Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Love's Threshing-Floor

"When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you, yield to him, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste to the garden. For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.

Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, so shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself. He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, then is is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears."
~ Kahlil Gibran from _The Prophet_

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Loss v. What is

For what reason was I so focused on what I thought I would lose if I/we didn't "do it a certain way" rather than focused on what I/we have and what it makes possible?

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Political Cartoon

caption: "I keep thinking we should include something in the Constitution in case the people elect a fucking moron."

Friday, October 10, 2008

change

how do we transcend our current level of development and evolve
in a way that is most wholesome for the most number of people
while ALSO including all the elements of tradition that help
define who we are?

Monday, October 06, 2008

Humor: Investment Advice

With all the turmoil in the market today and the collapse of Lehman Bros and acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America this might be some good advice. For all of you with any money left, be aware of the next expected mergers so that you can get in on the ground floor and make some big bucks.

Watch for these consolidations in later this year:
1.) Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W R. Grace Co. Will merge and become:
Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace.

2.) Polygram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces and become:
Poly, Warner Cracker.

3.) 3M will merge with Goodyear and become:
MMMGood.

4. Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will merge and become:
ZipAudiDoDa .

5. FedEx is expected to join its competitor, UPS, and become:
FedUP.

6. Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become:
Fairwell Honeychild.

7. Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become:
PouponPants.

8. Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will become:
Knott NOW!

And finally...

9. Victoria's Secret and Smith &Wesson will merge under the new name:
Titty Titty Bang Bang.

Friday, October 03, 2008

A Political joke you can enjoy no matter who you prefer!

Montana Cowboy
A Montana cowboy was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"

The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with e-mail on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the
cowboy.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why
not? You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government," says the cowboy.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required," answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows, this is a herd of sheep.

"Now give me back my dog."

Thursday, October 02, 2008

The real difference between liberals and conservatives: Jonathan Haidt on TED.com

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies the five moral values that form the basis of our political choices, whether we're left, right or center. In this eye-opening talk, he pinpoints the moral values that liberals and conservatives tend to honor most. And he challenges all of us to step outside of our moral Matrix and pledge to work toward a more civil, productive political process. (Recorded February 2008 in Monterey, California. Duration: 18:42.)

The real difference between liberals and conservatives: Jonathan Haidt on TED.com

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Life and Death

I saw a friend in the hospital yesterday who went to the emergency room around noon and was in ICU for a good portion of the afternoon.

It brought up some things for me about life and death.

I have noticed that I'm most comfortable with my own death -- witnessing the loss of another... Egads, that just is much rougher for me. I have come the point in my life and literally had moments walking down the street or in my home thinking, "I would be completely at peace if I died." At least at peace in terms of who I am, what I have done and what I have created and how I have impacted the planet.

When I'm not at peace with my own death, I notice what I fear most is leaving this planet without having left people knowing how much they have changed my life and world. We're all connected and I think about what that connection does for me/you/us and I felt compelled to say this here:

Thanks for all the ways in which you have shown up in my life and in this world. I have become a better, wiser, stronger, more centered being because of the conversations with you over the years and being reflected by you as we all evolve.

I thank you for your sharing too. To witness you (to whatever degree you allow) in your process also fosters my faith in Tribes, community and supporting each other in this life and has me ease into the idea of my own death with much more grace.

Sending you all the healthiest blessings and wishing this moment is better than the last and each moment moving forward holds the same fate.
...isa