Lifecycles

We've all heard them: "It's darkest before the dawn; Every cloud has a silver lining; When one door closes, another one opens." They are those sayings that make us feel better when we get disappointed. They are mild pain relievers also known as God's aspirin.

Though we probably don't think much of them, they could mean the difference between staying in a certain mind frame or coming out if it unscathed.

Life's unexpected incidents can bring us to the brink of spiritual disaster or the dawn of a new beginning. Some people may describe the recent hurricane survivors as being lucky they were taken from such dire circumstances.

Still the majority view it as being a tragedy any way you look at it. To them, death and destruction always equals a loss of hope, faith and spirit. Optimism shouldn't be totally discounted.

After any destruction is new construction. Unfortunately we can't bring the dead victims back to life. Out of the survivors, many people will get new jobs, renewed hope and faith; bringing the death of their spirits back to life. It's the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

We are on a treadmill of experiences; some happy, some sad; all unforgettable. When we fall off, we have to jump back on. In doing so, we develop a resolve, an inner strength, a spiritual deliberation of God's plans.

An inner dialogue may go like this: "What plans? Why wasn't I consulted?" We can't question God's plans. Well, we could if we want, but that may cause more frustration and just won't do any good.

By being a willing participant, you allow yourself to work with God. The real question is how do we know it is God's plan? Ask? The answer may be manifested in your daily activities; your dreams; a stranger's advice; a sign; anything. You have to foster your inner communication with your spirit. This can be accomplished by contemplation; silencing the mind and the little self.

Murphy's Laws symbolize the error-prone nature of people and processes. When people quote Murphy's Law, it's because of their mindset. If you reverse your thinking, you are more likely to remember the positivity in life rather than negativity.

Some of of the laws are as follows:

• If something can go wrong, it will.
• Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.
• Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value.
• The buddy system is essential to your survival; it gives the enemy somebody else to shoot at.
• Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.
• Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
• The first myth of management is that it exists.

Try this experiment. Every time you hear someone say something negative, reverse it and make it positive. Have fun with it and beforeyou know it, you will adopt it as part of your life.

For fun, test your optimism level at The Test Cafe. Enjoy.

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Lost Souls In The Wings

I have been warned. Like a digital watch owner, my days were numbered. Apparently I'm about to be "exposed." As what I don't know? Whatever it is, I did it! Whatever it isn't, I'll do it! Isn't exposure the cornerstone of publicity?

Just in case anything happens to me, remember that I love you all; especially my exposer. I got an email yesterday in response to yesterday's post; an inspirational quote by Thoreau.

The email read, "Stop lying or I will expose you." At first I thought it was hilarious, but then I thought how sad that someone was so offended by Thoreau who has inspired generations of artists, writers and lost souls.

I rarely get emails of this nature. Usually the culprit is blowing off steam at anyone in front of him. Emailing is such a salacious device. We are attracted by it's simplicity and lured by it's darkness. People are more inclined to let you into their world, no matter how dark, twisted or demented.

I feel that my exposer is reaching out for love. Maybe his life is so soulless that he embraced the light he saw in the post. Light can effect people strangely. It can either lead them to safety or blind them. Sometimes it is light, not the lack of light that frightens us.

There's a place in London called, Speakers Corner where people can speak their minds to anyone willing to listen. Speakers Corner has been a place of assembly for those battling for their rights since the middle of the 19th Century.

It was where the Chartists, the Reform League, the May Day demonstrators and the Suffragettes held many of their greatest battles, tens of millions have assembled there and many have won reforms!

Maybe responding like this will fan my exposer's flames? Maybe it will quash them? Maybe it will let him know that he was heard and that he can't hurt me? My artillery is God. Maybe this will confirm his fears, that God is among us.

At least people are reading and that's all we ever ask. It sounds like my exposer has a thorn in his paw. Maybe if enough people give him love, he won't strike out at Thoreau.

To my exposer, here's a caveat: If you're going to expose me for anything, expose me for the truth. Whether you believe it or not, it's my truth and that's the glory of blogging.

This is my speakers corner and in speakers corner, anything goes. If what I choose to post offends you, then click to the next blog and read something that won't make you think or elicit a response.

If I believe in being read and you believe in being blue, then go where you can be blue and let me be read. The spectrum of colors exist for a reason. If you want to expose something, expose God in your heart.

To fellow bloggers: Don't be afraid to speak the truth. Stand behind your convictions. And if someone threatens to expose you, rest assured that they can do no harm with God protecting you.

As a friends' father once told me, "Have a clean heart and you can tread wherever you want."

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Eternity Now

“You must live
in the Present,
launch yourself
on every wave,
find your Eternity
in each moment.
If one advances
Confidently
in the Direction of
one's Dreams,
and endeavors
to Live the Life
which one has
Imagined,
one will meet with
a Success
unexpected in
common hours.”

Henry David Thoreau

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The Foundation

“We turn to God

for help

when our foundations

are shaking,

only to learn

that it is God

who is

shaking them.”

-Charles C. West

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Spirit Of Giving

You've seen the telethons, the charity events, the jars at the supermarket check-out counters, and the occasional vagabond asking for donations. You've given financial compensation when you could but sometimes you just don't have it. There is a solution.

