Chronicles September 2004

September 1st 2004

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~ Ruin and Runes & Troth - a faith a leaping ~

The bitter pill of idols and consanguinity, the heartfelt moot from ruin, to runic and troth, for stoic believers and righteous tomes, babel and babylon illustrate. How cleansing dreams are set in stones and man crumbles long before and after the fact, on the tablet rocks passed down not as artefacts of learning, but tradition to burn and purge mans malady, himself...

2 entries found for Babel. Babel Tower of Babel

Ba·bel Pronunciation: 'bA-b&l, 'ba- Function: noun Etymology: Hebrew BAbhel, from Akkadian bAb-ilu gate of god 1 : a city in Shinar where the building of a tower is held in Genesis to have been halted by the confusion of tongues 2 often not capitalized a : a confusion of sounds or voices b : a scene of noise or confusion

Bab·y·lon Pronunciation: 'ba-b&-"län, -l&n Function: noun Etymology: Babylon, ancient city of Babylonia : a city devoted to materialism and sensual pleasure

Come against her from the utmost border; open her store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left (Jeremiah 50:26).

How harsh a judgement founded in the lore and rolled down time as God's law. How so we call the penitent few to languish and so admonished, cripple growth and understanding in the whole, there lies the judgement, that oft is waved and hinders metamorphosis, as is the promise from heaven. What bounty does Man gain from such insanity? The melitose trap...

Banish Ego
Ego is not just having a big head. Ego is present every time you feel any kind of fear, or hear yourself saying "That's mine!". The truth tells us that nothing is 'mine' or 'yours', we are all trustees, and fear is only present where there is the voice of attachment. So where there is ego, there is attachment, and where there is attachment there is fear, and where there is fear there cannot be love and where there is no love there is misery. This is why there is so much unhappiness in the world. Detach from everything, and you will banish ego, fear will be no more, only then can true love return, and our oldest friend happiness will feel it is then safe to make a reappearance in your life..

and with happiness comes confidence and with confidence, self esteem, natures gift to the free..

September 2nd 2004

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~ frantic recovery ~

Frantic and frenetic, the life of the average Joe. We go about our business at a pace which just a decade ago would require a huge readjustment for those of the time. And the same can be said of the previous decade and so on forth, back to where?

Where did this frenetic deluge of living come from, and what is it about? Well I reckon it could be a con or consequence, for those used to the busy life, the input from a thousand sources and a thousand moments, skip gently and sometimes stub their way through life.

Life to be savoured, not wrung dry. Life to be enriched and understood in the context of our own limits. Some would argue there are no limits, I am sometimes one of them. Yet when I sit and reflect, savour a moment, immerse myself and don't hasten lest I miss something, I gain enrichment and rapture.

Enrichment is not only immersion, it is not just a dip in the lucky bag of life, its connection through senses to the moment. Experiencing, not viewing, not a video or TV or watching from the side lines. Its getting into the mud and squelching, letting the whiff be inhaled, allowing sensation to stick as if glue would hold it so in mind and in our body.

So happily sometimes, we skip soft and fleet of foot, never letting anything stick too hard, lest it slow us down and get in the way of the next free ride to enlightenment. If we take stock, just dip below the surface to the magnitude we find and its connection with all that it touches, interdependence is a lively game.

We forget too often just how much goes into the smallest and sometimes considered least significant. That tiny speck taken for granted, which makes the world go round.

Frenetic in recovery. Tis but a passing fancy. Recovery is the equal of every moment spent in activity for the good or ill. Recovery to awakenings never imagined, real and contextual, felt recollected and absorbed into history. Fine times spent in the trawl, fine times spent in the now as the minds eye captures, records, absorbs the miasma of our Universe, from speck to spectacular it takes our breath away.

September 3rd 2004

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~ weapons of mass distortion ~

Its coming up to the third anniversary of the bombing of the twin towers in New York. I don't feel right inside about what happened, what led to this event in history or the aftermath and destruction which occurred as a result.

I have so many conflicting values, that I could get lost in every justification from every side about where we have arrived. The plight and the blight of religion led us to these days. Not just one religion, not just one person, yet all in the name of God. I wonder that God has anything to do with this situation at all. For it is very clear that secular mainstreams are as involved in the outcomes as any mention of righteous crusades. People might need to take stock, we have led ourselves to destruction so many times when we crush values, beliefs and reason.

