DISQUS

Interesting question and discussion.

I just posted to a meme/prompt last week on One Single Impression, te prompt being 'live water'. I ended up writing about Dr. Emoto's work with water being impacted by the thougts, emotions and intent of its mileau. And I ended up talking about wine...

1997 Pinot Noir in our veins

http://virtualteahouse.com/blogs/beth/archive/2...

Thanks for the discussion!

Hi Jonathan--
I really liked this post--thanks for the tone of it!

I was looking for something talking about 'leadership to sacrifice': we are going to have to sacrifice some of our cherished paradigms if we are to survive as a society...

Many thanks, again--

Jonathan--
This is a truly lovely testimony to the power of Love. Thank you for it--it brought me to tears, as I remembered my own childhood and adolescence, longing for inclusion and having a very body-focused approach to 'what is a sin'.

But Love endures, and is strong, is patient and ultimately kind. That's our role model,our lifeline, and our maturing destiny. (I almost wrote my post for this synchroblog on I Corinthians 13)

Thank you again, Jonathan.

Hi Jonathan--
Thanks for this thoughtful post--
Are you familiar with Richard Rohr's video series, 'A Crisis of Faith'? It's 4 or 5 films that explore the western crisis...and 2 of them are really good. The one that your post reminds me of is called 'Portrait of a Radical'. It's too long to put on a YouTube, but someone might be able to find a way to link it as a video--in the meantime, here's a YouTube trailer on the series (A Crisis of Faith). The films are excellent, and 'Portrait of a Radical' especially, as it helps us explore the radical nature of Jesus--in his apolitical stance!

Thanks again for your thoughtful blog--
Beth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eckllq7kMvc

Thank you, Rose--well-said!

Thank you, Rose--well-said!

First to congratulate you, Phil, on your overall grand prize for this great piece. Hope you're not tired of the hoopla!

Thanks again for putting your soul out there in such a remarkable way.

Beth

First to congratulate you, Phil, on your overall grand prize for this great piece. Hope you're not tired of the hoopla!


Thanks again for putting your soul out there in such a remarkable way.



Beth

Hey Phil--
In my simple way of understanding it, post-modernity is about being 'over' the enlighten
ment--of thinking that science or religion can solve the problems they , with good intent, have created. It's about the non-linearity of connections, and the dawning awareness that the heart is more than a pump--it is, as the ancients of all religions and cultures have known, an organ of perception and wisdom. It's where the shamans and quantum physics tentatively meet.

Post-modern thought--about the non-rational world--the world of spirit and soulfulness--can bring us to the place where the mystics and prophets--from different perpsectives have always led us-- the kingdom of God in a mustard seed.

Not sure that makes sense? Would love to hear your take--

I agree, 'Oharaviile'. Phil is so post-modern that he's serving as a prophet.

Great piece, Phil--you do dance between many worlds!

I see in the comment stream here a desire for more mystical/Christian intellectual interaction. A site that walks those fine lines is Carl McColman's 'Anamchara: The Website of Unknowing" www.anamchara.com

Peace--you deserve to win this competition, Phil! Thanks as ever for the challenge and companionship on this interesting journey we've embarked upon...

I love this tale!
I posted on my blog awhile back about 'the purpose of a spiritual friend is to insult us (Pema Chodron)...

http://www.virtualteahouse.com/blogs/beth/archi...

Fear of Alzheimer's or ALS
Two very different diseases--one where your body stays pretty intact but your mind leaves you, but not without you knowing it.
The second is ALS (Lou Gehrig's) leaves the mind crystal clear and the body quickly (over a period of a few short years) shuts down, so that by the end the communication from a mind that is aware and cohesive is cut off.
These, after lots of years of hospice work, are my 2 fears--and of course the fear is the hell, not the disease itself!

New voice on this sie--thank you all for your insights and soulfulness. Enjoying this dialogue very much.

I served in the end of life care movement (mostly hospice) here in the US for 20 years after my mother's early death (she was 58 and I was 23) so that I could better understand dying and death. After the honor of serving many patients and families I felt like I was solid enough in the depth of my connection to death--and to life--to leave the field. I now work in child advoccy (services for abused children) and am learning a new set of deep life lessons from the children and families we serve, and the staff I serve alongside.

