What’s This World Coming To?

*Rock Outcroppings Near Sedona, Arizona*

I have been doing a lot of thinking recently about our world and what is happening in all areas. It began when we were driving through Arizona in search of a home. Crossing from California into Arizona, I became immediately conscious of how each and every mountain is named. Each mountain was sacred to our American Indians in the great Southwest. Each mountain, with its amazing columns that seem to rise up out of the earth as if a huge glacier suddenly burst forth, and when it was done, not only did the huge columns stay standing all of these centuries upon centuries, but solid boulders were mysteriously left sitting atop these columns somehow, perhaps placed there by the Gods. And even though some hang out over the road, they still do not fall.

It is not difficult to understand what made the earth seem so sacred. People took the time to thank the earth for the richness it gave to them. They understood their relationship with the universe and how it had incredibly come together to support a wide variety of life forms: plants, creatures, and human beings in every color, every belief system and every direction of what we know as earth. There was plenty for all. Even today, man with all his misunderstandings of what we have been gifted, comes to look and to experience. Without knowing it, he is experiencing what the ancients knew, and people continue to come despite any obstacles. It seems surreal, as if we have stepped somehow into another universe.

I thought about how we have all taken so much for granted, and become so involved in trying to live that we really don’t know a lot today about what is happening. What can we believe amidst the many forms of communications coming like unwanted missiles from so many directions. The governments of countries are shaping our beliefs about staying healthy, and more importantly about how much power they have to form the most basic beliefs we have about everything we have held near and dear over the centuries.

The viral isolation today has changed society throughout the world once again. We are more and more believing that the government is helping all of us through these times. Political parties are willing to fight to do whatever it takes to gain power, not for us, but for their own causes. The government is no longer about Of the People, For the People or By the People. But our people have forgotten so much, and the schools at all levels are decreasing our knowledge in reading, writing, arithmetic, and especially history.

Overall, today, I have thought about this beautiful universe and earth we have been given and what is going to happen to it and the people who have been given the responsibility of keeping it healthy so that it can continue to give its best to all of us. And then I thought about something I read once in the Bible. Blessed are the meek and the poor, for they shall inherit the earth. The ancients always had it right.

Revolution – Evolution

In this time of social isolation, I have been doing a lot of thinking about what is happening that has changed our world so much. I remember reading a blog post from my friend, Steve Tanham, one of the Directors, along with Sue Vincent and Stuart France, of a fantastic study from the U.K., The Silent Eye Mystery School. I am going to save the best for you to learn by visiting the site on WordPress blogs, or on Facebook. I have completed my first year of study, and it has been one of the most interesting years of study I have ever had; I am addicted to studying and learning new things.

Steve Tanham had written a post about how he had gotten his 90-year-old mom from their old family home, and brought her to stay with his family so that she would be safe during this revolutionary time we are facing, not really knowing anywhere on the globe what might come next.

Then I thought about a lot of seniors in the U.S., and how so many of us have been forgotten by families, not because they want to be cruel, but because of the way the world seems to be revolving. People are moving faster and faster trying to keep up with some unknown forces that seem to be pushing us into a shorthand way of life. We speak no longer in long letters, but speak on the cellphones in monosyllables or e-mail in talk that is nothing more than single letters that are supposed to represent some sort of written language. And now we have come into a world that is ruled by something we cannot see, and can only believe what others tell us. More and more of the world is being isolated from others and having many, if not most of our freedoms taken away by powers that we cannot fight.

Over the weekend, stuck in the house by rain and cold on top of the orders not to leave our homes without face masks, I laid in bed and watched the PBS stations. Actually it was a perfect thing to do for I learned so much during that day. I learned of all the incredible feats accomplished by the ancient ones in their structures that they built when they had none of the incredible tools and formal knowledge that is held today by engineers and builders and others in the trades. And I thought about how there is a trend today at least here in the U.S. to put up housing and some other structures as quick as possible, though there are some pretty amazing public works for certain. Watching the ancient ones with their incredible knowledge considering what was known of the world was a new sort of evolution. I began to wonder if we are in the midst of a revolution or evolution.

And then I saw some incredible programs about the world and how the universe in general is bubbling up through volcanoes, and rivers and the oceans are rising and falling, and sometimes it seems as though there is chaos in the universe as well. So I thought about that for a long time, and in the end, I thought how this is perhaps part of the way the universe was created. It is not always at peace. Sometimes during these universal catastrophes, people do die, or they get cast from their homes where they have perhaps lived forever, without rhyme or reason. Perhaps we have expected the world to be always logical and something that supports life, but the reality is that it does not.

