Daylight Savings Time!

At 2 a.m. on October 30, groggy Americans will turn their clocks back one hour, marking the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST).

The federal law that established “daylight time” in this country does not require any area to observe daylight saving time. But if a state chooses to observe DST, it must follow the starting and ending dates set by the law. From 1986 to 2006 this has been the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, but starting in 2007, it will be observed from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, adding about a month to daylight saving time.

The Eyes of Illumination

White Peacock - its higher aspect means the eyes of illumination through higher extrasensory perception. If we are to evolve as a society to find permanent and lasting solutions to the world's problems, this animal totem gives us clues as to how it must be done. We must come back to our senses and see through the eyes of Spirit.

Explaining a Spiritual Experience

This video reminded me of Laura's, "Holy Moments Photography" that she just launched on a web site. Check out both and may you enjoy your spiritual experience.

Three Freedoms: Going, Going....

This morning I checked in over at Kate's blog and read her post on, "Boomer and Other Radicals." She was wondering if we have bought into the paranoia that is currently stripping our freedoms, and why are we quiet - where is our voice? What happened to our voice?

I happened to respond that I think many are pushing the "Snooze" button and choosing to sleep a little more. This morning on another web site - Urban Survival, this was posted...

Three Freedoms: Going, Going...

There are three stories, each one of which has profound implications for Constitutionalists and those of us who still hold to the Bill of Rights and other traditions of the American system of government which hold our rapt attention today; partly because of the "window" the web bot project has outlined for this coming weekend, and partly because the hold so much potential for abuse of power. Here's the summary - the details follow:

George Bush has signed a law eliminating the right of habeas corpus for unlawful enemy combatants.

Your free use of the internet is in the gunsights of DHS's Michael Chertoff.

DHS is moving toward a system that would require government permission to travel outside the United States.

If we do not awaken from our slumber and sluggish drug induced media hypnosis, speak out and take action, we boomers will be caught with our britches down. Instead of being called "Boomers," it may be replaced with "Butt Heads".

Definitely get out and VOTE!

Rare Cosmic Event Today

Rare Cosmic Event

We have a rare Cosmic event occurring on October 17th and 18th that will give us a jump-start in manifesting the things we would like to cocreate in our own lives and on this planet. There is going to be an ultraviolet pulse beam from higher dimensions than we have previously been able to experience crossing the path of Earth.

The ultraviolet pulse beam will have the effect of amplifying our thoughts and emotions ONE MILLIONFOLD. This will be the case regardless of what our thoughts and emotions are expressing. Needless to say, it is imperative for all of us to be Peace Commanding Presences during this auspicious time.

INDIGO CHILDREN: The New Kids Have Arrived

INDIGO CHILDREN: The New Kids Have Arrived

Author: Carroll, Lee & Tober, Jan
Publisher: HayH
From the cover?The Indigo Child is a boy or girl who displays a new and unusual set of psychological attributes, revealing a pattern of behavior generally undocumented before. This pattern has singularly unique factors that call for parents and teachers to change their treatment and upbringing of these kids to assist them in achieving balance and harmony in their lives, and to help them avoid frustration. In this groundbreaking book, the authors answer many of the often puzzling questions surrounding Indigo Children.

Last night while driving home I discovered a new Home Decor store had opened nearby. I was just thinking the other day, how much I enjoy looking at all the new creations of beauty the artists bring to us. Today I felt guided to check it out. The store was beautiful, serene and a very nice man (part owner with his wife) behind the counter was engaging me in conversation. He had just announced that the day before his wife gave birth to their first child, a little girl whom they named Lily. From there our conversation went to health insurance, his own medical history that he maintains by using natural remedies, and then the mention of Chocolate and magnesium. He said that his wife was given magnesium IV for her high blood pressure. I then related what I wrote earlier today about magnesium helping with muscle spasms. He said he had been eating a lot of chocolate the past few days and that is something that he normally doesn't do. He sheepishly held up a bag of chocolate that was next to him and half was gone. He figured it was his emotions creating the urge. I suggested lots of chocolate for the next year while pulling those all nighters with the baby. :-)

At some point I mentioned to him a book that he may be interested in reading since bi-polar disorder had been diagnosed in his family. The book is entitled, "The Indigo Children," by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober. In it they also gave suggestions on nutrition, since many children who are diagnosed as ADD or ADHD benefit from changes in their diet. I believe I read recently that a state in the Midwest now requires this book to be read by all teachers. While I was thinking of this book today, I decided to include it here today as a reference source.