Why not give yourself? What better person to give? There is a website called, The Spirit Of Giving that focus on people giving acts of themselves.

"100,000 Acts of Giving is Mission Hospital's call to all Orange County residents to demonstrate their Spirit of Giving in their own unique way through a simple act of kindness or good deed. During the coming year and a half, we are seeking to accomplish a total of more than 100,000 combined acts of giving between the hospital and the community."

An act can be as simple as a friendly, "Hello" to a stranger or as elaborate as volunteering time or giving money to a cause or organization. You can post your act of giving right on their website. It's a pleasant way to help and to enliven your spirit of giving.

Here is a sample post.

"Someone very important did (and is still doing) something for me. He loved me without discrimination and without boundaries. Sometimes people get so focused on giving MATERIAL items that they forget about the things that truly matter--love, acceptance, and friendship. I received love and it saved me."

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Seasons Of Love

When the musical, RENT debuted ten years ago, I was blown back by the evocative music; the score; lyrics; singing; the entire production is gripping. It is arguably one of the best musicals ever.

One song in particular, Seasons Of Love, is often playing on my mind's soundtrack. It is a highy profound and spiritually sound song with the underlining message that life is measured through love and life could take any one of us at any given moment.

It couldn't be any simpler than that. Life is a series of various moments and the moments that stand out are those laced in love. The moments of camaraderie, comfort, laugher, hope, realization, even disappointment are the very moments that build our foundation and our strength. Those same moments are precious -- priceless.

Since it's debut, RENT has won a Pulitzer prize for Drama and the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book?

"RENT is the musical hit on Broadway which tells the audience to come celebrate the seasons of love despite all the insurmountable pitfalls of life. This drama is a modern day version of Giacomo Puccini's classic 1896 opera, La Boheme. Dealing with today's controversial issues such as homelessness, AIDS and drug addiction in such a manner as to fill the audience with feelings of hope and compassion. The tale being told is seen through the eyes of a group of New York City East Village artists struggling to survive and find love and hope in today's world."

One thing we can learn from RENT is that love is always in season, so let it bloom!

Seasons Of Love
Book, Music & Lyrics
by Jonathan Larson

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes,
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love

Seasons of love Seasons of love

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes!
Five hundred twenty-five thousand journeys to plan.
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?
In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried.
In bridges he burned, or the way that she died.
It's time now to sing out, tho' the story never ends
Let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends
Remember the love! Remember the love! Remember the love!
Measure in love! Measure, measure your life in love

Seasons of love Seasons of love

In diapers, report cards in spoke wheels, speeding tickets
In contracts, dollars in funerals, in births
In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you figure a last year on earth?
Figure in love Figure in love Figure in love Measure in love

Seasons of love Seasons of love

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Monks Just Wanna Have Fun

Having been spoon-fed the dictionary as an infant, I tapped into my connate adoration for words. It taught me at a very young age that the mind is both receptive and expansive if you feed it well.

I officially became a linguaphile. I loved the sound and feel of words and how words stretched the mouth and the imagination. It was soon after that I began putting my own selection of words together, forming sentences, phrases, pages and pages of prose; some of which result in blogging.

Today my devotion for words and holism coincided. I am a member of A.Word.A.Day terrific site that showcases new words. Even if I've heard them before, I still like to hear them again -- and again. That's what a word habit can do to you. Too much is never enough.

Anyway today's word is gyrovague (JYE-ro-vayg): noun. A gyrovague is a monk who travels from one place to another. [From French, from Late Latin gyrovagus gyro- (circle) + vagus (wandering).]

Today's word caused me to think about the life of a monk? Is it really fulfilling? Are they really happy or are they just escapists from life's harsh reality? They obviously are dedicated to a cloistered existence, but why do they have to be hidden?

Wouldn't it be magnificent if they could take what they know of God and spread it to others? God lovers and atheist's alike? It seems that they spend their entire lives in that environment to purify themselves, only to die. I am not deriding monks, it's just a western observation.

I would love to go into a monastery and speak with a monk and find out how they feel? While I think it's wonderful to dedicate one's life to a higher purpose and I'm sure most monks love their lifestyle, I can't help to think that some would rather be sailing, fishing, married and doing what other people do. The grass is always greener.

On the other hand, I can't blame a monk for not wanting to deal with being cut off in traffic, cell phones ringing in theaters, their checks not coming, their roof leaking, their child missing, air pollution, fed rate hikes, world disasters, or Oprah.

They may even miss out on simple things like going to a symphony, seeing a meteor shower, holding a newborn in their arms, a hot air balloon ride, a chocolate covered strawberry or coming to the aid of a neighbor in need.

Monks are of this world and not in it. It's time to take spiritism out of the ashrams, monasteries, darken caves, mountains, and mystery schools and put into the heart of the people.

The reasons we learn God qualities is to show others how to be godly, not keep it to ourselves. These tasks make us stronger and help us deal with everyday life.

We are in this world, but we don't have to succumb to life's rough edges. Those edges give us smoothness, cause, concern, wisdom, madness, sanity -- life.

For a glimpse into the life of a medieval monk PBS has a series on Martin Luther.


For various Kinds Of Monks.

For another monk point of view. Check out A Monk's Life.

