Sometimes...

Sometimes I wonder... What will it be like when ScabbyHouse is sold, all the tidying and anxiety over what-will-come-next is over, when the kiddies and I have our own place, have settled into our routines...? What then?? Will Life finally catch up with me and knock me off my feet or is there actually such a thing as 'smooth sailing'...?

I'm...I wanna write scared or worried (but I'm not!) ... I'm concerned (?) that there isn't such a place of Peace. That "struggle" is my constant companion... And I don't mean not in a Martyr kind of way but in a I-can't-stop-myself-from-growing kinda way and...

Is there (can there be) Growth 

without some kind of Struggle...?? 

The prospect above is both scary and intriguing. What else is out there...?? Yet, my whole Being is crying out for Peace, smooth sailing...! But.. .if I get to that place of Peace... Will "reality" hit me? Knock me over?? Will I crumble? Be the Needy one...? :\

Pondering,

Community, Environment

Community.

* Compassion
* Solidarity
* Peace
* Equality

It's about being aware. To See people, whether close to you and your home or on the other side of the world and a stranger.
It's about responsibility - for home, family and the Earth... Doing your part of making a difference. It doesn't have to be something grand! Even a small act of goodness can make a world of difference - bigger isn't better.

The opposite of Community is Indifference.

Environment.

It's where we are, where we live and breathe and bring up the Future. There are no other options but take responsibility, show consideration.

The opposite of Environment is... The End!

"We do not own the world, and its riches are not ours to dispose of at will. Show a loving consideration for all creatures, and seek to maintain the beauty and variety of the world. Work to ensure that our increasing power over nature is used responsibly, with reverence for life. Rejoice in the splendour of God's continuing creation."

(Advices&Queries no.42)

Peace

Peace.

 
* Tolerance
* Equality
* Solidarity
* Love
* Forgivness

The opposite of Peace is Hate, Darkness, Fear...

"A good end cannot sanctify evil means; nor must we ever do evil, that good may come of it... It is as great presumption to send our passions upon God's errands, as it is to palliate them with God's name... We are too ready to retaliate, rather than forgive, or gain by love and information. And yet we could hurt no man that we believe loves us. Let us then try what Love will do: for if men did once see we love them, we should soon find they would not harm us. Force may subdue, but Love gains: and he that forgives first, wins the laurel."

- William Penn, 1693 (24.03)

"...That way of peace is not to be found in any policy of 'unconditional surrender' by whomsoever demanded. It requires that men and nations should recognise their common brotherhood, using the weapons of integrity, reason, patience and love, never acquiescing in the ways of the oppressor, always ready to suffer with the oppressed. In every country there is a longing for freedom from domination and war which men are striving to express. Now is the time to issue an open invitation to co-operate in creative peacemaking, to declare our willingness to make sacrifices of national prestige, wealth and standards of living for the common good of men."

(24.09)

Giving Thanks

Wishing all my American friends a

blessed Thanksgiving.

♥ 

Love&Gratitude,




"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
- John F. Kennedy

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse."
- Henry Van Dyke

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
- Melody Beattie

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "Thank You", that would suffice."
- Meister Eckhart
 ♥ 

Article from The Guardian.

I just read this on The Guardian on Facebook and I thought it interesting...and share-worthy. Your thoughts?


The Quakers: a religion Richard Dawkins could sign up to
Anne Karpf · 28/09/2011 · guardian.co.uk

In party conference season, I'm too long in the tooth to expect fresh thinking from political leaders or political gurus, but maybe we're looking in the wrong place.

Newspaper ads and posters over the next 10 days will feature attractive people involved in conflict-resolution, nuclear disarmament and campaigns against the arms trade. Though they look like activists from some radical pressure group, they are actually all members of a religion – the Quakers: a religion singularly unafraid to take up radical political positions.

Indeed, Quakerism is more like a political movement or even party – a kind of wish-the-Labour-party-were-like-this party. Quakers played a prominent role in the abolition of slavery; were instrumental in setting up Amnesty, Greenpeace and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; and for the past two years have campaigned for same-sex marriage.

