Everything Is Connected, but...

Our attempt to understand the world

posted  july 2011

Grace and Faith

Grace means very little other than to have an effortlessness about one. The picture that I have has us gifted by God, of course. But then Grace is not what He directly gave us; it is merely the quality that our life takes on (ease, outwardly visible ease in all we do) after he has led us to a certain point in our spiritual journey.

Similarly, Faith is simply a
knowing how things will turn out. It has levels. At a small level, faith may be knowing that books drop when you let go of them (because of gravity, perhaps) At a large level, faith is simply a knowing that because of God in our lives, everything is going to be easy.

Faith and Grace are related. Faith brings grace and grace brings more faith.

I think there is a great deal to this. But it is the long and short of how the world manifests itself in response to what is inside us. Faith brings that, too. It is what we believe in (have faith about) that does this, especially when the faith is not in wonderfulness of creation.

Trust (faith) in Jesus and His perfection allows us to take his hand and walk beside him on the water.

Not that it is easy to live from moment to moment without doubt claiming us. It is as if we walk a mountain range, touching only the peaks of each mountain. Surly we cannot remain always at the peak. Yet I do think it is possible someday. Faith creates the grace that we are looking for. God, meanwhile, grows faith within us.
[september 2007]

This is like the problem of learning; [meanwhile there is work to be done. If the work is not done], the lesson--a thing of short-term memory--vanishes and must be reexperienced. This is because the lesson is spiritual, and spiritual things lack much physical substance. The brain cannot really store it in a memory.

The trick is to live so much in the "now" that spiritual experiences become a flow. Then one does not feel so tempted to try to hang onto the past spiritual experiences. I think it is like the story of Manna in Exodus. God gives us our daily bread and we use what we can and the rest rots away if we try to keep it for another day.
The point is the fleetingness of spiritual contact — [therefore the need of work]. I have struggled with this fleetingness as I try to hang onto gifts God has graced me with. There may be a good feeling that comes with the experience and I may want to hang on to it. But if I try to do so, I cannot. In this sense, anything we do in a state of grace probably “obtains” us some fruit. The point though, is that we don’t—indeed can’t—retain this quality.

We CAN, though, get more of it simply by coming back to the present (in humility and all that, of course.)        
    
posted 4-1-2009 / published 2-28-2011

von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen / today's prayer

Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen,
erwarten wir getrost, was kommen mag.
Gott ist bei uns am Abend und am Morgen
und ganz gewiss an jedem neuen Tag.

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,
and confidently waiting come what may,
we know that God is with us night and morning
and so is each and every day.

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer]

[posted 1-10-2011]

Patience [Louis Capart]

It tastes good, this ripe fruit,
of which we take a bite,
and which, by all its wounds,
at present is melting in our mouth
We needed time,
we needed years,
before seeing one day in our field,
blooming the branches of this tree.

Life had said: patience!
If you want to see paradise,
You have to wait until tomorrow.
Maybe, you wait in vain.
Tomorrow is eternity.
I don't dare thinking of this,
We're living such a short time
That there is no instant to be wasted.

It's a beautiful innocence
which makes man watch
the rain giving birth to the seed
and nature surprising him.
Since so many years,
in the same rhythm obstinately,
earth, which has given so much of herself,
learns to live slowly.

Without any reward,
it's possible that we feel cheated,
that we regret our prudence
at the end of a fulfilled life.
We know, time will be needed
When we begin again
Will we then choose to be as slow
like we are now in a hurry?

This would be a sad old age,
when man like a wound
discovers that his tree leaves him only
an ill fruit merely ripe
When we know the price of time
We are never afraid of the years
And the very last evening, in his field,
Man plants other trees.

But lets get back to that ripe fruit,
of which we take a bite,
and which, by all its wounds,
at present is melting in our mouth
We would not have had the crazy idea
seeming impatient
as to pick from this tree
a blooming branch in spring time.

It tasts good, this love,
of which we take a bite,
Even though it had not always been
as deep as it is now,
Time has been needed,
Years have been needed,
To see one day in our field,
blooming love as deep as this one.

------------------------------------

Patience [Louis Capart]

Il a bon goût le fruit mûr
Que nous croquons a pleines dents
Et qui par toutes ses blessures
Fond dans notre bouche à présent
Il nous a fallu du temps
Il nous a fallu des années
Pour voir un jour dans notre champ
Fleurir les branches du pommier.
Refrain
Patience avait dit la vie
Si tu veux le paradis
Tu dois attendre demain
Peut-être attends-tu pour rien
Demain c'est l'éternité
Je n'ose pas y penser
Nous vivons si peu de temps
Qu'il ne faut pas perdre un Instant.
C'est une belle innocence
Qui pousse l'homme à regarder
La pluie enfanter la semence
Et la nature l'étonner.
Depuis tant et tant d'années
Au même rythme obstinément
La terre qui a tant donné
Apprend à vivre lentement.
Sans la moindre récompense
Il se peut que l'on soit trahi
Que l'on regrette sa prudence
Au terme d'une vie remplie
On sait qu'il faudra du temps
Au moment de recommencer
Choisirons-nous d'être aussi lents
Qu'aujourd'hui nous sommes pressés.
C'est une triste vieillesse
Quand l'homme comme une blessure
Découvre que l'arbre lui laisse
Un fruit malade à peine mûr
Quand on sait le prix du temps
On n'a jamais peur des années
Et le dernier soir dans son champ
L'homme plante d'autres pommiers.
Revenons à ce fruit mûr
Que nous croquons à pleines dents
Et qui par toutes ses blessures
Fond dans notre bouche a présent.
Nous n'aurions pas eu l'idée
Folle de paraître impatients
D'aller cueillir sur le pommier
La branche fleurie au printemps.
Il a bon goût cet amour
Que nous croquons a pleines dents
Même s'il ne fut pas toujours
Aussi fort qu'il est maintenant
Il en a fallu du temps
Il en a fallu des années
Pour voir un jour dans notre champ
Fleurir un amour aussi grand.

