As Time Goes By

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International New Thought Alliance

Dear Rev. Edward,

I know that your presentation Thursday night at INTA touched many lives. God works through you as the most wonderful expression of Teacher. I spoke with many Ministers following your talk, who enjoyed confessing that they could relate to all of the archetypal models you spoke of. I hosted two out-of-town Unity Ministers who belly-laughed at themselves later that night as we gathered in the kitchen!

That being said, I have attached some photos of you for your viewing pleasure.

Sharon Dunn, RScP

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The International New Thought Alliance (INTA) is an umbrella organization dedicated to the spiritual enlightenment and transformation of the individual and the world, serving the New
Thought movement continuously since 1914.

The purpose of the Ministry Development Program is to provide a forum for ministers and lay leaders to gather and learn new tools for successful ministry development and to participate in inspiring dialogue with others in ministry. This yearly Ministry Development Conference is hosted by a New Thought center which shares its unique way of creating and sustaining ministry.

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Sometimes You Just Gotta Laugh

I found this photo in my archives of past events - I got snapped and wasn't aware that I was posing so perfectly. Worse... if you really zoom in, my hair is dyed and my beard too and I'm wearing earrings. I was going through a phase. As soon as my hair started turning grey I quit dying it because of that odd reddish black color that poorly dyed hair turns - I was just doing black on dark brown because, well, I don't know, I was going through a phase. I did other phase-like things that are not mentionable on here and I look at this pictur an this time not too terribly long ago and I just gotta laugh: What was I thinking?

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GrandCentral

GrandCentral is a new feature on Blogger, and thanks to Allan for being the first to try it out. It worked perfectly. You click the "Call Me" button on the right and enter your phone number. Then GranCentral connects your phone to mine and if i'm near it, I'll answer. Unless I"m busy and then you leave a message with a comment or suggestion and I'll try to address it on the blog.

And this is a video of a secret trip I took a while ago with a friend who is a flight attendant. We took a impulse 3 day run-away to --- well, you'll recognize the opera house --- and had lunch and dinner and a climb over the harbour bridge, literally "over" harnessed to the scaffolding. Wild. I love that kinda thing.

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R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Yup, My Own Street!

My co-writer for the interactive journal, "Spirit is Calling," wrote the entry for today. One particular line is working me. "When you treat your things with respect....."

It used to be a mystery to me how some people do "tidy" naturally. I had to learn it when I was in the defense force. It didn't come naturally to me. But when I finally learned how to iron Tshirt, shorts and sheets -- and even my bed blankets while on the bed -- into a tense and fiercely straight-edged line, I discovered an unexpected pleasure. Especially when everything was put exactly in its right place, just so. It was as if extra time and space had been created out of nothing. And for years I carried on the practice of obsessively ironing Tshirts. I noticed another unexpected benefit, the T shirts lasted longer and looked better and were like putting on brand new Tshirts every time.

However, over time -- and I have two thousand excuses for why it isn't my fault -- I have slipped away from that practice. Oh, I'll iron a shirt or even a sheet now and then, to me it brings peace like comfort food brings solace to others. But I'm not nearly as careful as I used to be.

Now and then I get back to being mystified at how some people do "tidy" naturally, in their cars, in their kitchens, in their garages. But I am noticing that I really do know how to do "tidy" and I'm wondering why I don't always choose it. I tell myself I love the creative power of chaos, and other things like that. but it doesn't really explain why I'll empty my pockets onto a table in a way that is going to require additional tidying up late when I could just as easily empty my pockets tidily.

Today's entry goes on:

Never demand respect from others! Show respect for yourself---and you won’t have to fight or argue to get others to respect you. Give the very thing you want to receive in return. Respect others and they will show respect for you.How have you disrespected yourself? How have you disrespected others? How have you disrespected the planet? What can you do to correct the situation?

(Chris Michaels)

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Ethical Underwear

I read an article about a company in Sri Lanka that has made a radical change in an industry that has reportedly had a history of labor disputes, tough practices, long hours, unpleasant working conditions and so on. The new owners have introduced higher salaries, free breakfasts, eigh-hour workdays, on-site health clinics, on-the-job training on balancing their lives and work, and incentive programs. The results are incredible, for the workers and the industry. (Ode Magazine, March 2008)

Half way through the article I remembered a conversation with a friend about a company in Northern California that offers employees four hours a month company time to spend on any charitable volunteering, insentives to join a gym, encourages pets (cats, dogs, you name it) in the office and spectacular well being coverage, life insurance and more.