Low Magnesium and Chocolate Cravings

Last night I ran across an article by Dr. Nan Kathryn Fuchs entitled, "The Great Calcium Hoax," and found it to be quite interesting. It said that medical studies show that calcium supplements are virtually useless for treating osteoporosis.

This past summer while remodeling the kitchen and doing extensive lifting and bending exercises, I pulled my back and experienced muscle spasms. I can remember thinking to myself earlier in May, that perhaps I would take the summer off down at the office, and concentrate on the remodel and play time. The Universe granted my desire for downtime, it was just that I forgot to state how I wanted to enjoy and play out this bit of vacation time. :-)

What I noticed about myself was that suddenly I craved chocolate. Now chocolate has never been a Lenten penance for me, because it was something I rarely ate or craved. This new desire to inhale a snickers (which never seemed to completely satisfy) followed by a Mars or Hershey bar, or whatever I could find in my kitchen, was totally out of character. I have wondered about this sudden craving for months and have mentioned it to friends. Last night after reading this article, I think I may have my answer. In the article while talking about calcium and magnesium it stated that, "Magnesium causes muscles to relax...while calcium causes them to contract".

So I guess at some level, my spirit was helping me to discover a natural muscle relaxer in the form of chocolate. It also mentioned and I quote, "What's more, magnesium helps fight food cravings. It's no accident that many women get chocolate cravings before and during their periods. You see, PMS is caused by low levels of magnesium...and cocoa is one of the world's most magnesium-rich foods!" So women, we do not need any more excuses for eating chocolate. Give yourself permission to enjoy a Dove bar for nourishment of your body & spirit on occasion, and think about upping your magnesium levels.

(Foods rich in magnesium include whole grains, nuts, beans, seeds, fish, avocados, and leafy green vegetables; they're some of the most nutritious foods around. An ounce of sunflower seeds contains 100 milligrams; almonds, 85; cashews, 75; wheat germ, 70; brazil nuts, 65; dark chocolate, 35. A half cup of cooked spinach, Swiss chard, or cooked beans contains 60 to 80 milligrams. Three ounces of many kinds of fish has 50 to 90 milligrams. About 80% of the magnesium in grains is in the bran and germ, which are removed in the milling of flour and rice, so refined grain products (such as white bread and white rice) are poor sources. If your drinking water is hard, you'll get a fair amount of magnesium from it.)

Home remodeling can be stressful, and when the kitchen is involved in the dismantle, it is easy to forget to nourish ourselves properly. I know I will pay more attention to feeding the body proper nutrition, and deep breathe and meditate to soothe the emotions.

Magnesium also helps to relieve Migraines, Insomnia, Depression and more! I had read in the past that when taking calcium supplements, you always want to take it with magnesium, this article helped me to understand a little more. I have never been a big fan of taking calcium supplements by themselves and rarely did, even though all the media hype says at my age it is critical.

Happy SUNday, and may your day be blessed by the Dove of Spirit.

Beautiful Mind

Steven is autistic and an artist who they classify as, "A Living Camera." This is an amazing video.

Something to stretch our capacity to accept alternate realities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TibQ_1zH3U

The Conversation and Mellon-Thomas Benedict

For those of you who have not read Mellon-Thomas Benedict's recollection of his near-death experience, you may find it quite fascinating. I found the Truth or Bust Conversation page this morning that has other interesting articles in it as well. You can also go to his personal web page - Mellon-Thomas - to read more. "Since his near death experience, Mellen Thomas has maintained his direct access to Universal Intelligence and returns to the Light at will, enabling him to be a bridge between science and spirit."

If the link doesn't work try this: http://theconversation.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=193&mode=
thread&order=0&thold=0

Greg Tamblyn -Listen to Song for Free "A Brief History of God" (G-String Theory)

"We're All Just Vibrating Strings in God's Big Guitar" Outrageous Healthy Music Humor

This man is really one of a kind. His music will make you laugh - says it contains anti-depressive lyrics. He may be a much better prescription than Prozac! :-) It's full of lyrics that brings out the spiritual/metaphysical aspects of life in a very enlightening way. If anyone is in need for this type of entertainment for conferences, I heard he really is quite fantastic. I just listened to the song, "A Brief History of God (G-String Theory)" and enjoyed it.

