Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The End Of September

Five thoughts regarding our current financial crisis, on the last day of a tremendous and fascinating month :

1. There is an old Chinese saying: "May you live in interesting times." We most certainly do.

2. Nothing reminds us of what is truly important like a crisis of some sort.

3. Ultimately, you are safe. Fear is just fear. It is not reality. Unless you choose to make it so.

4. Our so-called leaders tend to be more concerned with their own careers, and how their actions and choices will reflect on them, then they are with the best interests of all of us.

And finally,

5. Nothing good ever came from pointing fingers and placing blame. There are two sides to every story, and both sides will always think they're right. But in the end, we're all looking for the same thing. Ultimately, there is only one side.

Are you on it?

Friday, September 26, 2008

O, Great Pumpkin!

Remember Linus and the Great Pumpkin?

Linus was so steadfast in his faith, in his belief in the existence of the Great Pumpkin, that he would go alone to the pumpkin patch, asking for knowledge and understanding. And he did so over and over again, much to the amusement of his so-called friends.

Linus was ridiculed for his apparent foolishness, for believing in something so absurd. How could he continue to talk to someone who never answered?

Sometimes Linus grew discouraged, and his faith in the Great Pumpkin grew weak and was tested. Yet he never gave up.

Many people talk to God the way Linus talked to the Great Pumpkin. And many people grow discouraged and give up when they don't hear God answering.

However, there is something that never made it into the Peanuts comic strip. Something very important.

What did Linus see that the kids around him did not? What kept him believing, despite the absence of proof?

Linus was laughed at.

Linus was ridiculed.

Linus was left alone in the pumpkin patch.

Now, something interesting happens when you spend enough time alone in the pumpkin patch. Something that cannot be conveyed in a comic strip.

Spend enough time in the pumpkin patch and you will eventually see that the Great Pumpkin is not just one pumpkin but ALL of the pumpkins. And all of the wisdom and knowing that has been left there by prior seekers of the Great Pumpkin.

Spend enough time in the pumpkin patch and you will see that the Great Pumpkin is not a pumpkin at all.

Ponder THAT, Charlie Brown.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

A New Definition

Spirituality is not about believing the right things.

It's about widening your beliefs to encompass a larger truth - and doing so over and over and over again.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

So THAT'S What I've Been Missing...

From Elias Session # 1721, Feb. 24th, 2005:

CAROLINE: For years I’m trying to create something that has to do with my musical talent, and I’m thinking I would be happy if I could do more, if I could work as a singer, being a singer in a band, making a CD and stuff like that. I feel I have the talent. Why am I not creating this as a reality? What is my problem? (Both laugh)

ELIAS: You do incorporate a talent, and I may express to you an acknowledgment that you engage that talent in lovely tones, but you generate obstacles with yourself for you restrict yourself. You acknowledge your ability, but you also compare yourself to other individuals, and in comparing yourself to other individuals or even to an ideal you, you restrict your allowance of yourself to merely express yourself freely.

In this, if you allow yourself to discontinue with this automatic action of comparing yourself, you may begin to allow yourself more of an appreciation, in genuine appreciation, of yourself and your ability – not merely your ability, but of yourself also. That shall alter the energy that you are projecting outwardly and generate much more of an attractiveness of yourself with other individuals.

CAROLINE: Some things you said I will have to translate later, but I guess I understand this comparison thing. I make these comparisons because sometimes I think I have the talent. Sometimes, when I compare myself to others, I think my talent is so low it’s not enough to make this. Is that right?

ELIAS: Yes. In this, if you genuinely allow yourself to appreciate yourself and appreciate your own expression, your own creativity and recognize that it is unique to you, it is unnecessary to be comparing yourself with other individuals or an ideal of what is acceptable and what is better, but rather to be appreciating your own expression and the uniqueness of it, and acknowledging the joy and satisfaction that you experience within yourself in the time frameworks in which you do allow yourself to be freely expressing your own creativity. If you are appreciating of you and what you do, other individuals shall reflect that to you also and shall also be appreciating you and what you do.


http://www.eliasforum.org/transcripts/E1721_022405.html

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Election Complexion

Some thoughts on who to vote for this fall:


If you believe the world is full of potential enemies who mean to do you harm, then you should probably vote for John McCain.

If you believe the world is full of your brothers and sisters, and that we are all ultimately on the same side, then you should probably vote for Barack Obama.


If you believe that a homeless person or a person on welfare is basically lazy and in need of a little kick in the pants, then you should probably vote for John McCain.

If you believe that a homeless person or a person on welfare is temporarily lost and in need of compassion and a helping hand, then you should probably vote for Barack Obama.


If you believe that we need to find more sources of oil so that we can bring the price of gas down and wean ourselves from foreign oil, then you should probably vote for John McCain.

If you believe that we cannot continue to burn fossil fuels without doing irreparable harm to our environment, and that clean alternative energy sources are the only acceptable solution to our energy problems, then you should probably vote for Barack Obama.


If you believe that a woman who chooses to abort her child is immoral and Godless, then you should probably vote for John McCain.

If you believe that a woman who chooses to abort her child is frightened or confused and in dire need of compassion and healing, then you should probably vote for Barack Obama.


This election is helping us to clarify what we believe and what we value. It is also, in many ways, distinguishing the purple monkeys from the blue monkeys.

There is no judgement here on my part. I am looking for understanding. And it is arriving like never before.

By the way, have you tried the red melons? I hear they're wonderful.