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  Issue #1346 - Monday, February 10, 2003 - Editor: Jerry  


FireCeremony
Live Journal
 

To live

sword is drawn, sword slices through the air, sword is sheathed

samurai quickdraw

this is how I think life should be lived

simple, straightforward, to the point,

when the motion is done, it's left behind and not dwelt with

everything is as it is
 


Kheyala
The Way Station
 

Volcano
I have called it
fierce and fiery
hot lava
from within

but seen with no eyes
What is it?

Oh

pure water springs forth
from that same source
deep down 
spilling a drop or two
of its freshness

It offers a taste of gratitude

for what is seen
with no eyes  


Susan
NDS
 

Within the pain that tears at my heart lies a stillness.  
Within the love that I feel for you lies a vastness.  
The comforting arms I long to feel around me are the arms of Love 
itself, and cannot be found in another.  
Love... Life, gather me in and quiet the fears in my pounding heart, 
so that I may pick myself up and go on.  

Vickie Woodyard
NDS


I wrote this piece this morning--not knowing why. But perhaps it is a
companion to yours.  I understand what you are writing about.

Inwardly Alone

Inward honesty is reflected outwardly--or so runs the principle of the inner
determining the outer.  The seeming facts are that I am alone.  My husband of
thirty-seven years has an incurable cancer.   My only surviving child, although
incredibly kind and loving, cannot penetrate the inner aloneness that I feel. 
And if he and my husband cannot, who can?  The answer is "no one."  My ego
fights this fact on a daily basis.

But this morning a quiet epiphany took place.  I saw quite clearly that my
spiritual path is one of inner aloneness.  I actively seek, through meditation
and silence, the experience of unity, which is a form of aloneness.....of all
oneness.  I sat there and saw, possibly for the first time, that it is good to be
inwardly alone.  In fact, God asks this of us.

If anyone looks within and is honest, they will see that there is no one "in
there" but them and that they are enough.  Not only enough but sufficient.  "My
grace is sufficient," said Christ.  This is anodyne for the lonely.

I received an e-mail last night from an old friend.  She was letting me know
that her brother's grandson had just died at the age of five.  I would know, she
said, how he felt and might want to write them a note.  The phrase that came
to me was that this precious child would be a rainbow on their inner
landscape.  Since my  daughter died when she was seven,  I am qualified to
speak of  the inner landscape.  Mine remained unpeopled for years, but I was
desperately looking for company, for consolation.

No more.  When I can sit with silence and not fight being inwardly alone, a
miracle occurs.  I remember myself...that my spiritual quest is into aloneness. 
Often it is the inner equivalent of scaling Mount Everest.  Only planting the
flag of victory will do.  If I succeed in planting this flag inwardly, then the
outer will reflect it.  I have made the two into one...and the One prevails.

Vicki Woodyard
http://www.bobwoodyard.com  


Mary Bianco
NDS  

United for Peace  

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/  

The World Says No to War! Mass Actions in New
York City on Feb. 15 and San Francisco on Feb.
16   On February 15, hundreds of thousands of people
will come together in New York City in a huge
antiwar demonstration. Our assembly point on
First Avenue stretching north from 49th Street
is within sight of the United Nations -- a
potent reminder that our protest is part of an
international effort to prevent the Bush
Administration's planned war on Iraq.  

People in more than 300 cities throughout
Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Latin
America and North America are organizing
protests on February 15, and in San Francisco
the next day. Join with them by using these
next crucial days to mobilize co-workers,
fellow students, neighbors, friends and
families to participate in this historic
effort, and to speak out vigorously in support
of our right to extend this rally into a march
through Midtown.  

GET MUCH MORE INFORMATION ON FEB. 15.


Contributed by Matthew Files
NDS
 

"Blessed are the cheesemakers"  

Monty Python's Life of Brian
Scene 3: Jesus speaks

[music]

JESUS CHRIST:
How blest are those who know their need of God. How blest are the
sorrowful. They shall find consolation. How blest are those of gentle
spirit.

They shall have the earth for their possession. How blest are those
who hunger and thirst to see right prevail.
RANDOM:
[cough cough]
JESUS:
They shall be satisfied. How blest are those whose hearts are pure.
They shall see God...
MANDY:
Speak up!
MAN:
Shh.
BRIAN:
Quiet, Mum.
JESUS:
How blest are those of gentle...
MANDY:
Well, I can't hear a thing.