You may want to check out his web site and perhaps join him on one of his upcoming tours, buy some of his CD's and also sign up for his free newsletter.

(Note from Greg)

NEW E-BOOK
My collection of stories, ATILLA THE GATE AGENT (Travel Tales and
Life Lessons from a Musical Laf-ologist) is finally ready for your
perusal. (Is that a word?) These are short pieces about unusual,
interesting people and events I've encountered while out there on the
road. Some are funny (I hope), like floating a player piano down a
river in Alaska, and some are inspiring, like the story of Evy
McDonald healing herself from Lou Gehrig's disease. Some have
appeared in this newsletter over the years, and some are new.
Currently it's in e-Book form for $11.95. (I hope to have a print
version available next year.) To check out the cover, read the
contents, and read the first page, click here:
http://www.gregtamblyn.com/ebook.html

NEW SONGS:
I've started a special website for new songs, and some older or
unreleased ones. You can listen to each entire song for free, and if
you want to own it, you can download it for a dollar. You can also
view a couple of streaming videos of two new songs (free). No special
equipment is needed on your computer. The website plays them on its
own player, so it's easy. It even works on a dial-up connection. Some
of the songs include:

A Brief History of God (G-String Theory)
Frieda Gets Larry's Attention
I'm Breakin' Out
Planetary Play
What A Memory We Made
(What I Got Is) Good For You
It's Another Joyful Elvis Presley Christmas
...and more

http://www.broadjam.com/gregtamblyn

NEW CD PRICES

I'm not sure why, not even sure for how long, but I've slashed,
lowered, chopped, reduced, and otherwise cut CD prices by a TON.

Why? It just seemed like a good thing to do.

Okay, the real reason?

Clyde told me to.

Honest.

I just hope he's sober.

http://gregtamblyn.com/cds.html

As always, thanks for reading and listening. If you have a suggestion
for a musically humorous wellness appearance (corporate, association,
church, community center), please feel free to pass it along. I love
hearing from you, and hope to see you soon.

Be silly,
Greg

Thought for the Day

Thanks to Osho............

"Suffering is not holding you. You are holding suffering. When you
become good at the art of letting sufferings go, then you'll come to
realize how unnecessary it was for you to drag those burdens around with
you. You'll see that no one else other than you was responsible. The truth
is that existence wants your life to become a festival."

-Osho

Could Spiritual Healing Actually Work?

I enjoyed this article that I just finished reading and thought I would share. I witness this frequently, and know in the deepest places of my being, body, mind, soul and spirit need to be addressed for true healing to be accomplished.

Could Spiritual Healing Actually Work?
By Dr DANNY PENMAN, Daily Mail - UK
Oct 4, 2006,


Once dismissed as hokum, new evidence is forcing doctors to accept the power of spiritual healing.

After six years of agonising pain, Ailsa Marsh was beginning to despair that she would ever lead a normal life again. 'I was bedridden and couldn't leave the house,' recalls the 28-year-old student.

'All of my senses became hypersensitive. If somebody spoke to me, it felt as if they were shouting. I couldn't bear the light so my parents hung duvets over the windows. Even lying in bed was painful.'

Ailsa's suffering began in 1998 following a bout of glandular fever. At the time she was a politics and philosophy student at Durham University. But the disease robbed her of drive and energy, eventually forcing her to return home to her parents in Newcastle.

Over the following months she became weaker and weaker and was eventually diagnosed with ME. Conventional medicine offered no hope. Ailsa saw more than 20 doctors and was hospitalised countless times. The doctors could find no cause for the ME and could offer no cure.

Then in January 2004, quite by chance, Ailsa read an article about the spiritual healer David Cunningham. 'I'd tried everything else,' she says, 'so I thought I might as well go and see him.

'I didn't know what to expect, but he listened intently to me for half an hour and then put on a tape of soothing music.

'As I began to relax, David placed his hands about a centimetre above my shoulders. I felt as if he was putting his hands inside me and untwisting a tap. The pain just vanished - it went in an instant. That day, I left David with more energy than I'd had in six years.'

Over the following four months, Ailsa returned every week. Within a few months she was able to go shopping and walk from one side of Newcastle to the other.

