FATHER'S DAY THOUGHTS

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and he bends you with his might that his arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; for even as he loves the arrow that flies, so he loves also the bow that is stable : Khalid Gibran / The Prophet

I got a touching father’s day card today from my youngest daughter Kelly and she told me that I have been an inspiration to her by always being honest and living my life to the fullest. She also thanked me for being her father which reminded me of something I’ve always believed ~ Khalid Gibran’s quote about our children being the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

As such, I am indeed the bow that has sent forth four children, as living arrows, into this imperfect world. I have been far from perfect as their Dad but I have always loved and cherished them on their separate flights.

They may not all agree with that statement ~ but a wise father learns to accept his mistakes and celebrate his triumphs hoping that his children will learn from those failings and be inspired by his victories.

It reminds me of a perceptive quote from Thomas Wolfe ~ Naked and alone we came into this unspeakable and incommunicable prison of this earth. Which of us has known his brother? Which of us has looked into his father's heart? Which of us has not remained forever prison pent? Which of us is not forever a stranger and alone?

I have learned that standing alone and singing my song is really belonging ~ I do not see myself as a stranger and alone on this earth ~ and evidently that is a valuable lesson I have passed on to my children.

All my children are adults now and they, in turn, have sent forth five living arrows into this world. They, as parents, are also not perfect but they are launching and cherishing their children on their separate flights.

As a father, I find myself increasingly becoming an interested observer of this family archery for each of my children has seemingly taken my strengths and discounted my failings in becoming a stable bow to send forth their own children.

But what makes a stable bow? Is it always being there for my children? Is it setting goals and principles for them to live by? Is it giving them what my father gave me?

Since I never knew or experienced my father ~ my parents were divorced shortly after my birth ~ I can only draw on what my grandfather gave me during the first six years of my life, and in that sense ~ my children have been blessed.

For my grandfather gave me the gift of himself ~ the joy, exuberance and magic of his presence still lives within my heart to this day.

And I, in turn, have given my children the same gift and hopefully they will pass it on to their children.

As such, the stable bow of fatherhood may well be the honest gift of myself for in having the courage to be inner guided and live my dreams ~ I have not only shown my children the path of the infinite but I have also fully shared the struggles, joy and delight of the flight.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

THE SHOCK AND AWE OF CHILDREN AND WAR

Writer director Bahmand Ghobadi’s brilliant movie Turtles Can Fly truly captures the shock of the true casualties of war, the wounded and maimed innocent children, as well as the awe of their survival skills and innate desire to help and support each other: Allen L Roland

A few days ago, a clerk at a local video store handed me a DVD of Turtles Can Fly and said she thought I might like it. I don’t argue with fate or the unknown, for that matter, so I rented it with the intention of watching it the same night.

She was right ~ this movie is a timely and heart-wrenching story about children struggling to survive in an endless war zone on the Iraqi-Turkish border a few weeks before the US illegal preemptive invasion and occupation of Iraq. But this story could just as well have been in Afghanistan, Palestine or any other occupied war zone ~ where civilians or children are treated as collateral damage and must survive by any means possible.

The Film depicts the every day life of these war orphans who are forgotten by the world but try to survive every day to the best their ability. Many of their bodies are torn apart by mine fields or cluster bombs ~ planted by the US and other countries who participate in this deadly war game. The children harvest mines and weapons daily and sell them in order to survive. This is a universal story of innocent children who are greatly affected by the ignorance and selfishness of political leaders with their own agendas ~ but somehow muster the courage to survive and resist by relying on their innate propensity to unite and cooperate with each other.

Thomas Mann said "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil “ and after watching this film ~ I am more convinced that ever that I have no more tolerance for our evil and illegal preemptive invasions and occupations of both Iraq and Afghanistan and the countless innocent children and civilians that have been killed or permanently maimed in the process.

Jimmy Carter said the same thing ~ “War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.”

It also leads me to the same feelings of the late Howard Zinn, who wrote in his 1994 memoir ( You Can’t Be Neutral On A Moving Train ) "From that moment on, I was no longer a liberal, a believer in the self-correcting character of American democracy. I was a radical, believing that something fundamental was wrong in this country - not just the existence of poverty amidst great wealth, not just the horrible treatment of black people, but something rotten at the root. The situation required not just a new president or new laws, but an uprooting of the old order, the introduction of a new kind of society - cooperative, peaceful, egalitarian."

Here’s the storyline ~ Set in Ghobadi's native Kurdistan, close to the Turkey-Iran border. Soran is a 13-year-old boy who orders other children around as he installs an antenna for villagers keen to hear of Saddam's fall. Eventually, he falls for Agrin but is disturbed by her brother Henkov, who was left armless after he stepped on a landmine and who can now seemingly predict the future. Agrin, who was assaulted and raped by soldiers, is hauntingly tiptoeing on the edge of survival as she cares for her bastard child but can’t escape her traumatic memories and thoughts of suicide. All are heroic in their own way and all are, in real life, villagers and refugees in that area who are engaged in a cooperative, peaceful and egalitarian society of their own making.

