A special visitor

we had two very special visitors Wednesday night for dinner....above is Scooter being held by Mira.
Scooter is Paul's new puppy.
Paul was our other guest of honor.
He is sporting his new tatoo "namaste"

The great teachings unanimously emphasize that all the peace, wisdom, and joy in the universe are already within us; we don't have to gain, develop, or attain them. We're like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight. We don't need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky; we merely need to open our eyes and realize what is already here, who we really are -- as soon as we quit pretending we're small or unholy.

Love is Alive!!!

below is a memorial that my friend Paul created for his late wife, Donna. And below that part of a speech that he made to the graduating class of Saint Mary's grade school when presenting the Donna Whalen Memorial award to the two students. As you read below, you will see why Paul is such an amazing person to me. I am so grateful for his friendship and for his insight into things.
Namaste,
Michele

Thank you Donna, you are the one who flipped the switch for me. I am not where I want to be but at least I now recognize the journey I am on.

This appeared on her birthday, 6/17, fathers day.

Love

Paul

Let me give a bit of insight into my wife’s character. Perhaps it will give you something to reflect on and be a guide in your journey.

"When I think of the dark days that surrounded all of us near the end of Donna’s life I also have to think of how my wife was strengthened because of her faith, her belief in a God that is pure unconditional Love. I am reminded not only how that belief sustained her but actually transformed her. Here she was her body completely destroyed, she was wholly dependent upon others to assist her in all of her physical needs. And yet while all this was occurring to her, the love she held for others soared, she illuminated the room with her presence, touching all those who came near her.......................................For when everything else is stripped away, only love remains. In the end its about love."-Paul Sherlock

World on Fire

This is really powerful....click below!!!
What a beautiful person!

World on Fire

check out this next video below....it is another powerful one too.
although, Jerry Garcia sings this song better....Avril is a close runner up and the video is very eye opening. click on Avril below.

Avril


Thank you Avril and thank you Sarah for making the world a better place. The world needs your love and light!!!!-Michele


Below is something that my dear friend Paul Sherlock wrote.
He is an awesome writer and a very active thinker......and very REAL!!!!

To all my Divine friends

http://www.peace.ca/avril.mpg

Please listen, read and absorb the message in this song. It is a message that in its heart speaks to responsibility. The responsibility that we all to share in allowing the seeds of war to blossom. We cannot sit idly by any longer. We owe it to each other: our brothers, neighbors, countrymen, and global co-habitants, the obligation to make this a better place

We need to stop this cycle of behavior; of acting upon our fears and frustrations and attacking those who might disagree with us.

We need to do more than act upon our fears and frustrations.

We have a responsibility to become a catalyst for changing the approach we take towards people that we call our enemies.

Why do we:

Fight one another.

Hate one another.

Allow issues to fester to such a point that there is no room for dialogue, only action?

In this world we are too proximate to one another. We are no longer able to act out and then go and retreat to safe havens.

We need to begin learning how to co-exist.

This life is challenging enough, we do not need to inflame disputes with others by drawing hard lines in the sand.

At some point we must begin to awaken to the fact that we need each other.

And gain the awareness that we are part of the same whole.

When it comes down to it there is no real difference with people in other countries

We all cry when we are sad. We all feel pain. And we all know what joy feels like.

We need to work harder to break through the disagreements between us and find common ground.

It starts with communication. With understanding of one another. With compromise.

And it starts with us.

We, as individuals, are the ones who will begin to make the difference.

We have the ability to affect change.

We need to begin making steps to lessen the worlds conflicts, as well as the conflicts we face here at home.

We can’t wait for governments to direct change.

We can’t wait for change to come from any leader. It must come from us, we must make the difference.

And we can make that difference

We begin doing this by our everyday actions.

Consider making the commitment to be kinder towards people on your everyday walk in life.

Consider seeing people through the lens of Namaste: that is seeing and acknowledging the Divine within everyone you meet. We should be honored to make the acquaintance of a fellow Divine Spirit!

Spread the Love you possess onto those people you meet everyday. You’ll get more.

And if you struggle to be kind to those around you then be kind to yourself. Learn to Love yourself more, you are the generator of all the Love you possess. And your Love is limitless!

Love the you that is entirely perfect, the you that is already connected to God.

The steps are small but significant. We need to be the salve to heal the pain felt in the world.

We need to begin in the here and now.

Namaste

Paul

Paul Sherlock the great!!!!!! and Mark and Katie

above is a picture of (1.)Paul, (2.) Mark and Marko and (3.) my friend Katie and her kids (Jenny and Julia are amazing kids) and Katie's birthmom,Val(what a beautiful person) and Mark, the kids and I. ( don't worry this is all related somehow)

Below is a writing from my dear friend, Paul Sherlock and this is a picture of him...well it looks like him....and below that a writing from Markk and below that from my friend Katie...she's awesome too and has been my friend since 7th grade.

Subject: blessings1.24.07
by Paul

I would love your opinion on this. Anna is receiving her First Communion this spring. On Feb. 3rd she has to go before a priest and ask for forgiveness for her sins. I have a little debate going on with a friend of mine because of the prayer Anna has to say. I think it's negative and that children can not have sin. My friend disagrees. I also can't not say much since I dropped out of church for about 20 years. How exactly do you interpret this? This is the prayer:

My God I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things.

