God
My heart is aching. My heart is aching for men and women all over the world who have ever been asked to kill for their country or their god.
On every medium I chance upon these days, there is some message urging support of our troops. Or support of our veterans. Or telling me of the horrible things veterans endured for my freedom. Or urging me to send money, letters, packages to active duty soldiers.
I watch television (I know, that might just be my first mistake, right?), and I see war, and violence and the glorification of dying for a “cause”. Every time I do, I see painfully accurate portrayals of what I have seen in my life. I see “that look” in the eyes of a man who has had to kill and who must bury what he really felt in order to survive. I see stories similar to when a friend of mine, after being home from Vietnam for a number of years, could not contain his secret within himself any longer…he had to unburden having videoed himself, as a gunner on a helicopter, shooting the “enemy”. I see television shows and movies putting on little “morality” plays over and over, laying out before us the real damage done by asking a person to harm another…most recently in the show “Homeland”, where a main character is actually relieved to be released from the torture in his mind from the things his country asked him to commit, and this relief shows on his face as he is hung in a public square. They show us these things over and over, but all that seems to stick is that it is good to die for your country, or your cause…the personal results are yours, as an individual, to deal with.
Then I look around and I see the literally wounded in my community. I see the statistics of the number of soldiers of recent conflicts suffering from a myriad of mental and physical diseases. I see stories of ex military snapping. I see the statistics of homeless veterans. I hear from a man who recruits for the Houston Police Department that they rarely recruit military any more because they are too damaged and too violent. I witnessed, as a juror in traffic court, a young man so traumatized by his tours in Afghanistan that even watching the video of being ticketed by a police officer caused him to tremble and fight back his tears…and this while on antidepressant and anti anxiety medication!
Fast forward from other times, from past conflicts, and I see aging veterans with military bumper stickers identifying the branch of the military they served in, and wearing baseball hats emblazoned with the war they served in whilst in military service. They join lodges, they have reunions of those with similar experiences…and, of course, they have to do this, because how else can they “speak” of the things that torture them, except by not having to speak at all, because all surrounding them know exactly what they know. It is also who they identify themselves as being, as powerfully as they identify themselves as being father, husband, son or daughter.
The United States (indeed, the world!) has done a good job of indoctrination. They have created a “brotherhood” (and now sisterhood), that lasts a lifetime. This brotherhood, in our current world, with relationships of all kind being ripped asunder…parents from children, husband from wife, teachers not trusted any longer…having one thing, one brotherhood, they can count on, is immensely appealing. I get that. The military teaches so many things, like discipline, selflessness, loyalty, patriotism, duty,…and that most illusive of all things, how to keep your room clean! I get that it seems to be necessary these days, but why? How is it that this mystique has been built up so successfully around killing and death? How has it become honorable to kill and die for your country?
What have we done?! What have we done to the young that one of the main bonding arenas in this world is found in institutions that promote these things? Why are we willing to sacrifice our young for patriotism? or money? or land? or God?
Further, why would I even consider asking someone to die for my freedom to be against killing…if I am not willing to stand, unarmed, passively, and die for what I believe. In other words, how can I ask someone to defend what I believe, by doing that in which I do not believe?
Because we believe it is what God does. Because we believe it is what God asks of us. “Onward Christian Soldiers” and jihad, might makes right, and all of the similar things that have been placed into our consciousness from the time we were little.
These soldiers are not monsters! They do what they do because they sincerely and completely believe they are doing the honorable thing. In fact, they ARE honorable…but are they being honorably informed and motivated? I do not believe so.
I think that we can certainly find evidence of new forms of information available to us, guiding us to our inner knowing of killing one another for “honor” of any kind is not our true nature, but we all tend to gravitate to what we know…after we have been told what we believe. Which means, to me, that we must inform the informers that their information is, as CWG says, incomplete.