(cut & paste the url below)
http://txc.net.au/~mapie/monkslife.htm

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Engineering Spirituality

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of working in the corporate offices of Toyota on a contract job. Going into an established corporate environment can be daunting and I wanted to make sure that I made a good impression.

I walked in with all of my notes, ideas, concepts; everything I needed to dazzle them. I was welcomed with such open arms and hospitality. The people were like long lost family members. Instead of me dazzling them, they wound up dazzling me.

It's not often that we get the golden opportunity to work in such an amazing environment where everything is seamless; the job, the people, and the company. Needless to say, I had a positive experience.

As I begun to delve further into the company's ethos, I discovered The Toyota Way; the guiding force behind this behemothic car manufacturer.

Toyota uses various techniques to build their automobiles based on managerial principles. Those same principles can be used to build spiritual character. In fact, these same principles are even taught at other corporate universities around the world.

Some of the principles are as follows:

Hansei: Responsibility and self-reflection. This concept is about reflecting on mistakes/weaknesses and devising ways to improve.

Spiritual principle: We must be spirituality responsible for our lives and improve the areas that need it.

The Toyota Production System: This philosophy and the entire Toyota production process is the concept that Good Thinking Means Good Product.

Spiritual principle: Positive thoughts can manifest positive outcome.

Genchi Genbutsu: Go see the problem. This is the belief that practical experience is valued over theoretical knowledge. You must see the problem to know the problem.

Spiritual principle: Put your theories into practice and learn by doing. Trial and error will lead you to success. Look at every inventor. They didn't give up.

Hoshin - Reaching goals.

Spiritual principle: If you don't set goals, you won't reach goals.

Jidoka - refers to stopping production lines, by man or machine, in the event of problems such as equipment malfunction. This helps prevent the passing of defects, helps identify and correct problems and makes it possible to build quality.

Spiritual principle: Build quality in your life and it will show in everything you do.

Kaizen - A system of continuous improvement where waste is eradicated.

Spiritual principle: You can constantly improve your disposition by getting rid of anything or anyone in your life that holds you back from your goals.

Toyota has been building excellent products for many years now. If we practiced these principles in our daily lives, imagine what products of society we could be.

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A Time For Prayer

Every year millions of Tibetans gather for The Great Prayer Festival or Monlam. It is a time when they can all come together and pray for a better life. Prayer is essential to their culture and helps them manifest peace and balance.

Monlam means prayer and at monasteries, a great Buddhist service is held and Cham (Buddhist dances) are performed from New Year's day until the end of Monlam. The new year usually starts in February during the lunar month.

Instituted by Tsongkpa in 1409, the founder of the Gelukpa sect. Monks from the Three Great Monastery of Tibet assemble in Jokhang for prayer to Shakyamuni's image as if it is the living Buddha. Pilgrims come from every corner of Tibet and donations are offered to the monks.

For more information, EN.TIBET.CN

For more pictures, The Great Prayer Festival.

Tibetans are not the only ones that celebrate prayer. Various religions have this type of festival. Muslims celebrate Ramadhaan and Christians also have prayer festivals.

Prayer is an excellent way to quiet your mind and let God speak. You don't have to wait until a prayer festival to do it. It's a good way to start your day and a good way to end it. It also enhances your well-being.

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Siamese Fighting Fish

There has been so much controversy surrounding the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoon that it has caused a myriad of unnecessary deaths to many individuals all over the world. Why?

Since when did human life become so disposable? It is one thing to love God to the point where you feel loved and protected, but when that love turns to destruction then I question whether it is a love for God or something else disguised as God?

Have some of us lost our sense of purpose? Our sense of God? If certain individuals are living for God and all God has to offer, then how could those same individuals kill for God, essentially killing the God force itself? It is because of God that we live and breathe.

Just like a dog turning on its master, biting the hand that feeds it, God, or the interpretation thereof, obliterates the very thing it created.

Nature often holds a mirror to our behavior. When a Siamese Fighting fish looks at its own reflection, its characteristic aggressive responses are readily elicited by its own reflection in a mirror placed outside an aquarium. Could this be what's happening to us?

Are we intimidated by our own reflection? Afraid of what we see? Is the reason there is so much dissension and debate over God because man is in a quandary as to who God really is?

Author Dick Gregory sums it up this way.

"I'm not into isms and asms. There isn't a Catholic moon and a Baptist sun. I know the universal God is universal. I feel that the same God-force that is the mother and father of the pope is also the mother and father of the loneliest wino on the planet."

Writer, Robert M. Pirsig says,

"You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt. "

There has been too much hurt; too much pain; too many tears; too much fear; too much intolerance; and far too much bloodshed. We need to heal; to pray; to be the word that soothes; to be the ear that listens; to be the hand that heals; to be the heart that feels; to be IN God's light and to BE God's light.

To get the back story on the cartoons, check out Daily Kos.

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The Experiment Continues

“To me the sole hope of human salvation
lies in teaching Man
to regard himself
as an experiment
in the realization of God,
to regard his hands as God's hand,
his brain as God's brain,
his purpose as God's purpose.
He must regard God as
a helpless Longing,
which longed him into existence
by its desperate need for
an executive organ.”

