So much is happening on Gaia around birthdays.

Guest Blog. I got this via email from another friend in Washington state (hence the reference at the end.) I rarely pass along inspiration or humor from emails, we are all overwhelmed with same, but this is toooo clever to let go by. Hope you get some health-promoting, spirit-expanding laughs from this.

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Here is the opinion of the Medical Profession on the Financial Bail-Out Package just passed by the US Congress.

The allergists voted to scratch it, and the dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve, and the obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

The ophthalmologists considered the idea short-sighted; the pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!'

The psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, the radiologists could see right through it, and the surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the plastic surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."

The podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the urologists felt the scheme wouldn't hold water.

The anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas; and the cardiologists didn't have the heart to say No.

In the end, the proctologists left the decision up to the people in Washington.

Not completely "The lion shall lie down with the lamb," but gettin' there. 

Just thought I would lighten things up a bit with this profound advice. I think it somehow could be applied to the economy, but I haven't figured out how yet. When I do, I'll let the world know:

Thanks, ~KES, for calling this video to my attention. I am now watching the hour-long video mentioned second below, and it's really really interesting, all the details. Well worth one's time.

A New Earth Arising from Grassroots: YES WE CAN !!!!!!

Click on the link or click on the triangle in the light rectangle in the TV-screen image. This is incredibly inspiring and uplifting, so energizing and galvanizing us to get involved each in our own way in our own neighborhoods, co-creating the world the way we want it to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1fiubmOqH4

or

This is a video talk by environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author Paul Hawken about his latest book Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming. And you don't even hear about it on the media. About 6 minutes long.

I also strongly recommend this hour-long talk about the same worldwide movement, by Paul Hawken, in the Authors@Google section of YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npKaOddyrcY&feature=related

or

He's pointing out that there are about 1-2 million grassroots organizations in the world, focused on a huge variety of ways of stopping harm to the environment and people, and fostering/implementing new ways of relating to our world and one another. This movement is non-ideological, has no leader, is composed of 100-200 million ordinary people, and is decentralized, he says. There has never been anything like it in history before.

Highly recommended for both optimists and pessimists about the future of humans and the earth.

This blog entry is presented and provided to you by "Amplifying Divine Light in All" Church
Our main religious purpose and mission is to amplify the Divine Light in everyone. When you look at this blog entry, you will agree or disagree with its various points, and then you will know more about what is true for you. Knowing more of your own Truth amplifies your Divine Light. Thus providing/presenting this blog entry is one way for us to accomplish our purpose and mission.
This blog entry and our providing/presenting it are therefore an essential and integral part of our exercise and practice of our religion.
None of the contents herein are claimed as absolute truth. They represent one possible perspective which might prove useful for you.
We invite your comments and responses!

I got this via email, and it's one of maybe two such things I am ever inclined to pass along, each year !! I'll let you ponder the meaning of the title of this blog entry. The photo was with the email, I don't know whether it is authentic or not.

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Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her. You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith.

We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith, and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch a addressed, 'To Meredith'...in an unfamiliar hand writing. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies'. Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven.
Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.
Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you.

I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.

By the way, I'm easy to find, I am wherever there is love.

Love,
God

Have you been feeling, perhaps earlier but especially on Tuesday Nov. 4, 2008, lighter, even physically? An energy shift that somehow goes deeper than simply a response to current events? I am, and I know dozens/hundreds of folks around the world who are. Probably millions are.

What's going on? What does it mean? And can it help us make a difference in our lives and the world?

First, some reports. Several people said just walking down the street not thinking about anything, all of a sudden they felt lighter, less dense, less subject to gravity, safer, more optimistic, joyful, happy. Other people even before the election said, for example, their inspired writing process was hitting new levels of awesomeness, or their counseling practice had suddenly jumped to a new degree of ease and effectiveness.

Here's a typical comment from the Netherlands (Holland) from Alluvja, showing the physicality and energeticness of it: "The shift was definitely felt here. I was kind of groggy from having too little sleep but I was walking on air all day anyway and talking to some people who felt it too." (The election process had not yet even begun when she woke up that day and was going through most of her day.)

