Anniversary at peace rally

Jonathan Donihue, a certified massage therapist at Dr. Wilkinson’s Spa, and Cynthia Parkhill, a 1986 graduate of Calistoga Junior/Senior High School, have been together 11 years. The couple’s anniversary, Feb. 16, 2003, coincided with a peace march and rally in San Francisco, allowing them to take part in something larger than themselves while commemorating their personal milestone.

Published April 3, 2003 in the Weekly Calistogan

Book review: The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness and Peace by Jack Kornfield

Through his work as a Certified Massage Therapist, my husband Jonathan meets and corresponds with a variety of interesting people. One of them works for New York publisher Bantam Books, and she recently sent him advance reading copies of books by modern Buddhist authors.

One of the books is a brief little volume by Jack Kornfield, The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness and Peace (2002). After looking through the book, Jonathan told me it’s a perfect introduction to basic spiritual principles. Given his experience with religious and philosophical matters, I trust Jonathan’s opinion of Kornfield’s book.

“You hold in your hand an invitation,” Kornfield writes in his introduction. “To remember the transforming power/ of forgiveness and lovingkindness./ To remember that no matter/ where you are and what you face,/ within your heart peace is possible.”

The book was written shortly before the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and, in a brief dedication, Kornfield acknowledges the “tragic events of terrorism and war [that] swept over the United States and the world.

“May the eternal truths and practices offered here be dedicated to the benefit of all who have suffered,” Kornfield writes. “May all beings find a path to peace.”

The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness and Peace is divided into three sections, devoting itself in turn to each of these principles. Each section is then divided further -- into a set of quotations, reflections and stories illustrating the principle in question, and a collection of meditations to assist in incorporating that principle into the reader’s daily life.

The meditations begin by applying the principles of forgiveness, lovingkindness and peace to the familiar and the intimate -- oneself, one’s family and friends, for example. Then they expand to include areas that may be more difficult, such as extending forgiveness or wishing peace to one’s enemies.

One nice thing about this book is that it does not confine itself to any one ideology. Inspirational words from a variety of traditions find a home in its pages, and sometimes a thematic grouping of quotations illustrates the common ground that these traditions can have.

“The ancient words of Ecclesiastes remind us:

“To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven/ a time to be born and a time to die,/ a time to plant and a time to reap that which is planted,/ a time to kill and a time to heal,/ a time to break down and a time to build up,/ a time to weep and a time to laugh,/ a time to mourn and a time to dance.

“So, too, we are taught by the Tao:

“There is a time for being ahead,/ a time for being behind;/ a time for being in motion,/ a time for being at rest;/ a time for being vigorous, a time for being exhausted;/ a time for being safe,/ a time for being in danger.

“The Master sees things as they are,/ without trying to control them./ She lets them go their own way,/ and resides at the center of the circle.”

Another nice thing about this book is that in teaching about forgiveness, lovingkindness and peace, Kornfield acknowledges the human limitations that can stand in the way of achieving these principles -- in a way that is free of rebuke or condemnation.

“For some great pains you may not feel a release; instead you may experience again the burden and the anguish or the anger you have held,” Kornfield writes in the meditation on forgiveness. “Touch this softly. Be forgiving of yourself for not being ready to let go and move on. Forgiveness cannot be forced; it cannot be artificial.”

For readers who are having difficulty incorporating the principles of forgiveness, lovingkindness and peace, Kornfield offers supplemental practices intended to help in easing the transition. In the case of forgiveness, these supplemental practices are “letting go, grieving and reconciliation.”

Throughout the book, the reader is encouraged to listen to and trust his or her own feelings and intuition in determining where he or she may be in the process, and in identifying the barriers that stand in his or her way. Especially good for beginners but suitable for people at varying levels of spiritual awareness, The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness and Peace is a book that offers compassion, encouragement and support along each individual reader’s spiritual path.

Originally published Feb. 1, 2003 in the Lake County Record-Bee

Recognized as ‘local book reviewer’

Yesterday I took a sackload of book donations down to Gehlen Palmer at the Middletown library. “It’s our local book reviwer!” a woman exclaimed as I arrived at the Middletown library.

True to form, I took a couple volumes away with me, purchased from off of the Friends of the Library shelf, and placed a hold on In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner.

Saturday’s Record-Bee contained my review of Architects of Peace: Visions of Hope in Words and Images by Michael Collopy. Next week’s featured title will be Chance Place by Frankie Schelly.

‘Aisling of Eire’ by Dorothy Keddington

Remember that scene in the 1983 film “Eddie and the Cruisers,” when Eddie Wilson tells Frank “Wordman” Ridgeway that they need each other like “words and music” need each other? “Words and music, man,” Eddie says. “Words and music.”

I couldn’t help recalling that phrase when reading Dorothy Keddington’s romantic novel, Aisling of Eire (Granite, 2002). You see, the book is packaged with an accompanying CD by Golden Bough and Men of Worth -- two groups specializing in the traditional music of Ireland and Scotland.

Book review: ‘Censored 2003’ by Project Censored

It’s been several years since I finished my schooling -- for the time being, anyway -- but I find that I’m still devoting considerable time to what I call my “homework.”

The only difference is that the required reading I’ve assigned to myself has more of a career focus, rather than an academic one. Hence, the subscription to “American Journalism Review.” And likewise, the purchase of Censored 2003: The Top 25 Censored Stories by Peter Phillips and Project Censored (Seven Stories Press, 2002).

Project Censored is an investigative sociology and media analysis project that is managed through SSU’s Department of Sociology in its School of Social Sciences. Each year, Project Censored compiles 25 important stories that were under-reported in the mainstream news media during the preceding year. It’s a long process, that involves the screening of several thousand stories by Project Censored students and staff.

About 700 stories are selected for evaluation, and the whittling-down process involves input, in stages, by about 150 people -- students, staff, faculty/community advisors and self-selected national judges.

As a newspaper writer, I consider it essential to be as informed as possible about the world around me -- particularly in areas that don’t always get as much attention as they should. And so, for the past the past three or four years I’ve faithfully obtained each volume as soon as it was available. (Note to the similarly faithful: There is no Censored 2002. Censored 2003 covers 18 months of under-reported news, including an analysis of various stories related to Sept. 11, 2001.)

This series of books is invaluable for the attention they bring to important news stories, the journals that cover them and the news outlets that don’t. Among this year’s line-up, two of the stories originally appeared in “Mother Jones” -- which is quite possibly one of the best magazines in existence. Its continued appearance in Project Censored’s pages was one of the influencing factors in my decision to purchase a subscription.

Also of value is the analysis this series offers concerning grassroots and independent movements within the area of information gathering and dissemination. Each volume provides a glossary of independent publications and activist organizations for people who want to get a more complete picture of the world around them.

In a way, these books serve as snapshots into the alternative media’s continued evolution. And sometimes, re-reading earlier volumes, the sense of history astonishes me. In Censored 1999, for example, Project Censored profiled Free Radio Berkeley -- a forerunner in the campaign to bring low-power radio into local communities. What was civil disobedience then is now duly licensed, and Lake County’s own KPFZ-LP 104.5 FM is a beneficiary of those pioneering efforts.

Published Nov. 9, 2002 in the Lake County Record-Bee