I firmly intend with you help to do penance to sin no more and to avoid what ever leads me to sin.



Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God have mercy.

I know I'm probably looking at this wrong and feel a little shy talking to my religious friends about it. But what the heck is your take in this?



My feelings about sin



The prayer that you cite although I understand its intent, I view as being heavy handed and in my opinion, of questionable suitability for 7 years olds to be reciting. My concern with the approach that is being used in this prayer is that children will become afraid of their relationship with God as opposed to embracing it. The words I especially struggle with are: choosing to do wrong and failing to good, I have sinned against you. In the literal sense we “sin” countless times on a daily basis. Anything that is less than perfection is a sin against God since God is perfect. But guess what? That is a product of being human. Perfection, no matter how good we try to live our lives will always elude us. That is not such a bad thing. To me that is not a sin. So when I look at the majority of people and the majority of the “sins” they commit, I have a hard time terming those various shortcomings as failures.



When we talk of sin we talk of wrongdoing. Religion has taught us that if we are unrepentant of such wrongs then the punishment is for us to spend eternity in hell. This is a very fear driven approach to teaching right from wrong.. Certainly there is a need to train people in the rights and wrongs that most of us embrace. There is also a need to establish punishment for wrongdoing. This allows for maintaining a continuity within our society and provides people with a great degree of security and freedoms. But when we look at wrongdoing on the scale as it relates to God, my own interpretation of how we interact with God is that our actions are simply either enabling us to move towards God or are causing us to move away from God. I do not feel that our relationship with God is one in which we are judged by our actions in this existence and then either deemed worthy enough to spend eternity with God, or so unworthy that we may not ever experience God’s Love again. In my opinion, that is too simplistic a definition of the relationship between us and God.



Besides if God is Unconditionally Loving then isn’t God able to forgive anything? Even a soul that fails to see the error of its ways?



In our walk with and towards God, there are very real consequences for us not doing what we understand to be the “right” thing to do. When we act in our self interest then we are doing nothing to move ourselves further along in our journey ( I think of the notion of “sin” as being more of an act of being self centered or selfishness). As long as we operate with our self interest in mind we will continue to remain stuck in terms of advancing along our path.

But in my view of things that just means we will take longer in arriving at our destiny, it doesn’t presume that we no longer have the opportunity to get there.



We are creations of Love. We come from Love. Our ultimate destiny is a return to Love. This sentiment of returning to Love applies to all of us even the most hardened of “sinners“, not just a select few. We will continue to “sin” along the way, but as we become more aware of this our true destiny the need to act in our self interest will begin to dissipate and our growth in God will excel.
Namaste, Paul

Re: blessings1.24.07 Oh my. This really irks me. I could go on and on. But I would say, letting my best side shine, that it is important to understand that the word that western civilization uses — sin — is a mistranslation from the original aramaic (the true language of christ) the meaning of which has been skewed in going through greek to get to english. The translation of the word if you go from aramaic to english is basically “the unripeness.” Now, instead of there being an implication of deliberate and malicious wrongdoing, we have the concept of a soul going through stages of development in passage to its highest evolution. If you take it in that sense, let the prayer of the girl’s first communion be, “let my soul evolve and grow to its highest potential in a journey of love.” That can only be a good thing, right?

feel free to feed this info to yr list.

Alphasalam (first peace)

markk


Here are some words from my friend Kate (Katie as I know her)
I think we are closer than you think.



Damning people to hell is very Pre-Vatican II. The way it is explained at our church is that when we choose to commit sin, or put more simply, when we choose to commit a wrongdoing, then we separate ourselves from God, and that separation from God’s Love is a form or degree of personal hell, if you will, with complete separation from God – really, from Love - being the very worst kind of fate. Which I think is what you are saying, too.



You may be lumping “sin” below with what many come to understand as “Mortal Sin” - killing someone, committing adultery, etc., which of course is a more adult version of sin, as opposed to the venial sins, which are and can be committed by anyone with knowledge of what is right. (Not willing to share, not following parent’s direction, using hurtful words) In the legal system, to be legally culpable, someone has to have mens rea, the intention to do wrong, and kids under 7 are generally not considered capable of such. Which I think is why in the church, kids don’t go to confession and then to first communion until they are in second grade – at which time they are certainly capable of knowing right from wrong, even on the most simple scale.



The goal as a Catholic is to follow The Way: The Way of Living and Loving as Christ demonstrated for us, as articulated in the Sermon on the Mount, and in his table fellowship – sharing with those who don’t follow The Way (and those who do) in order to demonstrate, and have others – those who need it most - partake in, God’s Love.



Some Christians focus on the fact that Jesus died for us. My archdiocese focuses on the fact that Jesus came to be with us to show us how to live in God’s Love. The wording of the Confessional is heavily laden with words that trigger reactions in us as adults, catchphrases that others have twisted in meaning. The role of us as parents and as stewards of God’s Love is to make sure that that undesirable part of the legacy isn’t carried forward.



Does that help?