Earth – Don’t we all just wish that the politicians would cut it out with all of their profiteering? And with using the people to fight their turf wars?

Believe In Your Power

We must find ways to get along with each other for the sake of all of our children – and the generations to come. We must find ways to make peace and live in harmony. Don’t doubt that this is possible. It just takes the people united in a common cause – for freedom and life – for things to really start happening. Believe in your power.

Here are some strategies that would go a long way to creating the dialogue we must start to sustain our planet, and give our children a place to grow and prosper. Already, so many are suffering, and we must rise to the occasion now. Like many, I’m tired of the finger pointing, and the focus on what’s wrong with “the other guy” and the deflection and blame game. I, for One, am now ready for laying out some solutions. So what if the task is daunting from a human perspective?

Who says we have to believe in limitations? There are miracles popping up everywhere, as we focus on giving first, rather than taking. (We all have experienced the feeling of taking first – call it selfishness – and that just doesn’t feel too great.)

So what’s a person to do? A nation? The Earth?

These days, we all need solid ways to evaluate our lives – principles that can provide the solid, reliable spoke of the wheel as time spins – and as our very solar system interacts with others throughout the Universe.

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholic Anonymous are a pattern for living that lay out essential truths common to all spiritual traditions (I believe beyond the Earth). They have been applied not just to alcoholics, but to many people who are looking for meaning and for change in their lives, but just don’t know how to unwind themselves form messes they’ve made.

All 4 One

United with others, we must acknowledge that as the people on Earth we need supernatural assistance. It’s come to that, you know…

The 12 Steps are based on the central premise of “we”  instead of “me”.  We all need the participation and actions and encouragement of each other to make it ourselves! That’s for sure!

Here, I’ve taken the steps and with a little literary license applied them to our warring world at large:

THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS – REVISITED FOR PLANET EARTH

1. We admitted we were powerless over the mess we’ve made of the Earth and that our lives have become unmanageable. (Over time, the will to exert power over others – and the greed that accompanies it – has contributed to
incomprehensible oppression, and sabotage of our own planet.)

2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore all of the Earth’s peoples to sanity. (Here, “sanity” is defined as “soundness of mind,” a greater consciousness of all 4 One, and One 4 all.)

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. (The Twelve Steps encourages each person to explore, commit and relate to a “Higher Power of their own understanding.” )

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves – and our nation. (The Light is shining. Let’s come clean.)

5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. (As people and as nations, let’s not be afraid to admit where we’ve erred, without pride or political posturing. Let’s choose people we trust to open up to as we start to live in this manner.)

6. We were entirely ready to have God (our Personal Higher Power) remove all these defects of character. (This is the willingness step. Get ready for some big changes. Only a mustard seed of faith is required.)

7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. (Here, we acknowledge that if we knew the exact process to peace, we would have enacted it already. We ask God’s help in resolving the root nature of our wrongs.)

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. (Committing our new understanding to paper is a given for taking the next steps. We can see it… and share it…oops, that’s the next step!)

9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. (This “making things right” action step is most often done with the help of someone that knows you well, with regard for the highest good for people, especially the kids of the world.)

10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. (We are each looking for some wholesome balance, and in wholeness is perfection. In this step, we keep on keeping on, and keenly focus our attention on how we operate in the world.)

11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out. (Seeking a direct connection with our Creator is possible. It exists within us and outside us. Taking time for thankfulness, and being in nature, along the way strengthens our bond. The 12 steps encourage one to pause when agitated; we ask for help, and then do the next right thing. God’s peace comes.)

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. (We apply the 12 Steps to all areas of our lives – and the life of our
nation. For the support to be there for others who are struggling, we must “give it away to keep it – literally. This is the meaning of Pass It Forward.)

The 12 Steps gives us one tried-and-true process to take a good hard look at ourselves and our nation. The “cleaning” and “healing” tools necessary to forge a new world – inside and outside – are inherent here in the 12 Steps.

We must accept our Higher Power’s love and forgiveness to move ahead confidently and fearlessly.

This Is Our Time

So, explode your limitations. Believe again in the future. Hope for peace and help make it happen, one step at a time. Keep looking up.

The challenge of the century, the millennium, and the eon, awaits us!

Blessings!

A Meditation: The Power to Conceive of and Bring About A New World

From Twenty-Four Hours A Day:

“There is a wide variation in the way each one of us approaches and conceives of the Power greater than ourself. Whether we agree with a particular approach or conception seems to make little difference. There are questions for each of us to settle for ourselves. But in each case the belief in a Higher Power has accomplished the miraculous, the humanly impossible. There has come a revolutionary change in their way of living and thinking.

Has there been a revolutionary change in me?“

Earth- The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas reveals Jesus’ words on the Kingdom of God. You could say that it’s God’s Back to the Future, or perhaps God’s Return of the Beginning. Jesus says: “You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.”

Here is the The Nag Hammadi Library text of The Gospel of Thomas as translated by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer. Keep an open mind and it will change you, and your experience about Heaven and Earth, and your role in the world. You are more powerful than you now believe.

(Source: THE GNOSTIC SOCIETY LIBRARY)  Enjoy!

“These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.

They Will Be Disturbed, and Then They Will Marvel

1. And he said, “Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death.” 2. Jesus said, “Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]” 3. Jesus said, “If your leaders say to you, ‘Look, the (Father’s) kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you.

Within You and Outside You

If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the (Father’s) kingdom is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father.

But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty.” 4. Jesus said, “The person old in days won’t hesitate to ask a little child seven days old about the place of life, and that person will live. For many of the first will be last, and will become a single one.” 5. Jesus said, “Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. [And there is nothing buried that will not be raised.]”

All Will Be Revealed

6. His disciples asked him and said to him, “Do you want us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity? What diet should we observe?” Jesus said, “Don’t lie, and don’t do what you hate, because all things are disclosed before heaven. After all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed.”

7. Jesus said, “Lucky is the lion that the human will eat, so that the lion becomes human. And foul is the human that the lion will eat, and the lion still will become human.” 8. And he said, “The person is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!”

9. Jesus said, “Look, the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered (them). Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock, and they didn’t take root in the soil and didn’t produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced a good crop: it yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure.” 10. Jesus said, “I have cast fire upon the world, and look, I’m guarding it until it blazes.”

11. Jesus said, “This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. During the days when you ate what is dead, you made it come alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one, you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?”

