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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