This is in response to Mark B. Toth’s diatribe against Jack McEwen.

There are certain agendas that are indeed harmful to children, and I’m certain most people in Abbotsford and across Canada would agree that the campaign of intolerance by the religious right is one of them. To call such people “narrow-minded” and “bigoted” may not convince others of similar dogmatic and closed minds, but it is accurate and such language is necessary to draw attention to their behaviour.

People who believe in God’s love and His cherishing us all, must express their views with the hope their comments will improve the lot of those groups of God’s children the religious right choose to persecute.

In this connection, we cannot allow God to be usurped by the religious right to further their campaign to assume God’s right to judge the actions of His people and to guide our individual spiritual journey’s. In the same way we demand the followers of Islam stand up and speak out against the actions terrorists commit in the name of Islam, we must stand up and speack out against the actions of these misguided people in their attempt to impose their beliefs and relegate our moral consciousness to some dark closet.

In speaking of totalitarianism Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr said “A totalitarian regime crushes all autonomous institutions in its drive to seize the human soul”. Thus it is we need to guard against the religious rights attempts to “seize the human soul” by crushing all those who do not argee with the views they seek to impose upon us all. In guarding our souls and spirituality from this attempt by those of the religious right to exercise absolute and centralized control over our personal relationship with God, one must confront their attempts to surpress opposing cultural, political and spiritual expression.

If Mark B. Toth finds the fact that those of us with deeply held spiritual beliefs are standing up to expose and stand against the unwholesome agendas of the religious right so upsetting, he should stop reading the letters to the editor.

I was feeling a little frustrated or depressed Sunday morning. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say frustration was letting depression in. I go along, day by day, pursuing my job search as a full time occupation and when no positive results occur (employment) it gets frustrating. That frustration leads to negative thoughts “This is pointless; I’ll never find work; I am really tired of this; etc.: and I feel my old nemesis depression moving in.

So Sunday morning I went to Mill Lake Park, sat on a bench and watched the geese and ducks. Landing, swimming, feeding, grooming, going about the simple daily tasks of their lives. As I slowly relaxed I could feel the tension and frustration ease and flow out of me. Recharging my batteries watching the young children enjoy the sunny day and their visit to the park. Relaxed I took a nap. My time at the park left me relaxed and calm.

Good Mental Hygiene has become very important to me these days. When I have the need to ‘stop and smell the roses’ I make sure I do. The reality of my homelessness may not have changed but my attitude to life had. One lesson I have certainly come to appreciate (the hard way) is that we have a choice in how we view things. I can view things as a mess and let depression drain the colour from my days Or I can view this time as one of transition, embrace the felling of potential and change and work to reveal what it is I should be doing.

Frustration is the enemy. Taking time out to just sit in the sun, enjoy the view and the spring time antics of the birds helps me relax and in not exactly enjoy, accept this time of transition. But PLEASE Universe, let the transition be mercifully short.

Any profound view of the world is mysticism. It has, of course, to deal with life and the world, both of which are nonrational entities. Albert Schweitzer

Creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting point and its rich environment. Albert Einstein

One can travel this world and see nothing. To achieve understanding it is necessary not to see many things, but to look hard at what you do see. GIORGIO MORANDI