JUNE 14/09 - IS LIFE WORTH LIVING

There is a lot of meaning in today’s topic.

How does one determine worth? Is that a monetary value?

Do we actually live or do we exist?

What is the purpose that makes living worth-while?

Is the dollar, our job, our career, our investments, our driver, as in net worth?

What central purpose gets us up in the morning & keeps us going?

Is family, community, or business our focal point?

These questions do not necessarily rise to the surface of our consciousness, daily we often just carry on.

This week, Ina & I have been faced with the making a difference ‘or’ making a dollar issue. Look at that last sentence again; you might notice I used the word ‘or’ not ‘while’.

The difference is subtle; a slight shift in perspective, but the outcome is significant.

This difference gets to the heart of a life ‘worth’ living.

Does the heart enter into our daily bread, work, investing, or business?

Are all decisions made by the head?

A body not fully engaged, emotionally as well as intellectually, is susceptible to ailments. The full power of creative energy is released through the heart while being directed by the mind.

All emotion without some direction can be destructive or dissipated with little value.

How does one take love & spread its seeds?

Might this be the start of business ‘not’ as usual?

At Greenangels Financial Ltd, we are exploring that paradigm shift. The name ‘greenangels’ came from Mexico’s ‘Angeles Verdes’, an organization built to help others in need. ‘Financial’ comes from our careers here in North America. We thought that the two could cohabitate.

‘Business as usual’, ‘what’s in it for me’, makes this concept a tricky journey, but not one we want to forgo.

Can we as business people have a more ‘worth’ while life allowing our hearts to enter the equation? Might that be a world changing event?

We come into life with no bags, we go out with no bags, why collect baggage along the way?

Detachment isn’t just a Buddhist concept; it’s a healthy lifestyle choice.

Detachment isn’t getting rid of net worth; it’s an attitude towards accumulation. It makes life ‘worth’ living.

I’m not suggesting running a business at a loss or not living within a personal budget, I’m suggesting a perception shift. Abundance isn’t what one has in a net worth statement, it’s a healthy life.

Financial success isn’t what one leaves but how one lives.

Sharing the wealth full-fills, hoarding creates stress.

A life full of friends & family can trump a significant balance sheet. A healthy balance is a spiritual concept.

Our connection to each other is through the non material world, our disconnect comes on the physical plane.

Together we can accomplish anything, competition often destroys that opportunity. Is there such a thing as healthy competition?

The answers to all the questions that I pose here today, becomes the life we live.

The answers are individual.

Worth can have new ‘meaning’.

Life can bring new answers.

“Rebirth’ is a now concept.

Make each day ‘worth’ while.

Life is ‘worth-living’.

David

JUNE 7/09 - OUR JOURNEY

This is it folks! It is all about the journey not the ending.

“Too much thinking, too many words”, I heard these words twice yesterday. Once from a passerby at our local centre & on a video we watched last night. Is that synchronicity or have I selective hearing?

We come to this plane & forget to live in the now. Now is really all there is. To get the most from our inner abilities, we must let the past & future take care of them-selves.

Fear & control have kept me from that approach to date. It took a while for me to realize that we are never in control of anything & fear is generated by that realization.

Can we push ourselves beyond normal boundaries?

Overcoming fear is the answer to that last question.

We generally find ourselves living in our self created image, not living out our true self.

Who are we, what trash do we carry around in our minds?

Dumping that trash, clearing the mind, allows us to experience life.

The Creator moves through everything. We can be co-creators during our physical journey. It is often a matter of removing the limitations we place on ourselves or allow others to place on us.

Taking personal responsibility & being of service are two aspects of experiencing a fruit-full journey.

Being completely open to others & non judgmental are ways to experience far more richness on our path.

Let me be clear here, that I have not always achieved what I suggest, but it is certainly part of my awareness today.

Why look for richness, why not just pass the days in either anticipation or memories?

What is life all about?

This is an individual choice, clarity is a decision. Lining up with your passion is an active experience.

Take a moment to remember where & what you wanted to be at this point in your journey. Meditate on what it would be like to realize that state. Your mind doesn’t know the difference between where you are & where you want to be. Plant seeds that give it directions to the course you want to take.

Don’t leave seeds lying around in the mind for why you are not there. ‘See’ the picture as you want it painted. The mind will work its Universal search to bring you to that equilibrium. If harmony is what you want then be that harmony.

If you want health then don’t participate in health destroying drugs, food, or ideas.

An active lifestyle isn’t just an external one.

Free the mind of pollutants.

Have a full heart.

Bon Voyage!

David

MAY 31/09 - “WELCOME TO OUR TERRITORY”

Ina & I went to a 1st Nations Cultural event on Pender Island this past week. Some very interesting terms were used by the Chief’s & their people.

Here we were sitting in a beautiful resort ‘owned’ by a few white people & the Chief says “welcome to our territory”.

This made me think of the words of Chief Seattle: “How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people.”

Other words that flowed naturally from their mouths were: “Thank you Creator, Unity, Connectedness; We Are One, Spirit world”!

These words have been coming into my consciousness over the last few years but not fully internalized. My upbringing, my God, much as the ‘White Fathers’ in Washington’, has been one of separation, winning, division, competition. I had never been raised by a Grandmother to believe that I was one with nature, with the birds, the trees, the streams, & the air.

Spirits visiting us from the nether world, standing between the trees, the rocks, & other spaces, were just not part of my education.

History to me was who conquered whom & who got to own which part of the world, when.

The next thing on the program was storytelling & the dance of the wolf & the whale. We live in a part of the world where the salmon created a whole economy.

As I listened to the stories they struck me as fantasy but watching the storyteller I realized that it was his reality.

Then I knew that their people & my people live in two different worlds, one revering & respecting Mother Earth & the other believing we can dominate this planet. Domination, our theme!

How might we provide recompense for a costly experiment? When might we ‘see’ what we have done?

Someone told me, this week, that the Mayan calendar ends Dec 21, 2012, when the male domination ‘his-story’ approach will be replaced by the maternal, loving nurturing appreciative approach.

Bring it on! It’s time has definitely come! Ladies stand up, we adore you!

Are we in that transition period now? I certainly am. Even my ex-wife, Leila, commented on the change in me this week.

Chief Seattle is purported to have said “"Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."

Are we really a part of nature, a part of all that is? We have to be. We are made from dust & to dust we will return.

Do spirits really visit us? Why not, where would our spirit go once the body no longer nourishes it?

As I listened to the stories, the songs, & watched the dances, I wondered what makes these people different from us. Love for nature & the land is certainly one of them, and yet we have called them savages. Chief Seattle even used that reference to his people as he spoke of our God who came & walked with us.

If our God walked with us & talked with us, how did we miss the message of love for all things?

We put our God on a physical pedestal not a spiritual one.

There is but one God, the Creator that makes the flowers bloom.

We live in a beautiful garden, a garden of abundance, we just need to recognize that & adopt sustainable practices.

There are some wrenching changes going on in our world right now. We are taking things like global warming, seriously, & questioning our relationship to money.

We have the opportunity to break out of our shells. We like the caterpillar can turn into a butterfly.

Our minds are our prison.

Let’s change them.

Stress is a head game.

Let’s give love a chance.

Peace begins with me.

Welcome to a new territory!

David

MAY 25/09 - REACHING FOR HEAVEN

“The path between the head & the heart is short but the journey can often take a lifetime”, Ina Timmer

To reach for heaven is not to reach to outer space but to inner space. Pulling the creativity from one’s being is the ecstasy of harmony. To harmonize the emotions with the brain is to give as well as receive.

‘The Prophet’ Kahlil Gibran: “For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root”.

We are much like Gibran’s tree, where flow through is the path to vibrancy & fulfillment.

We have internal creative gifts, unique talents. Honing those gifts can be a fruitful exercise, benefiting others, as well as personally fulfilling.

The orange tree is here to give of its fruit. We are here to give of our creativity. What took many of us off this path to heaven?

A material world is organized to produce external items for the benefit of a small minority. We are asked to be the cogs in that machine with the idea that money will lead to happiness. If we win the lotto or make enough money, all will be right with the world. To live in this world is often to lose ones-self.

Working with our hands can bring us a sense of achievement; it can connect our head with our heart. Getting back to nature can reconnect us with the source of abundance.

Life flows, it is not meant to be dammed or hoarded.

Killing is ignorance personified. One cannot kill life.

When you take away the body, can you kill the spirit?

One of our twin daughters was taken away from us in her early twenties but her spirit hovers all around & within me daily.

Her body is no more but her spirit lives on within those she loved & those who loved her.

Heaven lies within! Call it the God within, the Kingdom within, or whatever words convey the meaning, but turning within is the path for each of us, as Ina points out in her quote above.

Ripening the fruit we have to offer, brings the peace we so often seek.

The mind stills as the hands bring out the forms hidden in the wood.

If we can picture it, we can achieve it.

Focus on the life you would like, move consistently in that direction & let the universe come to your doorstep. Love attracts, let it in & give it out.

Barriers are fears materialized. Remove the fear & break the barriers.

We live in a world that we ‘see’ & that we then create. Thus it follows that we can create the world we want by ‘seeing’ it from a different perspective.

Reaching for heaven is reaching within. Pulling out our God given abilities is the path to personal fulfillment. Focusing on monetary rewards can inhibit the creative juices but mentoring the creative juices automatically leads us by still waters.

The Garden of Eden is not another place & another time it is as close as the mental & emotional state in which we live. Our mental & emotional health can be found in the garden, in nature.

Digging the dirt, chopping wood, carrying water, all bring the mind to rest & focus us on the now, the place where life lives.

Don’t put it off, don’t pray for peace when we get there, bring it to earth here & now. The way to do this is through our inner journey.

The reach for heaven is as close as our heart.

Let’s open our hearts & expose the inner wonder.

We can become like little children again, wide-eyed, inquisitive, open, and secure in their surroundings. Children fit into nature in a very natural way. Today children are often separated from nature at an early age & live in a virtual reality. That deficiency is difficult to overcome for their future harmonious development. Getting back to nature is a path we all may want to follow.

“Son, quit dreaming put your mind to your work”, is a refrain children often hear from their parents & teachers but their spirit still flies free. Love cannot be turned into a thought. Love is not bought & sold.

Values, ethics, the golden rule, all contribute to a life well balanced. As Deepak Chopra said on Larry King last night, “self image, ego, is the way others see you, self esteem is the way you see yourself”.

Firming up self esteem leads to growth; don’t worry about what others think. Water the inner attributes, the roots of your being, rather than chasing a never ending to do list.

Life is to be lived now not tomorrow. We are life incarnate. Resolve the conflict within yourself. Let life flow naturally, un-dam the stream.

The opportunities for service lie everywhere, service brings peace, friendship, & fulfillment.

Heaven is a state of being, so reach for it.

David

MAY 17/09 - SOUL

We have all heard of a sole proprietor, a single person in business. Is our soul singular or interconnected? Is the soul something that outlives the sole proprietor?