Values are not partisan, belief is not a motif and reason is not chaos.

The chaos we have become is the result of blindness, prejudice and failure. All along the lines of chaos, so too the folly of politics and religion scatter understanding and create combat. And what is at the root of that ? I would suggest it is simply the attitude of advantage. Advantage, superiority of position or condition is the key to conflict and to progress in the eyes of the combatants. Combatants so blinkered by their very presence and being. Being present and being products of their history. A sadness in this proposition wells up inside, because progress as all thinkers suggest is aimed at unification and valuing diversity. Maybe this awkward deception we promulgate, that we can be unified in our diversity is too complex for the simple mind. And yet we espouse love and tolerance. In so doing our conflict becomes esoteric, beyond the common man. Yet it is and always has been the common man who is called to defend lofty and high held opinion. And it is without doubt the fate thus far, that the common man, who holds to loyalty, who suffers greatest at the hands of portentous, self-consciously solemn or important leaders, mellifluous, full of piety in their representation of right. I am sad for the common man, imbued with common sense, so unjustly put to the task of combat. It is the common man, with feelings and emotion in full measure, who suffers for the will of righteous prejudice and so perpetuates the myth of glory and salvation.

One day we will understand the blight of mankind as we ease our way to harmony with our own nature, which remains thus far complicated by our recognition of advantage. And as we revel in our history and compound our view to fit our grip on reality, the weapons of mass distortion are not moribund, they are robust and active in everyone.

September 4th 2004

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~ imagination and oppression ~

The gift of imagination is forever that, a gift. Imagination enables great leaps in all human endeavour for the good and for the less than good. I am blessed as is everyone with the gift of imagination, how we use it to create imaginings which might become realities is the stuff of endeavour.

I endeavour to let my imagination fly, and when I soar, I can touch the heavens. When I am feeling oppression, and significant depression, the imagination, it gifts me with living nightmares I cannot imagine ever getting through, even a part of the day. This oppressiveness is moribund and calamity in my mind, for it strikes with least provocation and I am spinning into an abyss of terror.

Terror is not too strong a word, it is living in hell, the best my imagination can conjure and the ordeal is gripping beyond reason. For reason is lost along the way as the spiral into calamity makes death more sustainable for the pain is so deep I cannot abide its presence.

It takes time and only time for such abysmal imaginings to subside into a blackness so profound I can just feel it like a weight pressing from all sides squeezing the very breath away, I feel suffocation. Frozen..

Then as breath returns, turbulence and great pangs as memory sticks like glue to the terror moments. I don't like these days beyond gloom or oblivion, where the field is desolate and the storm gone, leaving energy spent and no remark to make for a while.

What a gift imagination, what a gift.

September 5th 2004

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~ why can't they hear me - listening ~

Amongst my regular meetings I heard this," why can't I share and pass on my wisdom?" An easy answer for me, it simply is not possible for others to hear us when they cannot listen. They cannot because, their head is full, they are speaking, they are deep and resolute in prejudice, they are eating their breakfast. A million reasons for not listening and not one good one to listen. Closed minds are like prisons, for their keepers. And on the outside, us, the gaolers forever rattling the keys to open the door to enlightenment, the door firmly shut, the keys held tight awaiting. We will wait for hell to freeze before some doors are opened, better to find an open mind and help them with wisdom, albeit just a crack and glimmer, it will open or close, we will never know until time shows us. The pestilence of wisdom, its a bugger to try share!

Like Attracts Like
Like attracts Like. Whatever the conscious mind thinks and believes the subconscious identically creates. Which would create a debate about the conscious and what that means. For what is loose in description as sub conscious, is quite possibly misleading. When we contemplate, we perceive and judge. Our conscious is fully engaged and we are not subliming one jot. That which many refer to as sub conscious, suggests not readily in reach. That is not so, our sub conscious is with us now and always. It speaks first inside like blather, before we filter and refine for the world to hear us. Blather is the universal language and long may it be so. Its what separates us from artificial intelligence and that’s another story!