I myself was walking to my house from my mailbox after voting, in the early afternoon Pacific Time, and it's as if from one step to the next I stepped into an alternate universe, a parallel reality. One in which the very fabric of reality was not just unconditionally loving, which it has always been, but the very fabric of reality was now benevolent, supportive, wishing well to everything. My perceptions shifted, like new glasses, or like the effect of a drug. I thought "I feel safe now, for the first time in my life." Later, I thought "I feel safe to be ME now, in this world."

I have seen many other descriptions. Perhaps from these you recognize your own unique experience of the shift that you might not have labelled that way before.

I maintain that this shift is NOT the same as the renewed optimism people are having as they see and hear about what's going on in the world. I believe the feelings/perceptions described above are not a response to the election, but part of the same wave of energy that culminated in the election results. I also believe a lot of the post-election euphoria people felt was not just an emotional response to external events, not just a result of the election results, but was this deep felt sense of life that shifted in the week before the election.

I maintain what's going on is a manifestation of this deep energetic shift, and the emotional-mental responses are also manifestations of this deeper energetic change. The dancing in the streets, the enthusiasm, the strangers smiling at one another -- these can all happen after a favorite team has won a championship. This is much deeper. It is being sensed by those sensitive to higher-vibrational energies, and even more importantly it is lasting, not fading.

One description of the shift is: It's as if the very atoms of the universe were each now radiating benevolence, goodwill and everything composed of atoms had to thus be that way, too. External appearances would not change instantly, but the changes WOULD happen,; they are inevitable.

A more esoteric explanation might be that we have shifted into the long-predicted alternative timeline, or the "two Earths" of very different vibrational levels.

I don't think it's about Obama. In my perspective, political events, candidates, activities are the froth on the crest of the wave. WE are the wave. I don't think we are simply responding to events that have already happened. I think it's just time, the planet's timing, and I see him as cooperating with the timetable in his willingness to take on this role.

Whatever, what does this mean? How can we use this?

One Being (Adamu via Zingdad) said "... the energy of joy. It is making it easier and easier for you to believe in a positive and joyous outcome. It provides the planet with a certain sense of irrepressible positivity. You can much more easily choose to believe that things are going to be just fine. But you must choose. You must create."

It means that my pessimistic thoughts are easier to release, that I suddenly have extra energy, motivation, and empowerment to get more active in bringing my gifts and services to the world and I feel safer in that. So can you.

It means I have greater expectation of finding others to synergize with. You can too. It means I greet news of advances into the New World's way of living and relating not with skepticism about their fate, but with enthusiasm in knowing they will indeed bear their fruit. So can you.

The way I see it, the old will dissolve. It no longer has to be "overcome." We can relax a bit. The momentum of the new simply has to be flowed with. The new is so powerful, and the purpose of the old is done, and we shall see miracles of transformation. Inexplicable instances of things going "right." Odd instances of non-benevolent stuff simply not materializing or getting put into action. People having changes of heart and mind, that we would never expect. New alternative respectful, loving, benevolent ways of doing things that pop up seemingly from nowhere, ready to be implemented by people now oddly willing to accept them.

Our work is to accept all this! The consensus is "The work begins now." Consistent with the slogan Yes WE can, now there is not just individual personal empowerment, but also the necessity and willingness to collaborate, cooperate, synergize with others. To learn ways of not just tolerating but using differences for the betterment of all.

This article is presented and provided to you by "Amplifying Divine Light in All" Church.

Our main religious purpose and mission is to amplify the Divine Light in everyone. When you read this article, you will agree or disagree with its various points, and then you will know more about what is true for you. Knowing more of your own Truth amplifies your Divine Light.

Thus providing/presenting this article is one way for us to accomplish our purpose and mission. This article and our providing/presenting it are therefore an integral part of our exercise and practice of our religion.

Nothing in this article is claimed as absolute truth. It represents one possible interpretation or perspective or model of thinking which might prove useful for you.

All rights reserved under the Common Law. This means please respect our creatorship.

We invite your comments and responses!

 
The photo is from ~KES, source of so much beauty, thanks, Kathy.
 