They train people in non-violent direct action and have been particularly active in the Middle East; earlier this year Quakers voted to boycott goods from Israeli settlements on the West Bank. They also co-ordinate in the UK the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, training volunteers to monitor checkpoints and to accompany Palestinians to school and work. At a time when most politicians and political parties seem to have one eye permanently trained on the Daily Mail, it is astounding to find such an unapologetic embrace of so many different progressive ideas in one body.

It's hard to imagine another religion having (or wanting) to promote itself through an activist advertising campaign – to run during Quaker Week, which begins on Saturday and ends on 9 October. One reason for doing so is to challenge the taint of the past that clings so tenaciously to Quakers: painting them as old-fashioned puritans wearing broad-brimmed hats who have something to do with porridge. Or – since they don't (supposedly) smoke, drink or swear – as a kind of Amish also good at selling chocolate.

While Quakerism would make for an unusual political party, it's also (pretty much for the same reasons) an odd religion – one without priests, hierarchy, creed, sacraments, catechism, scripture, liturgy or dogma. Though it's based on a personal relationship with God, many Quakers are reluctant to even utter the G-word without qualifying it. Christian by roots, nowadays they can accommodate pantheists, and even non-theists too.

Indeed a Quaker would sooner not believe in God than in pacificism. Why, this is a religion that surely even Richard Dawkins could sign up to. Especially since even "birthright" Quakers have to decide, at 16 or thereabouts, whether to become "Quakers by convincement" (Quakers are fond of their archaisms) – hence none of the indoctrination that so irks Dawkins. If Quakers had a church (they emphatically don't) then it would certainly be a broad one.

Yet probably the main reason that Quakerism, though essentially a small movement (around 23,000 members in the UK), remains such an interesting phenomenon is its holistic scope. It's rare to find a movement prepared to point out, for instance, that economic structures contribute to personal problems like self-harm and domestic abuse; or to critique consumerism without blaming the consumer; or to see ethics and economics inhabiting the same moral universe ("Quakernomics").

I'm not a Quaker, but I was taken to a Quaker meeting house by a family friend as a child, and what a religious innovation that turned out to be – especially the communal silence. In a noisy world the "gathered stillness" is powerful indeed – and is itself a form of collective worship, according to Tony Stoller, editor of The Friends Quarterly.

Today, sitting alongside cynicism about religion and politics, there is an almost palpable yearning for a space where ethics and politics, environmentalism and spirituality, come together. Quakerism, with its active social engagement, and its injunctions (or 'testimonies') to "try to live simply" and "step lightly on the earth", seems to provide one such example.

Church?

I had somewhat of a breakdown on Sunday and I 'ran away' from home for the day. Not really having a plan of action after my "escape" I went into town, whilst waiting to hear from a friend I was sure I could hang out with... ♥

I wandered about in our little town for a while, it's a place where all shops in the town center are closed on Sundays (I love that! :)) and inevitably I passed the old church and it dawned on me that it was in fact Sunday. :)

I have a hard time remembering the last time I went to a church service... Sure, there's been christenings, weddings and funerals but... when was I last at Mass? Can't remember...!

I love churches...! :) It's a bit of a strange thing for a secular 'Christian' like myself but there is something there, no matter if its a plain little one or a Grand Cathedral. :) I like to walk around and soak up the atmosphere, light a candle or two and just be...in the stillness.

So...I thought maybe I should give the church-going a go... :) Maybe it'd lift my broken spirit?

My mind was changed almost as soon as I'd sat myself down in the pew. It was all so loud...! The choir sang beautifully and songs of praise give me goosebumps but... I don't know... it's distracting if the point of the service is to be 'prayerful'. And... the whole 'begging for mercy' on my sinful soul just give me the creeps! :\

I do the best I can, with what I have, in that particular situation I'm in... I just...hmm... I don't mean to say I don't do anything wrong ('cause I do! a lot!) but, I can't believe that begging/praying for mercy and forgivness is what I'm supposed to do with my time...!

I believe that I'm already forgiven. Before I've even made the mistakes I'm about to do... Is that too bold of a thing to say...?? :/ Well, now I've said it! I'm forgiven. I know this in my heart - without having to beg for it, without the minister telling me that I am...

What I try to do is to be aware and learn from mistakes (sins? whatever is a sin anyways?!) made. But, even if I lived my whole life doing the same mistake over and over and over and over again I would still be forgiven, without any requests of mercy because it's enough that I tried to be a better person...or, perhaps I didn't know any better...and that's good enought too... You know what I mean?