Go to James the Just

12. The disciples said to Jesus, “We know that you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader?” Jesus said to them, “No matter where you are you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.”

Because You Have Drunk

13. Jesus said to his disciples, “Compare me to something and tell me what I am like.” Simon Peter said to him, “You are like a just messenger.” Matthew said to him, “You are like a wise philosopher.” Thomas said to him, “Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable to say what you are like.” Jesus said, “I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended.”

And he took him, and withdrew, and spoke three sayings to him. When Thomas came back to his friends they asked him, “What did Jesus say to you?” Thomas said to them, “If I tell you one of the sayings he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me, and fire will come from the rocks and devour you.”

What Comes Out of Your Mouth Defiles You

14. Jesus said to them, “If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned, and if you give to charity, you will harm your spirits. When you go into any region and walk about in the countryside, when people take you in, eat what they serve you and heal the sick among them. After all, what goes into your mouth will not defile you; rather, it’s what comes out of your mouth that will defile you.”

One Who Was Not Born of the Woman

15. Jesus said, “When you see one who was not born of woman, fall on your faces and worship. That one is your Father.”

Fire, Sword and War

16. Jesus said, “Perhaps people think that I have come to cast peace upon the world. They do not know that I have come to cast conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war. For there will be five in a house: there’ll be three against two and two against three, father against son and son against father, and they will stand alone.”

17. Jesus said, “I will give you what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what has not arisen in the human heart.”

The End Will Be Where The Beginning Is

18. The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us, how will our end come?” Jesus said, “Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.”

19. Jesus said, “Congratulations to the one who came into being before coming into being. If you become my disciples and pay attention to my sayings, these stones will serve you. For there are five trees in Paradise for you; they do not change, summer or winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death.”

20. The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us what Heaven’s kingdom is like.” He said to them, “It’s like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky.”

21. Mary said to Jesus, “What are your disciples like?” He said, “They are like little children living in a field that is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, ‘Give us back our field.’ They take off their clothes in front of them in order to give it back to them, and they return their field to them. For this reason I say, if the owners of a house know that a thief is coming, they will be on guard before the thief arrives and will not let the thief break into their house (their domain) and steal their possessions. As for you, then, be on guard against the world. Prepare yourselves with great strength, so the robbers can’t find a way to get to you, for the trouble you expect will come.

Let there be among you a person who understands. When the crop ripened, he came quickly carrying a sickle and harvested it. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!” 22. Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, “These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father’s) kingdom.” They said to him, “Then shall we enter the (Father’s) kingdom as babies?”

Jesus said to them, “When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom].”

23. Jesus said, “I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one.”

24. His disciples said, “Show us the place where you are, for we must seek it.” He said to them, “Anyone here with two ears had better listen! There is light within a person of light, and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine, it is dark.”

25. Jesus said, “Love your friends like your own soul, protect them like the pupil of your eye.” 26. Jesus said, “You see the sliver in your friend’s eye, but you don’t see the timber in your own eye. When you take the timber out of your own eye, then you will see well enough to remove the sliver from your friend’s eye.”

27. “If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the (Father’s) kingdom. If you do not observe the sabbath as a sabbath you will not see the Father.”

28. Jesus said, “I took my stand in the midst of the world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My soul ached for the children of humanity, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from the world empty. But meanwhile they are drunk. When they shake off their wine, then they will change their ways.”

29. Jesus said, “If the flesh came into being because of spirit, that is a marvel, but if spirit came into being because of the body, that is a marvel of marvels. Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty.”

30. Jesus said, “Where there are three deities, they are divine. Where there are two or one, I am with that one.” 31. Jesus said, “No prophet is welcome on his home turf; doctors don’t cure those who know them.” 32.

Jesus said, “A city built on a high hill and fortified cannot fall, nor can it be hidden.” 33. Jesus said, “What you will hear in your ear, in the other ear proclaim from your rooftops. After all, no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, nor does one put it in a hidden place. Rather, one puts it on a lampstand so that all who come and go will see its light.”

34. Jesus said, “If a blind person leads a blind person, both of them will fall into a hole.” 35. Jesus said, “One can’t enter a strong person’s house and take it by force without tying his hands. Then one can loot his house.” 36. Jesus said, “Do not fret, from morning to evening and from evening to morning, [about your food--what you're going to eat, or about your clothing--] what you are going to wear. [You're much better than the lilies, which neither card nor spin. As for you, when you have no garment, what will you put on? Who might add to your stature? That very one will give you your garment.]”

37. His disciples said, “When will you appear to us, and when will we see you?” Jesus said, “When you strip without being ashamed, and you take your clothes and put them under your feet like little children and trample then, then [you] will see the son of the living one and you will not be afraid.”

38. Jesus said, “Often you have desired to hear these sayings that I am speaking to you, and you have no one else from whom to hear them. There will be days when you will seek me and you will not find me.” 39. Jesus said, “The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They have not entered nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so. As for you, be as sly as snakes and as simple as doves.”

40. Jesus said, “A grapevine has been planted apart from the Father. Since it is not strong, it will be pulled up by its root and will perish.” 41. Jesus said, “Whoever has something in hand will be given more, and whoever has nothing will be deprived of even the little they have.”

Be Passersby

42. Jesus said, “Be passersby.”

43. His disciples said to him, “Who are you to say these things to us?” “You don’t understand who I am from what I say to you. Rather, you have become like the Judeans, for they love the tree but hate its fruit, or they love the fruit but hate the tree.” 44. Jesus said, “Whoever blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit will not be forgiven, either on earth or in heaven.”

45. Jesus said, “Grapes are not harvested from thorn trees, nor are figs gathered from thistles, for they yield no fruit. Good persons produce good from what they’ve stored up; bad persons produce evil from the wickedness they’ve stored up in their hearts, and say evil things. For from the overflow of the heart they produce evil.”

46. Jesus said, “From Adam to John the Baptist, among those born of women, no one is so much greater than John the Baptist that his eyes should not be averted. But I have said that whoever among you becomes a child will recognize the (Father’s) kingdom and will become greater than John.”

47. Jesus said, “A person cannot mount two horses or bend two bows. And a slave cannot serve two masters, otherwise that slave will honor the one and offend the other. Nobody drinks aged wine and immediately wants to drink young wine. Young wine is not poured into old wineskins, or they might break, and aged wine is not poured into a new wineskin, or it might spoil. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, since it would create a tear.”

