Why do we work so hard to keep our eyes closed?
That’s what I thought when I read an article on CNN regarding a former Governor speaking out about his experience. Now, because it is a politician, it grabs attention, not because a politician is more credible, simply due to the fact that one speaks out at all on anything that could cause a loss of votes.
I am really amazed at the grace of the emergence of Mr. Potts.
I will happily continue to showcase his rise.
For your viewing pleasure…
I read a post daring the readers to break out and expand our consciousness and awareness:
Sibbia on “I Don’t Believe In…”.
She invited me and a few others (and doubtless the entire world if all are so inclined) to join in and challenge a belief.
Hmmmm.
Shouldn’t be so hard, should it?
I challenge many things, I challenge the appearance or the illusion of truth. I challenge perception. I challenge myself.
I find that many of us have been taught to not forgive, for if we do, we are then fools or soon to be a ready-made fool. I find that we are not taught that the lack of forgiveness many times hurts only ourselves and always in fact hurts somewhere internally. That is a given. That is a “fact”.
When we do not forgive, we take up room within ourselves, we create labyrinths with mirrored walls, pitfalls, dungeons and all sorts of traps that we have hidden the locks to, even though we were the original locksmiths.
I received a lovely parable yesterday, and share it with you today, to challenge your belief, and sometimes my own, on forgiveness.
I leave it below for you, in its entirety as I received it. I do not know the author of the piece.
Stone
TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING
THROUGH THE DESERT
DURING SOME POINT OF THE
JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN
ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND
SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE
IN THE FACE
THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED
WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT
SAYING ANYTHING,
WROTE IN THE SAND
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE
THEY KEPT ON WALKING,
UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS,
WHERE THEY DECIDED
TO TAKE A BATH
THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN
SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE
MIRE! AND STARTED DROWNING,
BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.
AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM
THE NEAR DROWNING,
HE WROTE ON A STONE:
“TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SAVED MY LIFE”
THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED
AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND
ASKED HIM, “AFTER I HURT YOU,
YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW,
YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?”
THE FRIEND REPLIED
“WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US
WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN
IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF
FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY.
BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES
SOMETHING GOOD FOR US,
WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE
WHERE NO WIND
CAN EVER ERASE IT”
LEARN TO WRITE
YOUR HURTS IN
THE SAND AND TO
CARVE YOUR
BENEFITS IN STONE.
T HEY SAY IT TAKES A
MINUTE TO FIND A SPECIAL
PERSON,
AN HOUR TO APPRECIATE
THEM,
A DAY
TO LOVE THEM,
BUT THEN
AN ENTIRE LIFE
TO FORGET THEM.
SEND THIS TO
THE PEOPLE YOU’LL NEVER
FORGET.
I JUST DID.
IF YOU DON’T
SEND IT TO ANYONE,
IT MEANS YOU’RE IN A
HURRY AND THAT YOU’VE
FORGOTTEN YOUR FRIENDS.
TAKE THE TIME TO LIVE!
DO NOT VALUE THE THINGS
YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE, BUT VALUE
WHO YOU HAVE IN YOUR LIFE!
AND IF I HAPPEN TO GET IT BACK,
THEN I KNOW MY PLACE IN YOUR LIFE
“Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.”
I HOPE this message finds you in good health
To God be the Glory for the great things He has done!
I stop at this point. Following the title above.
Christianity and Scientology?
Truly?
Has this made CNN headlines?
Yes,
it,
has.
“TAMPA, Florida (CNN) — Some Christian congregations, particularly in lower income, urban areas, are turning to an unlikely source for help — the Church of Scientology.
Rev, Charles Kennedy uses Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s book during a Friday night sermon.
Scientologists do not worship God, much less Jesus Christ. The church has seen plenty of controversy and critics consider it a cult. So why are observant Christians embracing some its teachings?
Two pastors who spoke recently with CNN explained that when it comes to religion, they still preach the core beliefs of Christianity. But when it comes to practicing what they preach in a modern world, borrowing from Scientology helps.
The Rev. Charles Kennedy, of the Glorious Church of God in Christ, a Pentecostal church in Tampa, Florida, and the Rev. James McLaughlin, of the Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, are among the theological hybrids.
They say they are not scared off by programs with ties to a church that critics say has aggressive recruiting, secretive ways and rigid theology. As men of God rooted in Christian values, they do not see Scientology as a threat to their faith, but rather as a tool to augment it.”
Of note:
1. Scientology not seen to be a threat; and
2. Not scared of aggressive recruiting.
That alone is enough to make headlines. What intrigues me though is that men of their own religion, with proscribed rules of dogma, have stepped outside of the lines. I applaud thinking outside of the lines.
Since I first wrote this post last evening, I have spent some time thinking about it and reading Ronnie’s comment below.
I agree that there can be danger in any organization that seeks to oppress and wrongly manipulate. I say “wrongly” manipulate, because I do think, consciously or unconsciously, all religions and many organizations, to a degree manipulate when they focus on only one way, one system of belief, exclusivity.
What I do embrace is moving beyond the lines, “getting out of the box”, and learning from a multitude of what is around us.
Namaste.
Take a moment, just a click, video on children. I received an email:
Autism Speaks, a sponsoring organization for the Autism Awareness campaign created a music video of the Five for Fighting song, “World”, which features images of autistic children and their families. It is a truly moving video and was the work of their Creative Director, Bill Shea.
The band is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks for each time the video is viewed. When you have a moment, please visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.
What Kind of World Do You Want?
Pass it on please.
Grace just dropped in and hit me with a meme. (note to self, look up word).
Seeing as Grace has her hands full in CA and managed to do this, and I keep deleting all the posts I put up after 12 hours and have no burning desire to write about anything post-worthy….her timing could not have been more magnificent.