Support and love the veteran now that he/she has given their gift to you…but give them a gift in return. Go to your places of worship and question out loud how a merciful, all loving, God would ever ask anyone to die for It. Ask yourself, consciously, how harming your child in any way, could ever be what God would ask of you, or direct you to do. Go to your schools and question the history books. Become involved in Spiritual Politics, requiring your elected representatives to have a broad understanding of Oneness. Suggest to elected officials that soldiers can be of “service” in many more ways than those requiring killing…natural disaster relief comes to mind.
Why? How is this your gift for their service? It is your gift, because you will refuse to ask their children to die.
I read an article recently about a pilot who, many years after his plane was shot down, met the man who shot him down. He ends the story of this reunion with this:
“There’s so much misunderstanding in the world resulting in unnecessary sorrow. Having…—a positive, joyful family—in my life has altered my perspective. It may sound trite, but if only there were a way for all the religious, cultural, and ethnic groups of the world to meet and get to know one another in a meaningful way—the way (he) and I have—how could we ever go to war again?”
Good question…how could we? Why do we? When will we give men and women something better to identify with for a lifetime?
(Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of, and Spiritual Helper at, the global website at www.cwghelpingoutreach.com She may be contacted at: Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)
Ahhh…good old, poor old, Justin Bieber. He has landed himself smack dab in the middle of the convergence of several double standards, hasn’t he?
Here’s my take…
On the one hand we raised him up, from the time he was little, and told him just how special he was. We told him that because he was so special, and did such a good job of entertaining us that he could do virtually anything he desired…and we were going to give him the money to do so!
Ooops! Then we told him that, despite the fact that there were surely people who knew exactly the behavior he was getting caught up in, it is not okay to do this thing. We love you, but there are invisible rules to the game that he should have just known don’t get covered and ignored because of his status as special!
At the same time he got special status, because he is so special, and got allowed, as a Canadian National, into the United States to work and live, so that now he gets to be the target/example/representative of what is wrong with American immigration and deportation policies.
Let’s not forget that because he is so special, and because he makes so much money and entertains us so well, it is entirely possible he will be treated in a manner very different than any other 19 year old citizen, but without money, in this country…and this is before throwing in that lovely wild card of skin color.
Wow! wouldn’t we all like to be so special?
Our relationship with celebrity (or anyone who we perceive as “successful”) reminds me of our relationship with God. In these cases WE are God…and we act as we have had demonstrated to us God acts.
So just what has been demonstrated of God’s love and approval to us?
First we are told how loved and lovable we are.
Then we act as if we are as we were told, lovable and perfect in the Creators eyes, and we experiment with Life to figure out who we are.
But then we cross that invisible line that says, whoa! you’re special, but not THAT special! Better watch out or there could be some pretty dramatic results in the end…eternal results!
So, we give being special another go, but we keep an eye out for where that invisible line is, because we now know it is there…and, even though we don’t know it is what we are feeling, we are feeling just a little bit less special every time we stumble upon that line with God, and risk damnation with our next move.
This is the little play we act out with people like Justin Bieber, or any of the others in the news lately. We love to play God, and have the opportunity, finally, to be the one condemning rather than being the condemned.
Here’s a twist, however…I have no problem with anyone “playing God”! The problem I have is with how the part of God gets played by we Humans most of the time! Yes, I capitalized “Human” in the same sentence as “God”. I happen to believe we are individuations of the Divine, which gives us the opportunity to actually use our Humanity in a Divine manner. We are not doing so.
All of that aside, in my view, all that we consider “entertaining” is actually nothing more than “diverting”. Turning our attention away from something to something else. We hand our power to something other than ourselves.
I think it is obvious what our attention is turned to, but from what? At its core, quite simply, away from ourselves…away from our own thoughts, and our own Love. We place it all outside of ourselves, and we reach out to find what will fill us, instead of looking in, with gratitude, at the great gift of this human experience that has been provided by Divinity.
The outside is great! If we view it all through the eyes of our Divine connection. So let’s go one more step…let’s look at Justin Bieber as part of that Divine connection, and even while we notice what isn’t working in his life, love all that he is…because we did co-create the circumstances that resulted in this moment, didn’t we?
(Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of the global website at www.cwghelpingoutreach.com She may be contacted at: Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)
Did you know that there are approximately 30 high schools located in the U.S. whose mission it is to enroll students committed to being abstinent from alcohol and other drugs and working a program of recovery? These recovery high schools understand that in order to create and sustain long-lasting positive change in these young adults’ lives, their recovery process must be supported by an environment which nurtures those choices and continues to provide ongoing peer mentoring and social acceptance.
Did you know there is an entire educational movement called Unschooling? According to Allen Ellis, 23, a former Unschooling attendee, “Unschooling is an exciting alternative to contemporary schooling that empowers students to create their own education. Much like homeschooling, families are free to explore opportunities outside of the public school system, and even outside of the curriculums that many homeschoolers use. Unschoolers pursue their interest of the moment, and in the process find their passions of a lifetime. Conversations with God, Book II talks about a new education system which is based on the values of awareness, honesty, and responsibility; a system that teaches the student to think critically, come to their own conclusions, and gives them a sense of “unlimitedness.” Unschoolers have been doing this for decades in our modern era, and humanity has been doing this in a sense for our entire history. Babies “unschool” themselves in learning how to talk and walk: Unschooling families simply let their children unschool the rest of life, too.”
Did you know that there are approximately 1,000 schools located throughout 60 countries in the world which operate under the Waldorf Education model? This program is an extraordinarily unique educational experience which, according to their website, “Is based on a profound understanding of human development; provides a detailed, richly artistic curriculum that responds to and enhances the child’s developmental phases, from early childhood through high school; cultivates social and emotional intelligence; connects children to nature; ignites passion for lifelong learning; and is the fastest growing educational movement in the world. For the Waldorf student, music, dance, and theater, writing, literature, legends and myths are not simply subjects to be read about, ingested and tested. They are experienced. Through these experiences, Waldorf students cultivate a lifelong love of learning as well as the intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual capacities to be individuals certain of their paths and to be of service to the world.”
Of course, these three examples are only a handful of some of forward-thinking, mold-breaking, sameness-shattering groups of people on our planet who are no longer accepting status quo as good enough for the youth in our world. It’s not difficult to follow the dotted lines and grasp the idea that each next generation becomes humanity’s next decision-makers. So if we want to keep seeing more of what we have now, I guess it makes perfect sense to continue siphoning our children through the same narrow educational funnel that we currently filter them through. But if we are expecting different results, if we are looking to experience some truly significant changes not only in the way our society functions, but in the way it thrives, isn’t it time to at least consider a different approach to our educational system?
But what does that different approach look like? What kind of educational system will the masses embrace if it doesn’t sustain itself on a platform of students memorizing dates and achieving 4.00 grade point averages and sitting in overcrowded classrooms and filling their heads with arbitrary facts in order to pass “standardized tests” which are taught by underpaid teachers?
The news is saturated with daunting stories of bullying, teen suicide, school shootings, teen pregnancy, rampant drug use, eating disorders, drinking, depression, and social anxiety. Aren’t these painful symptoms enough for us to collectively stand up and declare that the way we are currently doing this clearly isn’t working? How many more bricks do we need to hit us in the head before we are finally willing to try something different?
Will there ever be a day when the God of each individual person’s understanding will be allowed in school? Will discussions about spirituality ever be as commonplace as saying the Pledge of Allegiance? Will students ever be able to engage in the kinds of conversations we here on The Global Conversation enjoy, conversations about God, about Life, about Who We Really Are? Could this be the biggest missing piece of the puzzle, the freedom and opportunity for our children to express their deepest thoughts and to hear, really hear, the deepest thoughts of their peers in an environment which creates the space for them to do so? Can we imagine a framework which operates not in the spirit of obtaining sameness or achieving conformity, but in the spirit of developing spiritual awareness and experiencing love without conditions, a system which creates real choices and true freedom?
Could this ever work?
Are we willing to even try?
(Lisa McCormack is a Feature Editor at The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)
At 12:19 two lives in my community changed forever. One 17-year-old dead and another 17-year-old under house arrest, charged with intoxicated homicide while driving.
