Dolly and Dionne

Something very special this evening for music night at The Wild Reed . . . It’s “Peace Like a River,” the 2023 duet by music legends Dolly Parton and Dionne Warwick.

I doubt there’s anyone reading this who isn’t aware of Dolly’s passing earlier this week. News of this great musician and humanitarian’s death at age 80, along with a plethora of tributes, have been flooding the airways and social media feeds for days.

Dolly wrote the gospel song “Peace Like a River” in the 1980s. Over thirty years later she reached out to Dionne to record it with her as a non-album single. The two women spoke about their collaboration in this February 7, 2023 Good Morning America segment. (For Dionne’s response earlier this week to Dolly’s passing, click here.)

Along with the music video for “Peace Like a River,” I’m also sharing this evening one of the many online tributes to Dolly that I’ve come across since her death on Tuesday (August 25). This particular tribute was shared on Facebook by Don Womack, though he’s clear in acknowledging that he is not the author. He credits it instead to “w0nd3rjunk13” who first published it on Reddit under the title, “Dolly Parton: The Instant Folk Saint?” (accompanied by the image at left).

It’s a piece that explores how Dolly Parton “has become archetypal because she holds together qualities our culture normally separates.” It’s a fascinating and well-written piece by a writer of both insight and talent. You’ll see for yourself; but first enjoy the beautiful “Peace Like a River” by Dolly Parton and Dionne Warwick.

Peace like a river
Bathe me in your holy stream
In your soothing, living waters
Flood my soul and wash me clean
Point me in the right direction
Use me as you think you should
And may I be a great reflection
Of the things that’s right and good

Peace like a river
Oh, yes, peace like a river

He is the answer to our questions
To our prayers, to all things
He is forgiveness to all confessions
The provider of all needs
And He is hope in desperation
Comfort to the soul and mind
Well, He’s our God and our connection
To a land that transcends time

His hand is ever reaching
And His joy, beyond compare
Oh, His words are ever teaching
And His burden, a light to bear
He is there and ever willing
To lead us through the darkest night
And His love is ever giving
And His Son, the guiding light

Oh, peace like a river
Flowin’ on
Sweet peace
Sweet peace
Wash me down, Lord
Oh, wash me clean, Lord, wash me clean
Baptize me in Your living water

He’s the answer to our questions
To our prayers and to all peace
He’s the healer of imperfections
The provider of all needs
And He is hope in desperation
Comfort to the soul and mind

He is peace
Like a river
He is yours
And He is mine
He’s yours
He’s mine

Peace like a river

I’ve been thinking about why Dolly Parton has had such an enormous impact, and I keep returning to Jungian psychology.

Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology and a thinker whose work frequently crossed into mysticism, developed a theory of archetypes: deep, organizing patterns that recur throughout psychology, mythology, religion, and storytelling. The mother and the hero are familiar examples, but one of Jung’s most important archetypes was the Self, the organizing center and totality of the psyche.

Jung believed divine figures could symbolize the Self because they often unite qualities that appear opposed. Christ is both divine and human. The Buddha moves between royal luxury and extreme self-denial before discovering the Middle Way. Krishna encompasses divine play, love, wisdom, and duty. They provide images of the greater wholeness toward which we might be drawn.

Saints, mystics, sages, and other holy people have often occupied this space too. Their lives make an overwhelming spiritual pattern human enough to approach. They become bridges between heaven and earth, the universal and the local, and the divine and the intimately human.

In a secular culture, certain public figures can acquire a similar symbolic role. That does not make celebrities spiritually equivalent to saints. It means that some people become vessels for collective projection, representing possibilities larger than their private lives.

So, back to Dolly.

Dolly Parton has become archetypal because she holds together qualities our culture normally separates. She is the impoverished mountain girl and the wealthy businesswoman, extravagantly artificial and unmistakably authentic, overtly sexual and almost grandmotherly, deeply rooted in Southern Christianity and beloved by people who have felt rejected by conservative Christianity.

She can even transcend our political tribalism. The Trump supporter and the Hasan Piker fan can both love Dolly and feel that she belongs to them. The person on the right may see faith, family, rural dignity, self-reliance, and success. The person on the left may see working-class solidarity, unapologetic self-expression, LGBTQ acceptance, and wealth reinvested in the community. Neither reading is false, but neither contains the whole of her.