You Will Return There Again

48. Jesus said, “If two make peace with each other in a single house, they will say to the mountain, ‘Move from here!’ and it will move.” 49. Jesus said, “Congratulations to those who are alone and chosen, for you will find the kingdom. For you have come from it, and you will return there again.”

Motion and rest

50. Jesus said, “If they say to you, ‘Where have you come from?’ say to them, ‘We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.’ If they say to you, ‘Is it you?’ say, ‘We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.’ If they ask you, ‘What is the evidence of your Father in you?’ say to them, ‘It is motion and rest.’”

51. His disciples said to him, “When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?” He said to them, “What you are looking forward to has come, but you don’t know it.”

52. His disciples said to him, “Twenty-four prophets have spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you.” He said to them, “You have disregarded the living one who is in your presence, and have spoken of the dead.” 53. His disciples said to him, “Is circumcision useful or not?” He said to them, “If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect.”

54. Jesus said, “Congratulations to the poor, for to you belongs Heaven’s kingdom.” 55. Jesus said, “Whoever does not hate father and mother cannot be my disciple, and whoever does not hate brothers and sisters, and carry the cross as I do, will not be worthy of me.”

56. Jesus said, “Whoever has come to know the world has discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass, of that person the world is not worthy.” 57 Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a person who has [good] seed. His enemy came during the night and sowed weeds among the good seed. The person did not let the workers pull up the weeds, but said to them, ‘No, otherwise you might go to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them.’ For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be conspicuous, and will be pulled up and burned.”

58. Jesus said, “Congratulations to the person who has toiled and has found life.” 59. Jesus said, “Look to the living one as long as you live, otherwise you might die and then try to see the living one, and you will be unable to see.” 60. He saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb and going to Judea. He said to his disciples, “that person … around the lamb.” They said to him, “So that he may kill it and eat it.” He said to them, “He will not eat it while it is alive, but only after he has killed it and it has become a carcass.” They said, “Otherwise he can’t do it.”

He said to them, “So also with you, seek for yourselves a place for rest, or you might become a carcass and be eaten.” 61. Jesus said, “Two will recline on a couch; one will die, one will live.” Salome said, “Who are you mister? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from someone.” Jesus said to her, “I am the one who comes from what is whole. I was granted from the things of my Father.” “I am your disciple.”

“For this reason I say, if one is whole, one will be filled with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled with darkness.” 62. Jesus said, “I disclose my mysteries to those [who are worthy] of [my] mysteries. 63 Jesus said, “There was a rich person who had a great deal of money. He said, ‘I shall invest my money so that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouses with produce, that I may lack nothing.’ These were the things he was thinking in his heart, but that very night he died. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!”

64. Jesus said, “A person was receiving guests. When he had prepared the dinner, he sent his slave to invite the guests. The slave went to the first and said to that one, ‘My master invites you.’ That one said, ‘Some merchants owe me money; they are coming to me tonight. I have to go and give them instructions. Please excuse me from dinner.’ The slave went to another and said to that one, ‘My master has invited you.’ That one said to the slave, ‘I have bought a house, and I have been called away for a day. I shall have no time.’ The slave went to another and said to that one, ‘My master invites you.’ That one said to the slave, ‘My friend is to be married, and I am to arrange the banquet. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse me from dinner.’ The slave went to another and said to that one, ‘My master invites you.’ That one said to the slave, ‘I have bought an estate, and I am going to collect the rent. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse me.’ The slave returned and said to his master, ‘Those whom you invited to dinner have asked to be excused.’ The master said to his slave, ‘Go out on the streets and bring back whomever you find to have dinner.’ Buyers and merchants [will] not enter the places of my Father.”

65. He said, “A [...] person owned a vineyard and rented it to some farmers, so they could work it and he could collect its crop from them. He sent his slave so the farmers would give him the vineyard’s crop. They grabbed him, beat him, and almost killed him, and the slave returned and told his master. His master said, ‘Perhaps he didn’t know them.’ He sent another slave, and the farmers beat that one as well. Then the master sent his son and said, ‘Perhaps they’ll show my son some respect.’ Because the farmers knew that he was the heir to the vineyard, they grabbed him and killed him. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!”

66. Jesus said, “Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the keystone.” 67. Jesus said, “Those who know all, but are lacking in themselves, are utterly lacking.” 68. Jesus said, “Congratulations to you when you are hated and persecuted; and no place will be found, wherever you have been persecuted.”

69. Jesus said, “Congratulations to those who have been persecuted in their hearts: they are the ones who have truly come to know the Father. Congratulations to those who go hungry, so the stomach of the one in want may be filled.”

Bring Forth That Which is Within You

70. Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill you.” 71. Jesus said, “I will destroy [this] house, and no one will be able to build it [...].”

72. A [person said] to him, “Tell my brothers to divide my father’s possessions with me.” He said to the person, “Mister, who made me a divider?” He turned to his disciples and said to them, “I’m not a divider, am I?” 73. Jesus said, “The crop is huge but the workers are few, so beg the harvest boss to dispatch workers to the fields.”

74. He said, “Lord, there are many around the drinking trough, but there is nothing in the well.” 75. Jesus said, “There are many standing at the door, but those who are alone will enter the bridal suite.” 76. Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a merchant who had a supply of merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself. So also with you, seek his treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys.”

77. Jesus said, “I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”

78. Jesus said, “Why have you come out to the countryside? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a person dressed in soft clothes, [like your] rulers and your powerful ones? They are dressed in soft clothes, and they cannot understand truth.”

79. A woman in the crowd said to him, “Lucky are the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you.” He said to [her], “Lucky are those who have heard the word of the Father and have truly kept it. For there will be days when you will say, ‘Lucky are the womb that has not conceived and the breasts that have not given milk.’”

80. Jesus said, “Whoever has come to know the world has discovered the body, and whoever has discovered the body, of that one the world is not worthy.”

Near the Fire

81. Jesus said, “Let one who has become wealthy reign, and let one who has power renounce <it>.” 82. Jesus said, “Whoever is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the (Father’s) kingdom.”

83. Jesus said, “Images are visible to people, but the light within them is hidden in the image of the Father’s light. He will be disclosed, but his image is hidden by his light.”

84. Jesus said, “When you see your likeness, you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before you and that neither die nor become visible, how much you will have to bear!”

85. Jesus said, “Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] death.” 86. Jesus said, “[Foxes have] their dens and birds have their nests, but human beings have no place to lay down and rest.”