Here’s how she started:
“Thanks to Takeshi over at Nakayima for tagging me for a fun Meme. Using the letters of the alphabet, I’m supposed to let you all in on some little known factoids about moi. 
along with posting The Instructions, and then tagging a few more of you myself. So here goes.
First, the legal stuff:
The instructions say that each player starts with some random facts/habits about himself/herself. As you are tagged you need to post the rules and your responses on your own blog. At the end of your post, you need to choose some people to tag, list their names and, of course, leave them a comment, telling they have been tagged and they need to read your blog for more information.”
A: will always be for apple, sheer joy when I see the letter with the picture and for those that I love more than life.
B: Benevolence: because I like it as a path
C: Cat: because I can still spell it after all of these years…oh ok, I love C because it is the beginning of the names of some of those I love dearly with “forever love”
D: Dog, tough, I’m still proud I can spell it and it’s God backward
E: Empathy
F: Family
G: God
H: Home
I: Illuminate, I strive to illuminate my forgotten knowledge
J: Joy, I adore it
K: well, K again is special because I love someone that starts with K
L: Love. Love heals all.
M: Mom, in so many different ways, how can M not be important?
N: Nonsense. I love moments of pure, silly, random nonsense. Dancing down a street, snow angels in the snow, a bag of flour that falls on the floor and we draw pictures in it rather than yell, yes, pure nonsense.
O: …why is O difficult? is it because I like to write/type at lightening speed and if something does not pop out immediately I move on? I’ll have you know, I first left O blank. Then I didn’t feel right about leaving O there alone. Kind of like as a kid I had zillions of stuffed animals and each had a name and I had to say goodnight to each and every one of them. Oh! I have it now: Oneness!!!!!
P: Play, I love toys, old tin toys, block and wood toys, just toys.
Q: OOOOOO, quiet, I love quiet and peaceful moments, the kind that seem limitless.
R: Racing. I love watching ski racing.
S: Silence. I love learning its value.
T: Trees, loved to climb as high as I could as a kid, liked the view and being uninterrupted.
U: Unicorn, because I still believe.
V: Violin, always wanted to be able to play one.
W: water, I adore water, swimming in it, watching it crash, seeing the sun rise over it, hear it playing music against the rocks in a slow moving creek.
X: Huh?
Y: yes, my favorite, y, y, y…oh that would be w, wouldn’t it?
Z: sleeping, ZZZZZ, on a sweet summer afternoon.
I call on:
Ruby (tempting her procrastination of course)
Peace out.
A day of jubilation turned to trauma: BBC reports.
I call this evening to pray for those in Pakistan.
There is no need to do this to each other as fellow human beings, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, in-laws…………
there is no need.
Join me, take a moment, ask whatever divinity you believe in to remind us of love.
If I had to bottle up my love,
could I?
would I?
could I find the pieces to fit within dimensions?
Lock into the one huge smile,
the laughter from the belly,
the sheer joy stretched across
the face
of this otherwise
immortal being.
Could I?
Could I take the time,
I saw you as a child,
yet,
fully grown,
needing me,
holding onto you,
when you were scared and unable to ask?
Would that be the moment I choose,
to put within the glass,
to hold it,
take it out,
savor it, remind me of love?
Would I take the time, another, her hair falling across her forehead,
looked at me,
the giver of birth,
with love undefined?
Would I take that and shove it
within confines?
Would I know,
when asked,
when pushed,
that it was and has always been,
love without limits,
crystalized in moments,
not diffusing,
simply highlighting?
Some are reporting that the late Pope John Paul II has appeared in the flames of a bonfire in Poland. Not sure if it’s correct to say within the flames, or that the flames of the bonfire have taken the shape of Pope John Paul II.
I tried copying two of the articles, the first one contained comments which I wasn’t interested in, not because they “dissed” the idea of such an occurrence, but the lack of brotherly love in the responses wasn’t something I was fond of…so, I went to another source and encountered technical difficulty posting the photo.
So instead, for whoever is interested in seeing the photographs, try the link below….
And, if you have the time, go to the link below, take the image and copy it over into a blank document, if you then highlight the photo as if to copy it, you get the reverse/darkened image….funny…you can see the image even better…
Have you ever been there?
Deep down?
As far as you think you will land, in the ugly, smelly armpit of your own life?
Have you looked around and all you could see was what your heart never wished for?
Have you been there?
The only solution I have found is to not beat yourself up for arriving.
To breath, and breath again, and breath and breath and breath.
Set no agenda.
Have no immediate expectation.
Just meet yourself there, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the moment.
Wrap your arms around yourself.
If you can’t muster the courage, the strength to tell yourself I love you, then just breath.
There are those of us out here, unknown, saying we love you anyway.
We’re here.
We hear you.
Namaste.
What is a “secret”?
A Google search, specifically: define secret, gives me a plethora of hits. I choose one, and will reprint here for you……………
“Definitions of secret on the Web:
I like best this definition….kept secret or not revealed.
Not revealed.
Doesn’t mean it does not exist, means it is not revealed, not dug up, not seen, not heard, not understood, perhaps forgotten.
Now, how about…”The Secret”…is it the only one?
I picked up a magazine called “Ode” the other week. The magazine was a complete suprise, I had no plans to buy it, rather, I arrived early for a work appointment and found myself in Whole Foods and picked up some different magazines, yes, I splurged.
So I found the Ode and within it, I found an article entitled, “The Real Secret”.
Again, this does not tell us the one and only secret, rather, it hints at that which is not revealed within the megablockbuster, The Secret.
One of the issues within this article was the matter of blame.
Oh, ok, maybe the author didn’t put it that way, my regular readers know though that that is an open issue for me in regard to the theories within The Secret.
The article in part set forth:
“I’m not saying we shouldn’t think positively, or that we’re not interconnected. All I’m saying is it’s incorrect to use current physics research to validate these claims and it’s highly misleading to present them as the utimate truth, or the ‘Great Secret,’ of the universe. Such grand assetions give people a false sense ofhope.