Even Dolly’s appearance has an almost magical quality. Her enormous blonde hair, rhinestones, exaggerated curves, Tennessee voice, and self-deprecating humor form a kind of living sigil. Yet the artifice feels honest because she openly acknowledges it. The persona is not intended to deceive us. It is a deliberate creation through which she expresses something true. Dolly shows that authenticity does not always mean appearing natural. Sometimes it means consciously creating the form through which your nature can emerge.

Her life also follows the pattern of a fairy tale. The poor girl leaves the mountains, enters the glittering world, becomes a queen, and returns with treasure for her people. Through literacy programs, employment, disaster relief, and other forms of giving, she completes the archetypal journey. She does not merely escape poverty; she returns with abundance.

Her songs perform the same transformation. Heartbreak becomes melody. Poverty becomes dignity. Jealousy becomes an incantation sung by millions. She takes experiences that could produce shame or bitterness and gives them a form others can carry. That is one of the oldest functions of the bard and, in a deeper sense, of magic: transforming private suffering into shared meaning.

This is why describing Dolly as a kind of American folk saint does not feel entirely absurd. It does not mean she is perfect or divine. It means her public life has acquired some of the symbolic qualities traditionally associated with holy figures. Stories of her kindness circulate like legends, her image communicates warmth and protection, and people from radically different backgrounds find hope within her.

Dolly’s magic can be summarized simply: poverty became lineage, “trashiness” became glamour, heartbreak became song, being underestimated became protection, and wealth became generosity.

She made herself larger than life without behaving as though she were larger than other people.

If mythology is culture dreaming aloud, Dolly Parton may be one of America’s most beautiful dreams: the hope that we can become magnificent without abandoning our origins, our humanity, or our heart.

– w0nd3rjunk13
via Reddit
August 26, 2026

Related Off-site Links:
Remembering Dolly Parton: Dionne Warwick Pays Tribute to Her Good Friend
– Entertainment Tonight (August 25, 2026).
Dolly Parton and Dionne Warwick Talk New Song, “Peace Like a River" – Good Morning America (February 7, 2023).
Dolly Parton, Country Star, Actor and Philanthropist, Dies Aged 80 After Fighting Cancer – Ben Beaumont-Thomas (The Guardian, August 25, 2026).
Dolly Parton Dies at 80. Here Are 9 Ways She Changed America and the World for the Better – Zeteo (August 25, 2026).
Dolly Parton Knew How to Be Human – John Pavlovitz (The Beautiful Mess, August 25, 2026).
What a Lovely, Lovely Soul – Marianne Williamson (Transform, August 25, 2026).
Dolly Parton, Honky-Tonk Angel – Casey Cep (The New Yorker, August 26, 2026).
Why Black People Love Dolly – LaTosha Brown (Contraband Camp, August 26, 2026).
Dolly Parton Embodied the Best Parts of Appalachia – Jason Kyle Howard (Salon, August 26, 2026).
Dolly Done Good – Seth Sandronsky (Common Dreams, August 27, 2026).
No, MAGA, Dolly Was Not One Of You – John Pavlovitz (The Beautiful Mess, August 26, 2026).
The Transcendence of Dolly Parton – David A. Graham (The Atlantic, August 25, 2026).
“It Costs a Lot of Money to Look This Cheap”: Dolly Parton’s Life in Quotes – The Guardian (August 25, 2026).
Dolly Parton’s 10 Most Essential Hit Songs – Kimberly Nordyke and Ethan Millman (The Hollywood Reporter, August 25, 2026).


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• “Rest in Peace, Dear Prophet Dolly”
• Dionne Warwick: “Being Human is What It's All About”
• Dwelling in Peace
• The Peace of God
• Inner Peace
• A Course in Miracles: A Gift of Peace
• Your Peace Is With Me, Beloved One
• I Am One With the Beloved
• John Dear on Celebrating the Birth of the Nonviolent Jesus
• Christ Consciousness: The Inner Flame of Divine Self
• The Mystic Jesus: “A Name for the Unalterable Love That All of Us Share”

Spider-Man in Minneapolis

– Photo: Chris Juhn

Pics • Memes • Commentary

Let’s start with some commentary . . .