87. Jesus said, “How miserable is the body that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on these two.” 88. Jesus said, “The messengers and the prophets will come to you and give you what belongs to you. You, in turn, give them what you have, and say to yourselves, ‘When will they come and take what belongs to them?’”

89. Jesus said, “Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Don’t you understand that the one who made the inside is also the one who made the outside?” 90. Jesus said, “Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves.”

91. They said to him, “Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you.” He said to them, “You examine the face of heaven and earth, but you have not come to know the one who is in your presence, and you do not know how to examine the present moment.”

92. Jesus said, “Seek and you will find. In the past, however, I did not tell you the things about which you asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you are not seeking them.” 93. “Don’t give what is holy to dogs, for they might throw them upon the manure pile. Don’t throw pearls [to] pigs, or they might … it [...].”

94. Jesus [said], “One who seeks will find, and for [one who knocks] it will be opened.” 95. [Jesus said], “If you have money, don’t lend it at interest. Rather, give [it] to someone from whom you won’t get it back.”

96. Jesus [said], “The Father’s kingdom is like [a] woman. She took a little leaven, [hid] it in dough, and made it into large loaves of bread. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!” 97. Jesus said, “The [Father's] kingdom is like a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along] the road. She didn’t know it; she hadn’t noticed a problem. When she reached her house, she put the jar down and discovered that it was empty.”

98. Jesus said, “The Father’s kingdom is like a person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed the powerful one.”

99. The disciples said to him, “Your brothers and your mother are standing outside.” He said to them, “Those here who do what my Father wants are my brothers and my mother. They are the ones who will enter my Father’s kingdom.”

100. They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, “The Roman emperor’s people demand taxes from us.” He said to them, “Give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine.”

101. “Whoever does not hate [father] and mother as I do cannot be my [disciple], and whoever does [not] love [father and] mother as I do cannot be my [disciple]. For my mother [...], but my true [mother] gave me life.”

102. Jesus said, “Damn the Pharisees! They are like a dog sleeping in the cattle manger: the dog neither eats nor [lets] the cattle eat.”

103. Jesus said, “Congratulations to those who know where the rebels are going to attack. [They] can get going, collect their imperial resources, and be prepared before the rebels arrive.”

104. They said to Jesus, “Come, let us pray today, and let us fast.” Jesus said, “What sin have I committed, or how have I been undone? Rather, when the groom leaves the bridal suite, then let people fast and pray.”

105. Jesus said, “Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a whore.” 106. Jesus said, “When you make the two into one, you will become children of Adam, and when you say, ‘Mountain, move from here!’ it will move.”

I Love You More than the 99

107. Jesus said, “The (Father’s) kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine and looked for the one until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to the sheep, ‘I love you more than the ninety-nine.’”

Whoever Drink From My Mouth…

108. Jesus said, “Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him.”

109. Jesus said, “The (Father’s) kingdom is like a person who had a treasure hidden in his field but did not know it. And [when] he died he left it to his [son]. The son [did] not know about it either. He took over the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, [discovered] the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished.” 110. Jesus said, “Let one who has found the world, and has become wealthy, renounce the world.”

111. Jesus said, “The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence, and whoever is living from the living one will not see death.”

Does not Jesus say, “Those who have found themselves, of them the world is not worthy”? 112. Jesus said, “Damn the flesh that depends on the soul. Damn the soul that depends on the flesh.”

Spread Out Upon the Earth, but not Seen

113. His disciples said to him, “When will the kingdom come?” “It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, ‘Look, here!’ or ‘Look, there!’ Rather, the Father’s kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don’t see it.”

Every Female Who Makes Herself Male

114. Simon Peter said to them, “Make Mary leave us, for females don’t deserve life.” Jesus said, “Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

Selection from Robert J. Miller, ed., The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version. (Polebridge Press, 1992, 1994).

Read more on Busted Halo about what Jesus meant when he said, “I thirst.”

U.S.A. – The 7Bends.com Blog is pleased to now offer a daily space weather report. Check often to get the latest on planetary changes, sun storms, solar wind storms, and more.

The 7Bends.com Blog is your Galactic Communications hub – designed to spread the news about our galaxy out to all the beings in our galaxy.

The Daily Space Weather Forecast data comes from NOAA, SIDC, and NASA.It is compiled by Tomas David Hood. (It appears in the far right column of the  7Bends.com Blog)

USA, Earth – One of my favorite web sites is Gimundo because the news they publish is purposely uplifting. I am on their email mailing list and the information I receive is well worth it.

Take for example, the headline story for today. It’s about Doc Compton, a Texas businessman, and an action he takes that keeps generosity flowing. It’s simple, and oh so powerful!.

Place a single dollar bill in an envelope and pass it along to a stranger, asking them to “pay it forward.”

A  little note inside reads something like this: “If you need it, keep it. Otherwise, simply pass it on to someone else who could use the money – and, if you’re able to, add a dollar of your own to the envelope.”

Once again, this is one person making a big difference – where they are, with what they have. All of us can do this.

This is “viral communication” at its best.

When interviewed by The Dallas Morning News, the Doc remarked:  “It’s not about the money; it’s not about whose hands the money ultimately lands in. It’s about the hands along the way that get to experience the gift of giving.”

Compton came up with the idea when he gave $10 to a couple who couldn’t afford to buy their lunch.

No Strings Attached

I have heard people say “whatever goes around,comes around” and “if I give to others, then that will come back to me.” While there is nothing wrong with giving in this manner, perhaps taking it to the next level sounds like: “I will give, regardless of whether anything ever comes back to me or not.. Just because it’s kind and decent and right.”  Unconditional giving.

You know, after a number of years of working at a soup kitchen and serving the homeless, and seeing what they gave back to the servers, I had the “opportunity” of being on the other end of the giving this past Spring when I went to a soup kitchen for food when I was between paychecks.

I found out that there is no difference in the “side” of the soup table you are on. One gives food, the other receives food. And, we each give the opportunity to be a servant to each other.

I have witnessed, too, when a group of homeless folks who regularly attend a soup kitchen will get together and pray for, and get a card for one of the “servers” who is sick. Now…who is it that’s giving there?

In closing, Gimundo reports that Compton himself  had lost his job as an investment banker, and that Christmas an acquaintance came to his house with a car full of presents for his children, and a gift for him – $2,500. Then and there, “Compton vowed to pay that kindness on to others.”

So, buy some envelopes at the Dollar Store, make up a little note, and pass on those dollar bills! Then, get ready to change lives more than you ever know, including your own!

