Political and spiritual revolution...

Global revolution simmering....If you think about it: if, indeed, 2012 is a BIG deal (chance for a spiritual awakening as Mayans predicted), do we know what that awakening would look like? What is the precursor to that and what would the precursor look like? Perhaps the political uprising that is sweeping the world in 2011 is a precursor to that next stage of human evolution? If so (and I'm hoping it is), we have not been born into a nightmare time in human history, but rather the opposite: the MOST beautiful time in human history. How about that?

Art for the sake of our very soul!

What the hell! Why shouldn't we support artists with our tax dollars like Canada and England and other civilized cultures? We need art, in all its forms, to feed our souls. It may even inspire some us living bland lives to jump in and devour the ecstasy of the creative life!

Passion, passion, passion for life and The Great Mystery. That is what I'm missing and I will not let this lousy excuse for a civilization beat it out of me. I will not forget what I knew as a child: life is worth living!

Competition and human nature...

Anthropologists have recently begun to question the notion that competitiveness is inherent in human nature. The tribes that did best were those that were able to better cooperate with each other. And neuro-scientists have discovered recently that we are actually "hard-wired" (I know, I don't like that phrase either!) to get greater jolts of pleasure chemicals (dopamine, I think) in our brain when we cooperate. That would strongly suggest that the response developed in early hominids as an evolutionary advantage.

On social change and re-defining our words...

Educating the public, raising people's consciousness and changing laws. All staples of the work for social/political change. I propose another aspect to the good fight. Changing the defnitions of political and economic life. For example, Webster's New World Dictionary defines "politics" as (among other connotations), "the conducting of or participation in political affairs, often as a profession" and "political methods, tactics, etc.; sometimes, specifically, crafty or unprincipled methods." In the near term, I propose a new definition: the active pursuit of the redistribution of wealth and power among all people in a society towards the principle of equality." And perhaps, in the future, very simply: "compassion in action."

Competition vs. Cooperation (irony ahead): cooperation wins every time!

A few thoughts...

If it's true that plants have an understanding to share resources (a rather cooperative endeavor), how can the human experience truly benefit from what is not inherently the way our planet works? I believe we're all here to learn different things and very few things are (for all people under all circumstances) "good" or "bad." Likewise, I don't believe competition is "bad," just fundamentally not helpful to nourish our souls. It does serve well as an alternative to nothing at all (think sports programs for inner city youth), but how much more valuable would it be to have programs to cooperatively develop and grow gardens in those same inner cities? That experience has been transformative of entire communities. Basketball produces very (very) few rich stars and peddles the cruel illusion of fame and fortune that keeps most of us fighting each other for scraps of a life lived alone and scared.

plants and cooperation...

Doing some yard work this past weekend...down on my hands and knees, up-close with the grass and tangle of weeds, I realized something...just popped in my head. These plants have (closest thing I can think of) an "agreement" with each other to share access to what they need: soil, sun, water. My intuition was pretty strong: they are not so much competing. Confirmations on that?

Greatness everywhere! In praise of divine love...

There is greatness in every human being. At their core, the essence of us. And when we have the courage to love, that is when who we are in the flesh comes close to the greatness in our core. They may be said to meet at times. That is when our bodies glimpse the infinite as if through a thin, deliciously tempting veil.

Earth and You - a Divine, Unbreakable Link

We must begin to listen to our heartbeat and the sound of our breath. In each, there is wisdom and an echo of Mother Earth's breath and heartbeat. We must begin to trust the wisdom they impart to us for they are the fabric of that which connects us to Mother Earth--and therein lies the wisdom of the Universe. Each moment is a new chance to make healthy choices. As much as we degrade our bodies with drugs and alcohol, poisoned or processed foods, television and words and deeds of violence, we are all equally capable of ending the abuse and re-joining our natural connection to Mother Earth.

In this approach, connecting the personal with the planetary, lies our potential for saving ourselves and restoring the sacred integrity of Gaia. The health of our bodies and that of our society are intimately intertwined with Earth's health and vitality. As we humans go, so goes our precious planet. As our planet goes, so goes our bodies and souls.

Blessings.

John

The solutions are not technical, they come from raising a ruckus!