And, on the contrary, the claim that we create our own realities may also be unfair with respect to people who are ill or poor. The message of The Secret suggest they too are responsible for their own fate. Does this mean that the thousands in Bangladesh made homeless by floods are suffering because they did not have a positive vision?”
The Real Secret, by Peter Russel, Ode Magazine, October 2007, Vol. 5, Issue 8.
I think not.
I do not know what the ultimate answer is in the Universe, it is only recently I began to learn we may not be from this universe after all…following compliments of ViewZone.com
“This same sense of shock came as scientists announced that the Sun, the Moon, our planet and its siblings, were not born into the familiar band of stars known as the Milky Way galaxy, but we actually belong to a strange formation with the unfamiliar name of the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy!
How can this be?”
Peace.
The best thing we can know, is that we do not know.
There is no point in resisting the passage of time.
It will not stop. It will not recognize our resistance.
The only thing that can change is our perception of time.
I wish I could take credit for the title:
“The Train Ride Between Words”,
but,
I can’t.
The train ride between words,
marvelous,
do you think,
anyone is collecting tickets?
I have been thinking about blogging against abuse since this goal was brought up by RubyShooz.
I was thinking of the importance of not participating in self-abuse. In honoring ourselves despite or because of everything and thereby making us less susceptible to the abuse of others.
I was also thinking that when we don’t participate in self-abuse against ourselves, we are less likely to emotionally abuse and manipulate others. Sometimes our internal negative thoughts become our blueprint and then we manifest or create a perception of what others do to us that is wrong, then we justify our response, and so on and so on. It becomes circular and we erode not only the love within us, but the love within others.
So simply, don’t abuse yourself. Look upon yourself as the gift you are, unique, one of a kind, and smile that you are you.
I tied on a pair
nothing
with extras
laced them up
tight
double knot
Converse
without flair
I tied them
the way I was taught at five
or was it four?
Don’t know,
my nose
was always buried in a book,
the perfect angle
to see my Converse
-Peace, enjoy your moments, you are who you are, God loves you, exactly like that.
Partial news story follows…
“$100 laptop’ to sell to public
|
By Jonathan Fildes |
Computer enthusiasts in the developed world will soon be able to get their hands on the so-called “$100 laptop”. The organisation behind the project has launched the “give one, get one” scheme that will allow US residents to purchase two laptops for $399 (£198).
One laptop will be sent to the buyer whilst a child in the developing world will receive the second machine
The G1G1 scheme, as it is known, will offer the laptops for just two weeks, starting on the 12 November.
The offer to the general public comes after the project’s founder admitted that concrete orders from the governments of developing nations had not always followed verbal agreements
Nicholas Negroponte told the New York Times: “I have to some degree underestimated the difference between shaking the hand of a head of state and having a cheque written.
“And yes, it has been a disappointment.”
Walter Bender, head of software development at One Laptop per Child (OLPC), told the BBC News website: “From day one there’s been a lot of interest expressed in having some way of people in the developed world participate in the programme.”
How many times in our life are we within these moments?
Sheer joy?
Glee?
Unfounded, unlimited happiness? Moments within which we feel neither the finality of morality, nor the limit of our beginnings?
I read today, or was it yesterday, on The Naked Soul: To Whose Beat Are You Marching To…, about stripping ourselves bare of the expectations of others that we carry, the expectations that have become our own.
I see a lost girl in a train station, too many bags too carry alone, no idea as to what is packed within them, but all stamped “necessary”.
Now I wish I could give you the visual of this, that I had the acumen of some of my fellow bloggers to insert the proper pictures within the proper space of the words, and someday I will, but for now, believe, that there is a space between the words where only visuals can be captured and then there is yet a larger space, although often undetectable, where only the emotion without words or pictures exists. In that space, only faith of heart exists.
I am feeling peaceful today. 
I feel as I imagine it would be to be the river or a gurgling creek.
I find that there are moments when I have what some may call an intolerance for words. It is ironic because I earn my daily bread with words. It is ironic because I live to read. It is ironic because some of the greatest beauty I find in this world is how words sing, hum beyond the confines we put upon them, caging them in with alphabets and dialects.
Words though carry power. The absence of words also carries power.
I have met people in life that need words but appear to me not to even know they need them. Words rush from their mouths in torrents, chronicling minute details of their days and I sit and watch the mouth of the person speaking, the person’s eyes, the way the skin on their face moves and all of this observation somehow takes the place of me being able to hear the words themselves, I hear something beyond them, so when the pause comes as it does inevitably, I find myself still in this other dimension, the land of lost words, and nothing comes out of my mouth. I am in a place where I don’t know how to convert this “new” language, the language that goes beyond mere letters and I am silent. It does not mean I have not heard, thought, analyzed, emoted…I simply can’t translate these sensations into a comprehensible language.
When I say as I did above that I feel peaceful, it may not be the generally understood meaning of peaceful. I mean instead not that I am free of issues or “troubles”, but I am free of my need to hold onto them. Yes, they exist, but I also know a moment will come when those same issues will not exist, perhaps they will have taken a new form, but they do not weave themselves tightly into the fabric of the internal me. And this is what I mean by feeling like the river or the gurgling creek, I flow.
You can hurt people considerably by not being able to deliver to them what they need from you in a particular moment. It does not make them wrong, it does not make you wrong, but the hurt sits there, like an elephant in the room.
The question becomes, what do you do with the elephant? In my case, nothing, I walk past it if there are no peanuts in my pocket. Does it mean I don’t care about the elephant? No. It simply means that some things are bigger than us and have their own rhythms and the best we can do is flow with our own rhythms.
By flowing with our own rhythms, we come closer to allowing ourselves to be, and in doing so, stand a fair chance of also letting others simply be. Perhaps this is how I envision harmony or Heaven, where the levels of energy flow and do not push against each other.
So, be a river today, be a gurgling creek, just be.
