A Pause for The Cause

Here comes the Super Bowl...

But...

I have my blog to promote, I've got my work at the Peace Museum to organize, I've got friends to make at the United Communities of Spirit, I've got all this research to do to back up all the Spiritual Commentary I intend to make, I have my new living situation to adapt to, I have the side effects from my medications to deal with, I've got the recent abandonment by a close friend to assimilate, I've got to face how that abandonment's tending to bring up other emotional issues from my past, I've got to . . .

Well, first, I've got to drop back and punt--release my grip on my will-power and let a different part of my brain look things over.

There's a wonderful tool I'll be using (tomorrow...) to give my creativity a chance to coax my Have-Tos into a shape that lets my Want-Tos out to play...

If you have a ton of things to do that seem to want to strangle your Spirit right out of your life, try FreeMind--a free Mind Mapping tool--a way to give a Heart-Beat to your Mind-Warps.

But...

Today...

I dedicate my time to the near-sacred sporting event that makes so much money for so many people--SUPER BOWL - XLI.

P.S. Knowing me, I'll be subconsciously processing how to do some Spiritual Commentary on the event, right here in my little blog...

Armageddon and Love

Armageddon: the scene of the final battle between the kings of the Earth at the end of the world.

< This image is from an atheist's view of the "End Times".

When will this final battle take place?

Is it happening now?

Who are the "kings of the Earth"?

What is the actual shape of the "battle"?

Religious interpretation is something only the brave, studious, or pure in heart should attempt...

I certainly won't attempt any serious interpretations, just a few imaginative ideas and a simple commentary.

Can you imagine that "kings" could mean "those in power" or the "source of power"?
If you can, consider the following ideas:

Anyone ever tell you the most predominant form of life on Earth is the lowly germ?

Can you imagine a battle between human kings and germs?

Check out: Pandemic flu may be only two mutations away.

Can you imagine a battle between human kings and Mother Earth herself?

Check out: Blame for global warming placed firmly on humankind.

Seems there are a number of responses to "the end of the world":
~ Fright
~ Flight
~ Paralysis
~ Prayer
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Things a person might die from:

* Old age
* Disease (normal)
* Disease (terrorist)
* Accident
* Physical attack (personal)
* Physical attack (war, terror, ecological, etc.)
* Psychological attack
* Boredom
* Fill-In-The-Blank

Ralph Waldo Emerson sums up my feeling about death in this world at war:

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Tags: "global warming", armageddon, love, pandemic, terrorists, war

You Believe What !?!

This image comes from The Next Level Church to promo it's upcoming series called My Crappy Sex Life.





This image goes with an article entitled, Delta Airlines Hates God, from the site Cinema Blend. It talks about in-flight movie censorship of the word "God".


From one perspective the images and associated sites are rather random, being what I selected from an hour's worth of scanning blogs.

From a different perspective, they could be seen as a trigger to start a discussion that contains the following topics:

* Who or What Really Is God?
* Who determines the answer to that last question?
* What does God "say" about our lives (or, what is the "Word of God")?
* Who determines the answer to that last question?
* How should we interpret what we believe is the Word of God?
* Who can we trust to help us answer that last question?

You may notice the predominance of the word "Who". "What" shows up, too, but the Whos determine the Whats...

One final question, Who, Really, is determining your beliefs?

P.S. You may want to refer back to the post, My God, Your God, Our God . . .

All Comments Welcome !

{image credit}

This is still a toddler-blog, born Jan. 8th and growing up fast!

One of the best features of blogs is the Comments Section.

If you've never checked it out, below each post is a link (in orange on this blog) like this: 2 Comments. Clicking on it lets you leave a Comment! These Comments are the "Food" that a Blog needs to "Grow"...

The B.I.D.E. Blog has (so far) one E-mail Reporter who graces us with commentary that always ends up here in a Post. From time to time, to facilitate closer bonds between us, I'll bring interesting Comments into a Post.

It's not on the front page now (there's also an orange link at the bottom of all the posts that says "Older Posts" and leads to, uuunh, older posts...) but the post Doomsday (exploring the concept of the "End of the World") has some fascinating comments. Fascinating enough for me to reproduce some of them here:

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Snuffy1979 said...

Maybe I'm just too young but I like to think that the end is a long way off. Partly because I'm not spiritually where I need to be and partly because I want to think that Mary-Alice will have a long and happy life ahead of her.

I do believe that we are going through some hard times right now but haven't people been saying the end is near for like ever. I mean the year I graduated from High School was supposed to be the year the world ended because it was the number of the beast times 3(where ever that came from). Well we are still here and there isn't a person running around claiming to be the new messiah that I know of anyway.