Anyways... :) back to the service... All I could think about was how loud and distracting is all was, how not seeing the face of the other church-goers, just the back of their heads, was sad... I wanted to see their faces and I wanted them to see mine. There were a lot of people there but, where they visible? Was there a sense of community...? Maybe there was, but I as an 'outsider' did not see or feel this at all...

I left after 10 minutes...in the middle of another loud hymn... I will be back, just not a time of Service... I'll be back for that something, the peace and stillness where the possibility for being prayerful lies.

(church in the pictures is the actual church mentioned in this post.)

Love&Light,

Eid Mubarak!

May Allah bless you and your loved ones with happiness and grace your home with warmth and peace.
Love&Light,

The Fullness of Peace

"Send me the love which is cool and pure like Your rain that blesses the thirsty earth and fills the homely earthen jars.

Send me the love that would soak down into the center of being, and from there would spread like the unseen sap through the branching tree of life, giving birth to fruits and flowers.

Send me the love that keeps the heart still with the fullness of peace."

-  রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর
Rabindranath Tagore

God is with you everywhere...

Hay Quaker posted this on his food-for-thought blog and Oh My Word if it wasn't just that! Goose bumps and I-have-to-share moment! :)

"Your surroundings don't matter. God is with you everywhere..." :) :) :)

Love&Light,

"Some people prefer solitude. They say their peace of mind depends on this. Others say they would be better off in church.

If you do well, you do well wherever you are. If you fail, you fail wherever you are. Your surroundings don't matter. God is with you everywhere -- in the market place as well as in seclusion or in the church.

If you look for nothing but God, nothing or no one can disturb you.

God is not distracted by a multitude of things. Nor can we be."

- Meister Eckhart

Zen...?

Things are...falling ...into place for me... Not in a practical, marital or financial sort of way but in a Me-kinda-way. :)

Just over a year ago I had this 'same' vibe too, I wrote about it in the family blog and the feeling stayed with me for a while...

I wrote then, April 2010:
****
On my way home from school today I got this awesome "I'm alright"-feeling. I was (I am!) good. Life kinda sucks sometimes but I really wouldn't changes things either...!

How boring would Life be if it just stood still?! No lesson's learnt, no life experience gained…! I like things/life to move and change and surprise me, not test me but challenge me…

Last year [2009] was eons from great, nowhere near good and far from alright… It was… manageable, mainly because I didn't know what else to do with life, but to manage it. It was hard, trying and heart breaking at times. But! I grew, like I've never grown before...! Thanks to all that crap I'm stronger, more secure in myself and more confident then I have been for a long time, if ever before!

Life still isn't great but it has the potential to be! :) Now we're mostly alright, sometimes even good and that gives me hope. No matter how Life evolves, what road I end up taking I hope, truly hope, that I'll not lose this zen-feeling - that things will be alright. That I am alright…

Where did that original feeling come from...? Because I've "always" had this it'll work out/it'll be alright-attitude to things...! I wish I was more "zen" about it - I'd stress less if I could truly embrace it...but! I've always had this gut-feeling that no matter what I choose, what path I walk - things will be alright in the end. Life will find a way to sort things out...

If I was religious I guess I'd call it faith in God or something but I'm not religious... But, I still have Faith, in Life...in me...?

Gosh! …someone must have been sending me an awesomeness vibe out of this world 'cause this isn't the "usual" passing feeling it's more and it's kinda cool! :)

*lol* Now don't think I've completely changed on you! ;)

Believe me, after a few tantrums (from both little ones!) before dinner was even on the table I'd lost a good bit of my "zen" *lol* but now that kiddies are asleep and when things have calmed down a bit I'm there again…

Cool.
****

The good feeling continued, more in April 2010:
****
How weird...or is it actually more weird to not have contentment as a "normal setting" in ones life? Hmm...?

What brought this "thing" on...? Spring? Weight loss?? The volcano...? ;) :D Why do I feel the need to poke at why, rather than just accept that things are...good...?? I'm good.

