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I highly
recommend reading INFIDEL, by Ayaan Hirsi AlL It is an
absorbing memoir of her stunningly courageous life. Go
to her site on Google, and you'll find some amazing
things about her on-going struggle against cultural and
religious tyranny. She responded to a letter of
appreciation I wrote to her as follows: "Letters such as
yours inspire me to continue to speak openly against
religious subjugation of women. Many of my opponents
have attempted to silence my voice. Their strategies
rely on propagating a culture of fear and oppression.
With your help, we can continue to tell the stories of
women like me who demand more freedom and respect."
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Ive
pretty much given up on trying to figure it all out. I
rest my hope in the cloud of unknowing and upon
actualities such as the following: the amazing fact of
our own self-conscious existence; the innate sacredness,
or miraculous presence, of every living thing; and the
death-defying power of transcendent human love. Its
enough to inspire a life of gratitude for what is. |
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Act well at the
moment, and you have performed a good action to all eternity.
Johann Lavater
Every animal
revenges his pains upon those who happen to be near.
Samuel
Johnson
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Coincidences are clues to
the will of the universe.
Deepak Chopra
Sow integrity
for yourselves,
reap a harvest
of kindness,
break up your
fallow ground.
Hosea 10:12
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Catch a Rising Yawn.
Yes, really. When, for
the briefest moment, you intuit the onset of a yawn,
resist the urge to resist. Go with it! Ride the sudden
in-rush of air, pulling your breath even further inward
if you can, then blow out all the tired, stale air that
probably helped produce the yawn in the first place._ BJ |
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Spilling over into noonday are shadows
of yesterday, and earlier on this morning when everything was
wrapped in an aura of gloaming. Cowboy Jack cut my hair, then I
ambled off to see Amy & have breakfast at the Coffee Carousel.
Picked up some useless mail at the P.O. Box, dropped off a package,
with my book & a note, to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and then back home for
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Rolling right along into another
particularly dry Sunday afternoon in Sarasota,Florida.
Considering how every religion is more or less the same in terms of
laying down the law, as if from above. Me? Ill just go along with
what is and leave it at that, cause I gotta get ready to go to
work.
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Computers can do a lot of the
legwork and brainwork. Machines will do just what you tell them to
do, as long as you do what they say, as T. Bone Burnett says. In
any event, someone must be in the drivers seat.
Outside is an ongoing Florida drought, not so tragic as the drying
up of Lake Chad in Africa, but similarly alarming for the future of
our world.
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In yoga,
in thinking,
in meditating,
and in living,
the questions
always is:
how deep and how far
can you reach out?
And I would say,
as long and as far
as you can
breathe out.
Set up for yourself
a daily system
of success
by breathing into
nowhere
with a steady
mantra
for at least
ten minutes
before anything
else although,
stretching and/or
certain kinds
of physical work
can occur
simultaneously.
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At every moment
we must find
our own way,
with only love
and truth
to guide us.
We must fight
for our own
soul's integrity, and
"work out our own
salvation
with fear
and trembling."
We must
stand up
and live,
create
and progress
on our own,
without
anyone's
prodding or
pleading,
without
anyone's
approval or
permission.
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How I
Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Going to School
As a barefooted, free roaming boy, growing up in the boondocks of
eastern Virginia, of course I hated school. Even so, I loved playing
with words and reading, I adored my constant home room teacher in
high school, and was exhilarated by improvised soccer games during
long lunch breaks.
Going to college was not on my mind at all, but serving in the Navy
broadened my outlook and led to an accelerated interest in religion.
My goal, upon discharge, was to become an ordained minister, which
required educational preparation. So I enrolled at Elon College in
NC, majoring in what else religion! Other areas of study were
required, of cOurse, but religion was my passion. I wanted to learn
all I could about the Bible, and this desire to learn about one
thing stimulated interest in related subjects.