September 6th 2004

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~ tension and shock ~

There is something happening with our world leaders. Fewer and fewer times do we hear them speak openly about the day to day world in which we live. I feel they feel our terror and worry as greatly as the most silent observer of the world. To speak out one way or another these days can get your head blown off.

Clearly, the respectful systems of order are breaking down. I don't know where this will lead. People who thought they were safe from danger in public office now see they are going to be taken to task personally by someone, somewhere, sometime.

It is a shock to anyone who holds office which gives power and authority, to imagine or anticipate consequences of their action on a very personal level. Our world has become smaller and more intimate. Our world is faster to respond to success and to failure. Our world is less tolerant and more critical. Our world is not safe or sound. Our world is less forgiving of mistakes. And our world is more informed for good or bad.

A time is coming when instantly, facts and consequences will be transparent. I welcome this world, for it will enable everyone to comprehend and will reduce the torment of every prejudice mistakenly held by the misinformed.

Our world news currently carries so much sadness and shock, I for one need time to reflect, time to let the news inform me, and try work through my feelings of anger and sadness.

Humans can, and I am able too, to hold so many feelings inside, it is a wonder we can go from tears of sadness in one moment to rapture in the next. Can I really do this? I think we all can sometimes.

September 7th 2004

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~ so my day was ~
It was a so, so day. And quite good at that. I did some chores for a couple of people who want to join in the fellowship, sadly not yet, as they were not ready to give up their addictions just yet. Just about everyone I met, I connected with properly, and had good conversations and discussions on a huge range of issues personal and global. A great sadness overwhelming many is the terror around in the world and 9/11's third anniversary is upon us. On my way around to meetings in the area, there is lethargy and an overall sense of sorrow, everything seems and feels hard. I pick up on it all the time. Its a changing season, and the onset of Autumn close. Summer sun is waning in impact albeit quite present this week. Exhaustion is creeping in, sapping the energy out of the days.

I too feel it, and its pervasive. We need a tonic, some zip, some freshness and to be tipped into movement. Time to get exercising the mind and body and get to breathing properly before I hit a slump!

~ Russia mourns Beslan's dead ~

I have no idea what to say. This headline from a news agency says it all. It is a beginning, and I have no words for such shocking news. Taken on its own, the sadness has no bounds.

We see this awful event, and we do not see others which are as catastrophic. These events are not new to the world. I am as shocked as any observer can be. When we are touched by such moments, at the very least we know our humanity.

September 8th 2004

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~ the memories you gave to me ~

Being Wednesday 8th September, it is no special day or extraordinary day. It is simply a day. Worldwide, this day will carry memories to the end of time. At least to the end of the time we can recall through memory or history as it is written. I guess what makes me worry is how we convey the day as history, for others to reflect upon and make some sense of us.

We look to our history of world events and we can judge them many ways. We know presently, we do not record events as they are. They are modified and brushed up to reflect our own view on the world and its history.

We spend a lot of time reviewing historical literature and works of knowledge to help us analyse the good and the bad of our past. When we look back just a few brief years, we can see the record with acceptance or incredulity, as we are reading our own histories. We often think and express,’ did I do that or say that?' And when we look back at our responses to our modern world, how will we judge our truth and honesty. For many like me work at truth and honesty. Yet we are bamboozled by our own recollection and our own bias.

How we stand alone in a room and record events depends entirely on our interest and depth and scope of enquiry.

I spent a whole evening at a party once, I saw a beautiful woman who captured my full attention and I never saw or heard the band that played that night, and they were in the same room. I can only remember her, the band, they were very famous I am told, I still don't recollect their name. She on the other hand, recalls nothing of me, I smile here, yet she recalls the band its musicians and especially the lead singer!

So in my history I shall inform you what I saw, I hope you check out others recollections too, for mine is full of holes, not intended falsehoods, just holes my mind made for me and my happiness.

Oh and only for the convenience of the world, this day is not yet upon half the world who languish behind time lines and date lines, only one line we find hard to change, that’s the deadline..

September 9th 2004

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~ life ~

Life 'the one who knows how to adjust is the one who knows how to survive' every quote probably has its place? Not these particular days though...