Spider-Man Charged With Assault
After Confrontation With Jake Lang
in Minneapolis

Minnesota Now
August 25, 2026

A protester wearing a Spider-Man costume during Saturday’s chaotic demonstration outside Minneapolis City Hall has now been charged following a confrontation with far-right activist Jake Lang.

Minneapolis police identified the man as 33-year-old William Nicholas Love [right]. According to newly released information, Love has been charged by the Minneapolis City Attorney’s Office with fifth-degree assault involving fear of bodily harm or death.

Video recorded during the August 22 demonstration shows a person dressed as Spider-Man jumping onto the back of a pickup truck occupied by Lang. The video appears to show the costumed protester throwing punches toward Lang and attempting to take a sign from him.

A detailed criminal complaint outlining the City Attorney’s allegations against Love has not yet been publicly released, so additional circumstances surrounding the charge remain unclear. The charge comes as prosecutors announced a different decision regarding Lang himself.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced Tuesday that her office would not pursue felony charges against Edward “Jake” Lang stemming from Saturday’s confrontation.

Moriarty said prosecutors reviewed extensive evidence involving communication and logistical coordination between the Minneapolis Police Department and Lang’s security detail and determined there was not a path to prove felony charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Lang had initially been arrested on probable cause riot allegations after the demonstration deteriorated into confrontations involving his group, counterprotesters and police.

The rally was organized by Lang in support of Shiloh Hendrix, the Rochester woman convicted in connection with a highly publicized confrontation at a Rochester playground where she repeatedly used a racial slur against a child.

Saturday’s demonstration attracted a large number of counter-protesters and quickly became contentious. Video from downtown showed confrontations around Lang’s vehicles as police attempted to separate people and regain control of the area.

Although Hennepin County has declined felony charges against Lang from Saturday’s events, he has other pending legal matters, including a felony vandalism case in St. Paul involving the destruction of a “Prosecute ICE” ice sculpture.

Lang also remains in custody following his Minneapolis arrest because of an out-of-state felony hold connected to his pending Texas case.

The charge against Love demonstrates that authorities are continuing to review individual conduct captured during Saturday’s demonstration even as felony charges against Lang have been declined.

Now here’s an aspect of the story that right-wing media outlets are emphasizing . . .

‘Spider-Man’ Hailed as Hero After
Jake Lang Clash Has Domestic Violence
and Felony Firearm Convictions

By Jenna Gloeb

Alpha News
August 25, 2026

The man in the Spider-Man costume who became an overnight “hero” after throwing punches at controversial activist Jake Lang outside Minneapolis City Hall has been celebrated across social media, praised in legacy news coverage and showered with more than $120,000 in donations.

But there’s a significant chapter missing from the superhero storyline: the criminal record of the man behind the mask.

The costumed counter-protester is 33-year-old William Nicholas Love – a convicted felon with prior convictions for domestic assault and another domestic violence-related offense. He was later charged in a case in which he was accused of threatening the mother of his child with a gun.

Saturday’s confrontation came after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey had publicly urged residents not to give Lang and his rally the attention they were seeking. In a social media post ahead of Saturday’s event, Frey encouraged people to stay away rather than engage with Lang.

“Let this lame-ass racist rally fall flat and fade into irrelevance,” Frey posted on X.

A crowd of counter-protesters showed up anyway as Lang arrived outside Minneapolis City Hall Saturday for an event that quickly descended into chaos.

Video of the confrontation went viral, including footage showing Love – dressed as Spider-Man – climbing onto a pickup truck occupied by Lang and striking him as protesters surrounded the vehicle.

[. . .] Love was also arrested Saturday along with three other counter-protesters but was released from the Hennepin County Jail that evening and cited for misdemeanor assault. It is unclear whom Love is accused of assaulting. Video from the protest shows him striking both Lang and a Minneapolis police officer.

To read Jenna Gloeb’s article in its entirety, click here.

So, yeah, this Spider-Man isn’t perfect. And I hope and pray there has been atonement and healing in his life and within his personal relationships.

