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Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw, within the moonlight in his room, Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, An angel writing in a book of gold:— Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the presence in the room he said, “What writest thou?”—The vision raised its head, And with a look made of all sweet accord, Answered, “The names of those who love the Lord.” “And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,” Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, But cheerly still; and said, “I pray thee, then, Write me as one that loves his fellow men.” The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night It came again with a great wakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blest, And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest. Leigh Hunt Peter Stewart , Peace Amid Chaos

(Matthew 5:44) Did he really say that? Never despise our enemies? Give love to those who hate, who injure, sabotage, or vandalize, who curse, demean us, and humiliate? Yes, he turns the world upside-down: no “eye for an eye,” but “blessed are the meek” who fortify themselves with grace to drown their angry rage and turn the other cheek. “Love your enemies” commandeth the Lord, Don’t plot against them, hate, or condemn, for human vengeance merits no reward. Instead, do good to them. And pray for them. And love them in your pains, in your disgrace, even when they spit into your face. William Baer from Psalter, A Sequence of Catholic Sonnets Blue Roofs, Blue Sea, White Walls - Oia, Santorini Greece,  Geee Kay

General Ludendorff, two years before, Had pushed the concept in his Total War, And so it seemed a perfect time to see If one could undermine an enemy By striking its civilian population. This proved a most effective innovation, As the defenseless ancient Basque town learned: Three quarters of its buildings bombed and burned, Its children and young wives were blown to bits Or gunned down, when they fled, by Messerschmitts. Shocked condemnations poured forth from the press, But Franco triumphed; and, buoyed by success, The Luftwaffe would similarly slam Warsaw and Coventry and Rotterdam. Berlin cheered these developments; but two Can play such games—and usually do— No matter how repellent or how bloody. And Churchill was, as always, a quick study And would adopt the tactic as his own, Sending the RAF to blitz Cologne. Devising better ways to carpet-bomb  (Which later were employed in Vietnam), The Allies, in a show of aerial might, Incinerated Dresden in a nig

Stars seem eternal shining from on high, Impossibly far, yet brilliant and intense, But when at last they lack for sustenance To feed the flame, then even stars must die; And some go Nova, blazing through the sky In an explosion, violent and immense, Then falling inward to a point so dense They form a black hole, hidden from the eye. And this love, that shines out from afar, When there is nothing left to feed the blaze, Will it go Nova, exploding everywhere, And then fall inward like a dying star, Into a point where neither light nor space Nor time exist: a black hole of despair? Marion Shore Cosmic Response for Marion Shore First image of a black hole, in a galaxy called Messier 87, about 55 million light-years away from Earth. ,, This supermassive black hole is believed to be seven billion times bigger than our sun