www.shanti.net

~   Sanctus  Sanctus  Sanctus   ~

Welcome to Shanti / Peace / Salaam  Shalom / Pax . . .  

To see the Earth

        as we now see it

    Small and blue and beautiful

             in that eternal silence where it floats

        Is to see ourselves as

                Riders on the Earth together

     Brothers on that bright loveliness

            in the unending night

 Brothers who see now

       they are truly brothers

~ Archibald MacLeish, "Riders on the Earth," in Bubble of Blue Air.

"As I have Loved ye may ye

Love One Another;

as I have Served ye may ye

Serve One Another." 

~ John 13:34

Let us create a heaven on Earth . . . HERE and NOW

      "When I was a boy, I became a skeptic, and it seemed for a time as if I must give up all hope of religion.  But fortunately I studied the Christian religion, the Muslim, the Buddhist, and others, to find that the same foundation principles taught by my religion were also taught by all religions.  It appealed to me this way."   ~ Vivekananda, Talk at Unity Hall, March 1895. Complete Works, 1. 318.

Holy Mother's Prayer:  Lord, Please Accept Our Offering.  Bless us, that we ever surrender to the Divine Will.  Make us Pure and All Loving.  May we not accuse, demand, or complain, but Love, Revere, and Cooperate with All.  May we not find fault with others, but rather, find our own faults.  May we not treat others as strangers, but learn to make all our own.  May we know the whole world to be our own.  Peace, Peace, Peace be Unto All.  ~ Sri Sarada Devi. 

Reference Sites

www.DearMinisters.com

https://www.DissertationHelp.net

Blazing the Quiet Trail ~ a memoir in honour of Lanny and Edith Vee Chilton

"Do that which is needful; serve all; never be a 'pass the buck' person." ~ Landres Daniel Chilton (stated in words and in deeds throughout his life)

They met as actors in the mid 1940s, when Lanny was formulating the first racially integrated theater in Maryland - in Baltimore, the celebrated Greenwich Theater.  Edith's love for the arts and openness to all humanity led her to the theater.  They married, and continued their love of theater and the arts.  Edith acted, while Lanny wrote and directed plays, as well as acted.  In the days when it was dangerous and came "under attack" to do so, Lanny and Vee Chilton put on plays with persons of all races, cultures, and backgrounds at Greenwich Theater (at The Baltimore Interracial Fellowship House), sometimes under threats from persons with racist attitudes.

The young couple blazed a trail of early "Oneness of All Persons" and anti-racism, not by protesting or making speeches, but simply by living out their sense of equality at a time and place when this was not a common practice or idea.  You can see into Edith's mind and heart by looking at her paintings; a favorite painting is the Three Children in a Sandbox.  It was a repose to the song, "Three Kids in a Sandbox."  The children are playing tranquilly together.  Each one of the three is a different race.  Just that.  No speeches, no protests.  Just play.  These children have not been taught to pigeonhole people into racial categories.  Edith's art shows us a glimpse of a better world, a world that exists in many places, a world Edith and Lanny worked toward throughout a lifetime in quiet and strong ways.

Baltimore's own Verna Lee Day recollects the early days of Greenwich Theater, and how "Deep are the Roots" and other plays were performed despite threats against the theater and the performers... "Lanny and Vee put them on anyway, and no harm came to anyone or to the theatre."  ~ Verily, it was a time of quietly weaving and producing an undercurrent of love and mutual reverence for one another with blindness to any perceived outer differences among mankind... 

  It was not simply a "talking" of the brotherhood of all mankind, it was a LIVING of it.  It just was regular, every day life...  There was no notion of the so-called low notion of  "tolerance" as if some groups or persons are superior and must somehow "tolerate" one or another group.  No.  It was and is the Divine and Loving notion and Teaching of Oneness of all beings, and the Brotherhood of Mankind.  We all of us REVERE one another--we identify with our brother, we do not presume to look 'down' to "tolerate" him...

   Love One Another, Serve One Another, See and Revere the Divinity in our fellow beings.  What a Great Blessing this is to have washed over and through us all those years of growing and learning without contamination of false differences and "we-they" types of mindsets or thinking. 

  Let us one and all ever celebrate and embrace our differences and not presume to judge, for judging is not our calling on this blessed Earth.  Our Diversity is our Strength.  Let us foster mutual understanding and expansiveness of hearts and minds. 

 In loving reverence and memory of beautiful and loving parents who gave us one of life's greatest gifts of open hearts and utter un-awareness of any cultural, racial, or religious differences among beings.  With a large-heartedness and a Grace of the Holy Spirit, it was always known and understood that, by definition, the very foundation of All Faiths is Love, Pure Love--Agape', UN-conditional Love, and Selfless Loving Service.

Through their life and living (thoughts, words, deeds), they exemplified Total Courage in the persuit of righteousness and Truth.  They taught us forthrightness, fortitude, and of the Divinity in all.  Thank you O beloved Parents for that which is among the Greatest of Gifts to Mankind and Society, including the very essence of truth, liberty, justice, service, and love for all.

They named their first child Channahsorah after Edith's mother, and then little sister Earleen came along.

Also in their lives, Edith Vee was an amazing ARTIST - many of her beautiful paintings are on family and friend's walls across the nation.  Lanny got his pilot's license as an adult; he was a PILOT and loved being at air-ports and flying his twin-engine Cessna (in which he had part ownership).  A bumper-sticker on the back of his car said "I'd Rather be Flying!"  Always having the heart of a Servant, Lanny's devotion and worshipfulness blossomed and deepened over his lifetime, and he spoke and wrote several heart-felt prayers and sermons.

Also referenced in Vanger Family Circle blog, hosted by Leanna Chamish