‘O Soul’ Kahlil Gibran: “O Soul! If some fool tells you the soul perishes with the body & that which dies never returns, tell him the flower perishes but the seed remains & lies before us as the secret of life everlasting.”

Kahlil refers to nature, the seed, as a way to understand immortality. Nature can teach us a lot. Ina & I have been spending a lot of time with the idea of getting kids back to nature. Check out www.gettoknow.ca

If you haven’t read ‘The Last Child in the Woods’, then be sure & do so.

Do we collectively or individually have reverence for nature that our future would indicate we should?

‘A Theology of the Earth’, ‘A God Within’, Rene Dubos: “While the living earth still nurtures & shapes man, he now possesses the power to change it & to determine its fate, thereby determining his own fate. The biblical injunction that man was put in the Garden of Eden ‘to dress it & to keep it’ (Genesis 2:15) is an early warning that we are responsible for our environment. To strive for environmental quality might be considered as an eleventh commandment, concerned of course with the external world, but also expressing the quality of life.”

Our inner harmony is dependent upon our ability to be one with nature. Our inner & international harmony depends upon our ability to recognize that we are all interconnected & one with nature. The Creator is not an amorphous entity but a real living presence in everything surrounding us. When we walk through the forests or beside calm waters, we can feel the presence of the divine. Our soul is fed by the silence.

Cars, cement, & noise, all inhibit our ability to get in touch. I write this in Las Vegas, how disconnected can one be. This is certainly escape but not peace.

I have just travelled from Pender Island within the last 24 hours & feel as though I have entered a different time zone. We live in time & place but those we choose will make this a hell or heaven.

Our soul moves with our body, but having covered quite a distance recently, mine appears to be either catching up or not wanting to leave its Pender resting place.

Can I drag my soul where it doesn’t want to go? Can I get it to adapt to its new surroundings? Would it make more sense to drag my body back to the place that my soul feels at home?

I have wandered the world & by now should know the answer to that question.

Peace is homecoming to the soul.

So where is home?

The place that inner harmony is achieved is most likely the home where a body finds rest. Each of us can find that beacon within or as Dubos puts it, A God Within.

The external world, or life itself, creates stress & as someone said recently “anger is living in the past & fear is living in the future”. The place & time to live is ‘now’. Now is actually the only point at which life appears.

How do we live in the now? Our mind has to come to rest. Thinking can drive one nuts or as often said ‘to drink’.

Don’t let events take over the operation of your soul. Stop, listen, & take a walk in nature. The answers will come.

Our soul is going to be around for a long time. The feeding & care of the soul is more important than that of the body. The body is disposable, a guaranteed end result.

So is it possible that our materialistic world would allow for a ‘soul’ proprietor to take things to another level? Now there is an interesting question.

As a sole proprietor we operate alone, often in competition or conflict with others. As a ‘soul’ proprietor we can operate in harmony, finding the interconnectedness with others.

The change in direction is a different way of looking at the world around us. We can open our eyes to a different viewpoint; ‘see’ a new reality.

If you are having questions about your path, turn to ‘A God Within’, that energy & wisdom is always available. Don’t let circumstances get in your way.

No matter what hurdles life offers up, your soul will overcome them.

Farah Fawcett has all our love as she faces her transition.

In the end we are that eternal truth.

David

MAY 10/09 - DREAMS

"He who passes not his days in the realm of dreams is the slave of days." Kahlil Gibran

Are dreams creative energy yet to be manifest?

Are dreams ‘silly’, as some of our parents & peers suggest or powerful drivers of human actions?

A man on the moon was someone’s dream before it was a fait accompli.

Martin Luther King mused ‘I have a dream’ & the world listened.

Are our dreams, our souls unreleased?

Is our ‘reality’ someone else’s?

Is our life lived out of necessity or freedom?

Are we slaves to the world around us or do we live in flights of fancy?

These questions explore the depths of our inner soul.

Our material world gives credence to the sole proprietor but little thought to our soul proprietor.

Our inner nature, our inner urges, long to express themselves where we live.

From childhood we are told to quit daydreaming & get down to work, to become responsible.

We often give dreams little value & don’t necessarily consider them guide posts to our spiritual & physical health.

Anybody that has read Kahlil Gibran’s ‘The Prophet’ will know he is a very serious man.

Go back & read his quote at the beginning of these thoughts.

What does he mean by ‘a slave of days’?

Might he be suggesting that if we don’t live our dreams that we are living in a different world, a world without magic?

Our world changes as rapidly as our mind does. We ‘see’ the world in a unique way. No one has the right to tell us how we should ‘see’ the world but many people do.

It is our life to live & what life do ‘we’ decide to live?

Can we take things into our own hands or do circumstances dictate our path?

Choices!

Living with compassion versus living with alcohol are two quite different roads. Believe me I know!

Breathing the clear air of nature versus that of tobacco are two quite different lifestyles. Believe me I know!

Living for giving versus living for getting are two quite different paths. Believe me …….!

The road one chooses comes from within or with-out.

Interesting twist on words, isn’t it?

A life lived with-out is empty, a life lived from within is full-filled.

What comes from within? Dreams!

What goes with-out? Dreams un-full-filled!

We can paint the landscape of our life on the canvas given us by the Creator.

Father, let me be the instrument of thy will.

Those words came from another serious ‘Prophet’, some refer to as the Creator himself. He along with Gibran & King ‘saw’ something the rest of us dream about.

We are all in this dream together; let’s help each other find the path.

Love creates miracles. This Christmas could be the one that has a Dickens Christmas Carol ending.

Imagine!

David

MAY 3/09 - WORK: VISIBLE LOVE

“Engagement involves absorption in what one is doing. Boredom is the opposite of engagement. Meaning is serving something larger than oneself. All three seem to play a role in life’s satisfaction.” – Kahlil Gibran

Engaged, bored, & meaningful, the way, the path, is this what Kahlil is saying?

Is work about earning a living or can it be a labor of love, might there be a balance?

Can work through mentorship bring rewards far greater than money & accomplish far more?

What happens when we get bored, where do we turn?

Ina & I had a chance this past Friday to spend some time at Royal Roads U & were involved in discussions about micro-lending projects & the issues of gender.

You might have noticed that Ina changed our front page this week. She mentions our path & the search for equality.

What is it about our societies that we do not give equality to women? A past relationship of mine used to say that the Bible & other religious books of wisdom were written by men. It is true that we call God ‘Our Father’.

The Adam & Eve story does blame Eve for listening to the snake & getting poor gullible Adam in hot water.

We, apparently, have been taking it out on women ever since.

Mohammed Yunas discovered that lending money to the ‘innocent’ male wasn’t going to get it repaid or used for beneficial purposes. The men would drink the money away; I suppose commiserating over what Eve did years back.

The success of micro-lending has come through women & their labor, a labor driven by love, feeding their children.

Having moved a long way towards equality in our society does not mean that other societies ‘see’ it the same way that we do. Gender inequality is still a part of many societies, & supported by their religious leaders.

This inequality has to be taken into account when trying to help with issues of poverty & the environment.

To go to another culture & tell them we have the answer is the height of ignorance. We have not learned to give the opposite sex their due here at home, yet, i.e. the glass ceiling.

Ina pointed out in our meetings at RRU, that mostly the men talked & the women in attendance listened.

Is there subtle superiority at work here?

Since women operate from a place of love, a more emotional state, do we men believe that we are better because we come from the head, more sensible so to speak?

Women repay loans to Yunas at a 99% rate, while Wall St Investment Bankers create worldwide havoc for the financial system, through toxic loans. Who is really more sensible?

Maybe the relationship between love & loan repayment is worth studying.

Maybe lending with the heart is as valid as lending in tranches, a Wall St term for slicing & dicing loans, to be sold on a quality rating scale, which I might add has been proved quite inadequate.

Might the success involved here be the difference between a labor of love or working for money, or in the ‘Greenangels’ motto, is the focus on the difference or on the dollar?

The women appear to be working to feed a family; the men are working for the money. Men often develop their self esteem or lack thereof from their paycheck.

The purpose is the difference. Credit worthiness gives love a much higher score.

The RRU Dean of Business gave us a quote along these lines, ‘air is needed for life but not the purpose, as profit is needed in business’. Wall Street’s 90 day profit cycle leads to money being the purpose. There the system breaks down.

Men are used to making money for the international money machine & to generate huge bonuses as a measure of their worth. Often times they miss their bonuses & take their dissatisfaction out on women.

Many women worldwide find themselves trying to provide for their families under brutal conditions. Yesterday, I listened to a panel on Darfur.

The issues I’m touching on here seem impossible but as a friend here on Pender said, “Nothing is impossible, the impossible just takes a little longer”.

Actually, anything is possible if we all work together. Many people say anything is possible for God. Now, if we can just take the next step; which is to realize God shows up in this world through each of us. Together then nothing is impossible.

Yesterday a friend of ours called, who has been divorced three times, & was telling me the advice he was giving a fellow he knew, on how to handle the difficulties the friend was having in his marriage. It sure seemed as though our friend had learned how to achieve equality. I asked if he would get remarried. He said not a chance. I asked why not. He said “it cost me too much the last three times”.

It is a shame that money stands in the way of happiness but if you know anyone who has gone through a divorce, you probably have seen what dividing up the assets does to a person. Men can get downright nasty when it comes to their finances.

Women are often left out of financial decisions during marriage & when the breakup comes, fear enters the picture due to inexperience & lack of knowledge. Add this to the male counterpart who thinks he has the ‘right’ to most of it & it becomes the scenario for much grief. Lawyers wind up with a good share, due to this separation of the sexes.

Why do we not achieve the balance?

We create a self image & thereby lose sight of that which was given us at birth, our creative talents.

Love is the core of our being & work can reflect that emotion. Getting out of our head & living for today, can bring harmony & balance.

We must move to that balance ‘within’ first & then discover balance with the opposite sex.

Respect, patience, integrity, all adds into the equation, work for work’s sake is not the end all.

So work for work’s sake or for money only is not the ticket. Working for something greater than oneself, as Kahlil suggests, is the path to peace.

Love spawns peace, work as a labor of love will lead to peace.

We may not have to send the boys off to war.

Equality of the sexes won’t be far behind.

Whistling while I work, David

APRIL 26/09 - PEACE: A PRACTICAL POSSIBILITY II

Is peace a spiritual trait?

Is man inherently prone to violence?

Inwardly we must change before outward material conditions will conform.

Martin Luther King: "The developed industrial nations of the world cannot remain secure islands of prosperity in a seething sea of poverty. The storm is rising against the privileged minority of the earth, from which there is no shelter in isolation & armament. The storm will not abate until a just distribution of the fruits of the earth enables man everywhere to live in dignity & human decency."

Here King is stating the material conclusion of his inner spiritual convictions. King studied & practiced many of Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas, such as non violent dissent. Gandhi followed many of the ideas of Leo Tolstoy, who wrote ‘The Kingdom of God is Within’. Tolstoy based many of his ideas on the Christian concepts of Jesus of Nazareth.