To read the whole Gimundo story and check out the site for yourself, click here.

Here are some inspirations to ponder and consider adopting:

Hoping against hope is for winners.

To be and not to be is the question; duality is not the answer.

You alone determine if you’ll become all that the world needs of you.

You are not alone. Hold on to that because it’s true whether you believe it or not.

Be aware every second and you’ll be one of the first to know the Truth.

You’re an inner space traveler: Everything’s changing except that still point that you operate from within.

Tired? Stressed? Get up. Stand up for your life, and keep moving forward.

You are onederful. Never forget it.

See your glory in every person you meet, and you’ll soon recognize yourself for who you really are. Powerful.

Understanding another is getting over your self.

To make another laugh is the mark of a gentle god.

Set yourself free from the prison of your making; you are the key to your happiness.

True well being has nothing to do with doing.

The world need your unique contribution; conform, and you’ll forget how to create.

Peace is in the making; be a part of the move afoot.

The eyes that look deep within your heart bring forth great news of a world at peace.

Shower others with the flowers of a your smile. It will grow on you.

One is never a fool who envisions good for all.

With Enthusiasm!

A Science Fiction Tale:

Prelude: The Return of the Forgotten One

In an instant, in one space/time snapshot, a wonder-full story began and then spun out across time and space – toward the past and toward the future.  Many snapshots later (or earlier, if you prefer) a crucial time in history arose – when time and space literally seem to converge on each other, at first not sure if they will make love or war. The Figure 8 had transversed its course and both ends were meeting in that middle land once more.

It was shaky going. Just as soon as one felt like he/she knew what was real anymore, it changed again. And, that was okay, even though it often felt the opposite. “It’s all good” would be the modern saying for the hope that comes from just giving all one has each day, and praying for the best outcome of all concerned. After all, we see and move forward by faith, not sight.

It was a time of great upheaval, of suffering. But, oh, a time for hope, as well. The people had been living on the planet for ages. So long, in fact, that memories of entire generations of people on the planet – and their children – had been forgotten….or erased.

Details about their Source, their purpose, and their true identity and nature and life fuel seem to have evaporated.  Some people sought to remember these threads, others to forget…while perhaps the majority, these days, simply had forgotten that there was anything to remember or forget. They were numb, raw, overexposed to images and information and stimuli. They were used to being afraid.

Sometimes, this “forgetting” was due to catastrophic events on the planet – threats from underneath, from the surface, and above.  And, some times, the threats seemed to come from the ethers, invisible threats. Who knows if these type exist apart from the minds of the inhabitants – apart from the echoes they can hear across the land – or not?

Both threats and opportunities had come too from others “worlds” – from people unknown to the planet’s inhabitants. Aliens. For, if the people would know that others existed beyond their planet, they could, if  in dire trouble, call on these “others” to help. Across time, and across space,  and across dimensions. Nothing was impossible.

Such is the time of our telling. This time, human DNA had triumphed. Humans had rose to the top of the food chain and maintained their position – above dogs, and cats, and reptiles, on down to amoebas. The humans were multiplying rapidly, using up their resources and minerals and organs, experiencing dis-ease, further imprisoning each other, polluting the planet, and beginning to fight for food and water. One place or another on the planet was at war, constantly.

For, you know, the ancient story goes that once the First War began, it never has ended, whether above or below, or in that gray bridge between. The planet’s people were bidding time against catastrophe – in one form or another. On their own, in their own minds,  they had succeeded in making great technological advances.  In fact, so superior were their advances that they had done what they had not intended; they had created ways to eliminate themselves, to wipe out their entire race.

Greed, too, had swept the planet – to the extent that some would eliminate others just as easily as they strip a $20 bill from their money roll to pay a black-suited valet. The Little People – who knew no better,  would be better off with the educated and powerful in control, anyway, right?

So, what The Little People were told, and how they were molded was very important. And, it was most important that the strings that tweaked them would be so subtle and so cunning that the People would not even know that they were being herded for profit – and had been for years. It would be better still if what they were told actually looked like it was a way to help them in their suffering.

There were governments. Some had celebrated their people; some had eventually slaughtered their people. None had lasted very long, for varied reasons. But, without question, nearly all the people kept falling farther away from one important truth: that peace was their legacy.

There were temples and churches. Some on the planet believed in good and evil. Some believed that all is One.  And still others believed in nothing (or is it, no-thing?) For, it  is often true that if  a situation or experience is a paradox, the more real it actually is. That’s as reliable of a barometer for discernment as any other.

There were sprites and elementals, and there were the clouds, and the shadows. There was the Sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all sorts of space debris surrounding the planet. There was activity going on in space beyond ones wildest imagination, sometimes obscured.

And, then… There were the leaders, strong leaders, who had led the people to new heights at each new juncture along the planet’s own journey… and some men and women, who had caught the planet in addictive downward spirals, with each recovery a bit harder than the last. Pull and tug. Pull and tug. Pull and tug.

Legend has it that strong leaders need to be peacemakers – speaking and negotiating with anyone, looking for commonalities first – to get the ball moving. Strong  leaders have been around the block, and above all, have sought and discovered truth from his/her own experience and mistakes – rather than just through the images and limitations presented to them. As Martin Luther once said, they “sin boldly”. To these men and women, richness is in relationship and depth and wisdom and nature, not necessarily blood line or “authority”.

Never forget, we still are writing history and herstory one blink, one experience, one tear, one kiss at a time.

Rest assured, Love will prevail.

*****

Check back on the site later for Chapter One of  “The Return of the Forgotten Ones” – coming soon.

(Note: The photo is of an Analemma – a trace of the annual movement of the Sun on the sky – is well known among experts of sun-dials and old Earth’s globes as a diagram of change of seasons and an equation of time.)

Dallas, TX – The controversy continues. Read one media source they say one thing. Read another media source they say the opposite. Then, there are some stories that get little or no attention from the major networks. Case in point…

The Dallas Morning News reported this story on May 5, 2010.

Article Title: “Theft of safe at Sixth Floor JFK Assassination Museum visitors center thwarted” (Source)
Published: 07:02 AM CDT on Wednesday, May 5, 2010

“Dallas Metro Police say two men abandoned this Dodge pickup after trying to steal the safe. Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said the thieves took some hidden or hard-to-find surveillance equipment, which he said suggests they had help from someone who may have worked for the museum.