~ scurrilous ~

Tomorrow, what will tomorrow hold. The question I have no real answer or hope to answer right now. I recall three years ago, I had much to celebrate and much to be thankful for. In love as impossibly as a person can be. Not only the wrong woman, the wrong place and the wrong time! Well so what's new, smiles for me because I think this is the pattern of my life. A certainty to be in love and certainty to feel deep and loving feelings, and with absolute certainty, a knowledge that it could all disappear in a flash.

And what of this picture of Mr Bush, made to ridicule him? I think it shows what democracy can do, it levels us all. Even when things could not be more serious, there is a part of us, never satisfied, always there to tease out of us, our ability to embrace the ridiculous.

Who would want to keep on hammering people to fashion them to a single viewpoint? It seems the illness of war will push more so now as we are confronted with Russian hearts broken over Beslan. And now the mending with a rage equal to that of the tormentors. I fear times like these, where reason and emotion crash together, where right is on everyone’s side and no one feels they can do no wrong.

Madness and Passion

September 10th 2004

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~ is it really three years since 9/11? ~

Three years, its a long time. Big changes in the world. It has become the same size as our own back yard. The tremors of earth shattering impact touch us all now like never before. It is odd, the terrorism that we experience day to day has brought home the feelings of anxiety felt by many before the global terror was unleashed.

The terror we live with now, brought home to focus our minds on plight. It too gives a focus maybe that those with terror as their weapon may have overlooked. That is, most people don't accept or want terror, nor will they tolerate it. There are many who have the courage to do something about it, so the secrecy of the terror mongers becomes less and less. The options for waging this form of influence and persuasion create opportunities far beyond those engaged and willing to die for their cause. The smallness of our planet exposes more those who cast a look to what is happening. Never in the history of mankind, has mankind been so informed about the world.

Mobilising forces using force, they eventually eek out terror and restore order of one form or another. I hope we keep a weather eye to our notional democracy and freedoms. I hope for the cause of terror to be understood and society to be reformed. I hope it takes less time than in previous generations. Presently the recipe is destructive rather than constructive as hate rules most of the worlds prejudices.

When we recognise that terrorists, whoever they are, are people who endure life without hope, and fight to the death because death is preferable to living, then in that understanding, maybe, just maybe a dialogue might begin. We need to value diversity, difference and as I read and listen more, stick close to true human values of tolerance and love.

Human society and Culture, for all its refinement and reverie to sophistication is still very young, and civilisation of man in one mind's eye, will beget revolution and anarchy in another. Time, it moves on, I doubt I will see an end to terror in my lifetime, even if I were as robust as Methuselah.

September 11th 2004

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~ love ~

The course of true love never did run smooth.

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.

Be to yourself as you would to your friend.

They do not love that do not show their love.

This above all; to thine own self be true.

~ What has happened since 9/11 - What I see now ~

Three years ago, seems only like yesterday. And that's a cliché. Its a lifetime of travel for most of us as the threat globally has become the more apparent from terror. Indonesia, latest victim, was a very stark reminder that there are very resolute people around who have crossed a line. The line crossed is where personal value is less than the fundamental beliefs held for the greater good of their cause. And for them, God is their beacon of light. They believe there is an after life where they will be welcomed as Hero's. And that their memory will live on in some way and be an example to others who hold true to their cause.

Russia, still in shock from the terror of Beslan. The world is facing huge challenges, especially those who would see change rather than armed revolution. . I would see changes to the world order. I would see changes to feed, to educate and to value difference. Cultural diversity is strength, the right to believe in God is a given, in what appears a more Godless world. As we see it more clearly, the nature of advantage and status pervades the modern world where people seek power for whatever their reason, personal, political or and religious.

I would argue it still comes down to economic disadvantage, degradation and intolerance. I have no answer to the complexity we live today. The answers are a long way off. We can move toward tolerance, to understanding, if we have the courage to let go of that which hurts us, history where prejudice makes Martyr's in some eyes. A Martyr, a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion, or and a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for the sake of principle.

Are we, human beings witnessing the creation of Martyr's? Or are we witnessing the creation of yet more Victims? Those who are put to death by ideology and the malice of the will of Man. Asked and answered until we experience the loss of loved ones, of freedoms and of liberty.

In matters so deep and personal, I feel inadequate and corrupted by the moments of torture we witness every day. I can only deal with me, and my views and my beliefs, to be open honest and willing, and to my own self be true.