I believe Tolstoy was the only one of the above who got to die of old age, the rest were murdered.

What is it about those who are passionate for peace that others find abhorrent?

Is our conflict based in the struggle between the spiritual & the material worlds?

When someone comes along, who ‘sees’ the fruits of the earth as belonging to everyone equally & propounds their ideas out loud, do the rest of us say ‘get off of my cloud, I’m not sharing’?

Are those the thoughts that go through our heads even if we don’t act upon them?

Does the fact that someone else is doing the dirty work absolve the rest of us?

Are we all in this together?

Peace has to come from within.

Tolstoy got it right when he wrote ‘The Kingdom of God is Within’. The Kingdom of God is peace. As the Christian prayer says ‘Thy will be done on earth’.

Peace comes through love. Love shares!

‘Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven’.

When we pass on to the next plane, people say that we are laid to rest, connoting a peaceful place that we have moved to. The prayer above names that place as the place where we came from. The place our Father resides. It is suggested that we will meet our Maker at that point.

It appears Father is spirit which emanates our physical, earth body, our Mother, our material coat.

If Father is the epitome of sharing, peace, & love, then that nature is the one, the prayer above, is suggesting should be brought to earth, into the material world.

The only way this can be done is for each of us to recognize our true nature & bring peace through our own being. We are the instrument through which peace, love, & harmony can exist.

Together, that flow, could change the world to a heaven like state.

When a Jesus, Gandhi, or King, come along, they upset those who are not happy with the idea that everyone is equal. Greed & other personal interests get their nose out of joint & lead the few to take matters into their own hands.

The rest of us often times just sit & watch the news go by on CNN.

When we take a position for peace, when we stand up, the world has the chance to stand up with us. What embedded interests will take pot shots at us, as kids did in high school, when we volunteered to stand up & stand out in the crowd?

We learn to hide those innocent feelings that Ina ‘sees’ Sam expressing in his newborn delight with all that he experiences.

Will Sam maintain that innocence & become a beacon of light for peace?

Or will Sam’s outward nature be molded by his peers & his inner innocence become a conflict with that outer state?

We struggle with our own way of ‘seeing’ things & the day to day activities of others. This brings disharmony into our interior world. The only place to settle the waters is by calming our inner waves. We then become a beacon of hope within the outer storm.

Those children who are raised away from their physical mother, Mother Nature, have a tougher time ‘seeing’ heaven. They often don’t know their Mother or their Father.

We are a combination of the spirit within & the body garment with-out. We are here on a physical journey & will return to a place of peace. While we have the chance to know who we really are, it behooves us to pay attention.

How does heaven give us a place to hope for, when we don’t know who we are? That’s hell!

Practically, peace starts with me!

David

APRIL 19/09 - PEACE: A PRACTICAL POSSIBILITY

Today’s topic was on my mind & the tip of my fingers until I opened Ina’s thoughts this morning & saw what she wrote.

Last week I wrote about our grandson Sam’s 2nd birthday. This week he & his grandmother have trumped me with their own words & picture.

I couldn’t have said it better, so please go to the following link to read & smile, Ina’s Heartdates.

Until next week, David

APRIL 12/09 - SAM’S BIRTHDAY

What connects all of us?

A quote I read recently: “Purpose, connection, spiritual hunger, these are hallmarks of a caring community, moving us beyond money to sustainability. Sustaining people, sustaining nature, it is one cause inseparable.”

What separates us?

Our self image, the image we give off to others, keeps us apart.

Through blood we feel connected. Today is Sam, our new grandson’s, 2nd birthday. This has brought a flurry of activity & planning. Relatives are congregating at his mother’s house, to honor the newest spirit to our family.

His grandmother, the love of ‘my’ life, Ina, has spent hours over the making of his monkey face birthday cake. Daily bread, our normal work, has been forgotten for love & family.

Sam holds such a strong connection to so many, at such an early age. What magic lies within his soul?

The purity of Sam’s motives & the sincerity of his smile leave us in wonder at the Creator’s handiwork.

Sam was born in the spring, the time when much of the Creator’s handiwork is sprouting new life.

Could we ‘see’ as much to love about nature as we do about Sam?

Could we connect with nature & our world community as closely as Sam connects with us?

The love we feel for this birthday boy is a love that is capable of taking in far more.

As we look into his eyes, we will give thanks for the precious gift bestowed upon Christine & Jonathan, his mother & father, & thereby upon us, his family.

The fruit of the womb is as nourishing as the fruit of the tree. We consume the fruit of the tree but nurture the fruit of the womb.

How fine the fragrance of a new flower & the love of a new child.

To give Sam a world to grow up & flourish in, we will have to better understand the ties that bind us.

Our relationship with nature & our fellow man has become a global one. Sustainability has entered our vernacular & it is important we all understand what it actually means.

Education is important for a child but more than evermore, education is important for our generation. The implications of what we have done are far too serious to let ignorance stand in the way of reversing them.

We can all work towards a cleaner, safer, home, our planet, if we better understand the challenges. In addition, if we are willing to open our hearts & connect with others, we can give Sam, & all children, a brighter future.

Nature cleans up after itself, so might we? Today is a very important day, Sam’s birthday, & the first day of the rest of our lives. There is no better time than today, as a matter of fact all we really have is now, it is the only time we live in.

If I were to live in the past, thinking about my mistakes, or to live in the future, worrying about what will happen next; I would miss Sam’s birthday.

That I don’t intend to miss & if I could live every day like I’m living Sam’s birthday, my life would brighten considerably.

Thank goodness Sam came along. I ‘see’ a brighter future.

Thanks Sam & Happy Birthday, David

APRIL 5/09 - I GIVE YE DOMINION

Does dominion connote responsibility?

Oren Lyons, Faith-keeper of the Onondaga Nations, addressed the delegates of the United Nations with these words: "I do not see a delegation for the four-footed. I see no seat for the eagles. We forget & we consider ourselves superior, but we are after all a mere part of the Creation, and we must continue to understand where we are. We stand somewhere between the mountain & the ant & there only, as part & parcel of the Creation. It is our responsibility, since we have been given the minds, to take care of these things."

Who granted us dominion?

Who gave us our minds, the ability to think?

We are all part of a Sea of Intelligence. We express that intelligence in different ways.

We can ‘feel’ when we are in our element. We know when we are happy.

Intuition tells us which path to take. Trusting our intuition is another matter.

Creativity is an expression of that intelligence.

Having been given intelligence, doesn’t that bring responsibility with it?

Have we turned the word dominion into domination?

Is this the fork in the road that has led us to a ‘possible’ environmental collapse?

How is it that we have brought ourselves to a point on this planet where we could annihilate existence through any number of man made ways?

We are at a point now where an accident could end a good chunk of humanity. Accidents do happen!

A love for our world, our home, could change everything.

Might we be able to get over our domination thoughts?

How did the opening quote to today’s thoughts, by Oren Lyon, strike you? Did you dismiss them or see eternal ‘wisdom’ within them?

Yesterday, I went to chop wood for a neighbor while he was sawing up trees that had come down in a wind storm. We heard an Osprey screech overhead & immediately my neighbor decided to quit using the power saw for the rest of the season. His reasoning was that he didn’t want to scare the Osprey away from the nest they were looking for & had used for the last few years in one of his tall trees. He decided he would wait until after the young were hatched.

That kind of respect for nature is what Oren Lyons is talking about.

I have been watching the actions of deer on our Island & notice what appears to be natural intelligence or what might be called intuition or instinct. Is that inferior to our God given intelligence?

We hunt these animals, as our right, not just to feed ourselves but to produce vast wealth. We do this even to the point of extinction for many species. Natural wealth is thereby dissipated for future generations, the cost of which we don’t consider.

Conservation & sustainability are coming into our consciousness but very slowly. We don’t rush to give up our ‘God given’ rights.

Who’s God, by the way?

Was it a Christian, Islamic, or Jewish God that gave those rights to us, or did all three suggest it’s open game on nature?

The planet has the ability to produce with abundance, if we allow it. Due to population increases & materialistic lifestyles, sustainable practices are required.

We generally don’t appreciate the idea of living on a budget or living a balanced lifestyle. Nature pays the price of our indulgences.

Ultimately, we & our kids will pay the price.

Domination & dominion, words worth giving some thought to.

One connotes love at its base, the other lacks that emotion.

Let’s recognize what we were given as the ‘jewel’ hidden in the garden, & the other the misuse of that gift.

The fork in our road is the way we ‘see’.

The road less travelled, no more!

David

MARCH 29/09 - THE OTHER SIDE - DREAM WORLD - SPIRIT WORLD

This week, Ina & I had lunch with a 1st Nations couple, Victor & Sharon. These two have a dance company & one of them is a Master Mask Carver. Some of the words & thoughts that flowed effortlessly from their conversation were:

“We dance the history of the spirits behind the masks”.

“I created this crest when my father passed over to the other side”.

“There is no room for right or wrong in our culture, what is, just is”.

“We need to concentrate on restorative principals”.

“Children are our most important asset”.

“Everyone’s a dreamer!”

Words like the other side, dream world, & spirit world, are something I always thought were in the ether, a no place.

But the more I listen & learn, I believe that our current existence, in the world we call reality, is the product of our imagination, the way we ‘see’ things.

As I listened to their words & the importance they place on the spoken word in their culture, a thought popped into my mind, ‘In the beginning was the Word & the Word was with God”.

They were bringing the word down to earth & thereby, might they be bringing our Creator also?

If God travels through words, then yes!

They talked about the Matriarchal nature of their grandmother-grandchildren relationships, where grandmothers enhance the self image & positives within their grandchildren, through their encouraging words.

These Matriarchal words encourage & develop gentle souls. They talked about the spirit world within nature, the Orca, the Raven, the Wolf, & the Bear.

As I sat there it struck me that they ‘saw’ a very different world than I ‘see’. I asked what their objective was & they answered to be a bridge.

I thought was that a bridge between cultures or a bridge between worlds?

One of the two, Sharon, is half native, half European, raised between two different worlds. What does she ‘see’ as her reality?

Nature, to their culture, is abundance, something to be cherished. Talk about a sustainable lifestyle. We Anglo Saxons are studying sustainability, they live it.

We have a lot to learn from these original cultures. Why did we white folk decide that we were superior? What God given right did or do we have? Maybe our religion told us we had a God given right to ‘dominion’ over nature & everyone else.

We have moved away from a Matriarchal society & try to find our selves through our material possessions. But, as Sharon says, “we are finding out that our possessions can’t love us back.”

We need love. Love comes from a grandmother, from a being, a human being.

Where does this love come from? Where do the words of encouragement come from?

Words form futures!

We might want to watch what we say.

Often times we live to regret words spoken in haste.

Our words spoken reveal who we are.

What words do we speak to our selves?

Words come from thoughts; thoughts come from a Thinker, they come from the Other Side.

Our dreams come from some place also. Can our dreams come true?