When all else fails, just look at a picture of the Dalai Lama. I think I may become a Lobbyist, and lobby that all work places must put a picture of the Dalai Lama within 24 inches of every employees’ views…I would love to see the happiness equation go up like the thermometer in Phoenix on an August day.
You just have to smile: compliments of the Dalai Lama online.
I ask myself, no, I hesitate as I type this, do I really ask myself?
I think not. I think I know, no, I know I know, what enrichment is….
It is a day not long ago, a trying one, and just when a pause interspersed itself, Louis Armstrong came on, singing Hello Dolly and I heard my grandfather singing, singing like Louis. Yeah, I know, no one sings like Louis, but if you heard my grandfather, you too would shake your head.
I read Ronnie’s post on The Door to the Universe is You and it fit, it resonated, and I said, damn, I thought my landscape was limited, I thought, with my headlamp, flashlight, and pickax meandering through the labryinth of my mind that I could find the creased bits of parchment to give me the map to the treasure chest, but you see, in my mind, in my search, the treasure chest had boundaries…I read Ronnie’s post, the door to the universe is you, and my heart exploded.
Let me add, as I wrote this, my husband, that beautiful man, was trying to get us ahead, up on a stool, changing lights and before I could type the word “exploded”, well, the bulb crashed to the ground, and yes, it exploded everywhere.
So am I enriched? More than I can describe. It is the hug of a child, slippery from the bath, throwing him upon a deep comforter to cushion the fun, the giggles, the sheer delight in the moment.
We are what we decide, no matter what life hands us. And yes, I have been handed lemons, but heck, it’s easy make lemonade. The thing is, I can’t help the lemons I have been given, so what choice is there? I’m in charge of me, I decide how I feel.
I have learned, I have many hats, I decide which ones I wear and when, and sometimes, just sometimes, I wear them all at once.
Enrichment?
Who decides?
You do.
Namaste.
Thoughts
on light
She appeared lit from within
yes
as if she
carried a light deep
inside of her
the same light
we all carry
somehow
she had become closer to it
you could see the illumination
in the way
when she turned her head
the rays of light caught the angle of her face
brought a glow
of such soft golden proportions
you looked twice
and almost
almost needed to run your finger
an inch above
to see
if it radiated
I came across this blog recently and am still making my way through as there is quite a bit of information. Lots of out of the box thinking, certainly worth more than a glance fellow seekers!
Everything but the girl – I don’t want to talk about it
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UujO_YwaB_I]
All time favorite.
G’nite my friends.
Peace.
Everything But The Girl
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orITYZwqO6Y]
Take Three: smiling, one of my favorites, but just another slice of the surface, mais non?
everything but the girl ‘single’
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcd4VrAqHM0]
Take Two: Everything But The Girl
(dimensions)
Everything But The Girl-
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKNznc-hFyg]
Enjoy.
Have you ever experienced moments in your life, where you knew not what to believe?
Who to trust?
Where to turn?
Whether it was because you live paycheck to paycheck and the lack of one sent your known life into oblivion or because there were too many agendas surrounding you, and you did not know, did not have the strength to tune into your own knowledge?
What then?
It is the lack of hope scenario.
Have you ever lacked hope?
It is the most bitter pill to swallow, and it must be swallowed, because when you lack hope, you still draw air from a primal perspective to carry on, but oh, your soul is crying.
To anyone that has swallowed that bitter pill, that may be swallowing it now, I tell you, it goes down easier with water, and as long as you continue to breath, we will find a way for that pool of water, that oasis in the desert.
Namaste, you are not alone.
Thanks to another blog I randomly happened upon, I am once again wondering, must I have a vision for SurfaceEarth?
To see what has again jump started this line of thought: jump over to the SecondLifeShrink
The author mentioned he received encouragement that some people actually read his blog and pointed to the comment I had left there. He then invited people to jump over to SurfaceEarth to see if they could figure out what the author was writing about. (said in a very nice way of course).
Well, there is no blueprint.
There is no vision plan.
It’s just another person, propped behind the curtain, poking a rod into the dimensions of daily living.
I of course think we only live on the surface, just like we only use a limited percentage of our brains.
So, in moments, news clips, videos, pieces of other blogs, photos, artwork, and so on, we examine or ask about just one small dimension with the hopes of learning something new or of scratching the surface.
So that’s it for now.
Billy Bragg on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FknxIkLbn7E]
Billy Bragg.
I remember years ago, a small venue in NYC, Billy Bragg playing.
If you asked me then I would have told you I knew exactly where Heaven is/was.
For those of you that don’t know Billy Bragg…I suggest you go Google his name or YouTube it….
All The VISIBLE Children
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5U8fRHJ9yQ]
Global Angels….See our Humanitarian News Update Page
Natasha Bedingfield – Unwritten – Acoustic Performance
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH0ZgJXzlkk]
13 Graces bids farewell
13 Graces, how we will miss you, you have brought not only light, but tools to enlightment. May you soar. We will miss your presence.
13 Graces bids farewell to Blogland
-S.E.
*I enjoy the lack of permanence in chalk-contradiction as I took photos of some of the stages. Yet, I did not take a photo last night even though the skies threatened to open up again. I play the same games with myself with writing, if I have a thought, you know the kind, that strikes of wanting to be preserved, I normally will not reach for paper or the keyboard. Instead, I feel, if it is worth saying, worth knowing, it will come back to me. I see the maze I create as I am a fan of pure stream of consciousness writing. I’m laughing, ?pure?, as if my mind does not edit at least somewhat before my fingers hit the keys.
Anyway-enjoy-may you have a blessed Saturday.
Plain White T’s – Hey There Delilah
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbJtYqBYCV8]
Wanted to post what the best line is, but the more you listen, again and again, there is no distinction to be made as to which line is best.
I have only one question: How can this be real?
Ok, I have yet another question:
What is this democracy we are bringing to the rest of the world?