--George Bernard Shaw

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Bon Voyage

Getting to know yourself is like taking a journey into a vast ocean.

The disquieting motion and silence can be dark and solitary.
As you travel deeper into the water,
you will see a life you never knew existed;
a life that you crave;
a life where your soul is unchained.
Get to know your own truth
and rise in the sun.
You won't be the same.

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Godletes

Watching the Winter Olympics, one can appreciate the discipline, struggle, proficiency, passion and the artistry of athleticism. It is quite a feat to even get there.

The Olympian athletes have a lot in common with the godletes? The what, you ask? Godletes. Those souls who push themselves to the limit for the glory of God.

They are every bit dexterous, eloquent, and passionate, but you don't see them on cereal boxes with multimillion dollar endorsement deals. You don't see them doing press conferences, fielding questions from the world press. You may not even see them at all. Well, they are there.

They are the unsung heroes. We don't see the times when they have wanted to give up, but didn't. The times when they thought they couldn't go any further, but did. The times when they couldn't find the strength, but took a deep breath.

They are not seeking a medal in this spiritual pilgrimage, but they are still going for the gold -- in mastership.

Wouldn't it be great if we could all be godletes? You can carry the torch, bear the scars, or change a life. And the reward? Well that comes from knowing you have carried the torch a little further and made a life a little easier. Be passionate in your quest and quenched in your thirst; whatever it shall be.

"Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting... and though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace... but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we'd be truly dead."

-- Joss Whedon

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Uplifting

If used the right way, the internet is a fount of knowledge, discovery and wonder and I came across something amazing. It is a poem that is so perfectly written, so flawless and breathtaking; like it was written by God.

This poem received a lot of attention in 1971 when it was taken to the moon by astronaut, James B. Irwin on Apollo 15. Irwin's mother gave it to him before the flight and he actually left a copy of the poem on the moon. It was written in 1947 by James Dillet Freeman.

I AM THERE

Do you need Me?
I am there.

You cannot see Me,
yet I am the light you see by.
You cannot hear Me,
yet I speak through your voice.
You cannot feel Me,
yet I am the power at work
in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand
My ways.
I am at work, though you do not understand
My works.
I am not strange visions.
I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self,
can you know Me
as I AM,
and then but as a feeling and a faith.
Yet I am here. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.
When you need ME, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there.
Even when you feel most alone,
I am there.
Even in your fears, I am there.
Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray
and when you do not pray.
I am in you, and you are in Me.
Only in your mind can you
feel separate from Me, for
only in your mind
are the mists of "yours" and "mine".
Yet only with your mind
can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.
When you get yourself out of the way,
I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing,
but I can do all.
And I AM in all.

Though you may not see the good,
good is there, for
I am there. I am there
because I have to be, because I AM.

Only in Me does the world have meaning;
only out of Me does the world take form;
only because of ME does the world go forward.
I am the law on which the movement of the stars
and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law's fulfilling.
I am assurance.
I am peace. I am oneness.
I am the law that you can live by.
I am the LOVE that you can cling to.
I am your assurance.
I am your peace.
I am ONE with you. I am.

Though you fail to find ME, I do not fail you.
Though your faith in Me is unsure,
My faith in you never wavers,
because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved,
I AM there.

--- James Dillet Freeman

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Keeping Your Word

Since love or lack of love is on the mind of many today, I invited some of my favorite words over in your honor. Words are incredible catalysts.

They can caress us, soften our hearts, or hurt us and crush our spirits. They are deeds in themselves. To attain the highest form of yourself propels you to attain the ultimate; God consciousness.

We are all fascinating works in progress. I want us all to be able to aspire to our higher selves. Get to know these words, they will serve you well.

Become them and you will experience a stupendous transformation in all aspects of your life. So open your mouth and say them. Open your mind and let them walk through. Open your heart and let them stay.

You can be...

Astonishing, Aware, Accomplishing, Blessing, Brave, Brotherly, Compassionate, Conscious, Creative, Daring, Dignified, Diplomatic, Enlightening, Encouraging, Epic, Faithful, Feeling, Forgiving, Gentle, Grateful, Godly

Happy, Honorable, Humble, Imaginative, Inspiring, Invaluable, Judicious, Jovial, Joyful, Karmic, Kind, Knowledgeable, Laughing, Legendary, Love, Magnificent, Motley, Mystical, Noble, Noteworthy, Nurturing

Occurring, Offering, Optimistic, Patient, Peaceful, Phenomenal, Questioning, Quiet, Quality, Radiant, Rupturing, Reassuring

Selfless, Sincere, Smiling, Teaching, Tender, Temperate, Unconventional, Uplifting, Unique, Veracious, Versatile, Vast

Wise, Wonderful, Worthy, X-ceptional, X-citing, X-pressive, Yearning, Yielding, You, Zealous, Zestful,
Z-End.

Pick one. Pick all. Interchange them. Add to them. Make them your own. You CAN be all!

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Divine Justice

I often think of those times when my patience is stretched to the limits. Like the time I drove 100 miles to a location to interview for a terrific writing job and I waited two hours for an interview -- and the interviewer never showed up.

I also remember the time when the little girl behind me in the market kept pushing the basket into my ankles. At first I ignored it and moved up. Then it happened again and again. I tried to get the mother's attention whose nose was buried in a gossip rag, to no avail.