I understand that civilzation has its risks. I am OK with getting in my car and driving to work. I'm aware of the odds of getting in an accident. I choose not to use microwave ovens, as I am in doubt about the safety of their everyday use and feel there is potential for an increased risk of cancer. Hey, look, I'm willing to wait a little longer for my frozen burrito in a toaster oven. I simply defrost it the day before I intend to eat it. No big deal. But the clear difference between those more mundane choices and the risks of having nuclear power to give us electricity is something never mentioned in the media when this issue gets debated by the parade of government officials and the "experts." The difference is that no one ever asked me if I'm OK with the risk-to-benefit ratio of nuclear power. I'm guessing not a single citizen was ever asked for their permission to endure the risks of contamination of an area of land equivalent to Pennsylvania should there be a nuclear meltdown. Had anyone ever bothered to ask me, I would have asked, "what are my other options and what do they cost?" Not just the dollar cost, but the cost to the next hundred generations. If you factor in the costs of the entire nuclear cycle and the devastation to the planet it represents...and if people were aware of these other environmental costs, the cost of a kilowatt of electricity from a nuclear power plant would make even the strongest stomach churn.

I grow weary of the discussions that are coming out in the media about this debate. They're almost exclusively about how to tweak the technology to improve the safety to the public. I can't tell you how many times I hear about how the most modern designs of nuclear power plants are so far superior to the old designs. But I think the fundamental question we, as a society, should be asking--right up front--has more to do with the democracy of the technologies of our era. Why aren't we being asked for permission before a new (often unproved) technology is released or before a chemical is manufactured and used in new products for consumer use? Where is our government in all this process? They are supposed to represent our interests and I have to say, they're failing pretty miserably to represent the common good. If you include the massive federal subsidies for oil, gas, coal and nuclear energy, the government has been doing a stellar job representing the narrow interests of business.

This is all to say that we can't really expect our elected leaders to wake up some day and realize, "oh, I feel so bad...we haven't really been thinking of Joe and Josephine Citizen." I'm not holding my breath for that. Nope, it's up to us to raise a ruckus and make it so that the way "business as usual" happens in our civilization is, frankly, unacceptable. We have to be willing to sacrifice and step out of our comfort zone. Marching in the streets and embracing the tenets of civil disobedience is looking mighty good these days. And I think I'm not alone when I say I'm feeling inspired, like more and more Americans, by the developments in the Middle East. It just might be our turn to be entirely fed up with the status quo.

We want clean, green energy for our future!

As the news from Japan about the extent of damage and death and misery unfolds, I'm also following closely the threat of nuclear emergency and the possibility of some degree of nuclear meltdown at one of the many nuclear power plants on the northern island.

In particular, this from a UK Guardian report jumped out at me:

"According to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Authority, 20% of the world's 442 working commercial nuclear power stations are in areas of "significant" seismic activity."

Full news report:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/13/nuclear-power-station-plans-criticised

These developments, whether they turn into a radioactive disaster for Japan or not, has very ominous implications for the United States. It also may provide important lessons for U.S. energy policy. Lessons that we should take directly to our elected leaders, both locally and nationally, to assert our rejection of nuclear power as an option to throw in the mix.

To those who say, "Wait! We need transition power options before the green energy options..." I say: baloney! It is the same arguments I heard in the late 1970s when I advocated for a clean, renewable energy transition for this country (and, indeed, the world!). The real holdup? The oil, gas, nuclear and coal industries that wine and dine their way into the hearts and minds of our elected leaders-- at the expense of the public interest. Now it is time to take our cue from the courageous protesters from the Middle East and insist on absolutely no compromise on what a vast majority of Americans want: a robust, more egalitarian economy powered by clean, renewable energy.

We have to hold our elected leaders' feet to the fire, figuratively speaking, of course! No more excuses. We have a magnificent nation of honest, caring, intelligent citizens and there is nothing we can't accomplish when we put our minds (and hearts) to it! Of that I have no doubt.

The possibilities are endless because my heart knows no bounds

New, new, new! Every day, and for that matter, every moment is new! Filled with new possibilities for growth, love, grace and renewal.

And let's not forget forgiveness...forgiveness of ourselves is the hardest, but every moment is a new chance to forgive ourselves and not be bound by what happened in the past. We always have an opportunity to say, 'I decide who I am today!'

You can decide not to be controlled or molded by the past. Not to forget the past, but decide who you want to be today. We have infinity inside of us, so anything you decide to be is right there where you can access it: inside yourself. Our most horrible nightmares are borne from believing the lie that we are chained to our past.