We are riddled with crime, injustice, disrespect for ourselves and others. We willingly destroy our own, whether by getting mad at each other when we think we have been wronged, cut off in traffic or a line in the store, or God only knows what else. These are all of the seeds that lead to the bigger, worse action.
What is it we are bringing to the rest of the world?
If I could
dip my hand
into the dimensions
cup my hand
right and left
sift
the energy
adjust the imbalance
within this world
If I could
dip my hand
into time and space
and but see
particles
shift
illuminate
a part of me
If I could
dip
my
hand
through the sky
scoop up
peace
rebalance
parallel worlds
sit them
side by side
upon the ground
the soles
of every foot
making contact
I watched Fox News this morning while getting ready for the day, and first my eye was caught by the spectator jumping over the barrier to jump into the Popemobile and I was astonished that the Pope did not even appear to notice the commotion all around him, is that what they calling being in a state of grace?
A few moments later, I see another story, about a young 18 year girl abducted after shopping in Target in Kansas. The story on Fox News gives us a chilling video replay of this young girl who walked into Target like millions of people do day after day. She went to run an errand and then she didn’t come home.
I became so enraged. I am still enraged.
What gives anyone the right to take away another human being’s right to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is one of the most famous phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence. These three aspects are listed among the “unalienable rights” of man.
Unalienable rights. Seems so simple, so direct, and our Society just can’t get it straight after all of these years.
I will pray for this family and wonder as I do, how many other families are facing similar horrors? Why is there not an answer? Why is there not some way to prevent this? Is it something we miss in the developmental stages, something that could be adjusted? Is it a byproduct of the way we live? I read about the collective consciousness theories, practices, the heralding of the Golden Age returned. I wish it would occur today, right this minute.
Pre-conceived beliefs. Pre-conceived notions.
Internal rules and regulations, set standards for ourselves and others.
Or are they internal rules and regulations we hold to impose only others?
I never truly liked judgment; however, I often tricked myself into believing I was non-judgmental. I wouldn’t say, do, act…what I see others around me do to others. Yet, in turn, I was judging the people that I thought were judgmental.
A few years ago I began to truly grasp judgment, to find out what it means, to unravel its knots.
Is judgment so encompassing that I could no longer have beliefs? Would I become a sponge never wrung out?
Would I never again be able to voice an opinion, to stand up for what I believe? Would everything that came out of my mouth be judgment?
I struggled so valiantly, wanting to find a place within my voice, within my thoughts, where I could speak, think and act that would not be judgment, that would not be myself satisfying my ego.
I was lost, within a house of mirrors. I had no clue where to turn.
I still struggle, I still try to find my place. Would I have left my children in a hotel room and been able to eat a meal away from where they slept, alone? No. Do I know if perhaps that same set of parents, played more, laughed more, loved more with their children, than I? No, I don’t. I’m a loving parent, I adore my children, but I am far from perfect. What I know is the parents I have seen on tv are no different than I, they live in a world they have not created, where children can be taken, whether you are the best parent in the world, akin to a Secret Service agent, or whether you believe in handling your day to day moments with a little layer of trust. But, I don’t need to judge them, why should I?
How many times a day does judgment cross our path? Do we walk into a room of fellow professionals and are asked if we are the court reporter or a secretary simply because we are a woman? Are we looked at sideways if we walk into a store bedraggled, come in only to browse, because yes, we can’t afford to purchase, but still like to dream?
Judgment is a labyrinth of rationale. There are no shades of gray, we judge or we don’t judge.
Wondering,
did you ever,
did you ever wonder,
wondering,
what the ones who know you,
would do with the one you are?
I have,
I do.
I type to music,
the tempo creates,
the words I shape on the page,
it is never just verbal import,
it is melody,
it is color,
it is the spaces in between.
It is too many
good
cabernets
dropped within the same glass,
what is it you
want
to hear?
btw: I refuse to tag surf this piece.
If I had a choice, I would remain within the afternoon light, the moments that remain in the sky before full evening, bright enough to be daylight; yet, not glaring into the room…filtered, soft, casting dimensions of leaves across the teal spun walls
I would stay here and never enter into night again
When did night hold promise and not fear?
As a child awaiting the fireworks, secure within my place in the world, afterthought, nowhere else to go
no way to reach beyond where you are, child, so the obligation to continue, as if, never yet arose
you could be mad, angry, sad, frustrated, violated
the dimensions, parameters remained fixed
You did not realize you had the obligation,
the duty,
to look for a new place to be.
I wouldn’t now have given up morning…
the safety at the end of the night, the beginning of dawn of the sun rising yet again.
The safety brought when the dark bowed again to the light, enveloping…allowing us to see.
If we knew of vision that would make the nightime clear,
would we have sat upon it,
for profit?
Would it have been so oppressive, so fearsome, perhaps,
a slightly different,
backdrop,
a different hue,
but not within a canvas,
so saturated in color,
there was nothing left to see?
Those of you who have stopped by more than once, know we like to put out queries rather than cast judgment.
Today, we revisit something we have already posted on entitled Alec Baldwin, Parenting & the weight of words.
Well before that, in February, we posted on the weight of words.
Today, the New York Times shows Mr. Baldwin reporting as to the injustices on fathers.
No one can say that divorce, separation or whatever form it takes does not effect children or their parents. No one can be present each and every moment to know what the “truth” is or isn’t. We can only surmise.
So what is our interest in reading about Mr. Baldwin and the unfortunate lack of anger management that was displayed to the public?
Is it because we need to justify our own behavior, our own closed moments, where we wish we hadn’t cut our eyes, tightened our jaw, pursed our lips….publicizing our own anger to our children?
Or it it that we truly feel that what he allegedly did by saying those words was so gross, so out of bounds from the rest of acceptable decent society, that we now need to persecute him?
I don’t know.
I don’t pretend to know the answers.
I know that I wish he hadn’t treated his 11 year old that way because she is the one that will bear the scars.