I also understand that William Love’s use of violence against Jake Lang is problematical for many. At the same time, what happened this past Saturday in Minneapolis served for many as a much-needed release, with Love’s presence and actions being viewed as a powerful act of defiance and repudiation of the much greater violence of fascism and the racism which is always a fundamental part of it. And let’s not forget that here in Minnesota we endured the Trump regime’s truly awful (and deadly) immigration crackdown earlier this year, a crackdown that saw a surge of undisciplined and lawless ICE and Border Control agents on our streets and in our neighborhoods.

Like Trump, Jake Lang is vehemently racist and anti-immigrant. The character of Spider-Man, on the other hand, like so many archtypal superheros of our culture (from Black Panther to Superman), is the polar opposite. Watching Spider-Man clobber and topple Jake Lang, even if just for a moment, represented for many of us a take-down of Trump’s fascist America, along with its naked racism, Christian nationalism, corruption, and death-dealing goon squads.

So with all of this in mind and heart, I share this evening not only the above commentaries but images and memes of Spider-Man in Minneapolis.

– Photo: Chris Juhn

– Photo: Flying Penguin Studios

– Photo: Chris Juhn

This picture should be Photo of the Year because it embodies the absurdity and desperation of the times we’re living in.

Spider-Man being physically harnessed against bigotry and Christian fascism is almost too perfect. Oscar Wilde would appreciate the irony. Life imitating art until the distinction becomes meaningless.

I want to see more of this.

Superheroes are modern mythology. They’re symbols most of us learned as children, and the basic lesson was rarely complicated: when bullies terrorize people, you stand between the bully and their target.

So use the imagery.

Make these racists explain why Spider-Man kicked their ass.

They’ll never live it down.

– Montana Department of Propaganda
via social media
August 23, 2026

– Photo: Mercado Media

A GoFundMe campaign for William Nicholas Love, the Minneapolis Spider-Man cosplayer who punched far-right activist Jake Lang during a confrontation outside Minneapolis City Hall, has now raised more than $100,000.

The fundraiser was originally seeking $10,000 to help Love with his legal issues following the August 22 incident, but quickly blew past that goal as supporters rallied around the cosplayer.

According to The Popverse, both Love and Lang were arrested following the confrontation. Love’s family is now set up to receive the funds raised through the campaign.

The whole story is bizarre enough to sound like something ripped straight from a comic book, but the fundraiser has clearly struck a chord with people who saw Love’s actions as standing up to Lang and his inflammatory activism.

– ComicBook Clique
via social media
August 28, 2026

Related Off-site Links:
Minneapolis Residents and Local Spider-Man Drive Out Jake Lang, Escorted by MPD, Drawing Outrage – Izzy Canizares (Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, August 24, 2026).
A Spider-Man Cosplayer Punched Far-right Activist Jake Lang, and His Supporters Have Now Raised Over $100,000 to Help Support His Legal Issues – Grant DeArmitt (The Popverse, August 28, 2026).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Avengers Assemble!
• The Important Cultural Moment That Is Black Panther
• Celebrating Black Panther – Then and Now
• Wolvie
• Season of the (Scarlet) Witch
• One Divine Hammer
• What the Vatican Can Learn from the X-Men
• The New Superman: Not Necessarily Gay, But Definitely Queer
• Greg Ketter: A Valiant Minnesotan

Four Political Commentaries Worth Viewing

I share this evening four recent video commentaries that caught my attention. All four come from independent media sources.

In the first of these, Mike Figueredo of The Humanist Report discusses a New York Times story that’s been getting a lot of attention. This is because it highlights a private meeting between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in which “common ground” on various issues was reportedly sought. (The image above is itself a commentary on this meeting.) Figuerdo also explains why this meeting should disqualify Jeffries from being the next Speaker of the House.






In introducing this evening’s second video, I’ll just say that I really appreciate Keith Edwards’ 13-minute response (below) to Abdul El-Sayed’s viral appearance on fascist blowhard Jesse Watters’ FOX News show.






Video commentary number three tonight is the Why I Hate Politics podcast’s response to Rashad Richey’s “epic takedown” of Hakeem Jeffries. This 23-minute video also spotlights recent comments by Ta-Nehisi Coates (comments which were highlighted in this previous Wild Reed post).