Weird... Or?
*lol*

I am OK. That really shouldn't feel weird, should it...!? 'Cause the option of feeling not OK really doesn't appeal to me either...! :)

I'm trying my hardest to accept and embrace this "vibe" I'm feeling but... (no but's!!)
****

This 'Zen-thing' has come over me again...now not in a surprising way, more of a reminder and it'd feel creepy if I wasn't so...'zen' about it... I feel... kind. calm. settled. safe. beautiful. lighter.

The words are sort of getting stuck in my head, I feel too bold (and somewhat embarrassed) for typing them. I keep deleting and rewriting the same things over and over and over all the while with this crazy ass smile on my face... *shaking my head*

I even wrote a vow to myself. *lol*
Dare I post it 'too'...? I'm feeling a bit loopy as is so I'll try and settle, some more...wait. Feels like I need to wait. So. I'm. waiting.

Love&Light,

The Eve of Golden Rule Day.

"Trying to live according to the Golden Rule means trying to empathise with other people, including those who may be very different from us. Empathy is at the root of kindness, compassion, understanding and respect – qualities that we all appreciate being shown, whoever we are, whatever we think and wherever we come from. And although it isn’t possible to know what it really feels like to be a different person or live in different circumstances and have different life experiences, it isn’t difficult for most of us to imagine what would cause us suffering and to try to avoid causing suffering to others." (from thinkhumanism.com)

"..do as you would be done by. And do unto all men as you would have them do unto you..."

- The Quaker Peace Testimony

"What thou avoidest suffering thyself seek not to impose on others." 

- Epictetus

Tomorrow is Golden Rule Day. A day to be mindful of what it means to be compassionate. Perhaps the Day to begin living a more compassionate life, both towards yourself and others?

I truly believe that kindness, compassion, consideration for 'the other' and realisation that I am the other is crucial for a better tomorrow, for all of us.

Storms Endured - Herman Hesse

Hay Quaker posted the first paragraph on his blog and it led me to read the rest on EarthMamaWeb. I think it's beautiful and so true.
...and very much what I need to read at the moment too...'funny' thing that, don't ya think? ;)



Here, an excerpt from “Wanderings” by Herman Hesse:

For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the forces of their lives for one thing only: to fulfill themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals it’s death wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk, in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured. And every young farmboy knows that the hardest and noblest wood has the narrowest rings, that high on the mountains and in continuing danger the most indestructible, the strongest, the ideal trees grow.

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought. I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.

A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labour is holy. Out of this trust I live.

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.

A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one’s suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother.

So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts. Trees have long thoughts, long breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.

© Herman Hesse.
From Wandering by Herman Hesse. Published by Picador. 1972.

Tenzin Gyatso - 14th Dalai Lama

"The time has come to educate people, to cease all quarrels in the name of religion, culture, countries, different political or economic systems. Fighting is useless. Suicide." - Dalai Lama

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness." - Dalai Lama

"All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness..." - Dalai Lama

"I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of inner peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion and elimination of ignorance, selfishness and greed.

The problems we face today, violent conflicts, destruction of nature, poverty, hunger, and so on, are human-created problems which can be resolved through human effort, understanding and the development of a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share. Although I have found my own Buddhist religion helpful in generating love and compassion, even for those we consider our enemies, I am convinced that everyone can develop a good heart and a sense of universal responsibility with or without religion."
- The 14th Dalai Lama's Acceptance Speech, on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, December 10, 1989
Kindness is my religion too, even if I'm not a buddhist. This man has so many ideas so similar to my own. Truly someone to draw inspiration from, whatever faith you belong to or renounce yourself from...

I speak not of unknown things.

Desiderata

A while back I, by 'chance' ;) , came across this poem by Max Ehrmann. As a signature on a forum I visit someone had quoted "You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here." and being a Lover of Words that I am I just had to find out Who had written these Beautiful Words. My search led me to Max Ehrmann and 'Desiderata' and these words are...the Truth! :) ...or at least from the perspective I have on Life and my Journey. ;) Be kind, listen, be (gentle with) yourself, nurture your spirit, Love, don't fear old age or what Life brings you...it's a beautiful world and you deserve happiness...

Me finding Max's words (that's right, we're on first name basis! ;)) led me to recieve more beautiful words by him, this time from my bosom buddy N! ♥
Funny thing about 'Chance' isn't it...it always happens right when you need it...! Hmmm... ;)

Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
by Max Ehrmann
The Universe is unfolding as it should,