My ideas about funerals and memorials have changed over the years. Knowing that this may change, a snapshot of where I sit around funerals and memorials is that they are for the living. The families who have no funerals or ways to commmemorate a life seem to grieve incompletely. Ritual and ceremony (they are different) are embedded in our psyches as cornerstones, buliding blocks, stakes-to-keep-our-tents-from-flying-away-in-big-windstorms. So, as much as I don't want a fuss being made, I do know that it's important to do something when we die that marks the spot where we've lived and grieved, loved and resisted. J

Jewish wisdom says that we're not dead until we're forgotten and that wisdom resonates in my soul, as I fear that the US culture is dis-eased by a voic of connection to our ancestors: human ones, rootedness of place, animal and tree ancestors.

A funny thing happen in the community where I live. It concerned a friend, Jack, who lives in Portland, Oregon (about 3 hours from Bend, Oregon). He apparently died and was resurrected all in one fell swoop. It's an amusing story even without knowing the characters. Here's the blog post 'Jack's Foiled (Im)mortality Plan' on the site I host (Virtual Tea House): http://virtualteahouse.com/blogs/beth/archive/2...

We're planning a surprise wake for Jack when he visits our community in April. It should be poignant and fun at the same time.

Thank you all for sharing yourselves so beautifully on this site.

Myrabeth (aka Beth)

(Reposting after editing to 350 words.)

I’ve been honored to serve in the non-profit sector for most of my 30-year work life, so I have had an experience of social justice. But something is pulling me…

What I yearn to do, as I enter the ‘forest-dweller’ stage of life, is to distill the experience and information of my lifetime. (Check out the Hindu stages of life.) Although there are many great books and teachers out there, my desire at this time in my life (I’m 52) is to not read any more, go to any more seminars. It’s only to sit and ‘chew the cud’ of what’s already packed into my head.

I know that from this place of stillness will grow some amazing outward-going energy. I’d love to learn how to draw more people to the virtual community I’ve started (Virtual Teahouse) for connection and inspiration. I’d love to spend my 36 extra hours a week listening deeply to some indigenous elders from around the world, because I don’t think we can get ourselves out of the mess we’re in without their wisdom and connection to the earth.

And from there, maybe a book? Maybe just more time in my garden? Maybe teaching more? Maybe just laughing more freely. But the outgrowth of the downtime will be felt not just in me, but in everyone and everything that touches me.

“The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature� by Stephen Harrod Buhner is a treatise on letting the heart’s perception and rhythms have their rightful influence. The heart’s rhythms have evolved to be the major entrainers of our life-energy, but the post-modern human brain is increasingly taking over that function, and our heart–and the heart of the planet–is defibrillating as a consequence.

My ‘36 hours’ will be spent listening to my heart and the heart of the world around me. I’m not sure what I can do about the suffering out there, but I can address the lack of connection to my own heart, and in that, bring hope and courage to others.

Been thinking about this question a lot lately. I've been honored to serve in the non-profit sector for most of my 30 year work life, so I have had an experience of social justice. But something is pulling me...

What I yearn to do, as I enter the 'forest-dweller' stage of life is to distill the experience and information that I've been privileged to in my lifetime. (Check out the Hindu stages of life--very informative in this discussion.)Although there are many great books and teachers out there, my desire at this time in my life (I'm 52) is to not read anymore, go to anymore seminars. It's only to sit and 'chew the cud' of what's already packed into my head.

I know that from this place of stillness will grow some amazing outward-going energy. I'd love to learn how to draw more people to the virtual community I've started (Virtual Tea House) for connection and inspiration. I'd love to spend my 36 extra hours a week (accumulated into a few months!) listening deeply to some indigenous elders from around the world, because I don't think we can get ourselves out of the mess we're in without their wisdom and connection to the earth.

And from there, maybe a book? Maybe just more time in my garden? Maybe teaching more? Maybe just laughing more freely. But the outgrowth of the down-time will be felt not just in me, but in everyone and everything that touches me.

An influential book has been "The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature" by Stephen Harrod Buhner. It's a treatise on letting the heart's perception and rhythms have their rightful influence. The heart's rhythms have evolved, until the last little tick of time of human evolution, to be the major entrainers of our life-energy. But through an interesting tangent, the human brain has taken over that function, and our heart--and the heart of the planet--is defibrillating.

My '36 hours' will be spent listening to my heart and the heart of the world around me. I'm not sure what I can do about the suffering out there, but I can address the suffering of lack of connection to my own heart, and in that, bring hope and courage to others.

Thanks, Tim, for asking this question.