I conclude by coming full circle with another commentary by Mike Figueredo. Posted earlier today, this 18-minute video is introduced by Figuerdo as follows.

AIPAC-backed Democrats are attacking Hasan Piker again in another coordinated campaign, but this latest manufactured controversy may take the cake for being the most laughably performative act of political theater of all time. The Democrats in question (who support genocide) are accusing Hasan (who opposes genocide) of inciting hate during a stream where he was talking about how inciting hatred is bad. Yes, you read that correctly. They’re cynically twisting his words to pretend like he’s saying the exact opposite of what he’s actually saying. They could be criticizing Trump, but instead, they’re obsessing about a Twitch streamer to signal to their base that opposition to Israel’s genocide won’t be tolerated. In this video we’ll talk about this outrageous defamation campaign and how gross it is that these genocide-supporting clowns are co-opting social justice language to defend atrocities.

Related Off-site Links:
“Pathetic Stuff”: Jeffries Rebuked Over Secret Meeting With Kushner – Jon Queally (Common Dreams, August 23, 2026).
What’s the Rationale for Jeffries to Talk Secretly With Kushner? – Martin Burns (Common Dreams, August 24, 2026).
“Most Americans Are Getting Poorer”: Robert Reich on Inequality and the Failures of Corporate Democrats – Democracy Now! (August 26, 2026).
“I Hate Democrats, But I Love Abdul”: Voters Who Left Over Gaza Return for Progressive Push – Minnah Arshad (The Guardian, August 23, 2026).
Fox Host Ends Show After Getting Cooked – The Adam Mockler Show (August 25, 2026).
Hunter Biden Tells Dems To Stop Smearing Hasan Piker – The Majority Report (August 26, 2026).
Hakeem Jeffries Proves Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Major Point About Dems – Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey (August 18, 2026).

UPDATES: Progressives Warn Democrats Endlessly Invoking Hasan Piker to “Get Their Shit Together” – Jon Queally (Common Dreams, August 28, 2026).
Elected Democrats Are Busy Condemning Hasan Piker While Giving Right-Wing Extremists and Islamophobes a Pass. We Have the Receipts – Zeteo (August 29, 2026).
Centrist Democrats Are at War With Their Own Voters on Israel – Branko Marcetic (Jacobin, August 29, 2026).


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Ashley Stevens: Quote of the Day – August 18, 2026
• “Our Country Right Now Is At a Crossroads”
• Abdul El-Sayed: The Disruptor Michigan (and the Country) Needs
• Mapping Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Defection from the “Obama Hypnosis”
• Jeff Waldorf: Quote of the Day – July 3, 2026
• Mike Figueredo on the “Political Malpractice” of the Democratic Party
• The Time for Illusions Is Over: Henry Giroux on the Democratic Party
• David Norton: “The Democratic Party Serves Capital, Not You”
• Mike Figueredo: “Elected Democrats Have No Real Interest in Doing What the Base Wants”
• Ted Rall: Democrats Are Not “the Left”
• Why the Democratic Party Is Not Going to Save Us From Fascism
• Jeff Cohen on How Obama’s “Corporate Liberalism” Led to the Rise of Trump
• Progressive Perspectives on Bernie Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” Tour
• Eric Fernández: Quote of the Day – May 14, 2025
• Marianne Williamson: Quote of the Day – July 26, 2025
• Democrat Talk on the Eve of Trump’s Return
• When Democrats Undermine Democracy
• A Deeper Perspective on What’s Really Attacking American Democracy
• “We Must Challenge the Entire System”
• Marianne Williamson: “‘Vote Blue No Matter Who’ Is Not Enough to Win”
• Nick Cruse: “‘Vote Blue No Matter Who’ Is the Privileged Position”
• Oliver Kornetzke’s Epic Takedown of the Liberal Tactic of Blaming and Shaming Leftists
• Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t

Quote of the Day

I agree. The October 7, 2023 attack on Israel was extremely brutal, though upon further investigation, there appears to be little to no evidence supporting the initial claims of mass systemic rapes or beheaded babies. Horrendous as October 7th was, it is vastly outweighed by the daily violence inflicted on Gaza and the West Bank by the IDF and the settler movement. The vast majority of the victimization stems from Zionist aggression against Palestinians, which has been ongoing since the movement began a century ago in a grab for power and resources, particularly given the Middle East’s vast oil and gas reserves.