Intoxicated. Tested an hour after the crash and still three times the legal limit. Allegedly, her step-father gave her the alcohol. Allegedly, the young man’s grandmother, with whom he lived, was at a club, and his parents lost in their own addictions.
Men in many countries not considered good businessmen if they don’t go out and drink in the evening.
The apartment across from me installed their wine refrigerator weeks before they moved their furniture in when I lived in Denmark.
The examples of how alcohol has become a pillar of many cultures are boundless.
How can this happen? What are we doing to ourselves?
All around the “civilized” world, it is considered not just acceptable, but encouraged; and if one does not drink, you are suspect.
CWG says that nothing is wrong, only not working, and it is up to us to decide if it is working for us. God says that one day we will simply choose to not abuse our bodies with drink, drugs and food that doesn’t belong in our bodies. God also says that if we destroy the world as we know it, the world will still go on…just in a different way.
The 17-year-olds’ worlds have been destroyed and will now have to go on in a very different way. Life after life is being destroyed because of alcohol, but why?
How many beer/alcohol commercials are there during sporting events? Do watchers not see that this is in direct conflict with the healthy bodies they expect the athletes to maintain? Why are they surprised and outraged when an athlete gets into a fight in a bar and shoots someone? Why are they surprised when they take performance-enhancing drugs? Are they really worse than the legal drug of alcohol? As CWG says, helping someone who is on their deathbed die with dignity and releasing them from pain is illegal…but killing yourself (and possibly taking others with you) slowly, because it is legal, is perfectly acceptable. Huh?
I believe CWG is correct, once again, in saying it is because we do not know who we are, or are not taught it is okay to be who we really are. I believe it is because we are afraid of our greatness. If we didn’t medicate and actually faced the world as it is, what might change? Do you think that we would like what we see? Do you think that we might choose not to destroy our bodies, and our minds, and possibly our world?
If we took back our greatness…if we saw ourselves as individuations of the Divine…do you think we might see that we have become part of a collective Stockholm Syndrome? Will we see we have fallen in love with the very thing that enslaves us?
What do you think, beyond words, might be done to change this, to influence the collective, by us as individuals? I will throw out the first ideas…
Change the channel.
Or don’t drink…it is a choice, not an addiction, for the biggest majority of us.
Or write your television station requesting such ads be removed…it worked to remove tobacco ads from TV in the United States.
There are so many things I can think of that could begin to change this way of being in this world…tell me what ideas you can think of…
Tell me what you are already doing and how you are already demonstrating your greatness! Maybe others will follow if they know they are not alone.
(Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of, and Spiritual Helper at, the global website at www.cwghelpingoutreach.com She may be contacted at: Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)
I find myself engulfed in footage of the day that shook our country to its core; 9/11/01. Every year at this time, I watch the videos, listen to the phone calls, and remember where I was on that grim day. For many of us, we can close our eyes and bring ourselves right back to that horrific morning.
Usually, feelings of sadness and empathy would rise to the surface and display themselves in tears rolling down my cheeks. The images always seemed dark, full of death and despair, and mainly… evil. This year, as I watch that day play out again on my television, I see and feel something totally different. What is it?
Truth is… I watch and I see God (Why hadn’t I seen Him in there before?) I watch and I feel love.
Here’s the thing, we were all affected on ‘that’ day, but how we reacted was simply amazing. Society came together in the name of love. We became a city, a country, filled with strangers rushing to help strangers. A massive web of support. The word ‘Family’ took on a whole new meaning. As we hugged our own spouses/children/parents as tight as possible, we also opened our arms to our neighbors. Kisses, tears, appreciation and gratitude poured out of our hearts, sometimes uncontrollably.
We ran to find ways to help our neighbors. We jumped in line to donate blood. We adorned our homes, our cars, our offices with ribbons. Everywhere you looked, you saw the American Flag waving high and strong.
Our lives stopped.
We became quiet.
Strangers became friends.
Cities became communities.
God appeared in our actions.
9/11, although tragic, ignited a fire of love in each and every one of our souls. A love, unfortunately, too soon forgotten. So, as I sit remembering, I choose not to cry but rather bow my head in prayer. I ask you to join me.
