Governor Patrick is convening community meetings to discuss questions and concerns about the implementation of the ICE S-Comm Program, otherwise known as “Secure Communities”.  Under ICE S-Comm, local police would be mandated to report those they arrest to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  The ostensible purpose of this program would be to identify and deport criminal offenders.  However, according to the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), “studies have shown that non-criminals are often ensnared by the program’s huge net.”  MIRA also notes that “Secure Communities has operated in Boston as a pilot program for several years, and according to Freedom of Information figures, 53 percent of those deported since November 2008 have not been criminal offenders. Community members remain deeply concerned that the program’s primary effect, therefore, is to turn local police into de facto ICE agents.”

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We will be continuing with creation stories. This week we will be doing a Hindu story.

This Sunday we will continue exploring creation stories from around the world.

We hope you can join us.

We will be doing yoga this Sunday morning. Please wear comfortable clothing.

I hope you can join us.

Lately, I’ve had a song from our hymnal running through my head.  I keep hearing the words of that early Quaker song: “My life flows on in endless song above earth’s lamentation. I hear the real though far off hymn that hails a new creation.  Through all the tumult and the strife I hear the music ringing. It sounds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing!”

There has been a great deal of “tumult and strife” in our world in recent weeks.  We have seen historic revolutions against oppressive regimes, first in Egypt, now in Libya.  Closer to home, we are seeing a different sort of “tumult and strife” as public employees in Wisconsin fight for their collective bargaining rights.  There have been other happenings of import domestically.  We had cause to celebrate as President Obama declared the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional.  And there are threats to funding for things that many of us hold dear, such as Planned Parenthood, NPR, a US Institute of Peace, and numerous kinds of humanitarian aid, for instance. (more…)

We’ve received your Cape Cod Retreat 2011 reservation.

Can’t your already feel the sand between your toes?

If we have any questions about your reservation, we’ll be in touch by phone or email in the next day or so. Otherwise, we’ll email your full confirmation details and final bill by May 1, 2011.

Thanks!

David