It's Nap Time!

Back in the years I was directing the Whole Life Learning Center, 1, I spent a great deal of time studying the many Seth books authored by Jane Roberts, 2, a trance medium. I taught a variety of classes and workshops centered in the principles of philosophy and psychology developed in those books.

I was thinking to myself today, after posting on my Facebook page: Hooray! It’s nap time again! that most people would probably chuckle and think I was just kidding. Well, I wasn’t kidding, though after thinking about it I decided to explain what is behind my napping. To state it briefly, one of Seth’s principles about sleep was that when you are sleepy you should sleep. When you are staying awake, get up and do something. In other words trust your body to tell you what it needs and then follow the instructions.

For most people working for someone else it is not very convenient to take a nap at your workstation in the middle of the day if you feel like it. (And don’t we all?) On the other hand I read just recently that some avant-garde businesses are experimenting with ways to afford workers such an opportunity. They have found in initial efforts that workers feel more energized and are more efficient after a brief nap break. For someone like me, now retired, I get to do as I darn please! So, when I feel like napping, get out of the way! I also don’t fret about waking up at 3:00 AM and deciding to get up and read, check my email, or do anything else that comes to mind. That doesn’t happen very often, I hasten to say. I sleep pretty well—anytime! When I feel sleepy again, back to bed! I have found this to be a very workable arrangement for my lifestyle.

Concurrent with this principle, Seth also talked about our eating schedule and suggested once again that the body knows best what it needs. Eating small portions of food more often during the day, he says, is healthier for the body because it is able to maintain a comfortable metabolism instead of going from hunger to stuffed all the time. I haven’t quite worked this one out yet. I never have been much of a snacker and to eat “between” meals seems like snacking. Old habits die hard! I seldom eat breakfast. I don’t miss lunch very often, but I vary my evening eating habits based on the weather—heat of summer equals salads. Cold of winter equals cooked meals.

I am sure this is all very interesting to you, my readers, and now that I have told you these things, I can get back to taking that nap I was planning on. Good night!
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1 Whole Life Learning Center, Inc. a non-profit education and counseling center, operated in Denver, CO from 1973 through 1982, along with a branch in Colorado Springs, CO.
2 See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Roberts

Thoughts On Children

My grandson, Aubrey, and his wife, Becky, both of whom are in the Airforce currently stationed in Hawaii, are visiting this week. I picked them up at the airport in the early morning and after breakfast dropped them off at the car rental office so they could pick up their wheels of “independence.” I say independence because they have a long list of places to go and things to do, so I will probably only see them a few times during the visit. One place we are most likely to visit together is the Washington Park Zoological Gardens. (One has to check in to see how all the “relatives” are doing, you know!)

In between my attention to emails and other computer activities I began to think about children. As I did, I immediately focused my mind on one of my favorite photos of my son and daughter when David was five and Jennifer was two. It is this same photo that most often comes to my mind when I think of them. There is something so innocent, carefree and appealing to our children at those early ages. All their dreams are just beginning to take shape and the most important thing they have to do is have fun with their imaginings.

I cannot speak for all parents, of course, but I think many of us always hold on to a favorite image of our children, one in which they always are children. There is no intent to not recognize that they have grown up and are now living their own lives, probably with their own children and the memories that are just beginning to be stored away for later recollection. Rather, it is more the realization of how life unfolds from childhood, to adult, to parent, grandparent and maybe to doting patriarch or matriarch of a proud family. As I ponder this wonderful family pattern I am reminded of a favorite passage by Kahlil Gibran:

On Children

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

It takes great effort sometimes to really let our children go, to let them grow and become who they are destined to be, with their own set of values and priorities. Hopefully, some of the positive efforts we make as parents will assist them in the process of building the foundation for their lives. Remember, They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. As such, they have their own dreams from which they will build unique lives that bring blessings to all of us that would not exist without them.

The OM Heard 'Round the World

Today, July 10, 2010, I joined with others beginning a process of meditation for the healing of our Mother Earth. People all over the world are participating in this effort. In the United States we are particularly focused the healing of the Gulf of Mexico due to the abuse of the planet through the spilling of its deep life-blood of oil. You can join us and/or include your own particular focus for planetary healing. Below is an outline for the meditation session, or you can use your own, but joining in this particular one will increase the effect of our effort many times over.