September 12th 2004

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~ creed or colour same for me ~

"Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away, and that in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is but one adjustment I would offer, that we consider all mankind our great nation, and I guess he, Mr King Jr, would be happy at that..

Prejudice, its never far away. It bubbles and erupts when least expected. Its a clever word, for an awful concept. The concept of difference, not my concept of diversity. I am starting to live an ordinary life and being ordinary means life is quite spectacular. I never realised the spectacular was part of the ordinary for ordinary people. What a gift. To find that we all have the same ordinary capacities, the same ordinary passions, although they are often different ones, they are ordinary and they are generic. How then did ordinary breed prejudice? Simple, by comparing like with like and seeing difference and not similarity.

Incredibly ordinary is teetering on the edge of oxymoron. I find these days, similarities in Oxymoron's and the difference is diversity, what a non novelty to the aware, what a novelty to us, the fresh canvas, the new learning, the authentic absorbers of spirit and life.

Incredulous!

September 13th 2004

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~ Peace ~

You are a peace messenger who can see beyond the differences dividing two sides to the similarities that lie deep inside.

This thought for the day was sent me and I have to agree with the sentiment. Often over the last few months I have been all too able to see the differences and not the similarities between me and other people. When I listen more closely, I do hear the similarities and not differences. Somehow it is calming and fundamental to realise that we are all going through life in all moments difficult and all moments of wonderment. Wonderment because so much of it there to be appreciated, and sometimes understood. Yet in a lifetime we could not comprehend all of nature, even to our eyes, which in the Universe see but a speck of what is out there.

There are some things common to be appreciated on this part of our spiritual journey. Happiness and Joy. Sadness and loss. For without one the other does not exist. Ying and Yang... someone said to me, keep it simple, it is no more simple than that and no more complex than the Universe we perceive, and easier to accept we will understand just a mere part in this lifetime.

September 14th 2004

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~ how can a picture capture the absurdity ~

I was taken aback by this photo from the New York Times. The tank and the faces of citizens of somewhere in Iraq. From the young to adult, the expressions seem to say different things to me. The younger seem to be happy and the adult less so. More like a grimace and fear at the scene.

I am never going to become immune to such images, the right or wrong is not the issue, it is the fact of war. A war we really do have problems with. A war where our part in it now is becoming more and more important. Do we believe in our democracy, and do we believe in what happens next.

The over riding issues I have are about our next steps. Are we ever going to get this to the United Nations and a real examination of now and future support for Iraq?

Lest we forget, Iraq is a sovereign state. The United Nations is the most legitimate forum for outside interests to get their collective thinking together. We cannot expect this fragmented approach to work indefinitely, not without immense disasters for 'go it alone foreign policies'. These divisions as they stand are a calamity we will surely live with for an age to come.

September 15th 2004

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~ loyalty and fealty ~

Life is full of conundrums. Loyalty, conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards. Now that feels ok in my mind. Loyalty granted by those who give it within boundaries which are agreed and understood. However most are caught out here. The word loyalty actually means an awful and I mean awful, lot more than we would possibly wish.

The modern world is peppered with stuff to do with loyalty. It comes in emotional and practical ways to those who have loyalty. Emotional to the point of death loyalty. Practical to the point of a financial incentive loyalty. Loyalty thrives on misunderstanding. And the misunderstanding that folk lore evokes in those who have allegiance and loyalty to something.

Loyalty is promoted heavily. It is in fact often the flip side of fealty. A definition of fealty may include: unswerving in allegiance: as a : faithful in allegiance to one's lawful sovereign or government : faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due : faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product.

So when you are scoping out your loyalties, and whatever view you come to terms with, please remember your first loyalty, its your good self and your God as you understand him, her or it.

God and Nature, in life they demand nothing, other than live it. The rest I suspect is just man's fancy and creation.

September 16th 2004

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~spiritual growth~

When I grow, I automatically change. If I fear change, how will I be able to grow?

As we grow older, that is as we grow old maybe, the idea of change itself is no longer the fear we face. We just get fearful. Fear can be something which encompasses everything on a level we do not recognise, it goes on all the time and never switches itself off. It feels like being found out, for just being ourselves. It feels like we are never good enough and we feel like the world is and will be judging us unfavourably because we are trying to make sense of the world as it changes.