I closed my eyes, and slept soundly, knowing that life is never a guarantee for us or for this universe and that the best we can do is to live each moment fully and to remember those things and people we have loved for whatever time we all have.

A Universe in a Minute

Moment after moment,

the winds of time blow steadily.

Whether the winds will be strong,

tearing away what has been built before,

or gentle winds that quietly

add grain upon grain of sand,

we cannot know.

But our inner universe

Records it all, building its own layers

Of all that ever has been, and all that can ever be.

Change the Way You See Things

In this world, we tend to see things according to what we are taught, or by things we think we know because we have seen them with our eyes. But our senses are not always giving us the whole picture, or the correct picture. A lot of times we are afraid as adults of many things that don’t make any sense at all. We are afraid of others we do not know, especially if they are not the same color as we are, or they don’t speak the same language. We fail to see that they are human beings just as we are, and with the same fears and dreams and hopes, the basically same ways of relating to the earth that we do, or perhaps different, but they are still human beings as we are.

We all arrived on this earth by some factor beyond any of us. Whether it was God or Gods or some ancient power we may not understand in this lifetime, we all arrived here. That means that we are all meant to be here, and each of the cultures has its own area where it has chosen to live. We fight over property perhaps because it is rich in resources that we think we need. We don’t try to invent new technologies or new products that don’t require those resources. Instead, different cultures in the world attempt to show how powerful they are and how they can destroy any other cultures in the world. But is it altogether possible that without these other cultures, the aggressor culture will not survive for long? Is it possible that each culture helps to create a balance in nature by caring for a different part of the earth? Is it possible that even the very air we breathe is affected by the different cultures and helps to create another balance that is critical to all those who live on this earth?

We fight over the earth’s properties and resources instead of working together to get to other planets to discover what resources might be available there. Are we even intended to go to other planets, or is it our responsibility to learn how to live together on this one first? Is it possible that there are cultures living on the others also trying to learn how to live together? It is so strange because there is so much uninhabited land here on earth that could well be considered and perhaps utilized for living. And there are ample resources available to feed all the people on this plane if we all worked together.

Perhaps indeed, we are not so afraid of the darkness as we are of the light.

Ingredients for Peace

It really isn’t a difficult recipe. In fact, it is probably easier than a recipe for making bread.

Ingredients: Respect, Dignity, Peace of Mind, Liberty for ALL, and throw in Cooperation, Understanding, Open-mindedness, Oneness, and perhaps Sharing. Can you think of any others? Why should these things be so difficult? How could we make them easier for everyone everywhere?

I would love to hear your ideas on how we could bring peace throughout the world while retaining who we all are. Is it possible or a dream that can never happen?

Talking to Rocks

Today after a doctor’s visit, I was sitting out on a little circular border surrounding a large tree. It was just about the right height for a bench so I sat on the concrete flat area that seemed made to sit on. Inside that was a ring of rocks. To look at them at first, they were all about the same size and most were round and there was a bit of change in color. I picked up one and began to study it carefully. This one seemed to have one end cut or broken off, and it revealed a much darker and varied , somewhat smooth surface, as if I were looking into it. Down one side of that top area, extended a crack that seemed as if another part of it might split off. And crossing that seemed to be attempts to cut it with a sharp object diagonally.

Something drew me to pick up other rocks in that circle and to look at them. I guess sometimes it seems that, for example, perhaps all grains or sand, or in this case, all rocks in a group are similar in size, shape, color and texture. But in this case, the more I examined the rocks, I saw how distinctly different each one was. And I began to think about how each rock might have formed and what must have transpired to make it so different from all the rest. In my mind were so many questions coming forth, seemingly spilling out like a dam that was overflowing. How could it be that stones that likely all came from the same source/location could all be so different in texture, colors, shapes and sizes. Where was this magical place and what other surprises did it hold?

As I was pondering all these wonderful mysteries, my Lyft showed up and honked for me. I grabbed the one rock with the top seemingly cut from it and put it carefully into my pocket. I wanted to look at it once again at home and I wanted to ask it questions. One thing I learned today was that we should never even take a tiny grain of sand for granted. There is mystery and magic everywhere in this world.

A New Day Dawning . . .

I have been transforming my relationship with God or The One over the past year, and I have given this beautiful statement from Richard Rohr a lot of thought for its truth. I have become aware of how everything in the universe is sacred and it was provided for us to give us everything we could need or want for nourishment, for thirst, and for protection from the elements if we but make it our purpose to look for it and use it wisely. I have become aware of how there are many, many forms of humankind on this earth, and we were put here so that we could all learn how to get along, and to help this good earth to continue to survive.