Nothing stops our holding those dreams close to our heart, to cherish them.

Others try to steal our dreams. Do we let them?

The words we hold as truth are those words which enhance our & our children’s future.

Let’s think about what we say. Peace starts within.

Words of love bloom our relationships.

As to our 1st Nations friends, see their work at Big Sky Multi Media Story Telling Society

Dreaming again, David

MARCH 22/09 – JUDGMENT

‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes ’, Elvis Presley: “Try looking through my eyes rather than your ego”. Elvis sings words that say it very clearly. When we look through eyes of judgment we ‘see’ a completely different world. It is like looking through rose colored glasses, we ‘see’ a different picture.

We believe in the world that we ‘see’, that we ‘think’ we live in. Our ego, self image, redefines that world.

We were made in the image of our Creator but for clarity, it was recommended centuries ago, that we eliminate judgment as our view finder.

It is very difficult not to judge the actions of others, even a spouse or child. We often ‘see’ their actions as not conforming to our preconceived pattern of life as it ‘should’ be lived.

Men, in particular, can get quite severe about right & wrong ways to act. Worldwide men have played a dominant role & I believe the time has come where our planet needs the more compassionate feminine touch.

Not to say that women aren’t judgmental, however through child-raising, I believe they can be much more accepting of others.

Women are more attached through their heart, their emotions, than men. Men tend to see their world through their brain, proud to believe in their analytical abilities.

What the world needs now, is love sweet love, not more analysis.

Let’s elevate women to their rightful place of equality & get over our God given ‘dominion’ once & for all.

Man & mammon breeds’ competition while women & family develops community.

Let’s get down off our high horse & ‘walk a mile in their shoes’.

Elvis had a great voice, who knows he may have also had ‘in’-sight beyond his years.

We now need planetary community, a community of nations, a willingness to live in harmony with each other as well as the environment. A non-judgmental approach to our fellow beings is a great place to start. Can we ‘see’ the cultures & religions of others as part of the ‘whole’?

Aren’t differing religions fingers pointing at the same moon?

Wouldn’t it be sensible to quit pointing fingers at others & dig deep inside for answers to our own questions?

Wouldn’t questions help us ‘see’ through the eyes of others more easily? Asking versus telling goes a long way towards harmony.

Before judging others, the first question we might ask ourselves is ‘what is the answer to the reason I exist’?

Were we an accident or might we have come from somewhere for something?

We are each unique, apparently DNA has helped reveal that conclusion.

Why are we unique? Why us when billions of sperm could have proved otherwise?

Why us when our parents’ emotions played such an important part in our existence?

What if Mom & Dad had never met? What if Mom & Dad had no attraction to one another? What if Mom & Dad had met someone else?

The odds against our revealing ourselves in this outer physical garment were great, why spoil the journey through judgment? Letting go is a much healthier life choice?

Letting the world unfold on its own is a much less stressful way of living. Is it possible to accept the actions of others & allow the Creative spirit to operate in purity?

Our directing our own internal, ‘eternal’, creative spirit is a reason we came here in the first place. Allowing spirit to flow through us, rather than redirecting it for others, allows harmony within.

It all starts within, accepting rather than judging.

As a little ‘c’ creator, we have the inherent powers of the Universe. Focusing those powers through us, the lens, is a trip deep within to the center of our spiritual Universe.

Judgment is a trip ‘with-out’.

Why miss out, David

MARCH 15/09 - TRUST

Trust is something that is hard to gain & easy to lose. How do you trust someone?

It is difficult to determine when another has their or your best interest at heart.

We either line up with our internal guidepost or we swing with our own ‘I’, ego, self image.

Depending upon our own needs, it can be quite an internal struggle at times.

We all ‘look’ at the world in different ways. What we ‘see’ is often a product of the needs we have.

The needs we have generally are a result of our ‘lack consciousness’.

Lack is a thought that comes from our not recognizing that all we need is already available & present. We create needs in our mind first; they then play out on the physical plane.

Just being is not enough; we aspire to more.

We ‘see’ things & wants are created. Once we start the chase after things, particularly for more than we can financially afford, lack sets in.

All of us chasing for more is the basis of our economy, utilizing credit to get more than we can afford with our cash resources, is what keeps our economy going.

Currently, we are experiencing a breakdown in our mass buying syndrome. It appears that consumers have taken a worldwide holiday & as Warren Buffett stated, “we have gone off a cliff”.

Now I realize that it is more complicated than I have explained, as credit swaps are not an easy instrument to understand, the regulators may even be out of date in this category.

However, what the financial folks are talking about & hoping is that we, the consumer, will get our confidence back & begin to spend again.

Is there something wrong with a system that fails, when we all decide to keep our money?

Credit greases the wheels & when banks quit lending our machine seizes up.

Do we all need to be economists to understand that something about this system is rigged?

Credit is extended on the basis of trust, the promise that we will pay it back. Interest is charged on the credit & someone collects that interest. The ‘someone’ is he who has the money. Those who have the money hope that the rest of us are willing to live on credit & pay them rent on their money.

If our system is thriving then apparently most of us are willing to oblige.

Can we be trusted to pay back our loans?

Currently, defaults are at record highs. Our economic system is seizing up because we are not paying back our debts.

The ‘supposed’ worldwide economic growth built on credit & trust is evaporating. What was ‘real’ about the growth?

Are we lulled into thinking that we are wealthy when we trust in the ‘assets’ we supposedly own?

If we have significant debt against those assets what do we really own?

If the assets deteriorate over time, what are we putting our trust in?

Shouldn’t our trust lie with the basis of our life itself?

Where did our ability to think come from?

Do you suppose our life came from our parents or through them?

Can we trust our internal ‘light’-house?

Learning to trust our internal voice is often times quite difficult. Many of us lack self confidence.

In other words, we don’t trust our ‘self’.

Who then should we trust?

Our life is our life.

We only live this one once.

This life is a journey, not about the destination.

Where does this put religion?

Is religion about the destination or the message?

The message ‘do unto others as ye would want done unto you’, is worth trusting!

The destination, who knows?

Is trust something to be given sparingly?

If we can trust our self, we can trust anyone?

If we are not after material or other self gratification awards, then we can trust the energy behind everything.

The energy we put out is that which is behind everything, how we redirect its force is how our life unfolds.

Trust the tiller not the ship.

Know your tiller, David

MARCH 8/09 – EMOTIONS

Love at first sight!

Are we a bundle of emotions?

Do emotions make up who we are? When you think back over your last ten decisions, how many were made from an emotional state?

What causes us to get riled or happy?

These past few weeks have been a time of reflection, a time of waiting, waiting for results to show up.

Yes, to show up, not forced to appear.

For a good section of my life I have been making things happen, believing that I was in control.

I have come to realize that it is the way we live our lives that produces results, the fruits of our way of being.

The way we are from the inside, materializes our outer world to conform.

Our focus is often on the outer, materialistic, outcomes. Our life is a river of thoughts & emotions.

Paths we take are a result of our inner turmoil or peace.

Places we land are often not the places we thought we were going.

The past is likely to repeat itself if the inner issues are not resolved.

Be happy with the flow, be patient with the pace!

Last night Ina & I sat on the couch & watched Mama Mia. We lived a part of our life over in a happiness come back together. See our story on greenangels home page ‘about us’.

It was an emotional day when I met Ina for the first time & those emotions have stuck with me over the years. Luckily, I find myself enjoying them with Ina, once again. Emotions are from the heart, the heart is where our true home can be found.

Don’t let others ruin the dreams that have been put away for years, get up, get out, get with it.

This is not a dress rehearsal. We are living a once in a lifetime life, right now.

Get the most out of every day by sharing your emotions with someone.

Love is the most powerful force on earth.

Weapons destroy, love creates.

We were made in the image of love.

We are an emotion to behold.

Our soul is ours to mold.

A love story yet to be told!

Find your love, David

MARCH 1/09 - IS GOD AN ENTREPRENEUR

“Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to the type of personality who is willing to take upon her or himself a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome” Wikipedia.

Creation would seem to fit the above definition!

‘The Professor & The Madman’, Simon Winchester: “God – who in that part of London society was of course firmly held to be an Englishman – naturally approved the spread of the language as an essential imperial device; but he also encouraged its undisputed corollary, which was the worldwide growth of Christianity. The equation was really very simple, a formula for undoubted global good”.

Re-read the definition of entrepreneur above & does it not apply to all of us?

Are not we all endowed with creative possibilities? We are limited only by our imagination. Who gave us our imagination?

Are we willing to take personal responsibility for our actions & their outcomes? How did we get free choice?

Were we not made in the image of Spirit? Are we not Spirit collectively?

Who are we?

We are the temple of the living Spirit!

If the Creator had a son, did he come to point out that he was Anglo Saxon & spoke English? No, in fact the fellow that is given credit for that ‘hallowed’ position was Mid Eastern & spoke Hebrew.

Did that young Jewish chap not discover that we are all a part of the eternal creative energy?

It is purported that this young man funneled ‘life’ through his hands.

Now that is the ultimate in entrepreneurial skill!

Demand for that product has shown its magnetism over the centuries.

What is it about life that outdraws death, a hundred to one? (Some folks actually do prefer being suicide bombers)!

Why do most people love life & fear death?

Why do we shrink from personal responsibility?

Why do we blame others?

Our personal insecurities stem from our perceived human limitations & thereby our unlimited potential goes unfulfilled.

Individually we are a creation machine & collectively we can do anything.

Entrepreneurs are known to think up new ideas & then continue to go after those ideas through failure after failure. A few lucky ones hit it right on the first try. Venture capitalists tell me they have to invest in 16 new ventures to get 1 big win.

Social entrepreneurs are defined as those entrepreneurs that make a social or environmental purpose their objective. Was God a social entrepreneur?

I spoke with a group of entrepreneurs, this week, at Royal Roads University. We discussed the ‘making a difference while making a dollar’ concept. This approach seemed to energize the students.

What part of their anatomy responded so positively to this triple bottom line concept? What was it inside each of them that had them coming up after the talk & saying “we were feeling down but you have given us new hope”?

Was that a lifting of their spirits? If so, what spirits?

Are we made up of spirits? Is there something called a ‘Holy Spirit’?

Are we a package of varying energies?

Do we vacillate between the positive & negative poles of our soul?

Can we see the positive & make a difference?

Are we small, frail, human beings?

Is there greatness beneath the outer layers of our skin?

How do we know until we step out?

Freedom awaits our next decision.

I am not …….…………..!

You fill in the blank.

I am, David

FEB 22/09 - “FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO”

Those words above were uttered or purported to be uttered by a young Jewish chap, who was hanging from a cross, with nails through his hands & feet.

To me, they are some of the most amazing words ever uttered, particularly in the situation to which the young man found himself.

Think about the words & his predicament.

He was being hung & he figured that the folks doing it didn’t know what they were doing. How could that be? What was he really saying?