Here’s the Trailer ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM4WHowIeMA

It is the children who are emotionally and physically maimed by man’s inhumanity to man and it is the children who will eventually lead us to this realization through movies like Turtles Can Fly.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/shock-and-awe-of-children-and-war.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

allen@allenroland.com is PayPal Verified

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com . He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

Requiem For the Children of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Iraq

REQUIEM FOR THE CHILDREN OF HIROSHIMA, NAGASAKI AND IRAQ







On August 6th and 9th 1945 my heart was joined to the children in Hiroshima and Nagasaki whose whole world was shattered in a few seconds by American atomic bombs ( one named Little Boy ) ~ that signaled to the world that we have the capability of destroying countless others instantaneously ~ as we have now done to thousands of innocent children in Iraq: Allen L Roland

It was a strange summer day, that 6th day of August in 1945, and I was sitting by myself just across the street from my home in Nahant, Massachusetts.
I remember the moment well ~ I was gazing towards the south, towards the ocean and suddenly I felt a shudder from deep within myself .
It was a momentary sense of deep collective loss and shortly after that I saw my twin brother excitedly running towards me.
He told me that he had just heard on the radio that we had dropped an Atomic bomb on Hiroshima and that thousands had died in the blast. Three days later, like a dagger in humanity's heart, it happened again in Nagasaki.

I felt very sad for part of me innately knew the world would never be the same and I knew I had felt, at that exact moment, the collective loss of thousands of Japanese children who were incinerated, maimed and left homeless by these unnecessary barbaric attacks. I also had a profound feeling that something very ominous for humanity had just happened ~ and I was right !

The following extraordinary 10 minute you tube video is all in Japanese but English subtitles are not necessary ~ for it fully captures the joy and then utter despair of a young Hiroshima boy and his family on that fateful August day in 1945.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiKG96oRPyg

Take some time to watch it this week ~ but also bear in mind the tens of thousands of innocent children who have been killed and maimed in Iraq under the same but now badly frayed American flag of freedom, liberty and democracy.

And then listen to these angelic voices as they honor their innocent slain brothers and sisters in Iraq and Afghanistan ~ as well as Gaza and throughout the world with this requiem. ( 3 minute Video )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfN8j9r-jGQ

Allen L Roland http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/requiem-for-children-of-hiroshima.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Father's Day Reflections

FATHER'S DAY REFLECTIONS

[ Click on picture to enlarge ]

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and he bends you with his might that his arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; for even as he loves the arrow that flies, so he loves also the bow that is stable : Kahlil Gibran / The Prophet

I am the bow that has sent forth four children, as living arrows, into this imperfect world. I have been far from perfect as their Dad but I have always loved and cherished them on their separate flights.
They may not all agree with that statement ~ but a wise father learns to accept his mistakes and celebrate his triumphs hoping that his children will learn from those failings and be inspired by his victories.

It reminds me of a perceptive quote from Thomas Wolfe ~ Naked and alone we came into this unspeakable and incommunicable prison of this earth. Which of us has known his brother ? Which of us has looked into his father's heart ? Which of us has not remained forever prison pent ? Which of us is not forever a stranger and alone ?

I have learned that standing alone and singing my song is really belonging and I no longer see myself as a stranger and alone on this earth ~ and perhaps that is a valuable lesson I have passed on to my children.

All my children are adults now and they, in turn, have sent forth five living arrows into this world. They, as parents, are also not perfect but they are loving and cherishing their children on their separate flights.

As a father, I find myself increasingly becoming an interested observer of this family archery for each of my children has seemingly taken my strengths and discounted my failings in becoming a stable bow to send forth their own children.

But what makes a stable bow ? Is it always being there for my children ? Is it setting goals and principles for them to live by ? Is it giving them what my father gave me ?

Since I never knew or experienced my father ~ my parents were divorced shortly after my birth ~ I can only draw on what my grandfather gave me during the first six years of my life, and in that sense ~ my children have been blessed.

For my grandfather gave me the gift of himself ~ the joy, exuberance and magic of his presence still lives within my heart to this day.
And I, in turn, have given my children the same gift and hopefully they will pass it on to their children.

As such, the stable bow of fatherhood may well be the honest gift of myself for in having the courage to be inner guided and live my dreams ~ I have not only shown my children the path of the infinite but I have also fully shared the struggles, joy and delight of the flight.

Allen L Roland http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/fathers-day-reflections.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on http://www.conscioustalk.net/

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY