Seeing and Doing

Within the human spirit, there is an intrinsic, yet often-obscured desire to be of service. Service can be defined as an instantaneous response to a need or a simple observation that one can do a kindness. We see it all the time in selfless acts of courage when heroic action is spontaneous in saving a life or some other act of bravery. Philosopher Joseph Campbell calls it “a moment when you and the other are one, ” and nothing could change it even to the point of death.

Somewhere deep within our soul we acknowledge that we are individuals existing in the illusion of time but within an earthly density of a created and collective oneness. We are individual drops in the amniotic ocean of being. We are the individuation of the indivisible. We subconsciously, spiritually, know that life experience is not singular, but collective and somewhere in our awareness we know that if even one of us minutely achieves, all of us do.

Response to need is a simple process, but difficult to sustain on a daily basis when we have to contend with the duties of living, myopic worry and the ego’s constant harassment for self-aggrandizement. There are ways around the ego’s chicanery, but not many of us choose to be a mystic and master the art of meditation and its precipitate subjugation of the ego-self.

So, how to be practical in the request to help?

One way is to believe that “thought” has a power or energy. Good thoughts have positive power, and bad thoughts have negative influences. These thoughts, these pieces of energy, can be sent by the mind, in the envelope of good will, to any recipient and it will have an impact. Religions would call it prayer, but holistic physician Dr. Larry Dossey, in his book “Healing Words” calls it a general sense of well-being for another and has proven the power of positive thought with scientific experiments.

Our thought energy does not have to be specific but should have the imprimatur of well-being. Since we are part and parcel of the creating Source, we can leave the specifics of the solving to the omniscience of unconditional love, but the power we create and send through graceful thoughts becomes a free-will energy to manifest as solutions, compromises, and accomplishments.

Another way to answer the call to help is to do so within our sphere of influence for that too will affect the whole. To the observant, not a single day passes without numerous opportunities to serve. There’s the story of the little five-year boy who wanted to help an elderly neighbor whose wife just died. Upon returning home, his Mother asked what did he do to help. The child replied, "I sat on his lap and helped him cry."

Service is as simple as that. Poet William Wordsworth wrote, “…Even the daisy by the shadow it casts protects the lingering due drop from the sun.

In this time of change, it is more important than ever that each of us be of service to the whole. Act on it when you see it an opportunity.

What I'm thankful for...

I'm thankful for:

The true blue dream of sky - thank you e.e. cummings.

The fragrance of flowers.

The gift of life and the individual ways we can choose to live it.

The memories of living and passed loved ones.

The love and experiences of sons.

The love and experiences of grand-daughters.

Each breath I take.

Each taste I enjoy.

Each friend I talk too.

My puppy McGee.

The awareness of All That Is and his/her unconditional love.

The power of following one’s passions.

The miracle of difference and the oneness of all.

Discernment.

The love I feel from Spirit.

The rejuvenating quench of water.

The mystery of endings.

The sound and action of ocean waves.

And so much more. The Iroquois confederacy embraced a thankful ceremony that lasted three days. As they danced and chanted they thanked everything they could think of. I wonder if each of us thanked everything we could think of; would we have a less contentious society?

The Divine Plan

I read an article the other day where theoretical physicist Steven Hawking said in a lecture that the planet Earth has about another thousand years and we should be looking for another place to live.

Steven Hawking is smart, very smart, but I think he’s neglected one component of earth’s longevity; “the Divine plan.”

I’m certainly not as smart as Mr. Hawking and I dare not speak for the Divine, but common sense and an awareness of some arcane truths, one of which is everything is as it should be within the unconditional loving of The All That Is, leads me conclude, worry not.

The good news is that I’m not going to be around to see if Mr. Hawking is right. We will all be around somewhere, but not in the bodies we currently inhabit.

I will be very disappointed if Mr. Hawking finds me on the other side in a thousand years to watch the demise of Mother Earth, and he says, “ I told you so.”

Eisenhower

IKE

I was flipping channels the other day and stopped on a movie called “Ike – Countdown to D-day.” It starred Tom Selleck as General Dwight David Eisenhower.

After a few minutes, I was hooked. Even though I was a toddler when the real D-day happened, it was still my era, my memories of my parent’s conversations and "I Like Ike" campaign buttons. As I grew up, Ike was President in the peaceful times of 1953 to 1961.

By 1962 I was a fledgling radio reporter in Syracuse, New York, and Ike, who had just relinquished the presidency to John Kennedy, was a guest speaker at a Republican fundraiser in Onondaga County.

I assigned myself to cover the event. I was the news director too. When you are a staff of one, you can do those things. The organizers allowed the press to come back stage and do quick interviews with Ike.

We were called the “press” in those days; “members of media” didn’t come around for another twenty years. “Press” was a throwback to the days of newspaper coverage and the printing press.

It was over fifty years ago, so I don’t remember what I asked President Eisenhower, but I do remember being thrilled. He was the first of many presidents and former presidents I would meet and interview during my long broadcasting career.

Back to the movie. Some parts of the movie were historically true; some facts were compressed to fit the story line. Anyway, it was a good dramatic depiction of America’s history and it made me remember a different time.

Election Thoughts

Good Morning!

I have refrained from posting for a few weeks to keep my sanity at the end of the election process. To say the least, I was surprised at the result and disappointed, but the collective electorate has spoken, and I will abide by the result. It is the way of our Republic.

When Benjamin Franklin exited the Continental Congress, he was asked by a passer-by, “What have you giving us, Mr. Franklin?” He answered, “A republic if you can keep it.”

For those of us who have been around a bit longer than the millennials, this has been the most divisive and ruthless election in recent memory, but I don’t need to tell you that. I hope it does not portend a future of such discourteous skirmishes.

Under our system of governing, Mr. Trump is now our President. He will remain our President until such time that he does something so egregious that he is impeached or until the electorate votes him out of office.

My hope is that his executive choices do not lead us into and leave us with a kakistocracy.

We have two options when change is inevitable. We can be a victim of it or we can be a participant in it. I will participate in our Democracy because I believe it is the best form of government that society has found so far. I will continue to speak out if I disagree with him, but for now I will think good and positive thoughts for the success of Mr. Trump’s Presidency. If he succeeds, so do we.

E-mails and lies

The FBI doesn’t know, yet, what’s in the latest emails.

No data, no information, no speculation has been released.

No one knows, but Donald Trump says at a political rally,

“You’ll be assured that what’s in those emails will be absolutely devastating.”

How does he know? Is he prescient? Is he psychic? Good grief! This is another lie from a man who portends to the highest office in our land.

He is such a bad choice of America. In many ways so is she and these are our choices. The world wonders what happened to the United States of America.