Cultivating a Heart of Compassion

Could a greater miracle take place, 

than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant? 

 Henry David Thoreau.

Metta Blessing

Changing the world from within.

Woodland Magic

The clip explains it all.

Death Regrets

A palliative care nurse, Bonnie,  in Australia was in the habit of asking her patients if there was anything they would do differently in their lives, or if they had any regrets. "The thing about deathbed regrets is that it is too late to do anything about them. We have to change things now," she said.  The five most common themes that surfaced time and again were as follows:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.  

Our Cosmic Connection.

This article written by Jack Haubner beautifully captures the essence of our cosmic connection and is reflective of Thich Nhat hahn's "Interbeing" teaching. If you are feeling somehow disconnected and isolated, it is a wonderful reminder. Read the article here.

Eagleeye's view

If you hitched a ride on the back of an eagle, this is what you would experience.

Same Love

Wonderful video to the rap lyrics by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.

Precious Life. All One!

Let there be an end to the madness of war and killing! This father thought his son had died in the chemical attack. Many of the people in the video did in fact lose family in the attack. The video shows the human side devoid of all the spin and rhetoric. We are all the same on this level. We all want peace and security. May our leaders make the right decisions based on true humanitarian concern and may the actions we take have a lasting and positive influence on this volatile region. If we want to credibly stand on the moral high ground then we must act accordingly. We can not condemn chemical warfare and still supply the means to wage it. We can not talk peace and sell bullets.

Something to Share With Your Teenagers

Please show to any young driver.

All Paths

All paths lead nowhere.

Choose one with heart. 

A quotation heard on NPR today which I enjoyed. Much truth simply stated. 

Fear

Fearlessness is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to walk into it. When I walk into my fear, practice there, sit upright in the middle of it, completely open to the experience, with no expectation of the outcome, anything is possible. When our circumstances look impossible or terrifying, there is a way.

Hundred Acre Field Hike

We had a splendid hike today to a high meadow in Madison County called Hundred Acre Field. After walking around the contour of the mountain the rather overgrown track spilled out onto the bottom of the field. We hiked the fence line up a ways then crossed over into the filed to make our way to the top where we had a picnic lunch on some granite outcroppings, several of which appeared to be menhirs of Celtic origin, which of course was just a fantasy thought. The weather was cool with a few sun rays peeking through the clouds. We even felt a few raindrops, but thankfully that did not really amount to anything (we had not thought to bring rain gear) Accompanying us (Jane and William) were Richard, Astrid, Horst, and Ray who served as guide to the spot. Much enjoyed by all!!

One Photo Sums It Up

It seems so obvious. How could these two men not enjoy the same civil protections and rights? Denying one of them rights based on sexual orientation is simply unconstitutional.

Letting Go Of The Paradigm Of Control

This clip helps understand Thich Nhat Hanh's idea of Interbeing. Anytime we step out of the mindset that we are separate from our surroundings or others we experience an opening to the intelligence of the heart which allows us to live in a state of grace.

Nice Quotation

Making a life change 

is a scary thing. 

But whats even more scary 

is living a life of regret.

Can We Please Have A Few Politicians Like This!

Kevin Rudd, PM of Australia, responds to a Pastor's question about gay marriage. Brilliant!

How "Let It Be" Came To Be

I was going through a really difficult time around the autumn of 1968. It was late in the Beatles’ career and we had begun making a new album, a follow-up to the “White Album.” As a group we were starting to have problems. I think I was sensing the Beatles were breaking up, so I was staying up late at night, drinking, doing drugs, clubbing, the way a lot of people were at the time. I was really living and playing hard. The other guys were all living out in the country with their partners, but I was still a bachelor in London with my own house in St. John’s Wood. And that was kind of at the back of my mind also, that maybe it was about time I found someone, because it was before I got together with Linda. So, I was exhausted! Some nights I’d go to bed and my head would just flop on the pillow; and when I’d wake up I’d have difficulty pulling it off, thinking, “Good job I woke up just then or I might have suffocated.” Then one night, somewhere between deep sleep and insomnia, I had the most comforting dream about my mother, who died when I was only 14. She had been a nurse, my mum, and very hardworking, because she wanted the best for us. We weren’t a well-off family- we didn’t have a car, we just about had a television – so both of my parents went out to work, and Mum contributed a good half to the family income. At night when she came home, she would cook, so we didn’t have a lot of time with each other. But she was just a very comforting presence in my life. And when she died, one of the difficulties I had, as the years went by, was that I couldn’t recall her face so easily. That’s how it is for everyone, I think. As each day goes by, you just can’t bring their face into your mind, you have to use photographs and reminders like that. So in this dream twelve years later, my mother appeared, and there was her face, completely clear, particularly her eyes, and she said to me very gently, very reassuringly: “Let it be.” It was lovely. I woke up with a great feeling. It was really like she had visited me at this very difficult point in my life and gave me this message: Be gentle, don’t fight things, just try and go with the flow and it will all work out. So, being a musician, I went right over to the piano and started writing a song: “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me”… Mary was my mother’s name… “Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.” There will be an answer, let it be.” It didn’t take long. I wrote the main body of it in one go, and then the subsequent verses developed from there: “When all the broken-hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be.” I thought it was special, so I played it to the guys and ’round a lot of people, and later it also became the title of the album, because it had so much value to me, and because it just seemed definitive, those three little syllables. Plus, when something happens like that, as if by magic, I think it has a resonance that other people notice too. Not very long after the dream, I got together with Linda, which was the saving of me. And it was as if my mum had sent her, you could say. The song is also one of the first things Linda and I ever did together musically. We went over to Abbey Road Studios one day, where the recording sessions were in place. I lived nearby and often used to just drop in when I knew an engineer would be there and do little bits on my own. And I just thought, “Oh it would be good to try harmony in mind, and although Linda wasn’t a professional singer, I’d heard her sing around the house, and knew she could hold a note and sing that high. So she tried it, and it worked and it stayed on the record. You can hear it to this day. These days, the song has become almost like a hymn. We sang it at Linda’s memorial service. And after September 11 the radio played it a lot, which made it the obvious choice for me to sing when I did the benefit concert in New York City. Even before September 11th, people used to lean out of cars and trucks and say, “Yo, Paul, let it be.” So those words are really very special to me, because not only did my mum come to me in a dream and reassure me with them at a very difficult time in my life – and sure enough, things did get better after that – but also, in putting them into a song, and recording it with the Beatles, it became a comforting, healing statement for other people too. - Paul McCartney

Sometimes...

When All The Others Were Away At Mass by Seamus Heaney

Noble Prise winner (1998) Seamus Heaney died at 74 at the end of August. Here is one of my favorite poems. I love how intimate these few lines can be, and how poignant. May the smiling face of God shine on your journey as you go. For more on Seamus heaney follow the link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13930435