A pair of thieves apparently disabled surveillance equipment early Tuesday at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza before using a winch on a pickup in an aborted attempt to steal a safe from the visitors center, county officials said.

Dallas Metro Police say two men abandoned this Dodge pickup after trying to steal the safe. View larger Photography Photo store Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said the thieves took some hidden or hard-to-find surveillance equipment, which he said suggests they had help from someone who may have worked for the museum.

“Someone had good knowledge,” Price said. “You had to know the safe was there … and what’s in the safe. It’s not in public view.”

The visitors center is in the county administration building, where the commissioners meet every Tuesday morning.

Investigators declined to comment on whether the botched theft – the thieves ran off, leaving the safe behind – was an inside job at the world-famous museum, which is dedicated to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

There did not appear to be broken glass or other evidence of forced entry. Officials would not say how the thieves entered the museum. The only damage was to the concrete stairs at the visitors center’s south entrance, where the thieves apparently dragged the heavy safe out.

About 4 a.m., a Dallas County security officer noticed two suspicious men standing near a white Chevrolet pickup backed up to the outside of the museum at Houston and Elm streets in downtown Dallas. The truck had been reported stolen overnight in Pleasant Grove, officials later determined.

The officer shouted for the men to stop, but they jumped into an older Dodge pickup with a safe hoisted up on a winch in the back.

The officer “feared for his life, fired shots, and they swerved and wrecked out,” said Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Kim Leach.

The beat-up Dodge, which had paper tags and a yellow taxicab door in the bed, ran up on a nearby curb on Elm, where the men abandoned it.

The scuffed but apparently unopened gray safe was still dangling from the rear of the Dodge as police cars filled the street responding to the incident.

By that time, the two men – both described as black males in their 20s – had fled. They remain at large. It’s not known if they were injured.

In addition to not talking about the surveillance equipment or the method of entry, museum officials would not divulge what the safe contained.

A museum spokeswoman released a statement Tuesday saying that the “museum collections and historic materials are safe and secure.”

Well… back track about 15 months ago – In February 2008, guardian.co.uk, reported this about the Dallas safe:

Monday 18 February 2008 12.38 GMT

“JFK assassination plot’ papers found in Dallas safe”
Lee Harvey Oswald is shot by Jack Ruby JFK (Source)

Lee Harvey Oswald, accused of assassinating President Kennedy, is shot by Jack Ruby in the garage of the Dallas police headquarters in November 1963 (Photo) – “A transcript claiming to detail Lee Harvey Oswald’s plot to assassinate President John F Kennedy has been discovered in an old courtroom safe.

“The record – described as reading like a conspiracy theorist’s dream – appears to minute talks between Oswald and Jack Ruby, who killed Oswald after Kennedy’s assassination.

Today, the Dallas County district attorney’s office said other documents found included letters from former district attorney Henry Wade, the prosecuting lawyer in Ruby’s trial.

But the apparent record of the conversation between Oswald and Ruby was probably fake, said the district attorney, Craig Watkins, and was instead likely to be long-forgotten material for a proposed film.

Oswald says in the transcript: “I can still do it, all I need is my rifle and a tall building; but it will take time, maybe six months to find the right place; but I’ll have to have some money to live on while I do the planning.”

The Dallas Morning News reported the transcript and other material were found in a safe on the 10th floor of the county courthouse.

The memorabilia – the rest of which was believed to be genuine – also included letters from Wade to Ruby, a gun holster and clothing that probably belonged to Ruby and Oswald, Watkins said.

The transcript suggests Ruby and Oswald met at Ruby’s nightclub on October 4 1963, less than two months before the assassination on November 22 that year.

In it, they talked of killing the president because the mafia wanted to “get rid” of his brother, the then attorney general, Robert Kennedy.

Today, Gary Mack, the curator of the Sixth Floor Museum, which chronicles Kennedy’s life, said he doubted the transcript was genuine.

He added it was well documented Oswald was in Irving, Texas, on the evening of October 4, and therefore could not have been in Ruby’s nightclub.

“The fact that it’s sitting in Henry Wade’s file, and he didn’t do anything, indicates he thought it wasn’t worth anything,” Mack said. “He probably kept it because it was funny. It’s hilarious. It’s like a bad B movie.”

Terri Moore, an assistant to Watkins, today said she believed the transcript was part of a movie Wade was working on with producers.

The former prosecutor had discussed making the film, Countdown in Dallas, in letters found in the safe. “It’s not real. Crooks don’t talk like that,” Moore said.

Watkins said the items were still being processed and would eventually be made available to the public.”

*****

And on the same day, msnbc.com – Nightly News ran this report:

Updated 8:26 p.m. ET, Mon., Feb. 18, 2008 (Source)

Dallas DA unveils tantalizing JFK-related items
Boxes of forgotten memorabilia surface in old safe in Dallas

Article entitled: “JFK assassination documents revealed”

“More than four decades after former Pres. John F. Kennedy was assassinated, a vault of hidden files has finally been cracked open. Take a tour with NBC’s Don Teague …

DALLAS – “Long-hidden items and documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy were revealed for the first time Monday, after spending nearly two decades locked inside a courthouse safe.

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins presented the articles at a U.S. Presidents’ Day holiday news conference while standing next to brown and white file boxes stacked in a pyramid.

The items include a purported transcript between Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and Oswald’s killer, nightclub owner Jack Ruby; a leather gun holster that held the weapon Ruby used to shoot Oswald; brass knuckles found on Ruby when he was arrested; and a movie contract signed by then-Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade.”

What’s your assessment?

Here is the link to the Museum’s web site, including details about their JFK collection.

By the way… Word is that Tom Hanks is planning to produce a movie to debunk the JFK assassination conspiracy for his next project. Read more here from Associated Content. (Note: Rare photo by Scott Hale.)

*****

History buffs will also enjoy this find:

President Eisenhower briefed on ET presence says former New Hampshire legislator – May 12, 11:37 AMDenver – from the UFO Examiner

“Henry W. McElroy, Jr, retiring State Representative to New Hampshire, declared this week that former U.S. President (and General) Dwight D. Eisenhower was briefed about the presence of extraterrestrial intelligent beings on Earth. McElroy also said that the document he viewed while at the State Legislature made reference to the opportunity for Eisenhower to meet the alien visitors.

