The number 13!

Today is Friday the 13th.
Some thoughts on Tristadecaphobia.

The fear of the number thirteen.

The superstition is ancient; it may have been enhanced during the time of Christ.  There were 13 people at the last supper before Christ was betrayed.  Also, it is believed the crucifixion took place on a Friday, so the combination of the number and the day became a bad omen.

In American history, however, the number thirteen is esoterically prominent.

Take out a dollar bill.  Look at the back side.  In the two circles, you will find both the front and reverse sides of the great seal of the United States.

Look at the eagle. In the left talon, he holds 13 arrows.  In the right talon, an olive branch.  On it, 13 leaves and 13 berries.  The ribbon in the eagle's beak contains the Latin phrase " E Pluribus Enum."  Count the letters.  Thirteen.

The other side of the seal shows an unfinished pyramid.  Count the steps.  Thirteen.  The inscription "Annuit Coeptis" also contains thirteen letters.

Perhaps thirteen is not unlucky by its nature. Maybe it responds to the energy we give it.  Like so many things, our response to something or someone is directly related to the quality of our input.

Being positive or negative is a choice.

The cave: appreciation and lesson

The worried world is breathing a sigh of relief this morning. All twelve boys and their soccer coach have been rescued from a cave in Thailand.

For some it is a miracle, for others, it is a testimony to the will, the expertise, the sacrifice of many who used skill, cooperation, and bravery to save thirteen lives.

If at any point during the reporting of this story you hoped, or you prayed they all would get out safely, then this morning you and I owe a moment of gratitude to the Source that moves through us as us.

It is now our responsibility to parse the lesson.

Common Sense

The basic foundation of wisdom is called “common sense.”

I find “common sense” in a garden of flowers. The colors, the forms, the strengths, and the frailties remind me of our human family as individually and collectively we strive to survive. Flowers see their oneness as a bouquet. Humans, in our pursuit of having more, miss the elegance of self and the other.

I find “common sense” in the winds of the earth as they push and pull, puff and punish in their desultory paths around the globe. The sea has it tides. The wind has its waves. Each can help humankind in our need for energy if we embrace them. In each the service and beauty of nature abounds.

I find “common sense” in a patch of deep forest for it reminds me of the mystery in understanding life and death; in growth and decay and in being young or in growing old with dignity.

I find “common sense” in the rain for it cleanses flora and fauna, sustains growth, and provides the sustenance of life. Without water nothing can live, yet we ignore its value, pollute its source, and waste a resource.

I believe “common sense” is an innate gift from The All That Is. Everyone has it, but so few claim it as their own modality.  

Thoughts from the norm.

The Age of Light

© 2012 Rolland G. Smith

I am the now among the light,

But daily play in planet’s night

Where souls oft gasp a wonder’s breath

When learning light is never death.

But we all dwell in moment’s time

For matter needs its finite rhyme,

Yet when we shed our form and thought

The mind can never be distraught.

There is a balance ‘tween the two

In order for the spirit true

To keep the Logos and the soul

From being separate from the whole.

How does that fit with dogma’s trick

Where many souls now see as slick?

It doesn’t fit so do not try;

A freeing mind lets spirit fly.

Not all the words of old are wrong

But light creates a different song.

Old tunes have truth as new ones do

But only one brings what is new.

Aquarius we call this age

Where knowing beings set the stage

For all of us to be the play

In lighted garments all array.

Civility

Have you ever noticed that the poor attack the poor because they see what they don’t like in others in themselves and apparently can see no way out of what they don’t like?

The rich belittle the rich because others have more or less than themselves and they live under the illusion that success, security, and safety is having more and riches make you a better person.

Religions contend with other beliefs saying their way is the only way to worship the one God of All That Is. Belief has always had an arrogant component.

The old besmirch the young because that’s not the way they did it or lived and they can’t remember their youthful enthusiasm for the zest of life.

The Young disrespect the elderly because they see their passage in the old and cannot accept vulnerability and decay.

Race diminishes race because few understand that the sacredness of culture, traditions, and family is the same for all.

Perhaps it is just remembering what civility is and then practicing it because it is the right thing to do. It makes you feel good plus you get it back a hundredfold.

I know civility existed once, at least when I was a child. I was taught manners and respect and admonished when I didn’t embrace them.

Our neighbors were called Mr. and Mrs. You didn’t sass an adult, teachers had the authority of parents. You wrote a thank you note for a gift or kindness. You dressed up for travel and church, and you dressed down to play. You earned the money you needed; you didn’t take it from someone else, and you said thank you and no thank you when you were offered something.

Not a bad way to live.

Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Today is our independence holiday.

Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. History rarely records what happened to some of them.

Five signers were captured by the British charged as traitors and were tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons who were serving in the Revolutionary Army, and another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought in the war and died from wounds or hardships caused by the war.

These men were not ruffians or rabble-rousers; they were well-spoken men of means and education.

Twenty-four of the 56 were lawyers and jurists, eleven were merchants, and nine were large plantation owners.

All of them signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Signer Carter Braxton, a wealthy planter, and trader died in rags.

The properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge and Middleton were looted.

Thomas Nelson Jr. and Thomas McKeam died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis's wife was jailed, and she died there.

John Hart had to flee his dying wife's bedside. His children fled for their lives. He died of exhaustion. Norris and Livingston had to hide out in the forest and live in caves.

I wonder how many people today would in the words of the Declaration of Independence, "mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor," all for the sake of freedom.

Thank you, patriots, of the past for the liberty we enjoy and celebrate today.

Scholars

I was listening to my favorite singer, songwriter of the 70's and 80's Kris Kristopherson last night and the fact that he was a Rhodes scholar brought this post to mind.

President Bill Clinton was one and so was tdhe former Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey. They are among a select group that since 1904 have been offered Rhodes scholarships.

It all started with Cecil J. Rhodes, A British colonial pioneer and statesman who died in 1902. He was a man with a vision and a loyalty to Great Britain that bordered on zealotry.

Cecil Rhodes made his fortune in South Africa by first supervising and then owning a diamond mine.
Over the years Rhodes concentrated on two things. Adding territory to the British Empire and controlling more and more diamond mines.

Rhodes became an elected official and through political power did more than any other person of his time to increase the territory controlled by the British.

He forced the annexation of what is now Botswana. He forced the Matabele tribe to surrender most of its land. Land, so vast, that today, that same territory comprises two countries. Zambia and Zimbabwe.

By 1888 Rhodes had combined all his diamond mines under the name of the De Beers Consolidated Mines. He was very influential and very rich and he had a vision. He wanted to strengthen the ties among English-speaking people and broaden their knowledge of one another by having the best of their young and potential leaders take degrees together where he went to school, Oxford University.

Approximately 90 Rhodes Scholarships are awarded each year.

Life's bubbles

I saw a photo a few years ago.  It was a high-speed photograph of a bubble bursting.

The bubble seemed to explode in a linear fashion moving from the point of a finger impact toward the back of the bubble. The photo captures a little more than half the bubble in shatters, although still holding its shape, while the back is still intact as a half of a splintering globe.

To me the symbolism was profound. It was endemic of some of the things I believe about life and spirit.

I think our essence is like shattering for the bubble.

Once the bubble of life ends, our spirit remembers everything we ever were; every lifetime we’ve lived. Our divine identity exists within the oneness of shape and in the unconditional and clear container of All That Is.

The personality of our current life does not continue as a singular identity when the outer container dies, although it is included in the collection of lifetime experiences. It is our divine identity that quantifies our spirit and is forever omniscient and embraced within the divine bubble of love.

Where did all this come from?  It must be the heat.