JESUS:
...spirit. They shall have the earth for their possession.
MANDY:
Let's go t' the stoning.
JESUS:
How blest are those...
MR. BIG NOSE:
Shh.
JESUS:
...who hunger and thirst...
BRIAN:
You can go to a stoning any time.
JESUS:
...to see right...
MANDY:
Oh, come on, Brian.
JESUS:
...prevail.
MR. BIG NOSE:
Will you be quiet?!
JESUS:
How blest are they who have suffered much...
MRS. BIG NOSE:
Don't pick your nose.
MR. BIG NOSE:
I wasn't picking my nose. I was scratching.
MRS. BIG NOSE:
You was picking it, while you was talking to that lady.
MR. BIG NOSE:
I wasn't!
MRS. BIG NOSE:
Leave it alone. Give it a rest.
MR. CHEEKY:
Do you mind? I can't hear a word he's saying.
MRS. BIG NOSE:
Don't you 'do you mind' me. I was talking to my husband.
MR. CHEEKY:
Well, go and talk to him somewhere else. I can't hear a bloody thing.

MR. BIG NOSE:
Don't you swear at my wife.
MR. CHEEKY:
I was only asking her to shut up, so I can hear what he's saying, Big
Nose.
MRS. BIG NOSE:
Don't you call my husband 'Big Nose'!
MR. CHEEKY:
Well, he has got a big nose.
GREGORY:
Could you be quiet, please?
JESUS:
They shall have the earth...
GREGORY:
What was that?
JESUS:
...for their possession. How blest are those...
MR. CHEEKY:
I don't know. I was too busy talking to Big Nose.
JESUS:
...who hunger and thirst to see...
MAN #1:
I think it was 'Blessed are the cheesemakers.'
JESUS:
...right prevail.
MRS. GREGORY:
Ahh, what's so special about the cheesemakers?
GREGORY:
Well, obviously, this is not meant to be taken literally. It refers
to any manufacturers of dairy products.
MR. CHEEKY:
See? If you hadn't been going on, we'd have heard that, Big Nose.
JESUS:
How blest are those who...
MR. BIG NOSE:
Hey. Say that once more; I'll smash your bloody face in.
MRS. GREGORY:
Ohh.
MR. CHEEKY:
Better keep listening. Might be a bit about 'Blessed are the big
noses.'
BRIAN:
Oh, lay off him.
MR. CHEEKY:
Oh, you're not so bad yourself, Conkface. Where are you two from?
Nose City?
MR. BIG NOSE:
One more time, mate; I'll take you to the fuckin' cleaners!
MRS. BIG NOSE:
Language!
JESUS:
...hunger and thirst to see...

MRS. BIG NOSE:
And don't pick your nose.
JESUS:
...right prevail.
MR. BIG NOSE:
I wasn't going to pick my nose. I was going to thump him!
MAN #2:
You hear that? Blessed are the Greek.
GREGORY:
The Greek?
MAN #2:
Mmm. Well, apparently, he's going to inherit the earth.
GREGORY:
Did anyone catch his name?
MRS. BIG NOSE:
You're not going to thump anybody.
MR. BIG NOSE:
I'll thump him if he calls me 'Big Nose' again.
MR. CHEEKY:
Oh, shut up, Big Nose.
MR. BIG NOSE:
Ah! All right. I warned you. I really will slug you so hard--
MRS. BIG NOSE:
Oh, it's the meek! Blessed are the meek! Oh, that's nice, isn't it?
I'm glad they're getting something, 'cause they have a hell of a time.
MR. CHEEKY:
Listen. I'm only telling the truth. You have got a very big nose.
MR. BIG NOSE:
Hey. Your nose is going to be three foot wide across your face by the
time I've finished with you!
MAN #1 and MAN #2:
Shhh.
MR. CHEEKY:
Well, who hit yours, then? Goliath's big brother?
MR. BIG NOSE:
Oh. Right. That's your last warning.
MRS. GREGORY:
Oh, do pipe down.
[MR. BIG NOSE slugs MRS. GREGORY]
Oh!
[MR. BIG NOSE and GREGORY fight]
GREGORY:
Oh!
MRS. GREGORY:
Awa?
MR. BIG NOSE:
Silly bitch. Get in the way on me?...
MRS. GREGORY:
Ow!...
MR. BIG NOSE:
Break it up-- oh. Oh!
MANDY:
Oh, come on. Let's go to the stoning.
BRIAN:
All right.
[music]
FRANCIS:
Well, blessed is just about everyone with a vested interest in the
status quo, as far as I can tell, Reg.

REG:
Yeah. Well, what Jesus blatantly fails to appreciate is that it's the
meek who are the problem.
JUDITH:
Yes, yes. Absolutely, Reg. Yes, I see.
MANDY:
Oh, come on, Brian, or they'll have stoned him before we get there.
BRIAN:
All right.


Letter from Reader  

Marianne, not Mandela

Dear Moderators,

Thank you so much for everything you share.  I read a quote on the Highlights a couple of days ago that was attributed to Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech in 1994 that was really touching.  Coincidentally (a couple of days later), I came across the same quote by Marianne Williamson, which prompted me to do a little bit of googling. 

http://www.skdesigns.com/internet/articles/quotes/williamson.html

I never directly contribute to the highlights, but I truly appreciate what's in them.  Thank you again :)

sent with love and appreciation,

Mahyar

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