Meditation to hold the field for Earth Healing Day – August 15, 2010

Daily practice, begin at 7:00 AM -- July 10th through Aug 15th

1. Sit quietly for a couple of minutes to reaffirm your intention to serve the planet at this

time.

2. Be aware of the spiritual forces now congealing around the planet to facilitate your

meditation and Earth’s healing.

3. Raise your intention to amplify your service to Earth, and visualize people all around

the world learning about Earth Healing Day (August 15), sharing knowledge of the

event with all their friends and spiritual family members and joyously looking forward

to the time when they can sound The OM Heard ‘Round the World.

4. Then, in your mind, fast-forward to August 15th, and visualize a million people all

around the world observing their clocks, waiting for noon to arrive in their own time

zone. At the appointed time, see them joining with others (whether going outside or

sitting in a room of their choice), and sounding the syllable OM with their full voice

and full intention to cleanse, heal and bless the planet.

5. As they all become fully engaged in their chanting, visualize a group of 300 people

assembled in Denver, joyously chanting OM together, and directing the vibration of

their combined voices into the Gulf of Mexico, setting up a pure vibration of the OM

that adds oxygen to the depleted waters, dissolves the oil and chemicals in the water,

and provides healing and restoration for all the precious marine animals and plants

that have been caused to suffer so in the oil tragedy.

6. Next see successive groups of 300 meeting in various cities around the world, such as

New York City, Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Omaha, New Orleans,

Corpus Christi, Calgary, Portland, San Francisco, Tokyo, Sydney, Bogotá, Christ

Church, Mumbai, Delhi, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Bangkok, Chang Mai, Hanoi, Kuala

Lumpur, Rangoon, Phnom Penh, Lhasa, Katmandu, Canberra, Wellington, Bamako,

Pretoria, Cape Town, Monte Carlo, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Abuja, London, Paris,

Copenhagen, Berlin, Stockholm, Helsinki, Madrid, Lisbon, Rome, Amsterdam,

Brussels, etc, etc., etc. You do not have to go through all these (unless you find it

helpful), but create a global focus, rather than a local one.

7. Let your visualization next see the entire planet with myriad lights blinking on, each

one representing a group of people coming together, meditating and chanting OM on

August 15 at noon in their time zone.

8. If you can, sit and listen to The Om Heard ‘Round the World that will be generated on

August 15, and dedicate that powerful sound force to the cleansing and healing of

planet Earth.

9. As you listen, project yourself forward in time to August 15th, and begin sounding OM

with the great planetary chorus. Chant with this great choir for about five minutes.

10. Allow the chanting to come to a close, but keep the energy generated alive and vibrant

in your meditation room or area.

11. Sit for a moment in the aura of The Om Heard ‘Round the World, allowing your heart

to open completely to this vibration, and bringing in the presence of that energy to

carry with you all day.

12. When complete, give thanks for the privilege of serving Earth and all Her living beings,

give thanks for the power of the Divine to grace your meditation, give thanks for all the

people who are also doing this meditation, and give thanks for all those planetary

citizens who will participate with you in Earth Healing Day. So be it!

The Independent Party is For Real in Oregon!

Today I can actually cast a vote for a candidate representing the Independent Party. I will be joining 55,000 other Oregonians who finally can voice their choice for a candidate instead of having to sit by while the Democrats and Republicans held their primaries. This is a small beginning for what I hope will grow nationwide allowing us to move beyond the limitations of choice to what the party elders determine should be the ones for whom we can vote in primaries.

There are many minority parties in Oregon who seldom get the notice they deserve as they offer a variety of options not considered by the traditional electorate. In this new option candidates from these parties as well as the Republicans and Democrats can choose to be listed and voted for by the Independent Party members. It should be an interesting experiment. I will be voting via the Internet today!

Does Anything Really Make A Difference Anymore?

One of the network channels offers a weekly news item on their program dedicated to persons who are making a difference in our sometimes-discouraging world of affairs.  This effort to show bright spots in what is often a shadowy world of indifference and self-centeredness is certainly needed.  When one news story after another can make one feel that there is little reason to be hopeful, little cause for celebrating our apparent successes, it is not difficult to understand why so many people are angry, disillusioned or just plain don’t care anymore!