I politely told the girl to stop and she quickly hid behind her mother for protection. I turned and tried to forget my toddler assault.

As I got closer to the front of the line, I heard a scream. I turned to find the little girl on the floor covered with chocolate syrup.

An elderly man holding groceries didn't see the girl and tripped over her. All of his groceries fell including the chocolate syrup which, opened and spilled all over the girl.

I couldn't help but to smile. This was the climax in a film, the comeuppance, the money shot, the moment when the boy gets the girl, the moment when everything is resolved perfectly.

It was the white doves being released, the hallelujah choir singing, the angels applauding. It was one of those moments in life that I call, 'Divine Justice.'

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Chinese Zigzag

Evolution is somewhat perplexing and mysterious. The more you learn, the more you know. The more you know, the less you learn. The canvas keeps expanding.

Evolution is not finite or determined at the end of a race. It is a slow burn to a brush fire. A fire that consumes you until you're spirit is ignited again.

It's not walking on hot coals barefoot, or giving up wordly possessions, or becoming a vegan. It is a life path to a greater life.

You are everything that you think you are. It's only by changing your consciousness that you become everything that you really are.

Evolution can be summarized in this description. In 1850 to 1880, Hamley Brothers of Regent Street in London sold the Chinese Zigzag puzzle similar to this beautifully made contemporary version by Kathleen Malcolmson of Cleverwood.

To disassemble the puzzle, the layers are slid off and the four pieces for a layer easily come apart. Assembly is not difficult, but time consuming.

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Birds Of A Feather

We can learn a lot from nature. She is relentless in teaching us spiritual values and showing us the ways of the universe. For instance, take geese. While they are flying the high road together, they form a phenomenal bond and a fraternity.

Ethologists have discovered many evolutionary and significant observations to this species in particular. Geese fly in a "V" formation. By doing this seemingly simple task, the whole flock ads 71% greater flying range than if they each flew without each other.

As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an tremendous uplift for the birds that follow, making their journey much easier. Geese are like a well-oiled machine.

If one goose falls out of the formation, it feels such a drag and resistance that it quickly moves back into the formation to benefit from the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Experts at teamwork, when the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and lets another goose fly to the point position. The geese even honk to encourage those up front to maintain their speed.

Their bond is so tight that when a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it.

They stay with it until they help to nurse it back to health and it is able to fly again or if it happens to die, they pay their last respects before they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.

The lessons from geese are plentiful and everlasting. They are strict taskmasters with strong leadership ability, yet their loyalty, love and support of each other is boundless.

They fathom the sum of the whole is far greater than the sum of one. Everyone is in it together; holding each other up when they fall down.

If the geese observed us, what would they learn? Would they see us supporting each other or tearing each other down? Would they see us as the supportive and caring individuals that we are all capable of being?

Would they see us living as our highest selves? The aspect of geese that is paramount is that when one falls, two go down with it to nourish its spirit - - and that's a spectacular quality to possess.

When one of us falls, we have to carry the fallen ones back to the light of God. Let us all be geese. The geese shall inherit the earth.

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Get A Grip, Let Go

So you've been dragging that baggage around for days, weeks, months, even years. What has it done for you lately besides weigh you down?

What do you have to show for it except crows feet, wrinkle lines, frown lines and an exorbitant detestation for life? Aren't you tired?

Time to let get a grip and let go. A contradiction perhaps, but a necessary chore to your peace of mind. What is stopping you from hauling that baggage away? It has taken enough of your life, your happiness, your soul hasn't it?

When snakes shed their skin, it means that they are growing. When we shed our skin it means that we are evolving. A most welcomed trade-off if you ask me?

Here's an exercise. Imagine that every negative thought you're carrying around in your consciousness; gossip; criticism; anger; greed; attachment; jealousy; envy; vanity, mean spiritedness, etc. is put in their own balloon and then released.

Let everything go. Let it travel up to the heavens and out of your life for good. And don't let it creep back into your life by telling you that it loves you and promising you the world .

Just say goodbye. Let it go. Let it all go.

Don't you feel better now?

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Come On, Get Happy

Ask any person over the age of 60, "What's the secret to a long life?" They will usually say, "Happiness." Not the 'pursuit of happiness,' but actual happiness itself.

Happiness is an elusive butterfly. If you chase it, you won't be able to catch it, but if you relax, it will come to you.

We often chase external vices that we think will make us happy and they may do the job temporarily, but in the long run they do more damage than good.

Some sages purport that if you pursue something inherent, you won't get it. It is rather paradoxical. How can you get something without going after it? That's precisely the point. Happiness is already here; inside of you. It is the gold inside you that you have to mine.

What does a happy person look like anyway? Are they smiling from ear to ear? Are they giddy? Silly? Funny? If happiness is evanescent why bother? You don't have to be happy all the time, that's as bad as being clinically depressed. Would overly happy people be classified as 'clinically happy?'

The bottom line is that you can be happy for little moments at a time. Those little moments can turn into big moments and those big moments can turn into your natural disposition.

Happiness is a blissfully powerful state in which you can disengage your conflicts and extend your contract with your state of well-being.