I am thinking today about the incredible power humans have to build, create, love and change.

Here is a blog about ethical fashion, including underwear

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Are You A Caring Person? A Gentle Touch

What did you see today that was beautiful?

That's the question I have used to focus my journey through today. It's a wonderful practice, and fascinating to watch my mind panic -- as if this exercise will somehow turn me into a uncaring person oblivious to the world's suffering. Just for one day to pay attention to "beautiful"? It felt a bit like taking a day off to do nothing - sometimes guilt arises, "You should be doing something." As if one day of nothing will somehow turn me into a lazy person.

What did I see today that was beautiful?

A lot. A whole lot. And it's not that the world disappeared, or that there weren't un-beautiful things around me. It's just that I gave a special place to "beautiful" in my looking today and feel so much more generous and hopefilled than yesterday.

For more articles on this blog about caring, click here

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Making a Mad Dash

"Why is everyone always in such a hurry?"

That's what my Grandmother used to ask. She would tell me that I was "burning the candle on both ends". She didn't though. She would sit and read and drink tea. She could sit and read and drink tea better than anyone I know.

Sit and read and drink tea.

And look up from time to time when I was burning the candle, making a mad dash, living. She used to tell me that there was nothing I could ever do that would cause her to stop loving me. When I was young, very young, I would make up all kinds of worst case scenarios and ask "Would you still love me THEN?"

She would sit and read and drink tea and say, "yes, always."

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One Heart Choir and Our Teens

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

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Are You A Caring Person? Happiness

Albert Camus:
You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.

I was reading Ode Magazine and came upon an article about happiness written by a self catagorized pessimist, a French therapist who has written extensively about the subject and I was happily delighted with his six lessons for a happier life quoted in the magazine, especially since recently some of these points appeared in various forms in the Sunday Messages.

Here are the Doctor's orders for happiness:

1. Accept that there will be unpleasant things in life

2. Open your eyes and look around.

3. Take time out.

4. Pay attention to family and friends.

5. Try to get in touch with nature every day.

6. Express your gratitude and respect for the good things you experience.

Here's how he explains it. Every day, all of the time, there are set backs. Stuff that makes you late or irritated, mistakes, mishaps, stupid choices. I know this flies in the face of optimistic metaphysicians, yet my time in this field has proven that indeed, optimistic metaphysicians face the same daily carnival of life idiocies that the rest of the world does. There is just no point, the good doctor says, in being disappointed when things don't go your way.

Further, he explains something that you'll find in just about any metaphysical manual for spiritual discover, and that is there are many more opportunities for happiness than a person regularly things there are -- especially if you are a Westener in this century. Metaphysics talks about it in terms of focus of attention and how what we aim attention on becomes dominant in our personal landscape.

Dr. C. Andre says that the ability to pause, mentally as well as physically, is important. I would add that the quality of the pause can substantially add to the general well being of taking a break when a person practices pausing with relaxed intention - I think it's called meditation.Grin.  And in my opinion develops caring.

Social ties are the other things he mentions as important for happiness and he advises us not to go a day without thinking of, or seeing someone you love. Along with point number six, expressing gratitude, this is a wonderful practice I have discovered and just about is a non negotiable constant in my life: Spend time with, talk to, email, text message, call at least 4 people in my social circle every single day. I don't tell them enough how much I love them. But then, some of them don't enjoy hearing that. It's a balancing act.

Finally, Dr. Christophe says that a walk in the park and a few minutes looking at nature are key activities when trying to cultivate a happier life. I would add, that nature can be in your home too in the form of caring for a pet, nuturing a house plant back to health, sprouting some sprouts, and any number of activities that reconnect you to creation.

More on caring here

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We Are One

Confusing phrase: We are one. Shouldn't it be we IS one? Just messing. Anyway, the world of metaphysics is facing another shake up and settle down as two of the significantly large organizations, which were once One and then became two due to an upset (people are the same wherever you go) are now contemplating reintegration.