I also know that the temple has to be rebuilt before the end times come and it hasn't been rebuilt yet. I know they are talking about it but there are more signs then just anarchy that signify the end times. I'm just not seeing them yet. I also haven't heard of lots of people just up and disappearing across the planet. Wouldn't that be a big sign that no-one could ignore?

January 23, 2007 5:20 PM

Alexander M said...

snuffy,

Can't thank you enough for your lengthy and informative comment!

I have a challenge for you:
(if you're still on a college campus at times during the day)
Conduct a few interviews with folk about how they think the "world will end" and when they believe it will...
That's your Mission should you accept it...

~ Alex

January 23, 2007 7:06 PM

Alexander M said...

snuffy!

Forgot to say that part of that Mission is to report back to us here at the Blog...

~ Alex

January 23, 2007 7:08 PM

Snuffy1979 said...

I talked to a few people.

Some comments were:
My opinion changes with my mood. I'll deal with it when it happens.

Hadn't really thought about it.

People need to read Revelation and not just subscribe to the standard interpretation on the text.

January 31, 2007 4:01 PM

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About all I can add to that exchange right now is that the book of Revelation in the Christian Bible is one of the most familiar texts (to Christians). Other Faiths have Their own.

Anyone care to share (in the Comments) what their Faith says about the "End of the World" or the "End Times"?

A Season for Nonviolence

< image credit >

I'm not going to say much in this post...

I want a woman named Lisa Hepner from PeacefulEarth.com to say why she's providing a free movie called What Is Peace?.

"Today is the first day of what is known as 'A Season for Nonviolence.'

"A Season for Nonviolence was inspired by the memorial anniversaries of Gandhi and Martin Luther King (January 30 - April 4th). It is a national 64 day commitment to a non-violent world. And it starts with each and every one of us.

"In honor of A Season for Nonviolence, I am re-circlulating the important movie,
'What is Peace?'"

You may watch this and feel, at the beginning, that it's just another of those feel-good Flash movies that have warm, fuzzy sentiments but don't really Say anything. I certainly hope you'll stay with this one to the end because it's extremely Profound !

Let's go watch What is Peace?

Mother-Teresa-meets-Indiana-Jones Adventure

I watched a compelling show last night on PBS (Beyond the Call) about three middle-aged men Doing what the multiple bureaucracies of the world are struggling to accomplish --helping those in crisis.
"...Ed Artis, Jim Laws and Walt Ratterman [are] three self-styled knights who form the core of a unique humanitarian aid organization called Knightsbridge International."

I think the PBS broadcasts are over but there is a form you can fill in to be alerted when the DVD is available. To help you decide to do that, check out these video clips from the show. There's also a YouTube video.



Some folks will find these men "disturbing" because they have a strong tendency to make you look at yourself and ask: "Why am I not doing more to help people?"

If seeing this story does nothing more than make you feel there is some very Sweet Goodness happening in this world beset with Massive Ills, it will have been worth your while...

Here's just a bit more from the WebSite:
"Like Knightsbridge International, Doctors Without Borders is an independent organization that delivers aid directly to people affected by war, disease and natural disasters regardless of political, economic, or religious interests.

"According to their 2005 report, the following were among the most underreported humanitarian stories:

The Congo
"Millions of Congolese endure extreme deprivation and violence due to fighting between the Congolese Army and the Mai-Mai rebels, which has displaced tens of thousands and devastated the public health system.

Chechnya
"Civilians caught between Russian forces and Chechen armed groups suffer daily violence, landmine accidents and disappearances even as officials say the situation is “normalized.”

Haiti
"Port-au-Prince has been the center of devastating violence by armed political and criminal factions leaving thousands injured or dead, including civilian women, children and the elderly.

India
"Violence among religious and ethnic groups in Northeastern India has resulted in massacres and the displacement of tens of thousands overcrowding government camps, where disease is rampant.

Sudan
"Though civil war officially ended in 2005, the health crisis and fighting continues and the broken infrastructure cannot support the masses of people returning to under-equipped areas."

Heaven and Earth

> Image Credit <
Nneka is a blogger to reckon with!
I scan many blogs most days, looking for topic ideas for this blog and, always, making an effort to stay tuned-in to where the culture's heading. My scanning is always slowed to a stop--to pause, read, and reflect--when I arrive at Nneka's blog:
Balanced Life Center ~ Spirituality Applied to Life
In her blog post from yesterday ( On Earth As It Is In Heaven ), she writes:

"When asked by his disciples how they should pray, Jesus responded with these words:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

"I pray the Our Father as it is written when I feel separate from God. It helps me to clear the seeming space between us. It reminds me that God is always with me, ever near."