'That summer, I went on a family holiday and there's pictures of me doing handstands in the sea. I'd gone from being in a wheelchair to being able to do all the normal things a woman of my age could do.'

Although Ailsa is utterly convinced that David Cunningham cured her of ME, many others are sceptical. How can a man with no medical training treat a chronic painful disease merely by placing his hands over a patient's body? For decades, researchers have dismissed cases such as Ailsa's as pure hokum.

But now, in an astonishing about-turn, scientists in the U.S. and UK have compiled a dossier of evidence that might - just might - show that prayer and spiritual healing are not just quackery after all.

Professor Harald Walach, a psychologist from the University of Northampton, says: 'We should take this phenomenon seriously even if we don't understand it. To ignore it would be unscientific. Our work shows that there is a significant effect.'

For despite it being the most widely practised alternative remedy, science has only recently begun to investigate whether spiritual healing actually works. Scientists and doctors simply assumed that it didn't.

One of the first attempts to investigate healing focused on its flipside: the curse. In the late 1960s, U.S. scientists decided to see whether focusing vindictive and negative thoughts on a small sample of mould - chosen because it is one of the most primitive living organisms - could somehow inhibit its growth.

Astonishingly, out of 194 mould samples 'cursed', 151 showed retarded growth.

Another group of scientists began researching whether thought power alone could be used in a positive way, to help diseased animals. Experiments revealed that mice wake faster after a general anaesthetic if healing thoughts are 'sent' their way.

In other studies, mice recovered faster and more completely from a form of breast cancer if healers 'laid on hands' while sending them positive thoughts and energy.

So if healing helps ailing lab animals, might it also help the sick to recover faster? Surprising as it seems, there's growing evidence that it might.

According to cardiologist Dr Randolph Byrd at San Francisco General Hospital, heart patients who are prayed for by Christian groups need less medicine and suffer fewer complications.

Other scientists have found similarly inexplicable results. In virtually every area they have looked, scientists have found evidence that praying for the sick helps them recover faster.

For example, studies at the California Pacific Medical Centre on Aids patients found that they survive in greater numbers, become sick less often and recover faster than those who are not prayed for.

Professor Walach, a psychologist at the University of Northampton, recently conducted an exhaustive analysis of all the data and came to the conclusion that spiritual healing really does work. He is gaining powerful supporters, too.

Professor Peter Fen-wick, a consultant neuro-psychiatrist at King's College London, has studied the phenomenon and says: 'There are four possibilities.

'Either we're dealing with fraud on a massive scale; or large numbers of able and gifted researchers are simply wrong; or hundreds of reports disproving healing haven't been published. All these seem unlikely, so we're left with the possibility that the effect is real.'

'Now we need to move on and understand what "healing" is and how it works. And we're starting to do just that.'

Dean Radin, a parapsychologist working at the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California, is in the vanguard of this research. He has found compelling evidence that one person's positive healing thoughts has a noticeable impact on another's mind and body.

Radin focused his work on couples, one of whom had cancer, reasoning that any 'psychic' connection would be strongest between people who loved each other. He trained the healthy partner to cultivate and project positive healing thoughts towards their ailing loved one.

To help eliminate pure chance, the healthy partner was asked to send the healing 'energy' at a time randomly chosen by computer.

The results were both amazing and startling. At the precise moment the healthy partner transmitted the healing thoughts, remarkable changes occurred in the mind and body of their ailing partner. Their breathing and blood flow increased significantly, while their brain and skin electrical activity changed dramatically. Clearly something profound was happening.

'Patients described having a warm feeling inside,' says Dr Radin. 'Whether this promotes healing remains to be seen.'

The NHS already employs healers to help seriously ill and dying patients. Ruth Kaye is a healer at the Yorkshire Centre for Clinical Oncology in Leeds. She has spent the past 16 years spiritually healing patients in the NHS. Her aim is to augment conventional medicine and to help eliminate the side-effects of such treatments as chemotherapy.

'The spirit is the missing link that medicine does not address, but it is the key and secret of life,' she says. 'One of my patients described my work as being one part of a three-legged stool.

'There is the medicine, which is one leg, the surgery, and finally the spirit. Without the spirit element, the stool would fall over.

'Patients who use things like spiritual healing often use fewer drugs and are less reliant on antidepressants or sleeping tablets. In short, they are less of a drain on an over-stretched NHS.'

