The Dilemma

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk rejection.
To place your dreams before a crowd is to risk ridicule.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrows, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow, or love.

Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave - he has forfeited his freedom.

Only a person who takes risks is FREE

Earth University

The goal of the Soul is not to finally be able to project a perfect human specimen as if earth were a laboratory and God would then grant some prize or preferred position. It is simply to experience life on this planet in a variety of human forms in a variety of situations to learn as much as we can about being in the physical world, which a Soul can't do without a physical body. Soul sees the world through our eyes, experiences the world through our physical senses. For this opportunity, the human being is given the free will to be in control it's own life experience. Whatever we do in our life, our Soul experiences and learns from. We are Souls attending Earth University.

People are always asking me Why do we forget that we are spiritual beings when we are born? When human beings are first born, our first years are occupied with learning to operate our bodies and make sense out of the world we are born into. If an adult tells us this is a table and that is chair then that is what we believe it is. We're conditioned to believe what we're told the world is and come to believe it as if it were completely true in our later years, even if our early experiences contradict that reality. Children who have "imaginary" friends are not mentally ill. They see what adults tell them they cannot see. They "see dead people," they see angels, they see into the spiritual dimension. No wonder humans grow up not knowing what to believe. As young children, our connection to our Soul is still open. If not before, by age 7 or 8 the connection is usually closed; in some cases severed, often by very self-righteous adults. We do remember, it is life that teaches us to forget.

Awakenings are really rememberings because our Soul already knows everything. It is a challenge to each human being to remember that we are Souls having human experiences-- awakening to our higher consciousness. All the struggle falls away... all the suffering, the grief, the anger, the mistrust. All the fear dissolves when we recognize ourselves as spiritual beings come here to experience the joy of being animated in the physical world.

An evolution of consciousness is the central motive of terrestrial existence.

~Sri Aurobindo

When we are dying, we begin to see it again. Those who die over a period of time have visitors from the spiritual world. Deceased loved ones. Angels. They begin their life review in their dreams as they drift back and forth from the spiritual to the physical world. They find themselves spending more time in the spiritual realms and are confused when they come back into their body and physical surroundings. They feel like they exist in a dream state and every once in a while, they wake up. Some remember before their body dies that this life was only temporary and now it is time to return home. Some don't believe it even after they leave their body behind and have to be convinced because the spiritual world is so similar to the physical world. And after we remember, we say-- next life, I'm going to remember sooner because if I had known then what I know now, I would have lived my life differently... with more love and compassion.

Those who come into this life remembering and don't forget as adults, who are encouraged by the adults around them to express who they are, are often responsible for awakening many others during that life. Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha. There have been many and there will be continue to be others who will, by the way they live their lives, be mentors for many others to awaken to God-consciousness. What human beings create or destroy on this planet is going to be up to the human beings who are alive at the time. A Global Awakening to God-Consciousness will insure that human beings will survive and prosper and populate at least this edge of the Galaxy.

by Diane Goble

Gotta have more cowbell!!!!!

click below to hear more cowbell
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1404381264

SELF-PORTRAIT

It doesn't interest me if there is one God
or many gods.
I want to know if you belong or feel
abandoned,
if you can know despair or see it in others.
I want to know
if you are prepared to live in the world
with its harsh need
to change you. If you can look back
with firm eye,
saying this is where I stand. I want to know
if you know
how to melt into that fierce heat of living,
falling toward
the center of your longing. I want to know
if you are willing
to live, day by day, with the consequence of love
and the bitter
unwanted passion of your sure defeat.

I have heard, in that fierce embrace, even
the gods speak of God.

~ David Whyte ~

Listen to your heart

Brother David Steindl-Rast reminds us that the Chinese word for "busy"
is composed of two characters: "heart" and "killing." When we make ourselves
so busy that we are always rushing around trying to get this or
that "done," or "over with," we kill something vital in ourselves,
and we smother the quiet wisdom of our heart. — Wayne Muller

Who are you?

My cousin Krissy made this picture.....one of my favorites.- Michele

Some people are working backstage,

some are playing in the orchestra,

some are on-stage singing,

some are in the audience as critics,

some are there to learn from the experience.

Know who and where you are.