I love this little piece of writing because it rings true for us all, and offers us a way to what spirituality or religion is intended to be. These days when I have to end the life of a bug or I cut a rose, or perhaps fail to appreciate so-called weeds of the earth, I stop myself and think about it, and suddenly I can see the beauty that surrounds us in its many forms. We have derived words that devalue even the nature of creatures and plants that were put on this earth for a reason.

Now I spend time each day meditating on all of these things and so much more that is related to my relationship with God and with the universe. Things look different for I am changed too.

Days Like This

Anne’s contribution for Wounded Warriors Recovery Home

It is just a little thing. I think it was 12″ w x 17″ l. It took very little time even with some hand-stitching. But that was not important at all. The whole idea was to try to bring a moment of happiness into someone’s life, especially when they have had a hard time and need some support.

These men were serving their country when they were wounded, and we need to go beyond our personal beliefs about war and whether we should have been there or not and try to help those men. My own brother came home 100% disabled from Vietnam. My brother knew nothing of Vietnam or its people and he knew even less about the politics involved. He went to serve his country as many of my relatives in the past have done; he was just 18, still a teenager. He is alive today after these many years, and it has given me the heart to help anyone who was or is suffering a physical/developmental/emotional or other challenge for the remainder of my life.

If we believe in something we are doing, we must do it and not forsake it just because there are challenges in trying to do it. The challenges of life are there to help us. Without them, we would never learn to have compassion for others, or to act when we see a need. And life’s journey would not be meaningful without them. Walking through a barren desert will never be comparable with walking through a life of valleys and mountains. And we could never learn personal strength in our beliefs -religious/spiritual without them.

Spirit Calling Me

All of my quilts come from a spiritual place or from something that tickles my funny bone. They come from things I think about and work out in a symbolic way for my own self.

I was thinking about trees in a spiritual way, and I suddenly experienced an epiphany. I realized that not everything needs to be seen to be understood, or to have faith that it exists somewhere. I cannot see any of the great Gods of the world, except as man himself has presented them, and I have no way in reality if any of those things are actually those Gods or not. I guess that would be a belief that Gods are those representations of Gods that existed in their times and places in the universe. But the reality is that if I am accepting any of them appearing as man presents them, then I am believing and trusting man and not the Gods themselves. But if I feel in my heart and soul that there are Gods, have always been Gods, and that I, and everything that exists in this world is sacred, and that we too are aspects of God, then that is faith.

And so this tree in the piece has places where you cannot see the branches, but it has places where you can see the branches. Is this tree then a belief, or is it perhaps faith?

Life is not always as it appears

Things are not always what they seem in life. There is an old scene in the animated film, “The Point” by Nilsson, released in 1971 where the little boy, Oblio, is vanquished into the “Pointless Forest” by the evil prince. On his journey through the forest, he encounters Rock Man, who gives him a lesson in wisdom. “You see what you want to see, and hear what you want to hear.”

How many times is this true in all of our lives? What do we really know of our world or our universe except what our minds choose to believe or our eyes choose to see?

I have been thinking about creatures of this earth, and recently a conversation came up about the lowly slug. Everyone hated them, and most of the people were afraid of them. Yet, if you think about slugs, they have no means of self-defense. They DO have a bit of a shell inside, but they are easily stepped on and destroyed even with that. They do leave a slime path wherever they go that is created by the water they drink and which mixes with their bodily fluids, to be exuded along the way. They do have eyes located at the ends of their antennae. They sometimes come to a home and will get inside, even though there is nothing visible drawing them inside. And other than their little slimy paths, they do no damage or harm anyone.

I had never considered how sacred everything is in our universe until I searched on the symbolic significance of slugs. I will leave it for any of you who wish to pursue this further to find it on your own, but I will say that after I read it, I thought of how many things in this world I have feared or disliked simply because I never thought of them as being important or sacred in this world. Everything in this world, every person, every creature, every plant, and every grain of sand has meaning in this universe. We are not here by accident; we are the result of an amazing design – a phenomena that has occurred with incredible complexity of evolution.

All is not always as it seems. The tiniest particle in our world may be a chain in our evolution. We need to look closer at those things we take for granted, or that we think we know and perhaps are afraid of and/or dislike. There is always something new to learn and it is good to question ourselves when we encounter something we don’t understand in this world. Maybe, just maybe we have it wrong.