Jenny Quantrell, who successfully underwent treatment for breast cancer, says she was helped enormously by Ruth.

'Ruth has a special gift. I simply closed my eyes when she was healing me and I saw loads of bright lights. It felt as if I was having my battery recharged.

'I hadn't slept for days, but afterwards I fell into the most wonderful relaxing sleep. I don't know how it works but I know that it does. I don't need to understand it.'

And that's perhaps all the faith you need to benefit from this most mysterious phenomenon.

"8" Path of Love and Peace

Here's Looking at You Kid!

This is a picture NASA took with the Hubbell telescope.
Called "The Eye of God."

Sunday Sermon with Maureen Moss "The Insight of Choice"

I am off to work with a client this Sunday morning to extend a Reiki session. At this point in my life, I feel it important now to help minister to others. There comes a point when one graduates from the formal religious organizations, and then must then step into their own role in community and world service.

This morning an email came in from World Puga with a great message from Maureen Moss. Although copyrighted, she asked we please pass it along. As a blogger, this seems to be a good way to pass this valuable and insightful message on through this internet highway.

Happy Sunday and Remember to Make Choices today from your Heart Center or with Great Love!

The Insight of Choice

(Copyright Maureen Moss, but please pass it along ok, because it's really
very simple and simple is good nowadays.)


Your life so far is the result of every choice you have made. You are
fully accountable for your life, regardless of the part anyone else
played in it. Every choice you make from this day forward will determine
your true intention to be free from lower realms of consciousness, or
not. Your rest of your life rests upon every single choice you make
beginning now.

Choices are made in one of two ways—out of fear, or out of love.
The moment a choice is made out of fear, another choice of fear will be
right behind it. Every fearful choice you make builds a negative
momentum, and traps you. Make choices only after you have sought counsel
with inner guidance flowing to you from the highest wisdom and straight
into your heart.

Consorting with your mind regarding your choices will keep you hostage
to choices based on fixed notions, other people’s opinions, or the
promise of external fulfillment, which by now you realize is illusion.
What you may not fully realize is that whenever a choice arises, both
your inner guidance and your mind speak to you. Please learn to discern
the difference, immediately, or you will always be at war with yourself.

The proper choice is the one that doesn’t drag you into your former
impulses based on fear of the future or external ambition. You are
capable of breaking the momentum of all of your past improper,
fear-based choices by setting up a new, positive momentum. You do this
with each wise choice you make out of love for yourself. It's never to
late. Remember the past is over, unless you're still dragging around!

Have a wonderful month everyone and join us whenever you can. Believe
it or not your energy makes a difference.

In gratitude and love,
Maureen Moss
Executive Producer of The World Puja Network and host of
The Power of Life

E-mail if you'd like: Maureen@worldpuja.org
http://www.worldpuja.org

Fear Factor

A few nights ago I watched Oprah and Friends on CNN with Larry King. The morning began for her in celebration of her new venture into satellite radio. Her panel of friends who will host their own radio program via her channel, are very intelligent, and their personal LIGHT quotient I would say was definitely amped up! :-)

One word that was passed around quite a bit was "FEAR." Fear is what holds up back from manifesting our pure potential as a human. Fear is what controls our behavior and actions. Fear.....Fear......Fear and all illusion. Why is it that fear grips us so?

I came across this writing this morning by Ron Van Dyke and thought I would share. May we all work towards eliminating the fears in our life.


"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."

- Albert Einstein


"The human experience has been a fear-based series of events and lifetimes. Everyone ends up dying. When we do not know who we are, that is very frightening and we have all forgotten. Some have called it collective unconsciousness or created amnesia. That's why the leaders can hold up the mirror of terror and generate the fear they desire. It's easy-except among those who are starting to remember, a number that is increasing exponentially, by the way. What is it that WE are remembering? As we peer more deeply into out own fear of mortality, images fade in and out of view. These recollected images reveal something beyond the fear, or perhaps even hidden deep within it. They are images of immortality, images indicating that we are more than mere finite beings having a human experience. We are Spirit. However, unless you are able to sense those images in some manner and accept that they are revealing deeper reality, you won't get it. You're stuck in the surface layers, which offer little hope. That hope comes in the deeper layers, which everyone who is willing can access. In fact, Life keeps on presenting us with mirrors until we become willing. That's called Love, believe it or not. Life Loves life! That's its job. It loves us so much that it never quits; it never gives up on us. We are all Children of Life whose destiny is to rediscover that we are all Masters of Love, too."