I pray that one day our country, our world, will come together in the name of love. I pray that we will once again be able to look at strangers as the precious lives they are. I pray that, without hesitation, we will rush to aid our neighbors in their time of need and that they will rush to us in ours.
I pray it won’t take another crisis to make it happen.
I pray for love.
And most importantly…
I pray for you.
(Jaimie Schultz , a/k/a Pajamas, is a fun-loving, passionate, adventure seeker who loves life and loves helping others see how much they should love theirs. She is passionate about all things mystical and out of her control. You can visit her website at www.pajamasnotebook.com)
(If you would like to contribute an article you have authored to the Guest Column, please submit it to our Managing Editor, Lisa McCormack, for possible publication in this space. Not all submissions can be published, due to the number of submissions and sometimes because of other content considerations, but all are encouraged. Send submissions to Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com. Please label the topic: “Guest Column.”)
With the ending of summer, teenagers everywhere are focused on getting in the last minute trip to the beach, back to school shopping, and savoring the final days of pure laziness. But as we focus on these activities, we often forget the most important of them all: having a direct conversation with God. Period.
As for those of us already immersed in the God-being experience, this post should serve as a healthy reminder to remain connected to the highest source possible. There is always another mystery, another light, another piece of knowledge to be understood. So, if you understand, please continue to expand and explore your relationship to the Universe and to Divine Oneness.
But for those who think that this sounds strange…
Now, I know that some of us out there have doubts about this whole ‘talking’ idea. Most of us, through whatever religious vehicle that our parents have driven into us, think of God as something inaccessible and far, far, far above our limited understanding. Further, some of us even think that only other highly spiritual people, such as Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad, and Neale (obviously), can possibly participate in such a sacred activity. But…..That is a lie. Period.
The honest truth is….
ANYONE AT ANY POINT OF THEIR LIFE CAN TALK TO GOD AT ANYTIME.
Do I need to repeat that for you?
We don’t need a median. We don’t need a prophet. We don’t need a preacher. All we need is an enlightened mind, an energized body, an earnest heart, and an elevated soul (thanks again Neale). But don’t worry. It IS easier than it sounds.
If you are too instilled in religious anthropomorphism of ‘God’ as ‘The Old Man Judging Us In The Sky’, then think of it as a conversation with the Universe, the Over-Soul, the Infinite Being, the Complete Oneness, or what you feel the deepest connection with.
If you don’t feel a connection on the spiritual level, you are going to have a problem.
So it sounds a little (or extremely) intimidating. We often wonder what we would say to God if given the chance, but what will we do when we actually do? Will we say the wrong thing or embarrass ourselves? Will we ask too much and be disappointed? And most daunting…
Will we be judged for what we asked, and thought of as a lesser being?
Nope. Not at all. Nowhere even close to that.
ASK GOD ANYTHING. Really, it’s okay.
Talking with God – about ANYTHING – is talking from your highest intentions and listening from your sincerest gratitude. There is no judgment, there is just what you choose to create on the deepest and most intimate level possible. Besides being a way to resolve all tension, distress, and worry in your life, it talking to God also simply recreates the all-too-forgotten that there is meaning for everything in the Universe. But to make it easy, let’s take a look at this from the two levels:
+ Talking from Your Highest Intentions: The true Dictionary Definition of the word ‘communion’ is “the act of sharing one’s thoughts and emotions with deep understanding in intimate converse”. There is nothing to fear, there is nothing to hide; it is all a part of infinite consciousness anyways. Unveil your deepest intentions, to God and also to yourself. When the individual consciousness in you speaks directly with the collective conscious of the universe, it is all in the deepest and purest mutual understanding on the most intimate level possible.
+ Listening From Your Sincerest Gratitude: In order to effectively communicate in ANY setting, one must also listen just as deeply as they speak. Open yourself to the universe – even if it means that your current way of thinking may be exposed to be erroneous. To enhance the harmony of life, we must listen for the melody that underlies it all. Being willing to stop our own internal chatter, we also recognize our own gratefulness for everything that the universe has provided us. Whether it was challenges to stimulate our spiritual development or the experience of love in its highest form, we are always in a state of enduring awe. As we communicate with God, our awe for life itself grows ever more apparent.