Eventually, I realized that its all related, that life itself is a
school in which we are continually learning. Homework is the hard
work we have to do for ourselves every day. So, really, whats not
to love about going to school!
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Cant buy it,
cant stop it,
cant store it
away.
Time is precious
and time is
expensive
because
time is
life!
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What a circus
is this
merry-go-round
life!
Learning and
losing.
climbing
and falling..
Sometimes
gliding,
other times
sliding.
Going round
to avoid
staying
down.
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I love the book
SILENCE, by John Cage, the Buddhist/neo-musician, who
dared speak in fragments about nothing moments such as
his observation that if he had not gone to Virginia for
some kind of a presumably dull conference he wouldnt
have seen the skies swarm with great flocks of
blackbirds. I grew up down there, you know, so I can
appreciate and re-visualize just such a scene: in the
fall when those dark, swirling clouds of blackbirds
would swoop down to clean up the peanut fields after
harvest time.
The reason we
waste our time
so willingly
is that our ideas about
uselessness
were so limited.
John Cage
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Look out for
the one whos going to follow you right back into your
hovel and confront you with the few quick & easy things
you might have done and could have done to make some
order in this place. And watch out for the one inside,
the critic, whos more than willing to point out such a
predicament to you. But, hey, were all friends, after
all, and upon this we all agree: if I do a few simple
things before I leave where I am, it will be so more
pleasant to survey my own good cleaning & clearing work
when I return.
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Nothing in the
movies,
nothing in a
book,
or anywhere
else,
is as
interesting
as your own
mind,
which is a
mine of
inexhaustible
treasures.
Dont miss
the main show
while youre
tuned in
to somebody
elses
psycho
drama.
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There is no surcease
from the war
were in
to gain control
of ourselves.
In the personal realm,
as on any battlefield,
victory depends upon
every decision
we enact,
however
small.
Time is
malleable
in the moment,
then its
history.
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Go first to the
prime authority yourself and consult about the days
proceedings. Consider objectives, disposable elements,
posture and breathing. Appreciate comfort, sunshine on a
day that also promises much-needed rain. The power went
off in my kitchen, so I turned everything off and moved
up front here to the computer. Whenever possible, write
it down on the hard drive, you know.
Well, well,
what a constant hassle it is to just stay ahead of
things, to just get around to doing some of what you
want to do on a day off like this. And, yes, I did a few
things like that, most notably dipping into the beach at
Lido Key and swimming about a bit. So restorative and
so available, right on my way to and from work! How did
I manage to ignore and avoid such a tremendous resource
over the last many years?
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There is no
surcease
from the
war
were in
to manage
our
lives.
In the
personal realm,
as on
any battleground,
victory may
simply
depend
upon
the
quality
of the
many
small
decisions
we make
all the
time.
without
even
thinking.
Success is
a result of
positive,
habitual
behavior.
Time is
malleable
in the
moment,
then its
history.
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Our thoughts,
like
shadows,
grow longer
in the late
afternoon.
And upon what
is this
evening reverie
fixed?
Upon the
dissolution
and the
resurgence
of
everything.
In other words,
just another
day
going round
to greet
a brand new
dawn.
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Another attack
by the forces of world disorder, now at the Glasgow
airport, and again I am amazed that perpetrators and
defenders of suicide bombings can believe that they are
bringing honor to their religion, their culture, or
their cause; when in fact they are dishonoring
themselves and their own people in the worst possible
way by these senseless
atrocities.
A six year old
boy in Afghanistan was outfitted with a suicide device
and instructed to walk over to a group of national
police officers and touch the two wires together that he
was holding. Not knowing what it was all about, he
approached one of the policemen and asked, Why am I
wearing this? He was relieved of the device, and it was
disarmed. What kind of inhuman monsters would set up a
situation like that!
Thomas Friedman,
chief international columnist for the New York Times,
often identifies the essential conflict of our time as a
struggle between the forces of world order and the
forces of worldwide disorder, chaos, terror and death. |
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