- Ron Van Dyke - Taken from LIBERATING LOVE BY SEEING OUR REFLECTION IN THE MIRRORS

Wake Up a-little Suzy

The rainy Monday that started the week, ended with the rays of the sun bursting through. Earlier in the day, I met with a friend and we exchanged energy sessions. I always enjoy my time spent with this friend and usually leave with renewed vigor and clarity.

When it was her turn for table time I barely began when the song, "Wake Up a-little Suzy" started playing in my mind and not very quiet. Smiling, I relay what I'm hearing. She informed me that her middle name is Sue and it was also that of her mothers who transitioned a number of years ago. The pictures in my mind's eye that followed during the session were that of a lock and then a locket. I asked her if someone had given her a locket and she said, "Yes, her Great Grandmother gave her one many years ago." She had it inscribed with the name, "Peach Blossom" on it as it was her nickname for her. She told me later that inside the locket contained a mustard seed. When I thought of her Great Grandmother the words, "Symphony of Love" streamed through. This energy brought tears to my eyes, as it flowed through my energy channels.

My sessions sometimes are like playing clue. Often random pictures are shown which make little sense to me at the time. One of the funniest ones today was the picture of licorice. Later we went for lunch and my friend ate cheese and drank a glass of wine, thus she said her nose was stuffing up. I guess the combination of foods do that to her. Later on in the evening I looked up licorice in one of my dream books and it says, "Licorice - Egyptian memory; for circulation; for the nostrils." Looks like we were also given a remedy for the upcoming physical symptom she was to experience.

While thumbing through the dream book I opened to the page, "Peach Blossom" and it said these words meant "A symbol of a promise of new and pure events." Tonight I was searching for meanings of the mustard seed and ran across this following article. Although the usual interpretation is that of having faith and moving mountains, this one written by Fr. Thomas Keating felt more aligned for me.

My thought....When we unlock the locket (our heart and mind) to the grace of the mustard seed sown, we will know and live each ordinary day as the Kingdom of God, due to a change in our attitude and perception on reality, without having to wait for an apocalypse or someone to deliver us from our difficulties, as Fr. Thomas writes.

On one web site as I looked at a picture of a peach blossom, it also said that it was of China origin and a member of the rose family. The Peach Blossom is always welcomed in my garden. :-)

The Kingdom of God is Like . . .
By Fr. Thomas Keating

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches." (Luke 13:18-19)

The thrust of the parables is to subvert the distorted myths in which people live their lives. To understand what we mean by "living in a myth" just think of a couple of our own contemporary myths. Take the myth of "the All American Boy," for example. This is the young man who gets straight A's in college and graduate school, climbs the executive ladder, and perhaps becomes the head of a multinational. Or the "American Dream:" two cars in every garage, vacations in Florida, houses in Spain, and so forth. On a more serious level, the American dream has been a vision of America's invincibility, of its absolute entitlement in the eyes of God.

A myth is often what holds people's lives together. It is an attempt to resolve the tensions of everyday life by promising an idealized future in which one will be rescued from all the problems of ordinary life. When a myth begins to falter, great leaders may try to find ways to recapture the glory of earlier days, like John F. Kennedy's effort to rekindle the American dream by sending a man to the moon. American astronauts did go to the moon, but meanwhile the Vietnam war devastated the prestige of American invincibility and with it the American dream.

For the Israelites of Jesus' time, the tension between everyday reality and a mythical vision of Israel as God's chosen people was felt with particular urgency. From the heyday of national power and prestige during the reigns of King David and King Solomon, Israel had been on a downhill slide for several centuries, its kingdom conquered and divided several times over. If one lives in occupied territories, as the Israelites of Jesus' time did, the question naturally arises, "Is this ghastly oppression by the Romans a punishment from God, or is our suffering just part of the human condition?" In the particular myth in which the people of first-century Israel were living, the kingdom of God had specific connotations of power, triumph, holiness, and goodness. The kingdom, when it came, would introduce a glorious new age of universal peace, with God's chosen people at the head of the nations.