I also wish we could raise our children stronger, to be the personification of God, to not be harmed by such words and to look instead and say, ok, you’ve got it worse than me if you needed to speak on that level.
Most people have probably heard the news, the words that Alec Baldwin allegedly left on the answering tape which was leaked from confidential documents and evidence in the custody, presumably, of the Court.
Yes, one of the first questions is why should this even be our business? Because stars put themselve out there, wanting us to pay attention to increase their movie returns? Yes, no, I don’t know.
The issue though again, is the weight of words and who we are in any given moment.
At what points should we be judged and frozen in time, never to have a chance to live differently?
I see those words and understand the damage. Not sure what causes a parent to stop acting as the parent and to verbally abuse their child in such a way.
Is the media now telling that child she is damaged? Her parents, or at least one of them, are psychotic?
I know nothing of this child. I don’t know if she is old beyond her years and has realized the deficiencies of ill timed and inappropriate and abusive anger.
I simply don’t know.
What I do know is that recording and the family’s grief wasn’t meant for us, but know it is ours.
What will we do about it? Do we take the log from our eye?
See: CNN Updates
Here we go.
Here we go.
Here we go again.
Trolling Virtual Earth.
This time, we have to admit, we had to depart the Matrix and enter the physical world. Actually had to park a car, walk, heavy footed on concrete ground and enter—-gasp—an independent bookstore. Yes that’s right. An independent beautiful world affirming bookstore. Shucks, to think we aren’t even gonna tell you where this gem is….ok….we might…but not today.
“Confessions of a Rogue Novelist“….
back cover sent to you via virtual earth compliments of surface earth, the liason of virtuality meeting physicality……..
“A Word
Confessions of a Rogue Novelist takes a hard look at the world of Commercial Book Publishing-a world of shock, shlock, and celebrity.
The catchword of this depraved New World is: ‘quality is taboo’. Claiming that good books don’t sell, [let's not forget, Harry Potter's unfortunate trips through slush piles], too many agents, editors, and publishers have driven quality away from the marketplace.
Dedicated to the Unpublished Novelist and The Unhappily Published Writer, Confessions of a Rogue Novelist suggest an alterantive route to breaking into print. This route is not without peril and is definitely not for the timid. But if the ourtcast is to win his own world–if quality is to find its long-deprived audience–it is a path worth taking.
A.J. Liebling once remarked, “There is Freedom of the Press if you’re rich enough to own one.” And so you won’t find anything like Confessions of a Rogue Novelist in what passes for New Grub Street today.
But Confessions, having been published away from the marketplace,away form the rubbish heap of the big commercial houses, raises some disturbing, even revolutionary questuions about the current book scene. And it does this with style and penetrating insight.”
The author of “Confessions of a Rogue Novelist” is identified as I. Yevish.
Your children are his expression
I can’t even speak about this
go to cnn.com
that’s all you have to do
what’s the difference in what little ms. sunshine taught us?
Yesterday, I had a comic relief day.
Many of you may not have wanted to click on the links I provided yesterday, as to be frank, many could consider much of the language or messages objectionable; yet, there is a madness to some of the messages conveyed, we reap what we sow.
So, what is marriage?
Do people today marry for love?
Is it real?
Do people marry for love today?
I applaud and welcome the many spiritual teachers, motivators that walk around us. What happens though when theory is simply not enough?
Many of us understand the power of language, that if we say “I can”, rather, than “I might”, we carry greater power into the universe, we ask for positive strength to be returned.
Suppose, though, that there are moments or days when changing our language does not change our lives?
When despite what we might say, there are still people starving, there are people abused and attacked, there is such a well of despair, that merely changing language will not change lives?
Is it reasonable that in moments like that, lives like that, people clammor and demand a formula? A tried and true, no returns necessary formula, a simple number: 1-800-fix-us-now………….a solution that works immediately?
Do you know what truth is?
Sure, it is a compilation of facts.
Do you know what facts are?
Sure it’s what’s black and white.
What’s black?
Um, that which is darkest.
What’s white?
That which is most white, without being translucent.
So,
facts are that which are darkest and not most translucent, right?
At which point do we divorce perception and its effects from what we regard as facts?
Let me give you a very basic, perhaps insulting example:
How do we live in a world, where anyone, government included, has an excuse to kill others, and we argue over whether it is defined as genocide or a humantiarian crisis?
I find articles pitting Science against God amusing.
Perhaps because I am simple minded.
Perhaps because I figure, Science doesn’t know what is out there so why should the mere word “Science” obliterate God?
Suppose in the end there is no difference?
For more fascinating thoughts, albeit a bit more complex,
See the New York Times Sunday Magazine
Really?
Are we here again?
First scrotum, and now vagina?
Ok, let me go check on-line, popular, dictionary or encyclopedias, to see if they are horrible, or in fact, medical, scientific words….because I am pretty angry that an author and now three young teens pay the price for the rest of us exercising civil liberties….
“I’m not a potted plant.”
I can absorb, listen, do my “charitable” deed and remain impassive during the onslaught. But whoever said, I had to be a potted plant?
I raise questions, queries, perhaps bordering onto commentary at times, as to spiritual or save me, religious beliefs. The idea is to provoke discussion, to get thinking about the big picture that is so far beyond us most times that we can only see our feet. And yes, yes, life deals us blows that knock us over and we then become grateful for being able to see our feet, let alone the big picture.
Forgive me, I digress.
Why must certain religious persuasions be forced upon others?
Truly, I could care less what you believe, although I do draw the line at using your beliefs to manipulate or harm in any way others.
So why should anyone care if beliefs are in conflict as long as that very basic humanitarian goal is met?
I AM NOT A POTTED PLANT.
I will not just sit and take garbage that you have to believe only one way or the other. If I wake up tomorrow and decide I am one of the starpeople, so be it.
____
Editor’s Note: These links from the author will take you to some other people who have made it clear that they too are not potted plants:
Reference to Brendan Sullivan Iran-Contra trial comment
Come on.
