Guest guest Posted July 26, 2007 Report Share Posted July 26, 2007 Who are the healers? They are the "peacemakers," the "spiritual elders." They are anyone who strives to exercise unconditional love and true forgiveness and thereby teaches this to others. By doing so, they lead people back Home - back to the Creator - as all paths but the path of love leads us astray. Peacemakers are any age. They come from all religions and from no religion, from all societies and from all social and economic backgrounds. Every one of us is potentially a peacemaker, as the teaching and learning of love is our true purpose on Earth. We need only to claim our inheritance. http://www.rastaheart.com/ MIRACLE OF LOVE AT ALEXANDER CORRECTIONAL CENTER I want to share with you a miracle that occurred at a maximum security prison in Taylorsville, North Carolina and our experience of the Montreal Reggae Festival - obviously two very different venues for love to express itself. For several years, we have been speaking and sending our books to Rastafarian inmates and speaking to several Rasta groups at prisons, including one at Alexander Correctional Center in Taylorsville. After reading the books, inmates would often write us letters - some of the most eloquent, heartfelt responses we have ever gotten. One prisoner wrote, " I was in a one-month solitary lock-down and two days in someone slipped Rasta Heart through the food slot. I don't even know who. I want to thank you for writing this book. I went in lock-down as a man of hatred and revenge and came out a man of peace and love. " Another inmate wrote, " Thank you so for the signed copy of your book. I will always treasure it and its message. It is the first personal gift I have ever received. I am 35 years old. " Another wrote us of having the man whose lies caused him to be in jail, years later being assigned to the same prison. " My friends wanted to get him, " he wrote, " but I stopped them. It took everything in me to overlook the animosity I held in my heart. I forgave him. Regardless of the years lost from my freedom, I feel free in heart now. " On my first visit, I told the Alexander group I would make a long-term relationship with the group to help them claim themselves as peacemakers if they would bring this vibe out into the yard and encourage other inmates to do the same, in whatever manner with which they were comfortable. After about a year meeting with this group, sometimes including Julia to talk to them about meditation, we all agreed to do a One Love Concert for the whole prison and invite all the incarcerated brothers to join the Rastas as peacemakers in the yard. Laura Reed, a very conscious recording artist living in Asheville and her seven-piece band, Deep Pocket, agreed to perform for free. Petite, beautiful, with long dreads, five-foot tall Laura was described in a review as " belting out a song like Janis Joplin with the attitude of Aretha Franklin. " CLICK HERE TO LAURA REED'S SITE LAURA REED & DEEP POCKET PERFORMS On June 4, the concert was held. It took hours to get everything, including sound equipment and instruments, and all thirteen of us, through security and in the gym, where they had set up a couple of hundred chairs. Soon the twenty Rasta inmates came in, greeted us and took the front row seats. After a few minutes, everyone else started coming in - 250 stoic maximum-security inmates with fully-armed guards. Over 60% would never leave prison. Many where there for violent crimes. As far as any of them knew, this was just a concert with a rock-and-roll band. I had a DVD of Luciano playing on a large screen to break their vibe from the prison yard. " Greetings, my brothers, " I said to the gathering, with the Rastas standing up in the first row, facing their fellow inmates. " We have come here tonight at the invitation of the Rastafarian Group. I come as a Rasta, a Christian, a Muslim and a Jew or as Ziggy Marley sings, " My religion is Love. " These bredren standing in front of you have claimed themselves as peacemakers, as warriors against war. They are committed to making this village - this prison - the most enjoyable it can be to live in by encouraging peace and love here. Tonight, we are inviting you to do the same. " " We have come here today to free you, " I said after the Rastas sat down. " I'm not talking about physical freedom. That I cannot offer you. But I can offer you emotional, mental and spiritual freedom because if you learn and teach love behind these prison walls, you are free, maybe freer than you were on the outside, freer than many others on the outside. As Bob Marley sings, 'Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.' We are here tonight to help us all free our minds. And it doesn't matter what you did in your past or what was done to you in your past or whether you're an inmate at Alexander Correctional Institute or the president of this country. The Creator has given each of us our own personal assignment and that is to heal the small piece of this planet that we will walk in our lifetime by loving and forgiving as much as we can. Everybody's assignment is of value. You are the brothers whom the Creator has sent behind these walls to teach His love. Everybody's efforts are needed because it is the Creator's will that every piece of this planet be healed. There is no more powerful path to walk than this path of love. All other paths lead us astray. And I guarantee you that if you accept your assignment, you are heading Home and your life will become a mystical, magical adventure - even if you never leave here. If you need to atone for things you have done, spend your life helping others, especially the youths, avoid going down that same painful path you once journeyed down. If you yearn to contribute something to the lives of your loved ones on the outside, let them feel your peace and love and by doing so, remind them that it is accessible no matter what our life circumstances are. Welcome to our concert. " CLICK HERE TO GO TO OUR SITE EMANCIPATE YOURSELF FROM MENTAL SLAVERY This was a group of misguided warriors who had learned through the traumas of their lives that it is never safe to show their feelings - at least positive ones. Unlike the Rasta group, they hadn't sought out our message. They were just coming to be entertained. In the days and hours before the concert, I often wondered how these men, many of whom had known such a rough life, would accept a message of unconditional love. Their enthusiastic response to my opening remarks was all that I had hoped for and much more than I had expected. Over the next two hours the concert continued under the same vibration. Julia spoke from her heart about using our breath in meditation to feel the rhythm of our heart and soul to free ourselves, reminding them that they could be in Zion even " in this house at Alexander lock-down prison. " We showed video footage of various elders speaking of love. Laura kept taking the audience higher and higher, with her soulful songs and conscious lyrics - all written and composed by her - as Deep Pocket (Derrick Johnson, Greg Hollowell, Ryan Burns, Ben Didelot, Barret Helms, Travis Ward, mgr. Katherine Powell & sound, Brook Binion) blew everyone out of their chairs with their tight backup. After her second of four sets, they got a standing ovation and at that point all of us knew we were experiencing something powerful, something blessed. Even the guards standing out in the hall were moving to the music and the vibe, with big smiles on their faces. For the rest of the program, many men were on their feet and every time we spoke, the applause was enthusiastic and sustained. Radiating UNCONDITIONAL LOVE & Truth To ALL who share our circle, our universe, our love, our trust. May I always be found worthy. Gratitude & Thankfulness to All of Us aSoaringHawk Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with joy & glory. Thank you for YOU, ALL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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