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?“

Louisiana, USA – Clean up crews across the Gulf of Mexico are working at night now that it’s so hot … and still the oil is flowing.  Each barrel of oil emptied into the Gulf, demonstrates over and over again the immense corporate greed that has been building for years. Now, we’re seeing the manifestation of this greed right in front of our eyes. For all the world to witness.

A number of Gulf residents I’ve spoken with are just trying to keep busy. “I just try not to think about it,” they say. “I haven’t even walked over on the beach … but I hear there is oil there. No smell yet.” Often, it’s just too much to consider the devastation to the beautiful beaches – and the loss of marine life, jobs and property values. Likewise, many citizens across the United States feel helpless as they watch this unbelievable, sad spectacle.

There is one thing that we can all do – anytime, anywhere – to help. State senators in Louisiana have declared today as a day for citizens to ask for God’s help in dealing with the oil disaster.

“Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail,” state Sen. Robert Adley said in a statement released after last week’s unanimous vote for the day of prayer. “It is clearly time for a miracle for us.”

The legislative resolution named today as a Statewide Day of Prayer in Louisiana and are calling on people of all religions throughout the Gulf Coast – and the world – “to pray for an end to this environmental emergency, sparing us all from the destruction of both culture and livelihood.”

Let’s pray today … and continue praying.

*****

Prayer: Dear Lord, shine your light on this situation for what it is, and help bring enlightenment to those who seek solutions to halting the gushing oil and the destruction of your Creation. Help all on Earth to seek you and your Kingdom first – instead of monetary gain. You indeed are our Hope.

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.)