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Just getting everything ready to launch the website and officially kick everything off! Hopefully, by the end of the month all systems will be go! Stay tuned and thanks for your patience and support!

One thing that I've been getting e-mails on is this horrible situation in Florida where five kids (ages 13-15) set a classmate (15-year old Michael Brewer) on fire in retaliation for reporting that they had tried to steal his father's bike.

This is an unspeakably sad situation. First and foremost, my heart goes out to Michael and his family. There are no words to describe the pain that they are feeling--if I'm hurting this much just reading about it and watching the interviews--wow...I simply can't imagine. I feel a painful combination of helplessness and anger. Feelings I am sure they are constantly engrossed in as well.

Whenever these types of feelings emerge, I draw on three stories told by Eckhart Tolle in his book A New Earth. Each has a moral that poses an ultimate question to help one maintain a sense of peaceful perspective. One story promotes non-resistance that, regardless of the nature of the "life situation", the question of "Is that so?" is posed. It encourages us to see things for what they are--to stop creating emotional pain by railing against what is. Another story promotes non-judgment by posing the simple thought of "maybe"--encouraging us to see each event as neither an ultimately positive nor negative experience, but rather one that is full of the promise that we put forth into it. Finally, the third story promotes non-attachment to a negative life situation by posing the thought of "This, too, will pass."

All are comforting in their own way and applicable for all involved in this terrible ordeal. I would be happy to e-mail the stories to anyone so just ask...or pick up that book--it's very inspiring.

As for the boys who did this to Michael--I've been asked for a compassionate stance on their punishment, should they be found guilty. People are seemingly under the impression that a compassionate mindset is a soft mindset. Not at all, a compassionate mindset is a Just and Loving mindset for all involved. The kids charged with this crime: Matthew Bent, Denver Jarvis, Steven Shelton and Jesus Mendez and Jeremy Jarvis need to be handled with love as well, to insure that they come closer to realizing a love and compassion that was evidently missing in their lives prior to this horrific incident. This, however, does not mean that such a violent act is swept under the rug with a boy's will be boys mentality. On the contrary, this is a horrific and inexcusable act of violence.

Usually, I'm not a fan of the prison system. Typically, my simple stance on prison is that you are taking a person with 2-3 problems and putting them in a system that will create 4-5 more problems before they return to society. What ultimate good does this serve?

Prison is far more understandable in cases of violence--especially extreme violence such as this case with Michael. With American society, however, prison has been iconicized. Our society seems to love the idea of someone going to prison as payment of a crime. It seems to feed a collective ego. However, I don't see the rationale, especially from the victim's point of view. A victim should be the one receiving tangible benefits for someone's wrong-doing. There are few tangible benefits for the victim under a prison scenario. For the victim, it merely fosters a sense of justified revenge, which only feeds negative emotion and prompts them to rail against more healthy ideas such as forgiveness.

All things considered, I think it is far more logical to force the perpetrator to provide a type of compensation for damages suffered, while, and especially in this case, being forced to stay away from their victim--we certainly have the technology for that. As for compensation, yes, I realize this is what civil suits are for, however, I think the two should begin to merge in certain situations in one legal swoop. Therefore, whatever the punishment a guilty verdict would yield for these boys, (and in other cases) I hope that a sentence would also include a provision for lifelong restitution to be paid (directly from their wages when they enter the workforce perhaps?) to Michael.

It's a sad situation with few easy answers. My best and most heartfelt wishes go out to the entire Brewer family and all involved...
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