder: just mere words, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">their
urgency and agency eventually fading and fizzling <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">or
real change this time?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">PACHAMAMA
pondering . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">ejhs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">10/29/2022<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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