It's an exciting time in history and the reintegration move is thrilling to me, while at the same time the mechanics of uniting two different administrations is mystifying. The devil's advocate asked me where I thought people who become offended with this newly united administration will go when there is no "other" organization to flee to.

You see, the existance of two organizations allowed for affiliation, disaffiliation, reaffiliation, position, [would love to add disposition], reposition and so on.

So I told the advocate to buzz off because I know the answer and I don't want to publish it anywhere.

The questions pile up. How to do it. When to do it. Why to do it. When all along an alarming majority in both organizations want to do it. Maybe we don't need to know how to do it to do it.

Maybe it's like making love. Just start with the interest, then a few tentative and tender advances and after the exploration starts it gets all steamy and works itself out. Anyway, that's what I've heard.

We've been dating for so long that if someone doesn't make a move the passion is going to evaporate.

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Wisdom

Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President, 1743-1826

"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."

Robert Benchley, American Humerist, 1889-1945

"Drawing on my finest command of language, I said nothing."

Dale Carnegie, Author

"Make people feel good about themselves and they will feel good about you."

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Happy Valentines Day

I wonder if you know the story of Saint Valentine? Blindness was cured. Miracles happened. Lives changed.

The story has less to do with romantic love than it does with the capacity that humans have to see each other and to care about each other and to be genuinely good souled....and the effects of that goodness, that's what the Saint's story is about. It's the story of what will happen to our world if we loved without expectation of anything in return.

Put aside sweethearts and chocolats for a teeny moment today and write a love letter like the saint did - and if you don't know what his letter said, it's worth finding out and plaguerizing - to someone, anyone. Make it anonymous for extra credits.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

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World Essentials

I'm fascinated by Essential Oils. I'm particularly happy with a variety of Lavender that I discovered that grows in South Africa - Lavandula Marie. It reminds me of rugged South African countryside. In other words, it’s not like the delicate aroma of French Lavender. This is bold, rugged and hearty. I love it!

I use it as a mood enhancer for meditation, prayer and for sleep. A drop or two on a Kleenex under my pillow creates an aura of comfort and peace while sleeping. Or, I keep a drop or two on a Kleenex in my pocket whenever I get a stuffy nose. Sniffing the lavender seems to help tremendously.

It has a fresh sweet, floral-herbaceous odor with a touch of the African veld.

A Little History: The use of Lavender has been recorded for more than 2500 years. Records have shown that it was used by the Egyptians as a perfume and also in the mummification process. In Roman Times, Lavender was so popular that only the wealthy could afford it. It may have been used during the Great Plague of London in the 17th century, when individuals believed that bunches of lavender fastened on each wrist would protect them from infection.

It's about as tame as oils go, non-toxic, non-just about everything, but packed full of "ahhhhh".

And guess what?

I sell it!

Oh, this photo is my applying my newly acquired Aromotherapist knoweldge (yup, I have a certificate to show that I completed a course) to a traveler who had the crud, and everyone knows inhaline lavender and lemon eucalyptus cures the crud - but compassion made me edit him out of the photo because at this particular moment he had kleenex funnels shoved up his nostrils with oils on and looked somewhat like a warthog. Just the nose area, no other resemblance.

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Greetings Too

I see that the Reality with me is the same as the Reality in all people whom I shall ever meet, and that the Reality within them responds to the Reality within me; therefore in our human greeting there is a Divine Unity. All my human relationships are established in this Divine Unity. All of my relationships flow from It. I am conscious of my ability to meet every person with perfect frankness, perfect openness, and in complete understanding.

Ernest Holmes

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Comment?

Just a long neck and a bird call today! That's it.

I wonder if there are any readers to this blog? If so, I wonder if you have any questions.

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Greetings

"Greetings are social customs or rituals to show attention or to confirm friendship or social status between individuals or groups of people." Wikipedia

"Hello, how are you?"

"Fine thank you, and you?"

I met a lady who refused to ask or answer the question. She thought it insufferably insincere to first ask someone how they are when clearly most people don't want to know, nor do they have the time to listen. She said that most people answering "Fine thank you" were liars and that the grusome truthful answer to "How are you?" could just not be tolerated by most people.

I think she missed the point and the perfect elegance of this custom. I'm grateful that we have this ritual. "Fine thanks!" to me is an affirmation. Acually much more than that, I take it to be a statement about the nature of your soul - "No matter how the storm is raging outside, inward all is well with my soul."