This new revelation could result in timely support for the August 2010 election on the Denver ballot initiative to create an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission. The proposed commission would collect credible evidence and whistle-blower testimony regarding UFOs and visitors to Earth of extraterrestrial origin. It would then share such evidence with the public through the Denver city government web site at no cost to the city budget. The aim of the commission is to brief the public with information previously viewed only by a privileged few.

Following is the transcript of his speech made on May 8, 2010, at Fort Monroe, Virginia. The Gateway to Freedom video of McElroy’s speech can also be viewed on YouTube.

Transcript:

“Hello, I’m speaking with you from Fort Monroe, Virginia. We’re also known as The Gateway to Freedom.

We sit right next to a little town called Phoebus, Virginia. Interestingly, they call themselves The Gateway to the New World.

Phoebus sits inside of Hampton, Virginia whose motto is First from the Sea, First to the Stars.

My name is Henry McElroy, Jr. a retiring, former State Representative from New Hampshire. Thank you for your attention to this brief message concerning the world’s interaction with both earth-based, and off-world astronauts.

The reason I am making this announcement is in the hopes of encouraging better perspective to all who explore the universe. Therefore, as a result, making a more valuable contribution to humanity, for the benefit of all faiths, all races and all nations.

Another reason I am here today is because I believe in the foundational wisdom of our nation, which was laid down by our founding fathers and because we know that highly advanced knowledge and information can assist human beings in solving various problems both in current times, and in our future.

When I was in the New Hampshire State Legislature, I served on the State Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs committee. It was, apparently, important that as a Representative of the Sovereign People who had elected me to this Honorable Office, that I be updated on a large number of topics related to the affairs of our People, and our Nation.

As I understood it, some of those ongoing topics had been examined and categorized as Federal, State, Local development, and security matters. These documents related to various topics some of which spanned decades of our nation’s history. One of those recurring topics is the reason I am addressing you this evening.

I would like to submit to our nation my personal testimony of one document related to one of these ongoing topics which I saw while in office, serving on the State Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee.

The document I saw was an official brief to President Eisenhower. To the best of my memory this brief was pervaded with a sense of hope, and it informed President Eisenhower of the continued presence of extraterrestrial beings (aliens) here in the United States of America.

The brief seemed to indicate that a meeting between the President and some of these visitors could be arranged as appropriate if desired.

The tone of the brief indicated to me that there was no need for concern, since these visitors were in no way, causing any harm, or had any intentions, whatsoever, of causing any disruption then, or in the future.

While I can’t verify the times or places or that any meeting or meetings occurred directly between Eisenhower and these visitors – because of his optimism in his farewell address in 1961, I personally believe that Eisenhower did, indeed, meet with these extraterrestrial, off world astronauts.

I hope my personal testimony will aid the nation in its quest for continued enlightenment. I am honored to follow in the footsteps of those who have come forward with their personal testimonies – those who deserve the admiration of the American people for sharing their accounts publicly, in an effort to elevate our knowledge to a higher understanding of our existence.

People such as:

Former Astronauts John Glenn, Edgar Mitchell, Gordon Cooper, and Buzz Aldrin

Former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter

Captain Bill Uhouse of the United States Marine Corps

Lt. Col John Williams of the United States Air Force

Co Phillip Corso Sr. of the United States Army

Commander Graham Bethune of the United States Navy

Along with:

David Hamilton of the Department of Energy, Donna Hare of NASA, and James Kopf of the National Security Agency

I would also like to thank the countries of France, Brazil, Britain, Russia, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, our neighbor to the North – Canada, Uruguay, and Australia, for also opening their files to the citizens of their countries, and allowing them access to information that is so very important to the evolution of humanity.

I thank you for allowing me this opportunity to have a small part in doing the same, by sharing the information I have given you today.

Thank you very much and I’d like to thank our communications crew for helping us make this happen today.

And, I’d also like to authorize distribution of this video (above) for anyone who wants to use it for educational purposes.

Thank you.”

From the Earth -

Consider this — “Take one world: A globeful of people, most of whom are victims; A handful of people passionately committed to justice; A God overseeing and supervising without usurping total control; An exemplary human life, in which the globeful of people and the handful of people and the overseeing God are united, so that the particular human life is uniquely transparent to the divine; A healthy respect for the past and a healthy skepticism about institutions that have an unhealthy respect for the past; Human hearts in which anger and love are two sides of the same coin; A willingness to risk judgments that might be wrong; And an ultimate optimism combined with a provisional pessimism. Mix well, and see what happens!”

Peace Poster proceeds benefit needy in Haiti

A poster which carries those words was inspired by one of the 20th Century’s most encouraging and prolific prophets for peace and social justice: Robert McAfee Brown (1920-2001). Based on Brown’s ecumenical recipe for peace, a company called Reach And Teach commissioned Khalil Bendib to create graphics for the poster and Innosanto Nagara to create the stylized text.

Robert McAfee Brown was a theologian, prolific writer, and worked for the causes of peace and social justice. In the later years of his life, he found his spiritual home at First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto.

The team at Reach And Teach remarked: “We have been blessed to know and work with Robert McAfee Brown and we continue to work for peace and social justice with Brown’s wife, Sydney. We decided to honor Bob’s memory with the creation of this poster. During 2010, all sales of this poster will benefit the people of Haiti, who continue to suffer after a horrible earthquake.”

The “Take One World” poster is 24 inches by 13 inches and is printed on recycled paper using soy inks by a worker-owned cooperative. It costs $5 and can be bought here.

Reach and Teach: An educational company with a worthy mission

Reach And Teach is a peace and social justice learning company “dedicated to transforming the world through teachable moments.”  Its co-founders, two high-tech standouts, Craig Wiesner and Derrick Kikuchi, launched Reach And Teach in 2004 as a subsidiary of their award-winning educational consulting company, WKMN Training, LLC.

The road to launching Reach And Teach weaved through Silicon Valley, Mexico, El Salvador, Israel/Palestine, New York and Afghanistan. While running their multimedia education consulting company, Craig and Derrick became increasingly involved in peacemaking and social justice issues.

Transforming the world through teachable moments

Reach And Teach creates and distributes books, games, puzzles, toys, curriculum, posters, music, DVDs, and other products “that help to transform the world through teachable moments.”

The founders describe the company as a ” treasure hunter,” searching the planet for that special something that mainstream bookstores won’t promote. They write: “Whether the products come from a non-profit or a small publisher, we see our job as making sure that great content can be found under one virtual roof.  We’re dedicated to helping parents, teachers, grandparents, community organizers, youth leaders, and all people, from infants to raging grannies, to know that they can make a difference in the world and to provide them with the tools to do so.”