We traverse various vignettes that build our spiritual constitution. Those experiences can make us happy, sad, disappointed or a plethora of other emotions. Happiness is the end result of a choice we make. You can choose not to let an experience bring you down. This choice will allow more happiness.

Everyone experiences loss, breakups, being fired from jobs, losing loved ones, illness, horrendous ups and downs, yet they still hang in there.

Happiness helps to build your character and your resistance to depression. By having happiness you are building a cache of memories that you can always access. You have to find what makes you happy.

For some people, working out does it. When they work out, endorphins are released from their brains. When endorphins are released, we feel better, our mood improves, pleasure increases and pain is minimized.

Endorphins are natural pain killers that cause the same feeling as morphine. But happiness is more than an endorphin thrill ride. People who line up for a roller coaster are happy, but when they get on, that happiness turns into fear? If what we live for is what we die for, why can't we die happy?

Let happiness itself be your thrill ride.

You can be happy right now. Take a vow of happiness. Really. People take vows everyday, they just don't think to take a vow of happiness.

If there are vows of celibacy, silence, marriage and God, then why can't we have a vow of happiness? All this means is that you promise yourself you will be happy for at least a moment a day. From there, the sky is the limit.

Vow to be happy daily and you'll get a life supply of memorable experiences? What a deal?

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Really Blind Faith

Yesterday, while I was walking, I saw the most bizarre scene. A blind man was trying to cross the street. Why can't a blind man cross the street you ask? He was trying to cross it in traffic. To make matters worse, it was rush hour traffic.

Cars were skidding, horns blaring, people swearing. While he tapped his white cane to get across, a woman ran from a building, screamed for him to stop and proceeded to drag him back to the curb. It was very surreal and certainly put a different spin on 'blind faith.'

I wondered what was going through the mind of the blind man? Was he trying to kill himself or did he know he would get to the other side? Sometimes, I think these scenes are set up just for me just to write about them.

As I continued my walk, I thought about blind faith. We all have blind faith whether we believe it or not. It is intrinsic to our being and vital to our existence. It's one of those extra features life gives us at no extra charge.

In a sense, we are just like the blind man. When we drive our cars we have faith that we won't run into anything. When we cross the street, we have faith that nothing will hit us. When we start a job, we have faith that we will get paid.

When we mail a letter, we have faith that it will get there. When we plant seeds we have faith that they will grow.

Faith is the tangible intangible; the esoteric dying to be exoteric. Faith is understanding that what you are doing already has an outcome, but you still have to do it. You do your part, the universe does the rest. I would like to leave you with something to ponder.

"Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark."
Rabindranath Tagore

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15 Minutes And Counting Part II

It is a constant challenge to be the best people we can be because we get distracted by minutiae. Although sometimes we may feel inadequate for any reason, we are never inadequate in the eyes of Spirit.

We are all here to be coworkers with each other for a higher purpose. How else can our souls be purified?

Feeling inadequate may be part of the reason why excess has become part of life's premium service. We want life with as many channels as possible. With all the bells and whistles. With as many opportunities to be distracted as possible. In the end, we are only prolonging the agony of defeat with a false thrill of victory.

We are minions for the silver-tongued, shiny tooth salesman who sells us used goods that we don't want or need all to the soothing sounds of Cha-ching.

Last month I saw Simon Cowell of American Idol-atry fame driving a new Rolls Royce Phantom with a grill the size of a football field and he couldn't even handle it. A prime example of what excess does to us.

What about the woman who has had 29 plastic surgeries and is now preparing for her next procedure -- to get a brain implanted! Warning: Objects in mirror are larger than they seem.

Evolution is here. Are you in? People can't even eat dinner without watching television. Televisions may as well be built into the dining table. What happened to talking and forming familial bonds at the dinner table?

Do we really care that a law student solved the Rubik's Cube in 11.13 seconds? Do we care that there are 43 quintillion unique Cube configurations? Why don't we aspire to be more worthy, other than bouncing a ball on our head like a circus seal?

In the words of Andy Warhol, "Everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." Is that in real time, or spaced out painstakingly one minute at a time? Evolution is waiting. Are you in?

Another fallout from the minutiae is our lack of intelligence and lack of intellectual stimulation. When I was in England I saw a foreboding commercial. A little girl was asked, "What is the capitol of England? She thinks for a second, scratches her head and then she says 'E.' We understand the difference between capital and capitol, don't we?

Even though this was only a commercial, it summed up the chasm in the intelligentsia. What is the intelligent quotient of a dumbed down society? Ask minutiae.

It's no wonder our children are getting low test scores and can't concentrate in school. They are so inebriated from the latest play station or game cube, text messaging, snapping from camera cell phones, downloading ringtones, surfing the web and lying in their profiles on 'My Space,' while listening and watching their lives going down the drain in simulcast on their iPods -- all this while they are in school!

As soon as they get home, they quickly toss back Red Bulls to stay awake so they don't miss the next wave of technology. So for them, it's really a full day of hard work, not slacking off.

As amazing as technology is, it robs us of our sensibilities and fills us with artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners; all the junk that we don't want to eat. As Einstein said, "Every day, man is making bigger and better fool-proof things. Every day, nature is making bigger and better fools. So far, I think nature is winning."