Thanks to Sherrilene's being Featured Member of the Gaia Networking Group this month, and her personal mission of increasing people's Quality of Life, I have been inspired to set forth my ideas on the subject. It's about time to say what I really mean when I am talking and thinking about this concept, as I have been for a long time.

This is kinda a first draft of my thoughts on this subject. I will certainly add more based on comments and further contemplations and research.

To the extent you answer No (or to a few, Yes) to any of these questions, then IMO you have a diminished Quality of Life. I grant that many people for example with physical handicaps do experience what they consider an excellent Quality of Life, perhaps even enhanced in some unusual ways, by their limitations. More power to 'em, I say. Quality of Life is not an absolute, nor the same for everyone. Thus, no one can tell anyone else what is required for their Quality of Life !!!!!! Quality of Life is a totally subjective matter.

Also, each of the questions below might be phrased not as "Can you....?" but as "To what extent do you......?"

But here are what I consider to be the basics of Quality of Life, that I wish for everyone in the world.

[But, again, this is my opinion about your Quality of Life, and might not be your own opinion of your own Quality of Life ! It is really important to realize I am not placing judgment on anyone who doesn't have what I am calling a high Quality of Life. For example, I do not judge folks who feel helpless, or do not seek a sense of expansion in life. But if I were to choose, I would wish their life included these elements of what I consider to be a high Quality of Life.]

Then, on top of the basics, each of us has specifics that contribute to our personal individual Quality of Life. There is no upper limit to Quality of Life !!!!!!!

Basic safety in daily life: Can you go about your daily life without a significant risk of being attacked or harmed in any way? Can you go about your daily life without significant health risks? Are your basic needs for air, light, water, nutrition, shelter being met (not necessarily without effort)? Are you able to move about, having all the use of (and be able to express the use of) all your senses and mental and emotional faculties? Do you live free from chronic pain or physical limitations on basic ordinary activities of life?

Basic social needs: Do you have access to social interactions that are satisfying and beneficial for you and are you able to experience yourself as beneficial and contributing to others? Do you have freedom of association, to move into and out of relationships as you choose? Do you have the ability to function in groups, as you choose?

Are you able to make the basic choices of life (via liberty) according to your own desires, such as your travel, your vocation, your place of work, your dwelling-place, what and where you will learn and receive an education, your acquisitions (what you can own), keep and hold and use the results of your physical and mental labor?

Are you able to move away (in whatever sense you choose) from anything you deem harmful to your life, and move toward or go after anything you regard as beneficial to your life? Are you able to engage, to the extent you choose, in activities of life that bring you joy and satisfaction? Can you affect those things you believe have an effect on your quality of life, or the quality of life of others?

Do you have the freedom to learn about yourself and to express yourself in ways that are satisfying (while respecting others' rights)?

Are you free from internal harsh self-judgments, fears, guilts, depression? Are you subject to deceit, fraud, manipulation by others which take advantage of your ignorance or your weaknesses? Do you experience yourself as empowered, or helpless? Do you experience yourself as the "locus of control" of your experiences, or do you feel like a victim of self or others or the world or nature or God or......?

Are you exploring all the potentials and dimensions of yourself and the world, so you have a sense of expansion of life and self and your place in the Grand Scheme of things as you go through life? Do you have a sense of meaning and purpose in your life?

There are clearly some themes here. They might include: Basic necessities of survival, either free or achieved or provided voluntarily by others. Liberty/freedom. A social context appropriate to being human. A degree of psychological freedom from innerly limiting and harm-inflicting stuff. The ability to implement one's will and achieve success as self-defined. A sense of personal empowerment and self-determination and a sense of free will. An expanding understanding of self, life, and world.

I'd like to make clear the social-interpersonal balance in all the above. I do not believe anyone owes anyone else any particular of a Quality of Life. In other words, I do not advocate taxpayer-supported health care, housing, or anything that takes anything from anyone without their explicit consent, even for a good cause. Charity, in my opinion, must, to be moral and ethical, be voluntary. I do not believe anyone is entitled to force anyone to do anything that increases someone else's Quality of Life. I just need this point to be perfectly clear, as it is not the normal usual accepted viewpoint in our society.

