After the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, I found self wondering if testing at Lop Nor reverberating to 'south-central Tibet' could sap and undermine in some way the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, and thus cause an effect.  The dry lake bed at Lop Nor (the remains of the Ocean before India's collision) has two horizontal tunnels into northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.  

So, you know, I remember this horrible idea as the plate shifted it's space again in western China creating yet unknown toll.  Today that nation had three minutes silence, which is hard to conceive if cast next to the normally teeming population.

I sat in my freshly wood paneled office in Ft. Stockton, Texas, circa 1980.  This was my initial full time ministry.  Many a morning as I did my Bible study and prayer I would experience a duel feeling of helplessness and heavy shouldered responsibility.  The world is going to hell without Jesus to save them.  I am Minister of this gospel.  How can I possibly make a holy dent in this mammoth calling from a Podunk West Texas town one hundred miles from water, one mile from hell?

As many as 128,000 dead, with 2.5 million more at risk. It actually makes the Chinese government look downright compassionate.

On Speaking of Faith today there was a powerful interview with Ingrid Jordt about the happenings in Burma.

[editor's note, by PoliSigh]  yes!  I did it!

Thousands of monks have been imprisoned and slaughtered already.  How many more will it take?

I'm wondering whether we can get an ongoing prayer/meditation vigil going this week for the monks in Burma and the political situation there.  Are other Prophets interested in participating?

If possible, can we put together an ongoing vigil for a peaceful resolution?
 
For those of you who haven't read about it yet, here is the story (full story at the link):

Burmese military threatens monks

Burma's ruling military junta has warned it is ready to "take action" against Buddhist monks leading mounting protests, state media have reported.

Brig Gen Thura Myint Maung, minister for religion, warned them not to break Buddhist "rules and regulations" as Rangoon saw the largest march yet.

Monks are highly revered in Burma and correspondents say any move by the junta to crush their demonstrations would spark an outcry.

But there are fears of a repeat of 1988, correspondents say, when the last democracy uprising was crushed by the military and some 3,000 people were killed.

More after the jump

Sally Kohn of the Movement Vision Project has a very interesting essay on Tom Paine today, From Here to Junta.  She explains that President Bush said he did not need UN approval to go into Iraq.  But Burma is different than Iraq, apparently.  She goes on:

Some crazy hippie peace & justice & sandals outfit sent me this:

As you may have heard, Myanmar's government has cut off the nation's internet access, silencing bloggers there who are getting the word out about the government's continuing brutality against peaceful protestors. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapc...

So how about this: email the government's US embassy at info@mewashingtondc.com and webmaster@mewashingtondc.com and demand that they stop obstructing their citizens' access to the internet. Most importantly, tell everyone you know to do the same, and sound the call on your blogs. Let's put our rights and our bandwidth to good use!  

Or you could go sign the petition.

You got anything better to do with the next five minutes?

Buddhist monks are standing up in protest to the military junta in Burma.  As Rahul Mahajan says:

As the American public continues to answer poll questions and sits peacefully and patiently waiting for Congress to do something about the Iraq war, something remarkable – and inspiring – is happening in Burma. A five-week cycle of protest and repression is close to cresting, and the long-term political implications for the country are still unclear.

The protests have been spearheaded by Buddhist monks – the country of 50 million has roughly 500,000 of them – who have gradually coalesced around the symbol of the overturned begging bowl. For a monk to turn his begging bowl over in front of someone indicates that he thinks the person is unworthy to contribute to the monk’s sustenance and that he will take no alms from that person. In this case, the “person” is the military and the junta that rules Burma. Some monks are suggesting also that they will provide no religious services for the military – something like the Catholic Interdict, except that the stakes are somewhat lower in a religion without eternal damnation and hellfire.