So how can we get more God and less technology? We can start by
making God our operating system and using the right applications. Talking to people face to face. Listening. Caring. Touching. Motivating. Loving.

With God, your 15 minutes is real, your 15 minutes is a lifetime.

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15 Minutes And Counting Part I

Why do we care about the insignificant? Why do we care that a ball player scores high either shooting, kicking, smacking, chipping, or running with a ball? Are numbers the only things we can count on?

What about the man who risked his own life to save a woman in a burning house, or a surgeon who pioneers a new technique to save a life? Are these people less important because they are not as famous?

Why is Time magazine getting thinner and People getting thicker? Is it because time in general is getting scarce and people are packing on pounds? At this rate, Time should be renamed, 'No Time?' We don't have time to nurture ourselves and nurture others.

However, we do have time to praise minutiae? Why? Does it make us feel good? Are our lives so inconsequential that we have to praise what we think is consequential? What happened to feeling good about ourselves? Our aspirations? Our accomplishments?

Could it have something to do with technology? We travel on the information superhighway at breakneck speeds crossing various time zones while technology traffic jams cause a delay in our destination and our progress as people. Interestingly enough, our reaction time is heightened.

What happens to us when our computer isn't working or our internet connection is down, or when the cable signal is out? Yes, we tend to go a crazy as if we're going to miss one second of something new. Anything new? Anything at all? It's an addiction to stimuli that is hard to break. It's an addiction that makes it hard for God to get through. That's when a lack in faith occurs. We are not feeling the collaboration of Spirit.

(To be continued)

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Inspire With New Life

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a charity that grants wishes to dying children. They have made millions of souls happy in their final days on earth. In fact, I donated a car to this foundation because I believe in it.

I was thinking about how life is such a fleeting moment. Before you know it, it's gone. How will you be remembered? What if you could eavesdrop on your eulogy; although technically you can? Will you be remembered as the idiot who never amounted to anything, or as a significant and loving person who lived life to the fullest, inspiring many along the way?

Johann Gottfried Von Herder said, "Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant, there is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.

Marcus T. Cicero said, "There never was a great soul that did not have some divine inspiration."

What will you say to sum up your life? Go out there and inspire before it's to late.

You don't have to wait until you are dying or someone else is dying to grant someone a wish. Make it a part of your life now. Granting wishes is a wonderful way to let God flow through you. Live each day as if it were your last.

Be in the moment. Be courageous. Be loving. Be wise. Be inspiring.

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Fight The Good Fight

Have you ever had a situation that has caused you to fight to the bitter end without results? When it was over, you still felt exhausted, defeated and that you wasted your time? We've all been there.

Often times, we're in predicaments where our backs are up against the wall and we have to fight. I was in Target the other day and I observed a female customer arguing with an employee.

The woman was returning an item that she had been charged for even though it didn't appear on her receipt. She explained it calmly. The employee didn't understand how that could happened, after all, computers are infallible. The woman calmly explained again that she was charged for something she didn't buy.

The employee then called her manager and the manager echoed what the employee said; it was virtually impossible to be charged for something that wasn't on the receipt.

By this time, the formerly calm woman was livid. Her eyes bulged, her teeth clenched, her fists pounded, her feet tapped, her voice raised and her blood boiled. Her whole body became tense, stressing her muscles and joints while her anger ate away at her soul.

I watched this go on for fifteen minutes. Every time the woman reiterated, the employee and the manger became more confused, until finally the woman left in frustration promising to call the corporate office.

I was amazed that the employees at Target couldn't come to a mutual solution to this problem. If I were the manager, I would have at least offered a credit to the woman.

How do we know when to fight and when not to fight? Just by questioning anything that doesn't sit right with us. It can be a big issue or a small issue, if it doesn't feel right, then it's time to fight.

I know a man who would get cheated every time he went to the grocery store. He would get charged the wrong price for an item without fail. Then one day, he took his receipts and explained to the manager what happened.

The manager apologized, gave him the overcharged items for free and also gave him a $25,00 gift card for good measure. But until he fought back, he didn't get any satisfaction. Obviously everyhting is not this straightforward.

Fighting the little fights leads to learning how to fight the big battles.

In the film, Rocky, all Rocky wanted in the beginning was a locker in the gym. Having a locker meant that he was a part of the gym; that he belonged, which put him in the league of the better fighters. A somewhat small goal that lead to a bigger goal, but he had to accomplish the small goal first in order to get the next goal; becoming champion.

Sometimes, no matter how much we fight, we can't change a situation. So why fight? Because we have to fight for what we feel passionate about; for what we believe in. It prepares us for the good fight.

Rocky actually has lots of spiritual overtones. It's not about boxing, it's about overcoming obstacles, triumph of the human spirit, the ant getting up the hill, the tortoise winning the race, a "nobody," as in Rocky's case becoming a "somebody." It's what we all want; beating the odds to reach our goals and thus win.

If you feel you have been wronged, cheated, overlooked for that promotion, stand up for yourself. You're your own champion. Others won't fight the way you fight for yourself. On the other side, you have to know when not to fight. If the waves are too overwhelming and you can't swim to shore, you are, as they say, up a creek without a paddle. That's when you have to turn the fight over to God. It's really a win-win situation.