We should always remind ourselves that our fear should be no more than expectation, we expect change so embrace it with a breath of enquiry, rather than a fear of misunderstanding. We only need be open to new days and new moments, and consider its good to open up to the new of these occasions. And always be forgetful, so we make room for diversity and difference and especially similarities so we relate to our new experiences.

~ Who He? ~

Guevara was a member of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement, which seized power in Cuba in 1959. After the revolution Guevara became second only to Fidel Castro in the new government of Cuba. After a brief stints as president of the National Bank and Minister of Industries, Guevara did not settle in as part of the new Cuban government, and tried without success to stage revolutions through guerrilla warfare in various countries, notably the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Bolivia, where he was captured by a unit of the Bolivian Ranger Battalion advised by United States Green Berets on October 8, 1967, and executed the following day. Often seen as a hero of the time, not many realised that in our world today, his brand of revolution takes the form of terrorist, Guevara was no stranger to the politics of the gun or to execution of those opposed to him and his ideals.

Guevara, like most in the world who hate poverty and oppression, leave a mark in history, it is too early to tell how long for, or what impact he and others might have made. His face still continues to evoke moods of revolution, perhaps we did not realise what that entailed. Bloody times as always, hearts and minds broken, history is difficult to unravel, especially when human rights are lost to the winds and the grist of ideology pervades the common man.

September 17th 2004

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~ Carpe Diem - Latin for "seize the day" ~

The Tarot Fool is not quite what comes to mind when many people think of the word "fool" or the term "foolish." There are clear connections to the medieval Fool or Court Jester. In modern Tarot, the Fool represents being carefree, impulsive, spontaneous, enthusiastic, and frivolous. The Fool steps out into the unknown without fear or caution. He isn't brave, but he has no fear. He is the universal innocent but he is also wise. He is the rule-breaker, the person who lives without rules. He is very close to his own body and experiences his physical sensations fully.

Feels like a familiar character to me. It could be me! In many respects, not a brave individual, but an individual who goes on without fear when a clear head is on my shoulders. I know where my fear lurks and resides. I know what brings fear to the fore. Its not about exclusion or lack of control, for my world works so much better when I let the world show me what to do and where I go. Many might think my control and inclusion is a need not met by my lifestyle or path, I think its more likely I tread my path towards dreams I cannot imagine and dreams become real as time passes. In deed and in mind, 'carpe diem' flows and sends me on my way

September 18th 2004

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~ gifts differing ~

A large part of my life, I have spent time enabling me and others to understand how we get on in our chosen work and leisure activities. One instrument of self awareness sticks out as a universal starting point, the 'Myers Briggs type indicator'. Developed decades ago and constantly updated, it helps us see our natural gifts of perception and judgement. Two things we do as a routine reaction to daily events, we perceive, we judge.

From this proposition, which is really quite self evident we can learn a lot about how we relate to and enjoy our world. Sounds simple? Have a go and surprise yourself, how well you are gifted and how you might wish to develop your own unique way of dealing with events and people. Some self knowledge, which is supportive and not critical can go a long way to enabling you to enjoy the day.

Practice
Practice makes you perfect,

so be careful what you practice.

September 19th 2004

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~ Everything I See Is Precious ~

Let me learn to keep myself in a positive frame of mind and look for the beauty or benefit in everything that happens.

And I think Tolkien was very clever adapting myths and fairytales to evoke the most potent portents of our inner potential for madness. To be so overwhelmed not just by the notion of precious, overwhelmed also by the need for possession. And possession has so many forms to scrape our wits end and bend the world to our own will. His deep and passionate look at self will, the homily of the Lord of the rings, so apt as days of yore capture our imaginations and transcend time to share ancient wisdoms absolute.

September 20th 2004

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~ losses so deep ~

On my wanderings I meet so many who have lost so much and gained as a result. Today, the losses screamed at me literally, the loss of children. In the context of family breakdowns and break-ups, loss of parenting, loss of love and the utter despair that follows. I am not a parent and could not imagine or have first hand experience. Yet the loss is equally acute, for all beings yearn to share and care, I know I do.