Stone Carvings in Hinckley Part 1

Hinckley Stone Carvings Part 2

Hinckley's Gold
by "Sam" Boyer
Brunswick Sun Times, 6-14-1979
Hidden in Hinckley Metropark is a treasure...not silver or gold,
but
unusual works of art – Carvings in a stand of
ledges on the face of the rocks.
About a mile south of the nearest public access,
a trek takes one to what are known as
"Worden's Ledges."  The walk and climb are arduous
without regular paths.  But park officials
would like to keep things that way because of the
danger of vandalism.  Some incidents have
already taken place, even without the area
publicly popular.
A shorter route, but not much less arduous,
is from private property.  And, ironically, the
owner of that land had the key to the mystery
of the carvings.
As Sun photographer Joe Darwal, park
maintenance personnel
and
this reporter
proceeded to cross fences and muddy patches
through pastures on
our way "down" to the area,
Jim Kamp, the park official in charge of the
Hinckley Metropark,
told what he knew of the area.
It had been owned by a Mr. Worden,
who began the carvings on the ledges
which are just
as interesting but not as large an area
as the popular Whipps Ledges.
Worden, however,
appeared to be just one of
several "artists" who left their marks
on the rock formations which
must have taken millions of years to form.
Suddenly the group came upon a long rectangular rock
which bore the words "Gate Post
Cut, 1852."  Much of it was moss covered
but recognizable.
It gave some notion of the time
element involved.
Then a huge "face" peered out from the sheer ledge.
The name "T. Cobb" was inscribed
beside it.  (Was it Ty?).  It was a two-dimensional figure,
probably five or six feet long and three
feet across.  Next the group spotted an open
Bible with a cross atop it.
The words "is all" were
carved at either side.
Next was found an intricate clipper ship in full sail.
Above some 25 feet was a face.
Once small face seemed completely inaccessible.
It stood in a clearing about 14 feet above
ground and a ladder or other aid would have been
required to reach it.
Kamp explained the story.  Once on the "trail"
of the artifacts it is easy for a person to
follow.  Kamp said it seems that Worden or
a successor carved the path from the rock face, and
lined it with stones and crushed sand from the sandstone.
It still remains completely free of
obstruction, or even weed growth.
The group came across a work by another contributor.
"Nettie" was written in script on a
rock face.  Nettie was the wife of Nobel Stuart,
who owned the property to the east of the ledges.
Around the corner was the face of a
 man carved similarly
to a ship's figurehead in a piece of
stone which juts across the path. 
The beard of this carving
has been cemented in and it leads one
to believe perhaps it was defaced of just broken.
Stuart was a bricklayer by trade, so it is likely
he did the work.  He died about a year ago at age 93.
In another rock was found
"H. M. Worden, 1851" chiseled out.
And then – a Sphinx.  A
long rock has been used to form the figure with
great similarity to its famous counterpart.
The path was retraced, back to the east
(which is the correct direction to travel) trying to
see some carvings that were missed.
Kamp said there are about 17 in all.
Then this reporter talked with 77 year-old Bill Wiese,
who finally unlocked the mystery.
"Why would anyone want to do this kind of thing?"
he was asked.
Wiese is a native Clevelander who only
came to Hinckley in 1954.
But ironically, he
worked for a firm called Simons, Worden, White.
The Worden family was the very same one
which had owned the property. 
Worden's manufactured chisels.
And that's what started the whole project –
trying out the chisels.
"Back in those days, every chisel had to be
guaranteed," said Wiese.
"They were used in
specialty work such as carving monuments and
headstones from marble
and granite, so they had
to be very sharp and very strong."
It used to be a joke, he said,
that Worden would finish
work Friday and start out on horse
and buggy up York Road, change horses,
and proceed
out to Hinckley where he would try out
his chisels.
Wiese knew a bit about that kind of work, from his
own experience and from the fact that
his father was a stoneworker and
made pieces of marble
and granite into beautiful items – all by
hand.
Wiese said Stuart married a daughter in
 the Worden family,
which is probably why he
also got to add his touch to the works.
A hundred years ago, Wiese said,
 the front of the 10-plus acres
on which he resides was a
stone quarry (on Ledge Road) and there are natural
springs along the ridgetop.
Wiese retired 11 years ago. 
He has been widowed three times
and has a son, Bill, who
lives in Hinckley, and a daughter, Gloria,
and two grandchildren
residing in North Carolina.
"We had to test out chisels from about an eight to ten.
Some are very finely worked, some
are larger.  We had pure steel then.  It was boiled
eight hours
a day and only poured once and all
the impurities boiled out.  In 1916, for instance,
cars were made with 16-gauge steel with 40 to
43 parts of carbon.  It was tough."
The lively septuagenarian maintains his active life
"puttering around" the place, raising a
garden, keeping his horses and dogs....and
keeping an eye on a wonderful tribute to man's
creativity in Worden's Ledges.

Give the world the best

This is a picture in our backyard last summer of Macy and her true love(nature.)
Peace and Love,
Michele

Paradoxical Commandments

by Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs.

Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Kent M. Keith 1968, 2001

Dr. Keith wrote the Paradoxical Commandments for a student leadership booklet that was published and copyrighted in 1968. The Paradoxical Commandments subsequently spread throughout the world. Mother Teresa thought the commandments were important enough to put up on the wall of her childrren's home in Calcutta.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. 1922-2007

He is set free!!"A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."Kurt Vonnegut, Sirens of Titan

Other powerful quotes by Kurt Vonnegut that I love:

"Our awareness is all that is alive and maybe sacred in any of us. Everything else about us is dead machinery. "

"What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured."

"We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down."

"I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center."

"The worst thing that could possibly happen to anybody would be to not be used for anything by anybody. Thank you for using me, even though I didn't want to be used by anybody."

Is your spirit happy?

Honoring Your Spirit

by Diane Goble

Being on a Spiritual Path is not an easy thing. Many are called, but few stick with it. For, while joyful, it is also a painful experience, until one finally and consistently lets go and lets God. Much of the pain results from staying stuck in old belief systems such as, we are bodies with souls. The higher truth is that we are souls with bodies - I Am That I AM. Until we honor the Spirit that we are, we will continue to experience emotional pain and emptiness.

Life is a journey of self discovery. It is through experiencing emotional pain that we eventually discover our true spiritual heritage-- pain is the message to us that our Spirit is in distress. Do you listen when your Spirit is speaking to you? Are you even aware that your Spirit speaks to you?

Listening to Spirit

It is your Spirit whispering to you when something is going on that doesn't feel quite right to you. Your feelings are messages from your Spirit, prompting you to speak up for yourself or others. Emotional pain or hurt feelings are messages from your Spirit that you're not taking care of it. You're settling for something less than you deserve in life because you don't feel lovable and your Spirit suffers from lack of love.

Your "job" is to take care of and nurture your Spirit, but how can you do that if you've been brought up to believe that you're not worthwhile or that you're bad or you'll never amount to anything? You tend to accept whatever abuse is heaped upon you or put up with the status quo because that's what you're used to. If you don't make self-respect your highest priority in life right now, you'll end up selling out for success, love, money or power to fill that emptiness inside.

When you stay in an abusive relationship, or a job where you and others are not treated with dignity and respect without standing up for yourself or others, you are not honoring your Spirit. When you begin to speak up on its behalf, take a stand for what you know is right, refuse to allow indignities to continue, you will begin to live ethically and take back control of your life.

Listen to the messages of your Spirit. The whisper is the first twinge you feel when something isn't right... the ethnic joke, the sexual innuendo, the racial slur, the misdirected anger, the patronizing remark, the little lie or indiscretion, the first slap in the face. If you let them pass without expressing the discomfort you feel, the abuse will escalate and you will feel more pain, humiliation, rejection. Your Spirit cries out louder. And yet you do not listen. You let it go on, thinking you can make it better if you can just be a better person, work harder, do a better job. After all, you were raised to be a pleaser and are used to selling out for approval. You will deny that there is a problem, that you are in pain, that you deserve better.

Will you hit bottom before you listen to your Spirit? Will you have a nervous breakdown? Develop an illness? Drive your car into a brick wall? Overdose on drugs or alcohol in an attempt to stop the pain? Your Spirit is screaming at you to drop your denial and wake up! Do what is right for your Spirit... do it with respect and caring, be compassionate and fair. Honor the Spirit of the other as well, but stand up for your rights as a human being.

Warning Signs

The sooner one "gets" this, the sooner one can get on with their life and spiritual path. Learn this lesson and move on to the next. What are the signs that you have sold out and are not honoring your Spirit?

1. Feelings of resentment about the way you are being treated.
2. Complaints about meaningless things and the inability to see the real problem (denial).
3. No enthusiasm for the things you used to enjoy.
4. Feeling sad and alone even though you have a family and friends around you.

If you relate to these signs, your Spirit isn't happy with something that's going on in your life. If you are totally in the dark as to the cause of your inability to feel lovable, I suggest some inner child work. You need to be able to accept yourself as lovable and worthwhile. But, sooner or later, you're going to have to get out of your denial, forgive and let go of the past, and do the right thing for your Spirit.

Just Do It!

Ask yourself, "What will it take for me to respect myself, to be proud of myself today?" Ask your Spirit to guide you. In your heart, even now, you know what the right thing is to do. Confront the person, blow the whistle, tell everyone the emperor has no clothes, do whatever you have to do to make it right. Just do it! Peace be with you.

Today, like every other day

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty

and frightened. Don’t open the door to the study

and begin reading. Take down the dulcimer.


Let the beauty we love be what we do.

There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
-Rumi

Jerry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmWrpi4wngE

click on the above link to see a beautiful tribute to Jerry.

"Music is the timeless experience of constant change."

-Jerry Garcia

Grateful Dead in Egypt

"In the Land of The Dark, The Ship of The Sun is pulled by The Grateful Dead."

-Egyptian Book of The Dead