Though the concept had been bandied about for decades, the Zionist Project officially began with the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which sought to establish a homeland for the Jewish people and was largely supported by the British government. However, the clause stating that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine" was ignored. Instead, the project functioned like the proverb of the camel sticking its nose into the oil-rich Arab tent, eventually occupying the entire space. Basically, the endeavor remains a Western power grab against the Middle East, heavily funded in recent decades by American tax dollars and fueled by AIPAC’s significant influence over members of Congress.

It is worth noting that following the horrors of 9/11, General Wesley Clark revealed a Pentagon plan to destroy seven Middle Eastern countries. Today, Iran and Lebanon are the last remaining targets. This aligns with the United States’ decades of endless regional conflicts, often driven by Israeli aggression. Now, we have tragically taken on Iran while Israel targets Lebanon.

Ultimately, war mania stems from a supremacist complex that stands in stark opposition to the U.S. Constitutional promise of equal rights. This dynamic has driven our foreign policy for decades, culminating in Trump’s policies and the current conflict with Iran. Hopefully, the majority of the country is finally beginning to understand this reality and will turn toward a renewed commitment to peace in the future.

– Genevieve Fraser
via social media
August 26, 2026

See also the following chronologically-ordered Wild Reed posts:
• October 7, 2023: “Nothing About Today Is ‘Unprovoked’”
• Phyllis Bennis: “If We Are Serious About Ending This Spiraling Violence, We Need to Look at Root Causes”
• In the Midst of the “Great Unraveling,” a Visit to the Prayer Tree
• Eric Levitz: Quote of the Day – October 11, 2023
• Something to Think About – October 12, 2023
• Prayer of the Week – October 16, 2023
• Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• More Voices of Reason and Compassion on the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
• Ta-Nehisi Coates: Quote of the Day – November 2, 2023
• Jehad Abusalim: Quote of the Day – December 8, 2023
• Christmas 2023 – Reflections, Activism, Art, and Celebrations
• Sabrina Salvati: Quote of the Day – January 2, 2024
• Michael Fakhri: Quote of the Day – February 27, 2024
• Phyllis Bennis: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2024
• Josh Paul: Quote of the Day – March 28, 2024
• “A Genocide Has Been Normalized”
• “This Is a Genocidal Project”
• Outrage and Despair
• Naomi Klein’s Powerful Words on Israel’s and the West’s Ongoing Gaza Genocide
• Judith Butler on the Ongoing Student Protests Against the Gaza Genocide
• Kyle Kulinski: Quote of the Day – May 23, 2024
• Something to Think About – June 28, 2024
• Nina Turner: Quote of the Day – July 24, 2024
• Phyllis Bennis: “We Can Never Give Up Hope”
• John Cusack: Quote of the Day – July 26, 2024
• Progressive Perspectives on the Presidential Nomination of Kamala Harris
• Breaking Down Kamala Harris’s DNC Speech on Gaza
• Yousef Munayyer: Quote of the Day – August 30, 2024
• “It’s a Systematic Slaughter That We’re Funding”
• Protesting Weapons Manufacturer and Genocide Enabler General Dynamics
• Something to Think About – September 26, 2024
• “A Year of War Against Children”
• Anti-Genocide Presidential Candidate Jill Stein Reflects on the First Anniversary of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
• Liam Cosgrove Confronts U.S. State Department Spin Doctor Matthew Miller: “People Are Sick of the Bullshit”
• “This Is a Tragic, Heartbreaking Moment in the History of Humanity”
• Progressive Perspectives on Kamala Harris’ Faltering Presidential Campaign
• Progressive Perspectives on Where Democrats Went Wrong in the 2024 Presidential Election
• Hope and Courage – Christmas 2024
• Chris Hedges: “Israel Has No Intention of Halting Its Merry-Go-Round of Death”
• The Lamentable Legacy of the Biden Administration
• Caitlin Johnstone: Quote of the Day – January 22, 2025
• Butch Ware: Quote of the Day – January 30, 2025
• The Only Difference
• Progressive Perspectives on Cory Booker’s Marathon Speech
• Silence on Gaza Genocide Is “More Than a Mere Moral Abdication; It Is Lethal”
• The Theft of One’s Soul: Omar El Akkad on the “Lesser of Two Evils” Argument
• How Genocide Becomes Ordinary
• Thomas Friedman: Quote of the Day – May 27, 2025
• “A Holocaust, Live-streamed”
• Why What’s Happening in Palestine – and Our Response to It – Is So Important
• “Life Comes First”: An Interview with Thiago Ávila
• Truth-telling in the Face of Systemic Power That Is Silent on Genocide
• Caitlin Johnstone: Quote of the Day – July 23, 2025
• U.S. Labor Leader Chris Smalls Joins the Crew of the Handala
• Israel’s Actions in Gaza: “A Clear and Present Moral Collapse”
• Protesting Israel’s “Starvation Campaign” in Gaza
• Chris Smalls: Quote of the Day – August 5, 2025
• Anas al-Sharif, 1996-2025
• A Call to Divest from Israel
• Idrees Ahmad: Quote of the Day – August 25, 2025
• Michael Sala: Quote of the Day – August 29, 2025
• A Poem That Remains Painfully Relevant
• Memes of the Times
• An “Illusion of Action”
• Two Years of “Indescribable Horror”
• No Justice, No Peace
• Progressive Perspectives on Hillary Clinton’s Comments on Pro-Palestine “Propaganda” and TikTok
• Phil Rockstroh: Quote of the Day – December 14, 2025
• Qasim Rashid: Quote of the Day – December 29, 2025
• “It Is Up to Us”
• The Architecture of Settler Colonialism
• Kym Staton: Quote of the Day – March 3, 2026
• Omid Safi: Quote of the Day – March 7, 2026
• Do Nation States Have the “Right” to Exist?
• Chris Hedges: “The Genocide in Gaza Is the Beginning. Welcome to the New World Order”
• Jonny Rashid: Quote of the Day – August 10, 2026