Might this Forbes (Feb, 16, 2009) Magazine article, ‘Failure of Morality, not Capitalism’, re our ongoing financial crisis, shed any light on his words: “America’s Founding Fathers ranged from Christians to agnostics but their center of gravity was a deism that accepted the duality of human nature. Men are divine; men are animals. The best government is one that encourages man’s divine side & mitigates the damage from his animal side.”

So we are not only a physical being but in addition, we have a divine & animal nature.

Is our divine side explained through the words we were made ‘in the image of God’?

Is our animal side explained through the words ‘self image or ego’?

Is it possible to live a life connected to the divine side? Did the fellow hanging from the cross achieve that state?

Many think by his words & actions, he was God, incarnate!

Could we approach Godlike status if we were able to get in touch with our divine side?

Just the fact that Forbes writers are now discussing a divine side of mankind, relating it in some way to our finances, gives me personal hope.

We may not be able to serve both the Creator & money but what if many of us started to use money to serve Creation?

Isn’t Creation ‘all’ that we see around us, our planet, our neighbors of other species, our grandchildren, Sam, Matthew, & Tyler?

If we would approach our neighbors, nature, & our children, vessels of divinity, with a reverent attitude, we might just begin to create a heaven on earth.

Until we can ‘see’ this possibility it eludes us. Once we begin to give it a chance to evolve, it takes its inexorable course.

As I write these words, I find myself in a real estate transaction that has very difficult financial implications. Many innocent people could get hurt.

It is a microcosm of the bigger international financial scenario that is currently playing itself out.

The participants are vacillating back & forward between ego, anger, pride, & humility.

To keep a sense of balance, the words ‘forgive them, for they know not what they do’ entered my head this week.

We do get carried away through fear, anger, worry, & self image.

We do live a life that follows from those emotions.

There is another path!

None of what I have written should be considered in religious terms, I am talking about love.

Love & forgiveness underlie all organized religions, ‘do unto others as ye would want done unto you’.

But really, how does one accept abuse from others, from a spouse, from a friend, from our children?

We don’t have to put up with it but we can forgive the offenders. We can look past the ‘self image’ & see the divine in everyone.

Those last few words are very difficult to accomplish. I know for a fact, as this week I reacted from my emotions & found myself apologizing.

It is hard to ‘see’ the divine when ‘people act like people’ as my ex Denver partner used to say.

What strikes me about all this is the possibility to actually get in touch with the Divine.

Am I over doing it here?

Is the real possibility only to get in touch with the divine portion of our own nature?

If the opportunity is for our divine side to communicate with the Divinity behind all creation, then anything is possible!

We then can become the instrument, as my son, Troy, said this week, of the Power behind all that is.

Does it matter what we call the Creative Power, the Divine, behind all that is?

Isn’t the trick to be able to communicate with our inherent nature?

Won’t we find peace in that place?

Isn’t that the water that releases all thirst?

Might we be on the horizon of a ‘giant leap for mankind’?

Might we be at a crossover point?

Might this current financial crisis wake us up to a new paradigm in living?

Life is a path we create first through our thoughts.

Hopefully, personal responsibility comes back into vogue.

We can live our life from a place called love!

‘It ain’t easy’, as the song goes.

But what is, David

FEB 15/09 - PRAYER AS A LIFE STRATEGY

I have often heard the admonition ‘watch out what you ask for as you might get it’.

Who might we be asking? Where do our wants come from?

When we talk with our self, are we activating intuition, might there be a Receiver? Do our questions get answered; is there a two way dialogue?

Wrestling with life’s alternatives, in & of itself, may be the answer. When internal peace comes with the answer, we may have found our answer.

Struggling with the answer denotes conflict. Conflict overshadows peace.

Is prayer a ‘religious’ concept or a solid life strategy?

Might intuition be unconscious prayer?

Where does intuition come from or from whom does it come?

Might there be knowledge behind all humanity or are we a collection of individual egos adrift in the Universe? When we consider the conflict throughout our planet, we could conclude the latter, a group of individual egos.

Prayer may be the avenue to the Source of all knowledge, the path to overcome conflict. A young Jewish chap once suggested that we pray ‘Our Father’. Was he delusional or did he ‘see’ something the rest of us can’t ‘see’?

Differing viewpoints make up our reality. Looking at the world from someone else’s viewpoint is difficult. Asking for wisdom & patience may bring peace to earth.

Peace begins with me!

Whatever we may believe religiously about prayer, it is an internal dialogue which can bring very clear answers. Call it meditation if that makes the answers more acceptable. However one wants to recognize the Sender of the information, it is definitely reasonable to revere a Higher Power.

Prayer comes with the image of an unreachable God to many people, not a power within, which can be brought to life.

When many will kill in the name of this Deity, it indicates we are on the wrong track. If love is at the heart of all religions, why would it be missing from the heart of man?

Prayer facilitates the heart’s direction to the brain, our heart being the door to the universal power, Love!

‘Do unto others’ comes from the heart, ‘do for ones self’, comes from the ego, the ‘self’ image. Do we ‘see’ ourselves as part of the whole of humanity or distinctly unique?

We are distinctly unique as a physical being but spiritually, a part of the Universal Thinker.

We don’t need to walk alone, love connects.

Conflict divides,’ let go & let Love’.

Trying to change someone else’s mind is a self centered approach. ‘Let it be’ was one of the Beatles better suggestions.

When people are involved, life can be a test. As an ex-partner used to say “don’t be surprised when people act like people”.

Prayer can take the edge off every day conflicts. Going within can bring a peace to daily activities.

Life can be stressful. Prayer can lower the temperature.

Try living connected, it might improve your health.

Prayer just may be life prolonging, David

FEB 8/09 - ‘BELIEFS DIVIDE, VALUES UNITE’

This week I had the chance to have breakfast with Richard Barrett, www.valuescentre.com , who provided the above quote.

The breakfast was sponsored by Royal Roads University, the Todd Thomas Institute for Values Based Leadership, & www.lifepilot.org .

How many of us or our leaders have thought through our values? How many of us live our lives based on those values?

Chief Joseph talks about the Great Spirit, the Spirit behind all life. Does the Great Spirit have values?

Is the Great Spirit anything more than the air we breathe?

Is the Great Spirit a thinker?

Does getting in touch with our values get us any closer to the Great Spirit?

Do we owe our lives to anyone; do we revere anyone or anything?

In these days when it is quite obvious that the world is divided by religious beliefs, might the underlying values of those religions bring us together?

‘Do unto others as ye would want done unto you’, appears to be a basic tenant of all religions. Might that be the opposite of ‘business as usual’?

What might get us to change our approach from ‘what’s in it for me’ to ‘what’s in it for the other person’?

What might be done together that can’t be done alone? ‘With God all things are possible’, may just be a truism. Might God be Chief Joseph’s Great Spirit?

I’m reading ‘Song for the Blue Ocean’, Carl Safina, at the moment. It is heart breaking to read of the Salmon trying to swim back up rivers, clogged with power dams, to spawn. If the long liner nets don’t get ‘em, dam it, we will.

Why do I say heart breaking?

What makes a Salmon swim thousands of miles through the ocean & then return to the same river it was born in to spawn its young? Surely there must be a Great Spirit!

Why does man clog the navigable arteries as well as his own?

We supposedly do it in the name of progress? Should we not question our definition of progress?

Might we not look at our values as a nation, respect for all life, being one?

Might we not look at nation states as an outdated form of governance?

When might we ‘see’ this spaceship, called earth, for what it is, a fragile interconnected eco system?

Sustainability might be a value to which we might want to give some thought?

Depletion economics is something we are applying, not only to the ocean, but also to the atmosphere.

Are we nuts?

Why should I care?

What can one person do about anything?

If we all think that way then nothing will change.

If we all decide to make a difference then the world will change.

What is the tipping point, which straw breaks the camel’s back?

Maybe, just maybe, it’s me.

Why do I try?

Just like the Salmon, I’m driven.

Something is calling me home?

Where might home reside?

Inside!

Faithful to one’s self.

At ease with who I am.

At peace!

Compassionate.

Value-able!

David

FEB 1/09 - GOD & MAMMON

Finances are now one of Obama’s biggest challenges & last week I discussed the difference between God & Mammon, the internal realm, the spiritual world versus our material world.

Now let’s go a step further & suggest our life is lived not with-out, in the material world, it just seems that way, but within, the spiritual realm from physical birth to physical death.

Our life is as we ‘see’ it. Our life is lived between a series of spiritual choices. Love, hate, sharing, hoarding, compassion, fear, & the list goes on.

Our life is about ‘who’ we are, not what we are. Watch a person’s actions not their words, is an old wisdom. Children certainly do!

Our 2 year old grandson, Sam, arrived last night, & he certainly mimics things we do. Kids say the ‘darnedest’ things.

Our emotional struggle inside is filtered through a thinking brain & hopefully a moral fiber.

Who provided us our ethical imprint?

Did the culture & religion of our parents have anything to do with the way we ‘see’ the world? For most of us the answer is yes.

Many of us were raised in a Christian religion, but do not most organized religions have the same message at their roots? Do unto others as ye would have them do unto you!

Many of us were raised in what’s called a 1st World status from a material standpoint.

Fear arises from our accumulative tendencies as we believe we might lose that which is of no value. I say, of no value, because it adds nothing to our soul but detracts from the person we could be.

We get lost in our ‘things’ & our purpose becomes one of a search for security where security does not exist. Putting faith in financial instruments has been damaged internationally, lately.

What will it take to get people to have ‘faith’ in Mammon again?

Consumption supposedly is ‘good’. The talking heads say it is ‘good’ for the economy. What is the economy? It is jobs. Jobs for what? For Mammon. Mammon for what? For spending on things.

Things decay! Well, recycle.

Recycle, for what? To buy ‘things’ again!

What, in this material world cycle, does one thing for the person within?

It creates a self image, a false sense of security.

This is the root of where the struggle lies.

The struggle lies within the choices.

Our moral guidepost was provided during our informative years & hopefully is questioned as we reach a mature age, in human timeframes.

It has been stated that some will ‘see’ heaven on earth, while they are physically here; others will wish & pray for a future heaven, never ‘seeing’ or experiencing that which is within.

Living in the now is all there is eternally.

To live in the now is to appreciate the things we have, not wishing & striving for the things we don’t.

We were born with our most valuable asset. Life itself!

We were conceived out of love & to love we will ultimately be enveloped.

We awoke in our physical body; we will go to sleep to it also.

A new day always dawns; it will for us also.

Might our ‘awakening’ happen while we are still residing on this physical plain?

Does the old saying ‘for love or money’ have any relevance to our life path?

The answer is as basic as our focus.

We focus on that which we ‘believe’ to be important.

We live in an abundant world while many of our fellow human beings die of lack.

We generally don’t look to those with less; our focus is generally on those with more. ‘Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous’ understood that focus & catered to it.

In our society our focus on mammon, or the lack thereof, has been cultivated since birth.

Money is definitely an earthly concept; can we bring God down to earth?

If we ‘see’ God as love, then we can spread It everywhere, we can ‘see’ It everywhere, & we can get in touch with God within.