Let’s get real.
We don’t get it.
Is there really a monopoly on one man’s thoughts so long ago?
What’s so wrong with the rest of us that we need to live, beholden, to others’ thoughts, of one person’s life?
I am sure at this point you have all seen the news, and at this point, we are all home comfortably, far from the scene of the latest natural disaster.
Yet, look around you, search your heart, even one loss of those close to you, is a universal loss to you.
See this thoughtful blog:
Many, many people I know and know of, speak of new stories, day after day, week after week, of those they love or admire or know of, that have gotten the diagnosis.
Time and time again, most of them are “fit”, non-smokers, etc.
It comes time to pause, what are we missing?
WHAT ARE WE MISSING?
Can we not do a survey and connect the dots? Are there no dots to connect? Why every time someone we know has to deal with this are they unsure where to turn? Traditional medicine? Traditional with alternative rememedies? Strictly mindpower/alternative?
There must be a way to create a web to decipher this issue. There has to be, there has to be, there has to be; because we all need to figure this out TODAY.
Why would it matter if it were true?
Why would it be any less of a miracle and reason for faith?
Who can shed more light on this?
Can someone?
I clicked on this post, do not know the full details or veracity, but after seeing a picture of a cell where a 9 yr old boy is allegedly held, I’m asking anyone out there, do you know what this is about?
http://www.latimes.com/search/la-na-immig10feb10_jd7pwonc,0,996949.photo
Silence is space.
It is a respite from acting who you are.
When first practicing silence, it can be awkward. People expect more chatter, more noise, more feedback. Your internal monitors may churn expecting the expectation of noise.
When practiced in small quantities, it clears the brain. There are so many different ways to achieve this. Swallow a comment that’s not necessary or provoked to fly out of your mouth before your heart has caught up. Breath before speaking. Not shallow breaths, but a pure intake and exhale, a clearing. Smile first and as your smile slowly unwinds, allow yourself to form the words.
You may not just be benefitting yourself, but countless others too.
Outside the borders of America, it is not expression and penalty ensues.
Inside the borders, we fight valiantly as to what means expression and whose right of expression is most prevalent.
Is it really just anyone’s guess?
http://www.indonesiamatters.com/260/lia-eden-trial/
Shocked.
CNN headlines proclaim: Pastor says he is “God”.
Do the numbers, 666, and God, belong in the same sentence? Empircally, yes, both are 3(s), so is the Holy Trinity. Huh, maybe that’s why it’s reported he has three Rolex watches?
The Church of the non-judgmental. Catchy, no?
Yes, until the stories/rumors of suppression of other faiths.
What is true and what isn’t?
Does the Pastor claim to have the same spark of Divine Light arguably within all of us, the essence of God? Is that what he means?
Does anyone know what he truly means vs. what the media is telling us what he means?
Read it, read it, read it, and tell us your thoughts:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/16/miami.preacher/index.html
Veggie Tales teaches us that God would give us the power to love our enemies, love, all encompassing light, yes or no? Are there fine lines? Is there room for judgment? You be the judge.
copyright 2007, surface earth
I was asked to explain the meaning of love and found myself stalled.
If one needed to ask that question, was it even then possible to explain love in words?
There must be a place where things begin, beyond the surface of the earth, the pure origin. Unfiltered. Uninhibited. Filters affect the purity. To go back to the beginning and see yourself true. Untarnished.
Sitting in Court, waiting to be called, watching a little boy in a long hallway, his Grandma keeping an eye on him and two others. He’s fidgety having no place in his mind for a Court of law, rather than one of reason.
Grandma reaches in her bag, searching, I know that reach, she’s looking for distraction.
I hold out a few pens, his Grandma nods yes, he comes over, takes one and is back again to the paper in his Grandma’s lap.
He returns. “Do you have another? This one doesn’t write sideways.”
What is the measure and effect of thought?
Where do we start?
With the fact that she choose to shear her head?
With the fact that CNN wanted to cover the issue?
Is it possible that she just wanted to? Is it possible she just felt violated?
Is it possible, that as women, we may want to shear ourselves of convention?
Thanks be praise
to Heaven above
or is it
Heaven among us?
What do you choose?
Judgmental Jesus?
or the ever merciful
non political
non partisan
Jesus
of Mary?
Do you choose something else? Because let us be frank, we don’t care. Our vision of Jesus need not be yours. We don’t need to shove it down your thoughts, ask for your credit card number, or any number of things that brings back one telling vision: Jesus turning over the money changer’s tables.
Let me ask you though?
Who washed His feet?
Is it true? Is it real? In 2007, is there “them and us”; those that are saved, those that are not? The ones in the remote regions of Pakistan who value our independence in belief, simply asking us not to ridicule or kill them for theirs?
What is it? Are you telling me this is what “Jesus” wanted? A world divided in “his” name?
How many of us have met Jesus? How many of us know which parts of what we arguably know of Him, are known vs. learned?
Listen, we are old enough to not suscribe judgment.
We ask you a simple thing, you have orchestrated the formula of addiction, can you now provide us with the tool to non-addiction?
Those commercials you have been forced to make are no more than inducement for those of us inclined to go out and smoke more, because now we feel worse than ever.
But you know this right? You knew the points of our brain to addict us? Is it too much to hope you know how to truly un-addict us also?
We don’t care how much money you make, if you own a private jet or not, you can’t take it with you anyway, we just ask you to truly help us, stop making us feel bad for what you fed us to begin with- “share the secret”-you must know how to undo us, don’t you? We weren’t born wanting to be outcasts and prematurely dead.
We have begun to list a few charities and other ideas on our Resource page. This is just the beginning as we amass our thoughts and post them on the Resource page.
We are also looking to highlight Charities in need of assistance. Yes, we know there are countless charities, but if you come across this page, and want to drop us a note as to why and how people can help a particular organization, we applaud you in advance for your time and looking forward to helping you along the way.