The cultural symbol for this myth was the great cedar of Lebanon. Cedars of Lebanon were comparable to the huge redwood trees of California. They grew straight up for two or three hundred feet or more. Every kind of bird could enjoy their shade. This image was deeply embedded in the cultural conditioning of the Jewish people. The kingdom of God as a nation would be the greatest of all nations just as the great cedar of Lebanon was the greatest of all trees.

Instead, Jesus proposed this parable, "What is the kingdom of God really like? It is like a mustard seed"--proverbially the smallest and most insignificant of all seeds--"that someone took and sowed in his garden." for an alert hearer of Jesus' day, the detail about the garden would be a tip-off. In the Jewish view of the world, order was identified with holiness and disorder with uncleanness. Hence there were very strict rules about what could be planted in a household garden. The rabbinical law of diverse kinds ruled that one could not mix certain plants in the same garden. A mustard plant was forbidden in a household garden because it was fast spreading and would tend to invade the veggies. In stating that this man planted a mustard seed in his garden, the hearers are alerted to the fact that he was doing something illegal. An unclean image thus becomes the starting point for Jesus' vision of the kingdom of God in this parable.

If the starting point is an unclean image, the rest of the parable becomes even more perplexing. What do we know about a mustard seed, botanically speaking: it is a common, fast-spreading plant, which grows to about four feet in height. It puts out a few branches, and with some stretch of the imagination, birds might build a few down-at-the-heel nests in its shade.

Steeped in their cultural images of the great cedar of Lebanon, the hearers would be expecting the mustard seed, Jesus' symbol of the kingdom, to grow into a mighty apocalyptic tree. Jesus' point is exactly the opposite. It just becomes a bush. Thus the image of the kingdom of God as a towering cedar of Lebanon is explicitly ridiculed. According to Jesus, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which some man illegally planted in his garden. It became a shrub and a few birds nested in its modest branches. That's all. The parable subverts all the grandiose ideas about what the kingdom is going to be like when it finally arrives.

One of the most firmly held Israelite expectations was that the kingdom of God would manifest the final triumph of God in history. Its arrival, heralded by the long-awaited Messiah, would rescue Israel from its miserable subservience to the Roman Empire. It was a future kingdom, not one in the here-and-now. Jesus' parable implies that if we accept the God of everyday life, we can find God in everyday life. We do not have to wait for an apocalyptic deliverance. We do not have to wait for a grandiose liberation. The kingdom is available right now.

The parables, according to Scott, are like handles on the mystery of the kingdom, pointers suggesting both what it is and what it is not. We cannot fully understand the kingdom because it is a mystery that transcends any possibility of being contained in a concept. But by rotating the wisdom of Jesus' sayings in our mind's eye and with the help of the parables, we can at least get a glimpse of it.

A parable points to something we only gradually come to know as we absorb the teaching of Jesus. In this parable he intimates that God is not necessarily going to intervene in this world for the triumph of the just. He may not intervene in an apocalyptic manner to deliver Israel or bring about justice and peace. He has entrusted the latter to us. We are not to wait around for an apocalyptic intervention to do the job.

If we lead a holy life--as opposed to a merely respectable one--we are likely to lose most of our friends and relatives. We might get one or two of them to follow our example, but it is like the mustard seed. We may get a modest result, but it is not in the nature of cedar of Lebanon. All we are likely to get is an inconspicuous shrub of which there are plenty of others all around in great variety. The mustard seed is just one step ahead of being an ordinary weed.

How are we to understand this deliberate use by Jesus of the unclean and insignificant as images of his kingdom? It suggests that God's greatest works are not done on a grandiose level. Not in cathedrals, big buildings, or large mausoleums. Cathedrals can become museums rather than sources of inspiration for the Christian community. The kingdom is in everyday life with its ups and downs, and above all, in is insignificance. Such is where most people actually live their lives. The kingdom is thus readily accessible to everybody.

The parable affirms that grace is like a mustard seed sown in us, the smallest of all seeds. It is growing, but it is not going to turn us into a cedar of Lebanon. We will be doing well if we become a modest shrub.