I find myself slipping into that mood at times.  After the tragic years of the Bush/Cheney administration and the long-lasting destruction caused by their narrow-minded aggressive tendencies, it will be generations before we overcome the devastating effects of their so-called leadership.  Today, we need only look at the ruining of the environment in the Gulf of Mexico, the loss of livelihood of family businesses built over generations, the death of untold numbers of fish, fowl, mammals and other life forms to realize that our country (its politicians and business leaders) have abandoned the principles that made this country what it was on its way to becoming.  I say on its way to becoming because we had only begun to realize the limitless capacity of our citizens to invent, build and deploy imaginative ideas and products for the benefit of humankind.

I am not a Tea Party person nor am I a sympathizer with most of what I see them display through their thoughtless accusations and actions. Really, some of these people must be from another planet!  That we as a nation have come to the point where our mutual anger and frustration has taken on the psuedo leadership of dropout dysfunctionaries as Sarah Palin and the discredited John McCain only shows how far from understanding our democracy and its founding documents we have come.

I cannot even begin to put into words my disgust about the priorities our Congressional members have determined to be important.  What I can say is that they are clearly based on greed and avarice. The money that controls our representatives and senators has become so much a part of their function that they can in no way continue to represent the people.  They clearly are in bed with their financiers.  Look at the literal bed-hopping of the Minerals Management Agency office in Denver, responsible for granting licenses and policing the oil companies.  And, again, look at the Gulf disaster. It is government policy and lack of enforcement of big business that has largely been responsible for the chaos we are currently facing.

Even in the face of these catastrophes the Republicans maintain their belief that business does not need regulation.  It needs to be left free to market action.  This belief that business will self-control is an impossible dream when the unimaginable amounts of money to be gained are on the table, up for grabs for those who don’t give a damn about people or country! Don’t begin to disregard my comments as simply the rant of an unhappy Democrat.  I am NOT a Democrat either.  Neither of the two parties offers policies or purposes that are compatible with my own. 

What I am in favor of is the real grass roots efforts of those who are free of party dictates.  I believe wholesale change in government is necessary—Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court.  Consistent with this concept is my belief in the need for a Constitutional Convention, the purpose of which is to re-evaluate the relationship of that document to the desires and priorities of we the people.  The world we live in is a vastly different world than that of our forefathers.  Just as any business with an operational procedures manual must regularly update that document so that it represents current priorities and policies, so must our government review and update our Constitution where necessary.  It may not require any changes, but just reading it again should be a benefit.  I recently picked up a copy and read it thoroughly.  I keep it handy for when stupidity raises its ugly head so I can remind myself of what our founders really said, not what someone thought was in there.

The difficulty of bringing about change in our country today was clearly demonstrated following the last election.  A majority of people said they believed in the change Obama promised.  Unfortunately, we forgot that no one has the power to change anything where government is concerned.  I fully supported Obama and I was also swept up in the belief that here was a person who could really get it done!  Well, he couldn’t and he didn’t. Maybe his staff isn’t as good at managing government as it was in managing a campaign. It certainly does not help that the Republicans simply decided to withdraw from any role in governing.  Saying “No” was all they had to do to stop change in its tracks.  And of course we all know the Democrats are the original “bad news bears” whose way to handle differences of opinion is to form a circular firing squad.  OMG, is this not clearly apparent to the general public?  I guess not.  And because I see no real powerful leadership, I am deeply concerned.  I probably will not be around when the pillars of democracy tumble, as they surely will if nothing changes. 

So, why should I care?  Does anything really make a difference any more?  I have to find my own answer to this question, as each of you who have continued to read this far along in this essay will have to do. It is not my nature to be negative. However, I am so totally disgusted with the apparent hopelessness of the situation that I just do not have an answer.  I write.  That is something I know a little about.  I wish I were able to be eloquent enough, with opportunities sufficient to command an audience, that together we could begin to make the difference that will bring the true light of individual responsibility and strength of character to lead that is needed.

I am not going to give up.  I think I will have to give up listening to the news, however.