But I will work passionately and tirelessly to do everything I am called to do, to increase the Quality of Life of everyone on this planet. I rejoice that I have the freedom and the ability to work in the ways I believe most powerful, most efficacious, for achieving that. My own Quality of Life requires that I be doing that.

by Rev.  O.M. Bastet, Ph.D.

Head Minister

 

This article is presented and provided to you by

 

"Amplifying Divine Light in All" Church

Our main religious purpose and mission is to amplify the Divine Light in everyone. When you read this article, you will agree or disagree with its various points, and then you will know more about what is true for you. Knowing more of your own Truth amplifies your Divine Light. Thus providing/presenting this article is one way for us to accomplish our purpose and mission.
This article and our providing/presenting it are therefore an essential and integral part of our exercise and practice of our religion.
None of the contents herein are claimed as absolute truth. They represent one possible perspective which might prove useful for you.

All rights reserved under the Common Law. This means please respect our creatorship.

We invite your comments and responses!  

Because of my recent computer demise and being bestowed with the gift of a newer one, I have been gifted by ~KES and Meenakshi with some great humorous pictures, thought I would share to give you a break from all the heavy stuff I blog !! Enjoy !!!!

Some of them are animated, so don't flip through this too quickly.

Look carefully at the picture above til you see the smiling face.

I got tagged by Jessica, who said

Hello OM!

I hope you are having a lovely day. I have tagged you in my blog! We're starting up the Friday Five questions (read more here) and I tagged you, inviting you to blog your answers for these questions about gratitude:

1) What are you thankful for today?
2) What do you appreciate about the Earth?
3) Who is the last person you said "thank you" to?
4) When was the last time someone thanked you?
5) What is your favorite way to say thank you?

I look forward to seeing your answers and hope you will take me up on the invitation :)

Hugs,
Jessica

The link goes to this information: (See I am making it easy for you !)

What is the Friday Five? Well, it's a community-wide blogging party featuring five themed questions each week. It is so much fun and gets everyone on Gaia introspecting and sharing. There is so much to learn from these little questions and your answers can be as long or short as you like.

This week is all about gratitude in celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States and appreciation everywhere. Just follow these easy steps:

Step 1) Write your blog on Friday answering the loverly questions below. You can copy and paste them into your blog and just type in answers.

Step 2) Make sure you've added "Friday Five" as a tag for the blog and in the title.

Step 3) If you wish, "Tag" up to five Gaia members and send a little note letting them know they're "it" and thus called upon to blog the Friday Five too. These members can be in your friends list or new people you'd just like to connect with. Then they answer the Friday Five and can tag more Gaians :)

So, come on and play! Won't you? Open up that blog and tell us...

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Here are my thoughts:

I am not clear whether we are committing to doing all 5 questions each Friday until death do us part, or doing just one set of questions. Check into next week's Team Blog, it might clarify. Or choose.            

Maybe not as much fun as the 7 Weird Things about Me tag game, but I'll definitely be up for playing with gratitude !! It's really the key !! (I call it rejoicing, which is more being-at-cause wording, IMO.)

1. Today I am thankful for every minute of breathing, and everything I experienced in each of those moments.

2. I appreciate about the Earth she is so mindblowingly beautiful !!!!!! In so many many ways, from so many viewpoints, from the inner center of a flower to the view from space.

3. The last person I said Thank you to was someone today who sought my ministerial services. I said Thank you for the opportunity to be a resource !!

4. The last time someone thanked me was a few minutes ago, arranging with a girlfriend who is finally divorcing AOL and taking up with gmail tomorrow and I am doing an in-person tutorial for her on that.

5. My favorite way to say Thank you -- hmmm. That's the toughest question of all. I say it in a variety of ways, being a Gemini and easily bored, haha. I think most often I say I AM SO GRATEFUL TO YOU.

I am tagging mascha, andrew, maxie, I P (Individual Person,) and Kris. Please be assured this game is optional, and if any of you don't want to participate, let me know and I will choose someone else !!

Blessings to all,
OM Bastet