So hard was it for people of Jesus' time to get over their idea of the kingdom of God as a triumphant institution that even the evangelists tried to change it into something great anyway. In other words, the myth recaptured the parable. The parable was meant to change one's idea about the kingdom, but what happened was that the old mindset began to interpret the parable in a way that was consistent with its former mythical expectations. There are four versions of this parable in the Gospels, three in the synoptics and one in the Gospel of Thomas, a document recovered about fifty years ago in the Nag Hammadi Gnostic Collection, which many exegetes think is closer in some places to the original oral tradition. For Luke and Matthew, contrary to all botanical good sense, the mustard seed does turn into a tree. In Mark, it turns into the greatest of shrubs. In Thomas, it turns into a great branch so that a lot of birds can rest in its shade. All of these expectations are contrary to the facts A mustard seed does not become a tree, the greatest of shrubs, or put forth a great branch, however much one may want it to. The oral tradition was evidently influenced by the old expectations of grandeur as people gradually slipped back into their former mindsets. They lost the radical thrust and the incredible freedom to which the parable called them. For us too, it is a threat to our preconceived ideas and mythical belief systems, and hence there is a strong tendency to resist its stark realism.

If we are looking for a great expansion of our particular religion, nation, ethnic group, social movement, or whatever, into some great visible organization that fills the earth, we are on the wrong track. This is not God's idea of success. Where are the mightiest works of the kingdom accomplished? in our attitudes and hence in secret. Where there is charity, there is God. Opportunities to work for the homeless, the starving, the aging, are all readily available. No one may notice our good deeds, including ourselves. The kingdom of God manifests itself in the modest changes in our attitudes and in the little improvements in our behavior that no one may notice, including ourselves. These are the mighty works of God, not great external accomplishments.

"To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?" Jesus asked. The kingdom is manifested in ordinary daily life and how we live it. Can we accept the God of everyday life? If we can, then we can enjoy the kingdom here and now, without having to wait for an apocalypse or someone to deliver us from our difficulties.

http://www.centeringprayer.com/kingdom/kingdom05.htm

C. G. Jung and words for today

That I feed the hungry,

forgive an insult, and love my enemy -

these are great virtues.

But what if I should discover

that the poorest of the beggars

and most impudent of offenders

are all within me,

and that I stand the need

of all the alms of my kindness;

that I myself am the enemy

who must be loved -

what then?

- C. G. Jung

Ghost Tree Has Human Face

(Now this could replace crop circles) ! :-)

Markings on a five-metre tall betal nut tree in Kampung Paya clearly resemble human eyes, teeth and a nose, according to the New Strait Times.

Zainol Nayan, 54, spotted the curves emerging a month ago but said the resemblence to a human face only became obvious last week.

He told the paper: "Since then, villagers have gathered around the tree to see for themselves and the news spread like wildfire, attracting outsiders."

Housewife Noraziah Zakaria added: "I was curious and shocked to find that the curves indeed look like a human face."

Villagers, who call it the 'ghost tree, claim the face changes each day and they are selling photographs to visitors.

Zero Point Technology

Today was a surfing day while flying over the internet looking for interesting articles that peeked my interest. The work of Nikola Tesla has always captured my attention, and today's article made reference of this free energy that is available right now, but not for us. (Can you imagine if oil was no longer a contributing factor to our energy related wars?)



The Truth
About ZP
Technology

A Wake-Up Call to
the American People

an interview with Adam Trombly
by Celeste Adams

Adam Trombly is one of the top scientists in the world in the development and creation of Zero Point Energy technology. Devices that he built are working today in other parts of the world. And yet, instead of using Zero Point Energy, Adam Trombly's own house in Maui is being fitted with a bank of expensive solar panels.

Why can't Trombly use his own expertise to fuel his own home? Trombly has spent most of his professional life under one gag order or another. But he decided, he told us, "that if I was going to give an interview for this particular publication, I wasn't going to pull any punches."

If much of this seems overly negative, keep reading. Trombly wants to wake us up, and to shine a light upon things that have been kept dark. But his grounding is deeply spiritual. It's just that the Divine forces that seek to assist us cannot do so unless we call upon them. "Now, in this moment," he tells us, "we must come out and ask for help. When we can ask for help, we get it."

Adam Trombly's revelations will shock you to the depths. But it is his hope, and ours, that it will help you to awaken, or to assist you in your task of awakening others.

Trombly's ultimate vision is the "redreaming of the American Dream."

For further information on this interview, here is the web site.

http://www.spiritofmaat.com/archive/feb2/trombly.htm