Once walking on a ‘loving’ path, life begins to lighten up; we can become the light that shines in the world.

Why don’t we let the ‘light’ shine through? Children do!

Children are a bundle of love; they are a sponge for the aspirations & disappointments of us, their role models.

Writing this makes me want to cry.

But I did what I did & I must forgive myself, David

JANUARY 25/09 - YE CANNOT SERVE BOTH GOD & MAMMON

Do the above reference & the following quote say the same thing?

“A new philosophy of money & credit based on the human inability to act virtuously could well be the key to a healthier financial future”, Edward Hadas, ‘Life After the Meltdown’ (Fortune Magazine, January, 2009)

The above quote was the last sentence of the article referenced in Fortune. Would we all agree that ‘human inability to act virtuously’ is a foregone conclusion?

What is it about mammon that makes people like Madoff steal $50 billion? Yes, that latest Ponzi scheme is in the billions.

It appears that a lot of fear is operating in the international financial arena these days. What do we fear?

Would we all agree that God is a spiritual world entity & money is a material world concept?

Money is a medium of exchange & God is the essence of life? What causes us to confuse the value of each?

God is love, mammon creates greed. Is greed & fear a spiritual concept?

It appears we vacillate back & forward between the spiritual & material worlds.

Do we actually differentiate between the two or do we live in the material world to the exclusion of the other?

Based on the amount of time dedicated to the pursuit of mammon, it appears that the material world gets the majority of our attention. Why might that be the case?

What we ‘see’ with our eyes is that which is without. What we ‘feel’ is that which is within.

Since we cannot ‘see’ the spiritual world, we often do not believe it exists. We then fall for the idea that the material world is the one we live within.

Anything material is a manifestation of thought, it is not ‘real’. Material possessions can give us a false sense of security.

If nothing else, the latest financial crisis has taught us that!

So when things are down what can we count on? Love!

Together we get through.

Together we can accomplish anything!

What keeps us apart?

‘Ye are one’, does not resonate well in our society. Many things help to keep us apart, nationhood, religion, race, culture, color, greed, armies, & to this list you might want to add your own.

If we were to ‘see’ ourselves as spiritual beings, all of these things would fall away.

Many of us live for a day in the future, a day beyond our physical deaths. Many believe that future place & time is when everything will be perfect, not now.

Now, it is all about lack, the lack of that ‘heavenly’ future.

Might it be possible to experience that heavenly future now?

Might now be what it is all about?

Might today be ‘heaven on earth’?

Might today be the happiest day of our lives?

What is wrong with any day being the happiest day of our lives?

Why should the external world dictate our mood?

Why should anyone dictate our life?

Why not reside with the God within?

Why not spread seeds of love?

Why not share the fruit from within?

Why not, why not?

The answer is simple.

Discover the freedom!

Truth may be a four letter word.

L-O-V-E!

David

JAN 18/09 - HONOUR THY FATHER & THY MOTHER

The above title is wisdom from the ages.

The following quote came from a recent Economist Magazine, about George W Bush: “When historians look back on his Presidency, they may well judge him most on whether he managed to bring the emerging powers into the world order & unite them behind Western values.”

What values; wealth accumulation, military aggression, sharing, caring?

Do we give a little but take a lot?

“Make me perfect, said St Augustine, but not yet.”

Who is thy Father & thy Mother, should be a question easily answered, but is it?

Who are we?

We are a combination of earth & Spirit.

Thus, Mother Earth & Father Spirit starts to make sense.

We were made in the Image but we develop our own.

Ego, or self image, comes between us & our Creator.

Our values, thereby, are often modified to suit the situation.

The basis of our soul is love; all other values are variations of that theme.

When the plant sprouts from the earth, do we continue to admire the earth or the Rose?

As humans, we too often see the body, not the person beneath.

Sustenance, food & clothing, flows to us through the earth.

Our life flows through the earth, our body.

Might we be more than animals, even animals’ show love for one another?

We humans have the opportunity to decide, to think for ourselves.

Was or is there an Original Thinker?

Are we a part of that Thought?

Do we live in a world created through our own minds & perceived through our own eyes, our perception?

When we ‘open’ our eyes to ‘see’ that we are all part of the same Thought, we realize the brother & sisterhood of humanity.

We are all ‘One’ is a tough concept to absorb but doing so helps us realize that when we hurt someone else, we hurt our self.

We can’t support military solutions without fear being part of our life.

Our thoughts are the mother & father of invention.

Our thoughts become our life.

Our life here on earth is a passing phase.

Our life beyond is the flower this seed grows into.

What type of a seed are we cultivating?

Our body is the earth that houses the future plant.

Our ‘realization’ that ‘love is a many splendored thing’ has implications for our eternal flowering.

Why grow into a thorn that we have to live with immortally?

Isn’t it lucky that we get three score years plus ten to decide what seed we will become?

Isn’t it wonderful that we get time to decide what beautiful colors our ultimate butterfly will be?

We ‘will’ metamorphose but to what?

Does pondering that have any relevance?

It is the purpose for which we were created.

Does a Rose wonder whether its beauty delights, it just does?

We can be beauty incarnate.

We grow within & through our outer shell, the temple of the soul.

We are given a spirit, we cultivate our soul.

Are these the mind wanderings of an older gentleman or the enlightenment of an aged youth?

Whichever, I now know what the Beatles were foreshadowing with the song ‘When I’m 64’.

A January 1st baby!

‘I’ was the prize, & for that I honor my human Mom & Dad, David

JAN 11/09 - ‘LOVE IS THE KILLER APP’

The above title came out a few years back written by Tim Sanders, who works for Yahoo.

Following are words about his next book:

“On September 16, 2008, Doubleday Currency will publish Tim's third book, Saving The World At Work. The premise of the book is simple: In this new socially conscious day and age, you can make a difference as you make a dollar.”

The last sentence has been the basis of Greenangels philosophy for the last decade.

How much headway have we made?

Paradigm shifts are slow. Enlightenment can come in a flash but awareness may take much longer.

This week I was presented with the concept; ‘Radio Station WIFM’. These call letters were new to me, & mean ‘What’s In It For Me’.

Now that concept is not new & the basis of how we got to where we are.

Do we realize the impact we are having on the world & do we ‘feel’ good about that?

Last night I listened to a bright young man of the future, his comments went to ‘true abundance’ & ‘sharing’. There is our future. How do we realize it?

Is love truly the killer app, as Tim Sanders suggests, or will WIFM continue to be our global call letters?

Bush is giving way to Obama. Has there been a consciousness shift?

Where do these attitudes reside? Within each of us, is the answer to that question.

Has the slow down in consumer shopping, got something to do with this new awareness or just fear?

When the economy turns will we go back to the same old same old?

Might we find a new way?

Tim suggests Love vs Greed as the way forward.

How many people have been remodelled by his message?

Could it be possible that compassion & sharing are concepts bubbling to the surface of our physical reality?

Might we bring these concepts, that are usually contemplated on the 7th day of the week, the day of worship, the Sabbath, into our following ‘5 day’ work week?

I had this discussion, a few years back in Cabo San Lucas, with a Christian Businessman, who explained the difference with the answer, ‘But that’s Business’.

Business, the work that we do, has become a dirty word in many quarters. The continuing business scandals, the latest a $50bil Ponzi scheme, should be no surprise to a world that bases its philosophy on what’s in it for me.

When we are chasing mammon, the skilled can funnel our assets into their bank accounts.

Our need or greed blinds us to the obvious.

Due diligence & looking to government to legislate integrity, Sarbanes-Oxley, are the solutions we create to protect ourselves from our own desires.

Where did personal responsibility go?

‘Give & it will come back tenfold’ has received short shrift in recent times. We are a long way away from original wisdom.

Take a look at our planet, abundance wherever we look. Who provided that? Who continues to provide that?

Why are the apples free until they get into the hands of man?

Why is the grain in the field, grown from a small seed? Who came up with the seed?

What does the Originator want? What is the Creator looking for? Who is s(he)? Love seems to be at the root of most trees.

Our concept is the reverse of ‘give & it comes back tenfold’. We get cheap illegal labour to pick the apples & then mark them up tenfold.

In addition, we cover the trees with pesticides, chop them down, & rip up their roots, to build civilization.

What’s civil about that?

It’s actually referred to as progress.

Our Gross National Product means the more resources we use up & the more waste we create provides for a healthy economy.

It seems an oxymoron to use ‘Gross’ & ‘healthy’ in the same sentence.

Well, at least our forefathers were honest; after all they knew the truth, its ‘Gross’.

There are two futures out there. There are two paths we face.

Are they coming together or are they spreading further apart?

Sharing, compassion, & love, true abundance, or WIFM?

In our society, it is difficult to not be forced back into the old paradigm. The words are alluring. ‘Do it my way, you get mojo’.

The Devil lurks below the surface, actually the Devil is me.

Let’s face up to our own demons. Let’s let love bubble to our surface.

Our daily actions are an indication of who we are.

We can’t be one person inside, or on Sunday’s, & another out in the light of day.

People watch our actions after listening to our words.

Do we live our values? What values do we have?

‘Value Investing’, now there’s a novel concept.

Where to from here? Maybe buying Tim’s book.

Better still, a life changed is your own life saved.

Rebirth isn’t only for the Eastern Religions.

Religion isn’t what this is about.

This is you meeting yourself.

Have a good day,

David

JAN 4/09 - LIFE & BALANCE

Is there a perfect balance for one’s life?

Is the balance one of physical activity or weight control?

Is the balance between leisure & work?

Is balance one of spirituality versus organized religion?

Is the balance between love & friendship?

Is it between community & family?

What is it that you feel balance in your life connotes?

Are we ever capable of achieving that perfect combination & is there such?

Where is the point of no regrets?

Do opposites lead to a comforting centre?

How centered are you?

These questions popped up on my birthday, New Years Day.

The New Year often brings all sorts of resolutions that last temporarily.

Are those really resolutions or wishes?

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives.

What might the rest of our life look like?

All of the opportunities that were available to us in our youth are available including many more. Think of the things that were not available in your youth.

The Beatles preceded the Internet.

Space travel & ‘adult virtually delivered life long learning’ are new phenomenon.

Opportunities abound for wisdom manifested through teaching, whether in international English schools or NGO’s.

In the Islamic world many pray 5 times per day. In our society it is lucky if most of us pray once per week. Is spirituality involved in either?

What sacred balance has any one of us achieved?

What is sacred balance?

What balance, if any, have we come to with our environment? All the talk of sustainability can elude us if we don’t know what ‘sustainability’ means in the first place.

Terrorism has now become a visitor in many countries of the world, what message are those fanatics out to deliver.

Is it just about martyrdom or is there a lack of balance message somewhere in their distorted thinking?

This New Year we had the opportunity to have grandchildren, brothers, cousins, & their families, here on Pender. Everybody appeared to be enjoying their interactions & definitely they were not thinking about the survivability of our planet. We have a beautiful paradise & can not really imagine it not being here.