So go out there, and have your communion elevated to the highest level. For the majority of people, (Neale and myself included), the easiest form of communication is through writing. Literally, with the salutation, closing, and all the rest. Just try it and see what happens when you start writing back. One thing I have observed from my own Conversations…
“Writing this weekly column is God living through me, but writing to God is God living within me.”
Though both experiences manifest our creative talents into the universe, they each let us understand a very different part of ourselves. With artistic expression, we are not always honest with our intentions. With spiritual expression, we remain forever open and truthful with our highest purpose. Make sense?
I know this site has been founded by the book series Conversations With God. BUT too many of us still read it and think only of how lucky Neale was to have access to this experience. When we go beyond simply just thinking ‘That’s a wonderful idea…for others to experience’ to ‘This is something that I consciously choose to experience as a part of my daily life’, then that’s when we CHANGE. That’s when society CHANGES. That’s when the human race CHANGES.
To ONENESS, to BEINGNESS, to LIGHT, to LOVE, to TRULY UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT.
And really, for the deepest questions in life, who else would you ask?
(Lauren is a Feature Editor of The Global Conversation. She lives in Wood Dale, IL, and can be reached at Lauren@TheGlobalConversation.com)
As I listen to the podcasts of Neale Donald Walsch’s “Living from Your Soul,” I experience two feelings, that of gratitude for the course itself and anticipation for the next one, not least because it is the word experience that distinguishes this course from others I have attended, where regardless of how I had come to know my soul, its direct experience had so far eluded me.
There was no hiding my disappointment, especially from myself, of how the years studying Philosophy had led to nothing more than a vague understanding of how certain traditions view their own version of God. In retrospect, regardless of the enthusiasm with which I engaged with the knowledge presented to me, frustration invariably set in as I found myself stuck yet again in the academic cul-de-sac, a place where the obsession with intellectualizing upon the idea of God overshadowed any possibility of experiencing a direct relationship with Her.
So I looked toward those disciplines that acknowledge the role of experience, rather than an intellectual ‘knowing,’ at which point transpersonal psychology and shamanism became my new interest. Moving from the head and into my heart I started to believe that a direct experience of God was possible for everyone, not just the chosen few saints, martyrs and gurus whose lives of self-denial would turn even the most enthusiastic truth seeker off the prospect of a divine experience. That is not to say that such people did not achieve an experience, but to necessarily associate this type of lifestyle with a direct experience of God is narrow and limited in the extreme.
This is where it gets confusing, but it is also where the teachings of “Living from your Soul” comes into play by challenging the idea that suffering must precede an experience of the Divine, rather we are offered the alternative, that in order to engage with God all we need to do is to express those behaviours that are Godlike. In hindsight then, it appears that there is no need for suffering at all, no denial of the fundamentals of our humanity or the need to follow a particular belief system. For these reasons, a direct experience of the divine becomes an attractive option that is available to all of us.
(Gemma Phelan lives in Ireland where she works as an editor. She is also the author of “A Different Understanding,” a book which explores alternative ways of looking at the world.)
(If you would like to contribute an article you have authored to the Guest Column, please submit it to our Managing Editor, Lisa McCormack, for possible publication in this space. Not all submissions can be published, due to the number of submissions and sometimes because of other content considerations, but all are encouraged. Send submissions to Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com. Please label the topic: “Guest Column.”)
When I was young and in Catholic school I had a teacher state many times over that the Bible tells us the world will end when we all are of ‘ONE’ mind. She usually stated this after some kind of squabble or upset, and then she would add, so I guess the world is not ending today. As a child I pondered those words often.
How could it ever be that all of humankind be of ONE mind? We are all so different, I used to think. But lately I have gained a new perspective on the subject. You see, to this day I still ponder those words. I have been on an inward journey for many years to get as close to the source of creation as humanly possible. God is the term I use. This quest has brought me many surprises along with inner peace and joy.