So albeit different the grief is no less poignant. I am glad I am able to offer support and a helping hand when asked. I am glad to be an Uncle, mended sufficient to be there and I am an adult and student of the world. What I offer is no more or less than any other to others along the way.

"Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

September 21st 2004

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~ annoying people with attitudes ~

The proposition above is ambiguous. I can read it as people who annoy me are those with attitude. People with certain attitudes annoy me. Attitudes that some people have annoy me. Or just plain, something is annoying me. I am learning that nothing much should annoy me. We are habitual in our prejudice, we should pause a while to understand the annoyance and we should park our analytical thinking, do a little feeling and see what emerges.

I see annoying behaviour. I have no power over the annoying behaviour of others. I don't have to behave that way myself. I don't have to tolerate my bad behaviour. I might need to ponder on others bad behaviour, long enough to understand my prejudice.

I think and feel, feel and think, ponder and conclude. Open minded, to an extent, puzzled always. And why not? I best yield to powerlessness over people, places and things which are just the way they are now. They will change as the flow of life determines. I will change as I determine. Not with self will, it is suggested, then thy will be done.

September 22nd 2004

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~ Think Simply ~

With so many choices and decisions, so many demands from people and events, in our modern fast changing world, it's a real challenge to 'keep it simple'. Making it simple means making things easy and clear. The magic wand to wave over your life is 'planning and prioritising'. Make plans, long and short term and then prioritise. Then practise taking one thing at a time, so you can have one thought at a time, with some space before you have to have your next thought. But don't get attached to your plans or priorities. Be flexible (easy) and yet focused (clear) and in this way you can teach yourself to think simply and act simply. One thought at a time. At your own pace. In your own space. A simple life is a contented life.

And for me, one day at a time just fits about right, right now!

September 23rd 2004

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~ compassionate ~

'A compassionate soul will travel great distances and scale high walls in order to understand another point of view.'

Our British newspapers are headlining on hostages in Iraq. How to apply compassion and who for? I think for everyone in a desperate situation like this. Whatever happens next, it is a tall order to find our humanity where humanity has been lost for so long. Our feelings are mauled by inhumanity today. Let us not lose our humanity and seek a purpose and work for compassion.

We should not forget what brought us to these moments or how we respond now. Our actions will be recalled for a long time and be an example.

Maybe one man pleading to another may be a catalyst. Heartfelt for all those who plead and so often never heard.

~ Friend ~

"Let each one learn their own lesson in their own way, at their right time. Stop being the judge and become a friend. A friend lightens the load. A friend encourages newness. A friend helps to forget. Often anger is an unfilled expectation. It is an attempt to try to find from others what I can not find in myself."

Sometimes we hang so far into the past we are engulfed with the dream of yesterday. That dream is done, for good or ill. We can harbour and reflect, we can journey round the memory and in immersion miss the day, the friendship, the confluence of new moments. Best not to rest too long in reverie of yesterday or year, best to apply with good measure ourselves to this day as brightness pulls us to attention and our senses pick and choose.

And keen senses will steer us where they will as mood dictates our reverie.

a little history September 20
1963 Kennedy proposes joint mission to the moon
An optimistic and upbeat President John F. Kennedy suggests that the Soviet Union and the United States cooperate on a mission to mount an expedition to the moon. The proposal caught both the Soviets and many Americans off guard.

And in 2004, such an idea, well history is just that, a what if. And the now if, its very focussed on the down to earth. Where has vision taken us lately?

September 24th 2004

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~ from friend to foe ~

Foe, one who has personal enmity for another. Funny sort of word, foe. And the thing about a friend or foe, they are probably one in the same. For as long as we live separate from others the foe is always out there, to spot our difference and our perceived weakness.

The friend or foe for me mostly resides firmly inside my head. The expression I am my own worst enemy is true for all of us I suspect. Foe is the doubter, the worrier, not warrior, who has conviction that the world is a place of danger and looking for my weakness, rather than strength. This foe is the ally of my ego, my ego keeps me singular and apart, not communicative, a bit like a bad poker player.

Mind, no one wins at poker in the end.