My thoughts this morning are meant to give us a chance to stop & think about the place we are in this world & the future we would like to see for ourselves & those we love.

I’m also suggesting that ‘those we love’ be expanded to include our community, our fellow beings in different parts of the world, as well as nature & the non human creatures that inhabit it.

“A splash, very close, rippled the surface. ‘Just a crocodile’, grinned Richard, undisturbed, ‘Don’t worry. They are well fed’. Eyes protruding above the water level, these huge scaly reptiles spend their torpid uneventful lives as part of a larger scheme, fitting into the wise equilibrium of Nature”, Kuki Gallmann, ‘I Dreamed Of Africa’.

‘The wise equilibrium of Nature’, have you ever wondered why crocodiles or rhinoceros’ are part of our Nature-al balance?

If not, much left to discover & so little time, magic everywhere!

Our life on this physical plane has a limited timeframe. What is it we will take with us to the next?

That which we accumulate within our soul has a much better chance of traveling ethereally than the material possessions we acquire.

Love survives any physical present given this Christmas.

Friendship outlives monetary rewards.

Anything physical has a limited life span, including our outer shell, our body, but the internal spiritual aspect shines on.

Individually we come to light this world & our light continues throughout eternity. One cannot capture the light within but we have the ability to direct its force.

Don’t put a shade over your life opportunity; give it a chance to roam free.

Let your spirit dance!

Free yourself from the bonds of the past, which bonds are often of ones own making.

Find out who you really are in this New Year.

Discover a new life, a new future.

Let the inner beacon ‘feel’ you into a soft landing.

Warmth, peace, & security are inner states.

Find yourself & realize ‘you’ does not depend on someone else.

We were made in the ‘image’. What image?

Our creative thoughts can fly higher, faster, & farther, than any physical limitations would allow.

Compassion develops the inner self to a point that self-ish-ness could never achieve.

Discover the world ‘within’ this coming year.

Let’s recognize our oneness.

We are capable of greatness.

Let’s get beyond our smallness.

Expand into a world being.

Let’s get beyond doing.

To all those human beings out there, let’s realize we were not created for human doings.

Peace starts with knowing who we truly are, joy to the world!

Namaste, David

DEC 29/08 - SUCCESS vs REALITY

A well known Canadian writer, Peter C Newman, wrote a number of books about wealthy Canadian families & their heirs.

Peter C. Newman, ‘Here Be Dragons’: “The success of these inheritors depended on the generation to which they belonged. To the founders of Family firms, business was everything; to their children, it was a challenge; to their grandchildren, a property to be sold or pissed away. After that it became a quarrel”.

So what is success, what is wealth?

In our society, success & wealth are generally equated with money & fame.

Money & fame are a mirage, life lived in a vacuum.

A life lived for accumulation is an empty life.

A life without compassion is an unfulfilled journey.

Peter Newman goes on to write: “The cost of success is the absence of a balanced life, the quest for fame takes its pound of flesh in the loss of reality”.

‘The loss of reality’ – so what might reality be?

Reality is the interconnectedness of all things & awareness thereof is the first step to a healthy, success-full life.

In all things, the Creator resides, not an exclusive relationship, as some who celebrated a birthday this past week, believe.

Together, with nature, we make up the sum total of Creation.

Love is at our core & to that core we first must bond.

Looking to others for our fulfillment is like tying a wild horse to a blade of grass.

Peace lies within, getting to know one’s own value.

Love, once realized, is then a bountiful product to be shared, the water that never runs out.

Love flowing in all directions brings back rivers of fortune.

Love begets love.

In these times of economic uncertainty, love creates unlimited opportunity.

The vaults swell with wealth when love & compassion are their parents.

Sharing pays off tenfold. What stops us from ‘seeing’ that reality?

The New Year will shortly be upon us. What will be different this coming year?

Is there any reason to believe that we can live a completely different life or is our past a signpost to our future?

Change is a constant; do we have the strength to apply it to our own life?

Fear can freeze us into an unfulfilled existence.

Materialism can misguide our footsteps.

Letting go can be our salvation.

Hanging on is a recipe for more of the same.

‘Turning over a new leaf’ refers to the rebirth experienced every spring.

Are we ready for a life lived in love?

Is the blood flowing from our heart to our brain generated by love or a stream full of demons?

How does ‘pure’ blood circulate the temple, our body?

We stand on holy ground; we live in a holy place, our physicality.

Success then, as Peter says, is a balance.

Or as an old quote goes, a balance between love & mammon.

We are on this earth in the form we ‘see’ in the mirror.

We came to spread our ‘natural’ seed, love.

We were given choice, a brain to determine our own course.

Why?

What does that matter?

We are here.

I love you, David

DEC 21/08 - DISAPPOINTMENT & CHRISTMAS

Have you ever experienced disappointment or defeat?

If there are two sides to every coin, are these not the other side of happiness or success?

If that is true, then like turning over a new leaf, can one choose to be happy & successful? My sister in law, Ada, told me this week that her friends tell her not to complain, to ‘just deal with it’.

What is disappointment or success in your definition?

Do you question your abilities; do you measure them against others or some supposed standard of excellence?

Are we, at our core, much like the computer chip that can flip back & forward sending out a positive or negative message?

What is at our core & what flips the switch?

I propose that our core is purity, virginity, love.

Our ‘self image’ or ego flips the switch.

At core we are truth, integrity, & balance, a ship that sails on calm waters.

Ego flails in passionate winds, like a ship that’s tossed on turbulent seas.

What is it about our self, that we feel inadequate?

At core we have all the God given abilities of the Universe.

At core we have the secret to a bountiful life.

Love is the water that overcomes thirst.

Pouring forth love is something that will have everlasting results, something that never runs out.

If we are to find opportunity, it pours forth through caring & sharing.

Overcome disappointment with the strengthening of core values.

Let go & let our path find its own way.

Struggling against the winds of time ages one much quicker than relaxing on the beaches of serenity.

Acceptance of one’s role in life, while improving one’s knowledge, leads to new paths of opportunity.

Passion & compassion lead to a full existence during the physical journey that we all share.

Life & death are a continuous cycle; nature shows us this every year.

We have the opportunity to be aware of our ‘gifts’ but that does not necessarily guarantee enlightenment.

The words I’m using in today’s thoughts will have slightly different meaning to each reader, but one word ‘love’ should connote a ‘feeling’ that I believe we all can relate to.

Love is something that can be nurtured & given freely. The more that is given the fuller one’s life.

Hoarding anything leads to fear, fear is the opposite of love.

The concept I am trying to relay here, is that no matter what the circumstances, looked at a different way, will generate a different result.

Our life is how we ‘see’ it.

Disappointment can only survive in our awareness as long as we don’t concentrate on our gifts.

Some might argue that disappointment has a solid reason for being a part of their life experience. That to me is a personal decision.

Often when disappointment or defeat appears, people start praying to God. When things are good, that ephemeral God doesn’t necessarily receive the same amount of attention.

By the way, who is it we are praying to?

Doesn’t God reside at our core?

Aren’t we the miracle of Creation?

Are not we the manifestation of the Great Thinker?

What sets us apart from the animal kingdom?

What kingdom do we live within?

Are we not a blend of the physical & spiritual, the ultimate hybrid?

Can we blend these two into whatever concoction we decide?

Would a re-blending of our two natures change our circumstances completely?

Are we stuck on a negative track, has our attitude trigger stuck in one direction?

This week much of the world will celebrate the birth of a young Jewish chap that brought hope to millions or is it billions?

Many believe that his enlightenment was a message for a future time & place, with a Father in a distant sphere.

This Christmas let’s try to ‘realize’ that Promised Land right here where we reside.

Why not create a heaven on earth?

Why not have Thy will as my will?

Both of those concepts were left us, in one of the world’s most famous prayers, by that same young Jewish chap.

His birthday could be a lot more than just an exchange of material presents.

We could stop & realize the gifts we have been given. The first & foremost was our life. We were one in a million or is it one in a billion?

If you are reading this, I’m assuming you are still alive.

We were born into a nation of plenty.

You may have a turkey in the freezer at this moment or intend to choose one of many at the local farm or store.

Many of us have children & grandchildren that are the fruit of our being here. Their love is warmth on a cold snowy night (the current condition on Pender Island).

Relationships that last are those based on love not fear.

Finding our true path is accomplished by throwing seeds of love ahead of us.

Whatever we put out truly comes back tenfold.

We are told by the pundits that this year’s financial losses wiped out the last decades increase in wealth. What wealth is that?

The wealth that I suggest we measure has ‘full filled’ my cup over the last ten years. It is a wealth that can’t be removed by stock market manipulations or fear.

Health & happiness ring true bells of cheer.

Is this just a Christmas carol?

Is ‘just’ the right word?

Might we not sing our selves into a new spirit this Christmas season, this coming week?

Could our life blossom anew this coming spring?

To release our stuck trigger, let’s release the future from our control.

Controlling behavior brings stress to the carrier of our spirit, our body, the temple of the Living God.

God, that loving spirit, lives right here, right now, let’s give thanks for that, this Christmas.

So I will leave you to the festivities of the coming week with the title of my latest book, ‘Love; A Glimpse of Eternity’.

The antidote to disappointment, David

DEC 14/08 – JESUS

December is the month that a good part of the world celebrates this fellow’s birthday. Whether he is or was God incarnate, I will leave to others to determine. Deepak Chopra has just written a book by the same name.

What was it about this man that has captured the imagination & adoration of millions of people? Giving up his life for his fellow man would certainly rank high on that list, in most people’s estimation.

Why would a person give up his life for his fellow man? Would any of us?

Jesus spoke of the Good Samaritan, the fellow that went out of his way physically & financially for a hurt neighbor that he had never met before.

How many of us would do either for someone we had just met minutes before? How many of us would do that for those we know are hurting in our own community?

Jesus talked about spreading seeds. He mentioned that some seeds fall on fertile soil & others on rocky ground, where they don’t take root. Do we spread seeds of compassion that take root & do seeds we spread actually fall on barren ground, deaf ears?

We may never know when our good thoughts, good deeds, or solid advice is taken to heart but we can live that way anyway. We are a living example of something, to whatever we choose to dedicate our life.

Others, particularly the young, watch our actions more than they listen to our words. Do we consistently live the values that we recommend for others?

Are we true to our self?

Have we stopped long enough to get to know our self? Is our life one whirlwind of activity that keeps us from self identification?

When we stop to get to know who we really are, we don’t have to be completely happy with the way we have lived our past, but we must be ready to forgive our selves.

Looking back at the past & accepting ones actions can be a strong medicine for a new future.

Rebirth is a relevant concept to our life path. Some folks even thought they saw Jesus in physical form after his death on the cross. I’m not going to ponder that miracle but would suggest that those of us still physically alive should have an easier time achieving the ‘reborn state’ by changing that which we find harmful to our peace on this earth plane. Those things could include our jobs, our relationships, our state of mind, or our physical surroundings. Nothing can hold us back when we have made up our mind to change.