Waiting for the miracle (Leonard Cohen - song)

"Baby, I've been waiting,
I've been waiting night and day.
I didn't see the time,
I waited half my life away.

There were lots of invitations
and I know you sent me some,
but I was waiting for the miracle,
for the miracle to come.

I know you really loved me.
but, you see, my hands were tied.
I know it must have hurt you,
it must have hurt your pride
to have to stand beneath my window
with your bugle and your drum,
and me I'm up there waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

Ah I don't believe you'd like it,
You wouldn't like it here.
There ain't no entertainment
and the judgements are severe.
The Maestro says it's Mozart
but it sounds like bubble gum
when you're waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.
Waiting for the miracle
There's nothing left to do.

I haven't been this happy
since ?? ? ???.

Nothing left to do
when you know that you've been taken.
Nothing left to do
when you're begging for a crumb
Nothing left to do
when you've got to go on waiting
waiting for the miracle to come.

I dreamed about you, baby.
It was just the other night.
Most of you was naked
Ah but some of you was light.
The sands of time were falling
from your fingers and your thumb,
and you were waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come

Ah baby, let's get married,
we've been alone too long.
Let's be alone together.
Let's see if we're that strong.
Yeah let's do something crazy,
something absolutely wrong
while we're waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

Nothing left to do
when you know that you've been taken. ...
When they ask you how you're doing
of course you'll say you can't complain
-- If you're squeezed for information,
that's when you've got to play it dumb:
You just say you're out there waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come."

[Leonard Cohen; co-written by Sharon Robinson]

(mouse click on the title above leads to song on youtube)

posted june 2010

Amy McDonald's song - Mr Rock & Roll

(click on the photo for a larger view
and (right)click on the title ("new tab") to listen to it on YouTube)

"...and there's a happy ending

Every single day..."

...... and so it was august 16, 2010

Book review: "Power vs Force" (Dr. D.R. Hawkins)

A review of:
Dr. David R. Hawkins: "Power vs Force"

by: C.N., October 2007
---------------------------
Power versus Force is about modern research into consciousness. It builds upon scientific muscle testing such as you may have experienced with practitioners of any of a variety of holistic medicines. In repeatable and double blind studies, it establishes a scale of consciousness. This (non-linear) scale extends from 0 to 1000. Here is a sample of the levels and their associated measures:

20 Shame:

This is close to death. It corresponds with the emotion of humiliation. It can arise form childhood abuse such as sexual molestation.

30 Guilt:

This corresponds with the emotion of blame and associates with a process of destruction. At this level, people are victims. This is merely a function of low consciousness. At this level, one does not see sufficiently to be in control. Cruelty is common.
50 Apathy:

This corresponds with abdication and despair. Poverty and hopelessness often accompany it. The apathetic are felt as "heavy" and are often a burden on those around them.

75 Grief:

Regret, despondency are found here
100 Fear, anxiety and withdrawal.
125 Desire:

This is where Buddha thought all suffering began. It corresponds with cravings and with the enslavement that results.
150 Anger:

Hate and aggression are found here, but anger can also be good when it is not violent and makes one take a "I'm not taking it anymore" attitude. Interestingly, it may be the best way up from shame and guilt (and this insight helps us understand the value of a scale like this!)
175 Pride:

Usually considered a positive thing, it is still below the dividing line (more about this later) of 200, which separates the generally negative from the generally positive. Pride runs the US Marines very well. But the downside of price is the potential for the fall. Pride must therefore be defensive and is always vulnerable. Pride can also scorn.

-----------------

200 Courage:

All before this level concerns primarily the self. Here begins selflessness. One must have courage to gain entrance to the higher states of consciousness. Courage begins empowerment. Here we begin to understand the book's title: force is what emanates from lower energy states, but from courage up there exists real power. Power puts more into the world than it takes out, unlike force which sucks (in a literal sense.)
250 Neutrality:

This corresponds with trust and a certain kind of release. We see a radically different way of perceiving the world evolving here.
310 Willingness:

Here we find commitment to live life as it comes at us. Willingness brings optimism.

350 Acceptance:

Here a major transformation occurs. We are forgiving and find ourselves the source and creator of our life experience. Our energy is sufficiently positive that healing may occur.
400 Reason:

Picture Einstien. Non-surface Understanding and abstraction come here. But all is not rosy. This level contains a deadly trap. In our success, we may analyse the parts but forget the whole. Beware forgetting the heart.
500 Love:

Both reverence and revelation come here. This is not low level love that is really need and masks anger, should our need go unmet (a 150-level state.) Rather, this is the level of discernment of the essence of things. We have the beginning of intuition transcending reason. 540 Joy:

Serenity and completeness are here. One runs the risk of becoming a hermit.
600-1000:

This is the level of saints and great teachers. At this level there is always some constructive work which benefits the whole of mankind. It may be done anonymously.
---
Power, as Hawkins explains it, is a fractal factor of creation. Specifically, it is an effect of a strong attractor.
The book then goes on to explain success, happiness, spiritual insight, health, and many more things as simple consequences of alignment with strong attractors while the opposites, failure, misery, spiritual blindness, disease and many more things as just as simple consequences of alignment with weak attractors (energy fields.)

Alignment is a matter of attitude and of what is REALLY important to us.

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