Here is one recent example of how reading a book began to open our eyes. Three Cups of Tea, One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, published by Penguin.
While in the bookstore lately, took a quick dash around, trying to find a memory of a book – a narrative that had been written by a woman about the culture in one part of Africa, it was meant to talk about the people and their life, not as sensationalized news bites, but to truly use their words, their way. Unfortunately, could not remember either the title or the author and sought help, the woman was very nice, searching for a book for me with no title or author information. As I stood and waited I saw a cardboard stand with a few books in it, Three Cups of Tea. I told the woman thank you and that I thought she had led me to something important to read and I would continue my other search on another day.
I read this book slowly, which if you knew me, is a non-event as I devour books. There was simply too much for me to learn within these pages, too much courage and vision to read it like a beach novel.
Go check these worthwhile organizations and stop back and share with us your thoughts:
www.threecupsoftea.com
www.penniesforpeace.org
www.ikat.org
Read whatever you wish on the site for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, www.unhcr.org. We were particularly drawn to the journals written by Angelina Jolie. They are direct and frank, not embellishing, with simple words describing a world millions of miles away from the one we know in the United States.
You will meet families, mothers, fathers, brothers, uncles, friends, daughters….no different than your own, except they were born into a different place in this world. It will start you thinking, suppose, I, me, little me, could do something, anything to help?
Is it enough to hope for a moment, when life will individually change for all of us, and we will be given the chance, or have figured out the chance, to do something, anything, one small thing, that could set off a systematic reaction of good?
Give it a chance: read:
http://www.unhcr.org/help/HELP/439d4ee52.html
I saw the line come up, was it for a news program last Friday?
I adore these words. You have seen these words time and time again on this blog. I question what it means, certainly I perceive that the author of these words, (?John Mayer?), was not waiting on the world to change but was hoping for the world to change. Yet, I cannot step in his shoes to know, I do not even know if the words are his.
I will tell you my spin:
We all wait. From the moment we are born. And then, I guess, we wait again, after death when we are reborn.
How can anything be more important than discovering why we are here? How it could be? Why we would allow others known, here among us, to starve for the price of a private plane, a mortgage, private school tuition, a Gucci bag, a meal at McDonald’s….
Oh, I’m not judging, I’m just as wrong, please just tell me why…
There was some previous commentary on whether we are “waiting” on the world to change or whether in fact we are not waiting at all. Personally, I must be waiting, because I don’t seem to be doing very much. We’ve found Salvation Army to help us help others this Christmas, Christmas being the holiday we have celebrated for many years. Then it occurred to me to ask them, hey, what else can we help you with during the year?
I dream about winning the lottery and building children’s homes and creating an environment where children cannot be harmed and twisted by the shortcomings of adults.
“I won’t spend my life waiting for an angel to descend, searching for the rainbow with an end…” (Katie Melua, “Call Off The Search”)
I stood outside this evening and saw one full moon. I turned my head toward a window on the surface of my home and saw two moons. Which perception was real?
I know that when I turn off the CNN program on the Aids Orphans in Africa, the children still sit in the hut alone.
I know when I turn off CNN, there is still a family missing in San Francisco.
If six degrees of separation is a reality and not a theoretical concept, why is it that I can turn off the t.v., build a fire, have some food and yet, children six degrees removed from me remain in isolation, vulnerable and without food?
What do we do? As we wait? We start up blogs, we look for people of similar interests to join together and get ideas going, get momentum tha will have any chance of actually accelerating into anything close to a change.
The format isn’t perfect, we would need money to do that, but it’s a start, why not help each other within zipcodes? Why not strengthen from within and move out?
Each year, we make many promises. I’ll shop earlier. I’ll buy the perfect gifts. I’ll have enough to buy the gifts and not resort to credit cards.
This year, we feel none of that pull, and wonder, what is it that we can do differently?
Is there a line that should not be crossed in giving?
When you give of yourself, is there a point when you give too much, leaving yourself depleted and with less to give in the end?
Is there a point when it is not selfishness to preserve yourself, because in the preservation, you maintain a more solid foundation from which to give?
By accruing wealth, and then determining how to expend it, do you in essence give more?
Or is it in working in a non-profit sector, where perhaps you give more each moment, that there is more to give?
Does it matter, as long as you are truly giving?
no, not my words. just a shared feeling. wanted to put up the YouTube link to the video, just not sure it’s not copyright infringement.
Watch it, however you can, whatever is legal: John Mayer: Waiting on the World to Change
Then tell me, why is it that we are waiting?
I read an interesting piece in this week’s New York magazine, entitled: The Have Lots and the Have Nots”.
The premise was to expound upon the disparity of wealth in New York and to fairly try to depict, is the existence of such vast wealth a bonus or a negative or is it at least a positive if it helps one person?
I don’t know. I know that we may feel we don’t need to help fellow adults, hey, they have the same opportunity as everyone else to get ahead right? But then some feel we have an obligation to help the children of those same adults because the children don’t have much of a chance to get ahead.
Then again, today’s adults were yesterday’s children and so on.
kids and/or adult clothes in good condition………………anyone or a friend in need of kids clothes?
What are ideas to start up a clothes exchange in your town?
You can always anonymously post and there could be a drop off area…a church…a store….start getting the local vendors into the surface earth exchange!
How do you get started within zipcodes? The premise of Surface Earth is to be self-empowering and self sustaining. There will not be a need as the community grows for an overload on beaucracy or religious institutions, rather, individuals will feed the movement themselves.
One of the biggest problems now are people who need to save face. What ways can we help each other within zipcodes and not have people feel like charity cases and consequently shun help?
Encourage an exchange, clothes, babysitting sharing, outdoor work, etc. As the exchange would occur within zipcodes, little by little, a web will be formed of strong individual strands.
Join in and pass this site around, it’s time to begin at the beginning.
-Surface Earth