When commitment drives our actions, impediments fall away.

Leading with truth to ones self is like a beacon in a storm.

I would contend that if we have not arrived at a place of peace inside then external relationships will not have much chance of success.

Looking for ones self in another is like looking for a lost object where the light is the brightest not where it was lost. How productive is that approach?

Jesus speaks about having the faith of a small mustard seed. Just think about the large oak tree that comes from a tiny seed. Just think of the beautiful butterfly that comes from the caterpillar. Does either of those spend any time worrying about their future? Is there as bright a future out there for each of us if we want to have faith in letting it unfold?

This is Christmas a great time to contemplate that thought, faith!

Many people who are going through a life change at this time of year will feel very sad & possibly guilty. Maybe the butterfly feels sick during its transition to beauty, however, the metamorphosis, once complete, is a gift to behold. This can be a time of happiness when one looks forward to a bright future & overcomes doubts as to the course chosen.

A commitment to a new life, once fully accepted, brings peace to earth. We are earth & spirit combined. We are physically made from the dust & we are the inspiration & spirit of the Energy of Thought. Why do we personalize God & particularly as a male? Jesus talked of this Spirit of Life as Father. What was he trying to say?

I believe that he was trying to relate the presence of life in the physical body as the emanation of Earth with Spirit by referring to Father Spirit as emanating Mother Earth within a human being.

He wanted to revere that Life Spirit as we would revere our own parents who gave us our life here on earth.

He went on to point out that when the Life Spirit leaves the physical body, as it had entered that same body at birth, it doesn’t dissipate but continues on.

Does this mean we should spend our physical life waiting for another life after death that will be more perfect in some form? No, we should live fully the one we have been given in this form & make it as perfect as we can for ourselves & those that we impact on our path.

Jesus’ birthday (does it matter if it is the exact date) is a good time to stop & reflect on all the good things that have happened, all the blessings we have by being physically born in to a first nation environment (we could have been born in Biafra), & to realize that whatever path our future holds, we can determine each & every day.

Personal responsibility is something many people avoid & even are afraid to accept. This avoidance is like a ship in a stormy sea with a broken rudder.

Jesus suggested focusing above, on a compassionate nature, an ointment for a wounded heart.

Love is where it all started & in the end is the only true answer.

Even the Beatles got this message, ‘Love is all you need’.

How does love heal so many wounds?

Is gift giving love or ritual?

Was Jesus love incarnate?

Our ‘life’, our choice!

‘Let It Be’,

David

DEC 7/08 - ‘VIRGIN’ CORE VALUES

This week Ina has done a lot of rework on our page, you might want to check it out.
In the section About Us Ina relates a short story of our life paths.

I didn’t know Ina was going to revisit our page but I was thinking about how my life path had helped formulate or strengthen my core values.

Part of Ina’s & my coming back together successfully, after 27 years apart, I believe may be due to a commonality of those core values. When push comes to shove, and it did, we are a product of our upbringing.

I didn’t know much about Richard Branson, the entrepreneur behind the Virgin brand, but this week I had a chance to read his new book, ‘Business Stripped Bare’. Richard is a product of the ‘60’s, as are we, & he discusses the core values behind his brand. His book is well worth the read & provides a lot of new material on his social entrepreneurship.

If you are not aware of ‘social entrepreneurship’ then try googling it along with ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’.

Richard has Virgin involved in Africa, HIV/AIDS, Global Climate Change, & one of the most fascinating endeavors with a group he calls ‘Elders’, including Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Mohamed Yunnus, & Jimmy Carter.

The current international economic saga definitely has a lot of us reviewing what is important. Has it been far too long since we revisited our very being? There is a tendency to float obliviously through life if our economic well being is considered firm. When the fragility of building our human house on debt, comes home to us, it makes us rethink our value system.

Why does it take a financial calamity to get us thinking about the true purpose of life? ‘Ye can’t serve both God & mammon’ was wisdom passed down a long time ago.

On what do we place our faith? Have you thought through your core values recently?

Integrity is one that stands out strongly for me. It is not one that I have always adhered to, I’m sorry to say.

Family is another important piece in my puzzle & it took getting back together with Ina to realize how much.

Truth is a tough concept to capture. Even Pilate wondered aloud about that value.

When life, health, relationships, & death weigh in the balance, economics is not one of the things we pray to.

What or who lives at our core?

Core values!

In our quiet moments do we talk to God or ourselves?

Does it matter, if it brings us peace?

When struggling with life problems, whether economics or relationships, it is important to understand our own ‘core values’ & align the decision with those values.

We must take the time to understand who we really are. How does who we are fit with the life of another or a given economic opportunity?

As a nation, the U.S. has been struggling with that concept recently. The landslide election of Obama & his democratic colleagues is an indication of that self analysis. The pundits on CNN discuss their recent drift & the need to get back to the original ideas espoused in the Declaration of Independence & those of the Founding Fathers.

Where do social & environmental concerns fit within an economically driven model? It is often assumed that the U.S. is built on the USD($).

The USD is considered an international standard. Most countries want the USD to stay strong as they invest billions, now trillions, in U.S. debt. Think of that, countries all over the world benefitting by the citizens of the U.S. overspending by massive amounts. The thirst for the ever increasing debt of the United States allowed everyone to over binge.

Is there any wonder that a terrific hangover was immanent?

Who was to blame?

What is core about those values? This is not a finger pointing exercise, it is an opportunity to revisit or visit for the first time, those things that make us who we are.

Who am I?

This is a question we might all want to ask?

How well do we know our self?

Have we been lost in the world of another?

Are we consumed by the materialism of our lifestyle?

Are business woes the central focus of our everyday existence?

Can we get off the ‘merry go round’, as John Lennon sang? (If you haven’t seen it, ‘John Lennon, the Life’, just hit the bookstands)

The Beatles breakup was heartbreak for millions but looked at from John’s perspective it makes eminent sense. John felt he lost himself in the group, in the image.

How often do we feel we have lost our own selves?

Let’s find our beacon, our strength, our core, & reattach.

At one point we lived in ‘virgin’ territory, then we fell victim to our emotional desires. Have we been paying for that lapse ever since?

Is a rebirth in order?

Can a life not lived be available yet?

Yes!

Dying isn’t the answer to today’s issues, rebooting the hard drive is!

As long as there are youthful thoughts left in this aging vehicle, the time to live is now.

Heaven on earth isn’t just a concept for one of the world’s most popular prayers!

‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ – this request is to be brought to fruition on earth through our physicality, our life form, through you & me.

We are the recipients of the gift of life. We are the ones to do something with it. If not us who? If not now when?

What would heaven on earth look like to you? Form a clear picture & begin to paint. Let’s use our life as a canvas. Spreading love is a great place to start. Spreading love can include saying no. Spreading love starts from within.

Heaven may involve ‘seeing’ problems as opportunities.

Ina spreads love with Agli Olio, ingredients, spaghetti, lots of garlic, & ‘Virgin’ olive oil, simple but heavenly, try it you’ll like it.

Wake up, breathe in, fall in love, it may be the first time.

Need is not the foundation for true love.

Value life, this visit may not be a rehearsal.

Core values, original thinking, virgin thoughts.

The simplicity of truth!

We commemorate a birth this month, might it be our rebirth?

The best present this Christmas may be remembering who we are.

A gift of ones self to ones self, now that’s the way to start a new day!

Valuing you, David

NOV 30/08 - LEADERSHIP & BALANCE

What does the word ‘leadership’ mean to you?

Do you see yourself as a leader or do you generally defer to others?

Does leadership infer ego?

Is it possible that leaders could be servants?

Do leaders lead because they put in long hours &/or provide heroic examples of stick-to-itiveness?

Can leadership allow for a supportive role to facilitate the patient emergence of the student?

Will Barack Obama lead from the left or listen to both sides of the aisle?

Can any of us get a ‘balanced’ approach to an issue?

Are we capable of looking at a coin from both sides at the same time?

Are we willing to ‘see’ that for every decision, thought, or action, there are at least two view points?

Looking at the world from another’s viewpoint is to see the world in a different light.

How does each of us establish a balanced life for ourselves when we are often torn by the needs of others?

We sometimes ‘feel’ as though our own life is under the control of other people or circumstances.

To have peace internally is to become a leader of one’s own emotions, thoughts, & actions.

So there it is, we are each a leader of the most important life to come onto this physical plane, our own.

If we have any reservations about the job we have done with our own life, it may be due to our being pulled here & there by the desires & demands of others.

If this has happened, the good news is that we always have the opportunity to change that outcome, starting today.

A change in our viewpoint or thought process is a changed life.

We are never too old physically to change. Our body may be aging but our thoughts are as young as our newest grandchild.

Watch a grandmother!

The world can be made anew, through you.

We can be the difference we would like to see.

Our actions speak louder than any words.

Leadership is just that, our life in action.

We are the Creative Spirit incarnate!

We walk a tightrope between the greatness we were given at birth & the belittling ego we develop over time.

One of the above allows us to reach for the stars & the other binds us in our feet of clay.

Balance involves being grounded while flying high.

Is that last statement a contradiction or a miracle?

Does magic have any place in a centered life? Ask kids!

What sparks imagination & is imagination a reality?

Is it possible to ‘imagine’ yourself a balanced leader?

Did you wake up today alive?

If so, the answer is yes.

Wake up, your time is now.

Don’t ask ‘why did I wait so long’.

Thank your Creator, it’s you.

Creatively speaking, Dave

NOV 23/08 - IT’S ABOUT BEING MORE NOT HAVING MORE

I always wondered how the meek could inherit the earth, but with the last few weeks’ financial headlines, it’s starting to make more sense.

How do you think the average Chinese peasant, cultivating his few meters of rice paddy, is affected by the following headlines?

‘The Coming Shakedown; Forget the Promises the Government Will Grab Lots More of Your Money’ - Forbes Magazine

‘Markets Under Siege; The Financial Industry is in Crisis & the Markets are on a Roller Coaster. What Lies Ahead? What Can You Do?’ - Financial Planning Magazine.

I just completed a book ‘In Search of Leadership’ & one of the authors, Phil Swift, discusses the concept of what’s ‘enough’.

We were meant to be human ‘beings’. We became a nation of ‘must haves’. We are a materialistic society that has lost sight of the oneness of all things.

As someone I talked to in Sweden mentioned this week, ‘we need to be in peace with nature as well as between ourselves’.

Someone else I spoke to in Tennessee, referred to the Gandhi idea that ‘we need to be the change we seek’.

I was asking the question: “what can one couple do to affect world peace” & the reason for making international phone calls was to further my understanding of the Earth Charter, www.earthcharter.org

Are you currently going through tough times emotionally or financially?

Get to know yourself before making any significant decisions.

It’s about being not having.

It’s about being who you were meant to be not the answer to someone else’s needs.

Is becoming at peace a selfish approach?

Is becoming the person you once knew, or thought you could be, sacrificing family values?