She goes on to speak of the results of her "meditations" on what "heaven" means:

"Heaven, in this context, is not a physical destination in some time in the future. Heaven is the unseen realm of All there is. It is the space in which God abides. The place of radiant health, unconditional love, infinite supply, joy, harmony, and all good. It is like the steam form of H2O. Conversely, earth is the manifest realm. The place that we see, smell, taste, hear, and feel. We may experience challenges and triumphs. It is like the ice form of H2O.
"Between the two is our lens. A space of our own creation. The prayer, “On earth as it is in heaven,” helps to thin the layer between, or clear up the lens so that we may experience all that there is in the invisible."

Fascinating... I highly recommend your regularly reading her blog!

The very last sentence of her post is:
"Do you have any prayers that you learned as a child, but have come to understand as an adult?"

I had to answer yes and I had to bring the interaction between me and Nneka's blog here.

I published my first book of poetry last year. In that book was a poem that incorporated a prayer I'd said a gazillion times when I was a child. Scared me to hell but I said it; partly at the prompting of my parents, partly out of fear of God.
Here's the prayer:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

As an adult, I'd come to realize that this is a most positive prayer; yet still, in my late fifties, I added four more lines to the prayer, to calm the fevered bosom of my little boy self, alone with God, headed toward sleep, and afraid of death...

Here's my poem:

Child’s (?) Prayer

Now I lay me down to sleep
And hope for dreams of bliss.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
His wish may I not miss.
If I should die before I wake,
May He make loved ones glad.
I pray the Lord my soul to take
But let folks not be sad.

This Just In !

That image is from a nice PhotoBlog called, WhatISee, and this post is happening because our first E-mail Reporter, Sandy, has already sent another report (in spite of being busy with getting ready to be a grandmother...) This report responds to my post, Life Is Deadly:
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"Death is full of life too. The two can't be separated. In life we can either find only death (an end) or we can find our purpose, live it, and through that living find eternal life.
"There is so very much to be said for being positive. It's a very practical approach to getting through this difficult physical world. It was said of `Abdu'l-Bahá [who spent 40 years in prison because of his spiritual beliefs] that: "he treads the mystic way with practical feet." I think this is how we all should tread the path of life.
"To me, being positive and spiritually centered is part of being practical because it's not practical to be negative. Negativity is nothing, it's void of anything useful and therefore is useless."
~ Sandy
P.S. I found the quote below which I thought supported your view.............

"Unless one accepts dire vicissitudes, he will not attain. To me prison is freedom, troubles rest me, death is life, and to be despised is honour. Therefore, I was happy all that time in prison. When one is released from the prison of self, that is indeed release, for that is the greater prison. When this release takes place, then one cannot be outwardly imprisoned. When they put my feet in stocks, I would say to the guard, 'You cannot imprison me, for here I have light and air and bread and water. There will come a time when my body will be in the ground, and I shall have neither light nor air nor food nor water, but even then I shall not be imprisoned.' The afflictions which come to humanity sometimes tend to centre the consciousness upon the limitations, and this is a veritable prison. Release comes by making of the will a Door through which the confirmations of the Spirit come."

(`Abdu'l-Bahá, `Abdu'l-Bahá in London, p. 120)
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Whew!
Thanks, Sandy!   Can I call you Grandma yet? ;-) I recently watched my sister become a grandmother (for the third time) and the most obvious thing to me was that she began to twitter and glow--her soul was singing...

Breaking News !!!

I'd mentioned last week that I was encouraging a few individuals to become "E-Mail Reporters"--those who respond in special ways and offer material that becomes a Post.
Comments are extremely import in a blog because Comments are "FeedBack". A Post from a "Reporter" is more like "FeedForward"...
In my Post, Synchronicity & Conflict, I asked for folks to "submit some 'evidence' or give some 'testimony'" and, even before any Comments were posted, I got this response from our First E-Mail Reporter, Sandy:

"Yes, I think under or overlying spiritual forces have the ability to create similar and related events that become noticeable through their repetitiveness. This repetitiveness then becomes so noticeable that it gets to the point of being obviously spiritually motivated in nature and not just coincidence.

"When my father was delusional and dying from brain cancer , the synchronized theme was butterflies. Butterflies were to be seen everywhere I looked. For instance, on one particular day while my father lay in bed so sick, butterflies were on the ear rings of someone in the room, on the belt around someone else's waist, on the wrapping paper of the gift my aunt was opening, and in the yard fluttering and fighting their way in the wind and on that same day my father even mentioned butterflies in a few of his last words. Before he became bedridden, he had given me some tea cups that had belonged to his grandmother and they had a beautiful butterfly design on them. Butterflies represent change. I believe there are just some things, like synchronicity that can't be fully explained. I do think they are for us to take notice of, however, to see that something of great spiritual value is happening."
~ Sandy