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• “The Mistreatment and Discrimination Against Palestinians Is Not Unprecedented. It’s Baked Into the Foundation of the Political System in Israel”
• “Essential Viewing for All Who Care to Understand the Plight of the People of Palestine”
• Progressive Perspectives on the Ongoing Israeli-Palestinian “Nightmare” (2021)
• Something to Think About – July 29, 2018
• Noura Erakat: Quote of the Day – May 15, 2018
• For Some Jews, Israel’s Treatment of Palestinians is Yet Another Jewish Tragedy
• Remembering the Six-Day War and Its Ongoing Aftermath
• David Norris: Quote of the Day – August 12, 2014

“Rest in Peace, Dear Prophet Dolly”

God bless the life – the stories, the songs – that was and will always be Dolly Parton. I have quoted her in many a sermon. It is her voice I hear when I need to hear God speak those precious words: “I will always love you.”

Your witness to God’s love will continue to permeate this world when we sing your songs.

Rest in peace, dear prophet Dolly!

– Rev. Marc Blakesley
via social media
August 25, 2026

Related Off-site Links:
Dolly Parton, Country Star, Actor and Philanthropist, Dies Aged 80 After Fighting Cancer – Ben Beaumont-Thomas (The Guardian, August 25, 2026).
Dolly Parton Dies at 80. Here Are 9 Ways She Changed America and the World for the Better – Zeteo (August 25, 2026).
Dolly Parton Knew How to Be Human – John Pavlovitz (The Beautiful Mess, August 25, 2026).
What a Lovely, Lovely Soul – Marianne Williamson (Transform, August 25, 2026).

Image: Artist unknown.

Choosing to Awaken

If you want to believe that what your physical eyes can see is all that’s there, then fine, you can. Stay in that small fraction of perceptual reality if you choose. But at some point, even if that point is at the point of death, we all know better. I’ve seen cynics become mystics on their deathbed. We are here as though in a material dream from which the spiritual nature of our larger reality is calling us to awaken.

The magician, the alchemist, the miracle-worker, is simply someone who has woken up to the material delusions of the world and decided to live another way. In the world gone mad, we can choose to be sane. In order to move ourselves, and our civilization, into the next phase of our evolutionary journey, it’s time for all of us to awaken.

I choose to awaken from the delusions of the world.