September 25th 2004

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~ Saturday's ~

What to do with my Saturday. Seems I have some chores to do. Some I like, feeding Cats close by, seeing the sun up if there is no cloud. Waking up with a start after a long sleep. Realising that life is going on and I can look forward to the day. Don't feel left out of anything, feel a part of something. Not wanting to cause ripples other than ones which relate to positive outcomes. Getting up and putting on the kettle, rummaging around for a mug, I have just the one right now. Getting a feeling about my aches and pains, listening to the noises in my head. Being able to breathe and say thank you God, I'm alive. And that feels ok to me...

September 26th 2004

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~ Sunday's & Changing Times ~

'It is wise to bend rather than to break. Those who change will get spiritual wisdom. Conversely, those who have wisdom will decide to change. Change is the first law of Nature. In fact, change is the mark of Time.'

Sunday's could be a good time to resolve to change, as any other day of the week, but I think we get these messages and Sundays are a good time to think. Maybe because it is seen as a religious day, for thinking and reflection, others have other days for solemn thought, and long may it be so.

With the world in turmoil and the fights we as mankind face, it is hard to make sense of the day by day news of calamity and destruction. Everyone should have time to think and feel, more about the world and not just themselves. We need always to have more than ourselves to worry about. We need to be concerned for all mankind and nature.

I have given much thought to God, nature and mankind. Without doubt God and nature are one, mankind though is in turmoil and struggles with the very basics of unity of purpose. Mankind fights and battles himself more than the elements of nature. And surely mankind is destructive, selfish and ultimately destroying the nature of the planet and ourselves along the way to 'progress'.

I wrote a book about this when I was seventeen years old, in it I made all the visions of the future clear. And it boils down to this; if we continue to view the world as ours selfishly, it will destroys us as we destroy it. Same values and principles hold true to all our doings with people and nature. We must accept each element has a place and right to exist, to be interdependent and unique at the same moment. We are neither caretakers or custodians. We are not omnificent, that is the gift of nature and creation. Lest we forget... we forget ourselves, nature and creation.

September 27th 2004

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~ Happiness on a Monday? ~

'When you feel tired, remember things of happiness and you will regain strength.'

When you have a cold and sore throat the advice above may fall flat. I have a cold and sore throat, so it does. And I have a bunch of other stuff now getting more hard to handle. But so that’s the way it is... so accept that which I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom ( I may borrow some from elsewhere ) to know the difference.

September 28th 2004

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~ Love ~

'Always teach the self with love not anger.'

Now that is a tough project. So many of us put ourselves down and make life hard by being able to listen to very negative feedback from others. Often we make ourselves out to be the good guy or the bad guy. Never often enough just the sensible one. The one who adopts a level approach, not a mediator, an evaluator. When we get our values on track, then so are we. And we need rely on nothing but the feedback we hear inward and outward.

Until we get caught in belief, faith and a tangle of other absurdities which make ethics a bath in cold water, before we land ourselves in hot water.

Some one said don't sweat the small stuff. Just make sure its small enough!

September 29th 2004

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~ Mind & Heart ~

'A mind filled with peace creates a heart filled with contentment.'

Peace, the hardest of moments to realise and the hardest of moments to recognise when the world spins so fast, we never really take that moment to understand peace.

Peace is so momentary for most of us. To be at peace, to be at one with ourselves and our surroundings, to find an inner and outer contentment. To breathe easy without a gasp, to sit still and lose all thoughts as feelings are content. To let go the day and the rigour of living every moment so full we hear a steady heartbeat, and become lost in the moment of reverie. A brave moment complete in itself, savoured, not squandered.

Contentment, your moment, my moment, unique, authentic and different. Peace, without battle or surrender, light and forever mutable.

September 30th 2004

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~ Life ~

By seeing life as a game, your lightness of spirit will make problems seem easier

I am thinking about this. It seems pretty glib to suggest life is but a game. It is the most serious and the most haphazard of existence. There are certainties, we are born and we die, in between there is infinite diversity. There is mythology and hard science. There is emotion and logic.

As 'life ' goes on, thundering down generations and time. I hope we do have more than one life. We do indeed as we compartmentalise whilst we are here. But I would wish for more, and if belief renders it so, then more than one I shall experience.

It will be a bonus in some ways to carry experience on and on, what infinite outcomes there may be, complex beyond comprehension, simple in the moment when experienced without fear.