When you fight for God. God fights for you.

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Letter To God

If the baby in yesterday's post had a voice, she would have been angry at her mother, her life or even at God. She wouldn't have understood the vicissitudes of life at such a young age. She wouldn't have realized that her spirit was being tested or that even our darkest hour has light.

I remember a song from 1986, by a group called XTC that sums up her sentiments. If she could have written a letter to God, it may have gone something like this.

Dear God
By Andy Partridge

Dear God,
Hope you got the letter and
I pray you can make it better down here.
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer
But all the people that you made in your image,
See them starving on their feet
'Cause they don't get enough to eat
From God
I can't believe in you.

Dear God,
Sorry to disturb you, but
I feel that I should be heard loud and clear.
We all need a big reduction in the amount of tears
And all the people that you made in your image,
See them fighting in the street
'Cause they can't make opinions meet
About God,
I can't believe in you.

Did you make disease, and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you?
And the devil too?!

Dear God,
Don't know if you noticed, but...
Your name is on a lot of quotes in this book,
Us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look,
And all the people that you made in your image,
Still believing that junk is true
Well I know it ain't, and so do you

Dear God,
I can't believe in...
I don't believe in...

I won't believe in heaven and hell.
No saints, no sinners, no devil as well.
No pearly gates, no thorny crown.
You're always letting us humans down.
The wars you bring, the babes you drown.
Those lost at sea and never found,
And it's the same the whole world 'round.
The hurt I see helps to compound
The Father, The Son and Holy Ghost
Is just somebody's unholy hoax
And if you're up there you'd perceive
That my heart's here upon my sleeve.
If there's one thing I don't believe in.....

It's you.....
Dear God

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Soul Survivor: The Little Baby That Could

What goes through a person's mind before they put a two month old baby into a black plastic trash bag and toss it into a lagoon? What are they thinking? More important, why aren't they thinking?

How could any mother do that to her child? Unfortunately, it happens and incidents like this are happening more and more all over the world. I believe it is mainly from feeling disconnected.

There's a force in life, like an umbilical cord that connects us all together. Some may call it God; Allah; Spirit; Holy Ghost; or Christ. Some don't believe in it at all, but it is here. Whatever the name, this force gives us a feeling of hope, of being a part of a bigger scheme.

A devil's advocate may believe differently. At the outset, we all think that the mother is a horrible figure for getting rid of her child, but perhaps, she did it to save her child from a fate the mother could not bear. So did this mother love her child or hate her child?

One could argue that she wanted to kill her child. Another could say that if she wanted to kill her child, why did she put a small wooden board inside the bag to keep it from sinking. Another could say, by putting the child in a plastic bag surely meant the demise of the child.

Maybe there is another reason it happened. We all remember the story of Moses. He was found floating in a basket in a river and the rest is history. Can we change our fate? Can we change the fate of another soul?

Soul is resilient. It survives lifetimes and lifetimes. Think about it. That baby survived being in that body bag where most would have perished. Without even having seasoned lungs, she managed to cry and get the attention of someone who just happened to be nearby. All this was accomplished without food, water or air -- but somehow she survived.

She managed to win life's lottery -- twice. First time was being born, the second time was being reborn. She encountered the cycle of birth and rebirth so early in life. She survived to teach us that life itself is a miracle that we shouldn't take for granted.

If you see anyone who is disenfranchised, throw out a life preserver. Talk talk to them, listen, be a vehicle for Spirit. Impress upon them that life is too precious to throw away. We are here to live and live we shall.

BBC News

FOXNews

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One Of Us?

I have a theory that everyone walks around with a soundtrack in their head. I'm no different. Certain songs that you like and sometimes loathe, attach themselves to you like little phantoms beating you into submission until you repeat them over and over again.

My latest one starts like this. "And yeah, yeah, God is great, yeah, yeah God is good..." I haven't even heard it on the radio lately, but it's number one with a bullet in my mind. The song is, "If God Was One Of Us," by Joan Osbourne.

It is a catchy little ditty that is quite provocative. It puts God in various scenarios and poses the question 'What if God were a regular Joe?' A concept certainly worthy of consideration. Is God among us? Is God one of us? Is that idea too lofty to fathom? Could God be a barista serving up double caramel frappuccinos and lattes in Starbucks or work the graveyard shift cleaning bathrooms at the Hilton.

Perhaps God could be a homeless man asking for spare change? We usually think of God being in the sky, not realizing that God could be anywhere. We are not home alone or lost in the forrest. There are always reminders that God is among us, through kindness, love, joy.

I have decided to pass my song on to you so it can stop playing in my head. Okay all together now. You're welcome. Come on.

If God Was One of Us

If God had a name, what would it be
And would you call it to his face
If you were faced with him in all his glory
What would you ask if you had just one question

And yeah yeah God is great yeah yeah God is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

If God had a face what would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets

And yeah yeah god is great yeah yeah God is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
He's trying to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody calling on the phone
Except for the pope maybe in Rome

And yeah yeah God is great yeah yeah God is good
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

What if god was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
Just trying to make his way home
Like a holy rolling stone
Back up to heaven all alone
Just trying to make his way home
Nobody calling on the phone
Except for the pope maybe in Rome

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