– Marianne Williamson
Excerpted from A Year of Miracles:
Daily Devotions and Reflections
HarperOne, 2013

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Awakening
• An Extraordinary, Precious Opportunity
• The Task at Hand
• Sufism: A Call to Awaken
• Awakening and Turning
• The Beauty and Challenge of Being Present in the Moment
• Shining On . . . Into the New Year
• In the Garden of Spirituality – Peng Roden Her
• I Need Do Nothing . . . I Am Open to the Living Light
• The Source Is Within You
• A Sacred Pause
• Aligning With the Living Light
• Mystical Participation
• Returning the Mind to God
• Being the Light
• Cultivating Stillness
• Inner Peace
• Be In My Mind, Beloved One
• Your Peace Is With Me, Beloved One
• You Are My Goal, Beloved One
• All ’Round Me Burdens Seem to Fall
• No Other Time, No Other Place
• Home To Myself
• God Rest Us
• Awakenings
• Don’t Go Back to Sleep

Image: Mauna Nada (2018).

A Mesmerizing Performance

I mentioned previously that I had purchased a ticket for the live-stream of All the World’s a Stage, a performance by dancer Kadeem Hosein (known as Kadeem En Pointe) and a number of his creative friends that took place last Friday, August 14, at the Shaw Theatre in Kings Cross, London.

I’m happy to report that it was a great show, and I offer heartfelt thanks to Kadeem and all who worked and performed with him in producing such a wonderful gift for the world. Along with Kadeem, others who performed in All the World’s a Stage included dance artists Mercedes Prevatt and Rebecca Chan, singer and musical theatre performer Eve Shanu-Wilson, creatives Mandy Izquierdo, Two Thunder, and Storrveldi, performer Xavier Thomas, and choreographic duo Bloom Collective.

The live-stream of All the World’s a Stage took place at 1:00 p.m. in Minneapolis, as we’re six hours behind London. I invited two chaplain colleagues, Barson and Charity, to watch the first twenty minutes or so with me on a computer in the Spiritual Care office of the hospital at which we work. Like me, they were mesmerized by the beauty and skill of the show’s diverse range of performances.

Kadeem is already planning a second performance to take place this winter. The best way to stay informed about this event and other projects and performances by Kadeem is by following him on social media. To get started, visit Kadeem’s official website and sign-up to his mailing list. Kadeem is also on Instagram and Facebook.

The following performance of The Dying Swan by Kadeem is from September 2020. In describing this dance when it was first posted of YouTube, Kadeem said the following.

Choreographed by Mikhail Fokin for Anna Pavlova in 1905, the piece I dance here – The Dying Swan – is a staple of classical ballet, performed by ballerinas the world over. Maybe my interpretation is not as great (I am not a professional dancer, I only do it as a hobby), but I had fun shooting it and I hope it inspires some people to go outside of their comfort zone – it wasn’t easy to dance in public, add taking your shirt off, putting on pointe shoes AND a tutu . . . need I say more?

Related Off-site Links:
Kadeem’s Official Website
“Being a Ballet Dancer Is Years of Hard Work, But It’s All Worth It” Says Kadeem En Pointe – Stuart Norval (France 24, February 26, 2026).
Men en Pointe: Ballet Dancers Kick Against Gender Stereotypes – Matilda Martin (The Guardian, March 10, 2021).


See also the following dance-related Wild Reed posts:
• Kadeem
• A Message in Dance That Challenges, Inspires and Liberates
• Kadeem En Pointe: Finding Freedom in Dance
• The Soul of a Dancer
• The Trouble with the Male Dancer – Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
• The Premise of All Forms of Dance
• The Art of Dancing as the Supreme Symbol of the Spiritual Life
• The Power of Dance
• “Then I Shall Leap Into Love”
• Love’s the Only Dance
• We All Dance
• Not Whether We Dance, But How
• The Dance of Life
• And As We Dance . . .
• Our Dance
• “I Came Alive With Hope”
• Finding Balance in the Presence of the Beloved
• Our Bodies Are Part of the Cosmos
• Flexibility and Flow
• Move Us, Loving God
• A Prayer for Dancers
• Trusting the Flow
• Aristotle Papanikolaou on How Being Religious Is Like Being a Dancer