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Hair today

...where all that we ask of you is that you stay open to the possibility of changing your entire life, by simply changing your hair!

"Wake up! Your word is all powerful. Your consciousness is one with Omnipotence. Your thought is infinite. Your destiny is eternal and your home is everlasting heaven."

Ernest Holmes, Creative Thought

Have you woken up to any of theses?

1. All powerfulness of word

2. Conscious oneness with Omnipotence

3. Infinite thought

4. Eternal destiny

5. Everlasting home in heaven

I think I have infinite thought down. My word, though, I think i'm about at "curiously influential and strongly creative word". But somehow the all powerfulness of it seems to be wrapped up with all the other points of consciousness floating around with me at this spot in time and space - each doing their own conscious oneness with Omnipotence dance - and, and, well, which of the words gets to be more all-powerfulness than the other?

Everlasting home in heaven? Now that's one I'm really interested in = wherever I am, wherever I go, with whomever I travel, that's my home and its heaven. Now I don't have that one down yet, but I like it a whole lot, so i'm looking at what tought or hair fashion has something to do with living in hell instead.

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Appreciation

Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free and worth a fortune.

(Sam Walton)

Appreciation, apart from meaning "an expression of thanks" or the act of showing admiration, is also a term used in accounting relating to the increase in value of something, for example an asset. It is the opposite of depreciation, which tracks the fall in value of assets over time.

I like to think of this accounting term when thinking of the people in my world who have contributed to my wellbeing and growth. I like to imagine that there is a way that I can communicate with them that will have the result of raising in value the place they hold in my life - probably exactly because I took the time to announce something like gratitude or admiration. I like to imagine also, although I can't know for certain, that my expression of thanks and words of admiration might have the effect of increasing the value that person feels in themselves.

In myself, one of the ways of showing appreciation for my own life comes from the world of real estate. An increase in property value comes from a positive improvment in it through any number of methods. Property might also be improved by the elimination of negative factors. I like to imagine that a powerful way of showing appreciation, and actually raising my self-value, is to do the same: a positive improvement (a haircut, a good dinner, 8 hours sleep, etc.) or through the elimination of something that would be best to let go of.

Oh, this picture is me and my brother Garry.... two "r"s

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Climb to the top

This is the way down, 3 minutes I think, the way up, however, was 1.5 hours - hot, steep and intense... but great!

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Love does not consist of gazing at each other,

but in looking together in the same direction.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Our theme at the Center for Spiritual Living, Santa Rosa, for 2008 is Activating Spirituality in our Lives. How? By making space for it on a daily basis.

What is "it?" Well that is part of the activation -- discovering what "It" is so you can throw the switch and activate it.

We’re focusing on 12 key ideas that you might call Spiritual Values to see what happens if we bring them into our awareness on a daily basis. If you are using the daily journal “Spirit is Calling Your” then you will have noticed a shift towards February’s focus: “Love” and in addition to romantic, and human love what we’re looking at is Love as our relationship to to everything – with this idea, that when we’re "in love", we’re in the right place.

I like the idea of “Activating” Spirituality, and “Activating” Love, because to me it coveys this idea that there are options. Turning "it" on is a choice then in this way of thinking. Here’s how I see it: There are these “ideas”: Love, Honesty, Service, Intuition, Joy, etc. and they are optional. Whether or not we activate them, they remain available. Just because the color “blue” exists, don’t have to paint my house blue! Now we're focusing on Love in February, and the idea is Activate it or not. Optional. It’s an experiment.

So that’s whereI am starting. An Experiement. I am going to assume that there is a perfect way of treating myself. And i'm looking at how to make that way active, because I want to live in that place called "in love".

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Peace be unto thee

Peace be unto thee, stranger, enter and be not afraid.
I have left the gate open and thou art welcome to my home.
There is room in my house for all.
I have swept the hearth and lighted the fire.
The room is warm and cheerful and you will find comfort and rest within.
The table is laid and the fruits of Life are spread before thee.
The wine is here also, it sparkles in the light.
I have set a chair for you where the sunbeams dance through the shade.
Sit and rest and refresh your soul.
Eat of the fruit and drink the wine.
All, all is yours, and you are welcome.

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