More about Derrick Kikuchi

Co-founder Derrick Kikuchi is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara (BSEE/CS) and Stanford University (MSEE). As one of Hewlett-Packard’s first firmware and software engineers, Derrick spent nearly two decades at HP, including HP Labs. Intrigued by emerging distance learning technologies in 1991,

Derrick founded the HP Media Applications Learning Lab (MALL), helping the company move away from purely classroom education (Same Time, Same Place) to an Anytime, Anyplace paradigm. Derrick co-founded WK Multimedia Network Training in 1994, developing the first interactive e-Learning CD-ROM for 3Com Corporation. Derrick designed additional e-Learning for Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM.

Derrick has been deeply involved in peace and social justice issues through his work as a Presbyterian Elder at the First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto. He has been on the board of directors for Northern California Presbyterian Homes and the Council of Churches Santa Clara County. He was an editor for Open Hands, an ecumenical quarterly journal on LGBT inclusion in communities of faith. He has traveled to El Salvador, Mexico, and Afghanistan on peacemaking and solidarity delegations and often lectures on theology, church history, economic justice, and peacemaking.

More about Craig Wiesner

Co-founder Craig Wiesner is a graduate of the University of San Francisco with a degree in Organizational Behavior and Adult Learning. Craig also spent several semesters at San Jose State University in the (K-12 instructional media) Masters program.

Craig spent eight years in the United States Air Force, developing and delivering foreign language education. Craig received a Joint Services Achievement Medal after his team redesigned a 47-week Korean course, resulting in a sharp rise in student retention and significant improvements in end-of-course language skills tests. Craig applied his expertise in education to the emerging computer networking industry, leading education departments for two Silicon Valley pioneers, Vitalink Communications and SynOptics (Nortel Networks).

Craig was a co-founder of WK Multimedia Network Training, developing classroom and e-Learning courses for clients including industry leaders 3Com, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Lucent, Nortel Networks, and Packeteer.

Craig has been deeply involved in social and economic justice issues and the peace movement for the last 10 years. He is a member of the steering committee for Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice, a Bay Area interfaith peace organization.

Craig is a frequent contributor to the KQED radio perspective series and a prolific writer whose opinion writing has appeared in Tikkun Daily, CommonDreams.org, the Christian Science Monintor, and the letters sections of Newsweek, the NY Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News.

*****

Learn more about social justice on the Reach and Teach web site, which also carries a poster depicting a simple picture of  Jesus and the words: “How can you worship a homeless man on Sunday, and ignore one on Monday?” (see photo to right).

Milky Way Galaxy – Astronomers, astrologers, and NASA are all heralding a unique alignment this summer. Some are saying that “bridges between worlds” will be opened during this where/when, in one way or another. It is an opportunity for peace, a turning point to truly discuss the resolution of our perceived differences.

Heralding Peace: Changes on their Way

On June 13, 2010, six of the largest planets in our solar system will begin their procession into a balanced alignment.  Along with the Sun, their combined gravitational pull offers an enormous contribution to a phenomenal event.

What’s happening?

“The alignment of planets will appear from Earth like a straight line of six planets with the sun in the middle; Uranus, Jupiter and Mercury lined up on one side of the sun, while Venus, Mars and Saturn will be lined up on the opposite.  The Earth will thus be perpendicular to this alignment, forming a giant T-shape.”

Then, on Sunday, July 11, 2010, a total eclipse of the Sun is visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses Earth’s southern Hemisphere. The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow crosses the South Pacific Ocean where it makes no landfall except for Mangaia (Cook Islands) and Easter Island (Isla de Pascua). The path of totality ends just after reaching southern Chile and Argentina. The Moon’s penumbral shadow produces a partial eclipse visible from a much larger region covering the South Pacific and southern South America.”

(More information can be found here, along with an interesting discussion on how this alignment may affect paranormal activity and ghost sightings.)

Here is what NASA has to say on these planetary occurrences.

And, here is the entry that already appears on Wikipedia about this phenomenon.

Tracking the Eclipse

On July 11, 2010, one of the most unique, special, and potentially “one-of-a-kind” total solar eclipses will occur across a long track of the Southern Pacific Ocean. Approximately half-way through this eclipse, the path crosses over Earth’s most isolated, and storied specks of land – Easter Island.

For just over 4 minutes and 45 seconds, the darkened sun will hang nearly 40° above the northwest horizon. Without a doubt, a photograph of the eerily blotted out Sun in the background, framed by one or more of the brooding, giant Moai statues that stand silently on guard throughout the landscape of this barren island, has to quality as the “penultimate Kodak Moment” for any serious photographer

One company, Twilight Tours, on Easter Island, is already promoting a trip to see the spectacle.

What The T will bring

Bill Street, who runs the Astrology for the Soul web site has this to say about the meaning and effect of the 2010 planetary alignment and total solar eclipse:

“Given historical precedence and the archetypal dynamics involved, The Saturn, Pluto, and Uranus T-Square of 2010 should coincide with a period of socio-political upheaval and destabilization, if not crisis. This alignment is arguably one of the most important astrological signatures of the first half of this century, certainly of the first three decades.

This T-Square symbolically represents a turning point in which economic, cultural, and political difficulties of the last decades come to a head and demand resolution.

Out of this alchemical vessel of 2010 should arise significantly original and unprecedented social and political movements and reform. Certainly, there is a hope that what will emerge out the tensions of this time will produce greater freedoms, tolerance, peace, and prosperity. However, to remain true to past patterns, we can only say that what will materialize we be both progressive and regressive, tolerant and fascist, peaceful and oppositional — polarities that grow stronger.

If astrology is to grant anything to collective knowledge, it is the visionary capacity to see through the contingencies of history and see into forces and energies that inform and are in dialogue with our collective evolution. Whatever the period surrounding 2010 may bring — environmental catastrophe, financial collapse, political reformation and counter-reformation (or any combination thereof) — it is best not to see the events as an isolated crisis.

Rather, astrology suggests that the events around 2010 should be seen upon a continuum in which tension and problems of the era demand and create growth and evolution. Thus, the astrological paradigm is not the province of Cassandras who intuit gloom and doom but is a way of seeing that potential greatness and maturity doesn’t come without growing pains and birth pangs.”

The position of the Planets

Follow the changes for yourself. You can bookmark this helpful web site which shows you the position of the planets for any date you enter.