Meditation has changed my perception of who we are as a race. Because of my own life experience, I know firsthand that there is a difference between knowledge and experience. We can gain knowledge through education, but it is our individual experience that gives us full understanding. We do not know what we don’t know until we finally do know and understand.
Here is some insight I have gained. There is only ONE mind. The Divine Mind, or the Divine Matrix, as some say. Think of each human as a single cell of a one body. Each cell (human person) is part of the whole body, and each human cell is here to experience different pieces of the life puzzle to gain and fully understand all the possibilities. Imagine a baby growing in a mother’s womb. So many various organs growing at the same time until the brain functions take over and all organs are connected and begin to function as one human body. Each cell is unique and whole but all cells are connected by the ONE body. The cells function individually yet at the same time are functioning as ONE. Once all cells become aware of the ONENESS, the baby is ready to leave the womb.
Mankind has grown to the point where many people now realize we are all connected. Our subconscious minds are one and the same. We are at a point where we have the knowledge and experience to move forward as One Being, we only need the awareness to realize we are all God because there is nothing that exists that is outside of God. We are ready to be born as One Being. The time has come to help each other. We have the understanding now and the strong need to help the weak cells. If one person suffers, the rest of us cannot live in peace. We can only evolve together as One Being, One mind, One body. United, we survive.
Live Happy! Happiness comes from being who you are and showing your true colors. Your light is needed to guide the others. We are in this together, and only together will our planet, our world move on. We are the ONE.
(Terri Lynn is an expert at choosing happiness and using the Divine navigation system which she shares in her first book Journey to my Soul. Currently, Terri is Sales Manager at Otto’s BMW in West Chester, Pa. where she motivates and coaches the sales team. Her intention is to share with others the importance of putting happiness first. She shares her thoughts on her website – Terri Lynn’s Happy Talk. Terri resides in Newtown Square, Pa.)
(If you would like to contribute an article you have authored to the Guest Column, please submit it to our Managing Editor, Lisa McCormack, for possible publication in this space. Not all submissions can be published, due to the number of submissions and sometimes because of other content considerations, but all are encouraged. Send submissions to Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com. Please label the topic: “Guest Column.”)
I am a big supporter of the locavore movement. It makes sense that wherever you live, everything you need to thrive can be grown right where you are – so why truck in food from thousands of miles away, thus leaving a huge carbon footprint? An arctic native wouldn’t have much use for fresh pineapple every day, and I doubt that equatorial folks would thrive well on whale meat and fat. Assuming that everything we need is or can be available where we are, what are we meant to use for medicine? To answer that question, I took a look at farmer’s markets across the USA and Canada last year. Your medicine is right in front of you, ready for you to take home!
One food we ignore the most with the highest health price to pay is any kind of greens. We know we need vegetables, but do you count french fries as a vegetable serving? We need vegetables of all colors. But we especially need dark green leafy vegetables.
Greens contain tons of vitamins and minerals. Greens help detoxify your blood, prevent cancer and other disease. Greens are good for liver function and help build a health intestinal flora. Greens help keep your system alkaline, therefore creating an environment in which bad bacteria and diseases like cancer can’t stand!
The best greens are kale, cabbages, broccoli, dandelion and mustard greens, arugula, swiss chard, spinach, and beet greens. If you like lettuce, stick with the dark green, red, or purple kinds! While iceberg lettuce is sort of green, it really doesn’t have the nutritional value of deeply colored greens, so don’t count restaurant salads and condiments that include iceberg lettuce as a green.
You need to eat greens with every meal. You can add spinach or spring mix to your breakfast smoothie and you won’t even know it is there. Get adventurous and make green smoothies with kale and spinach! If you eat scrambled eggs, serve them on a bed of greens, or throw the greens in for the last few minutes of cooking time! At lunch you can add greens to your sandwiches and wraps, or add a handful to your soup! Choose greens instead of other filling items at restaurants and you will naturally leave behind less healthy foods such as potatoes, starches, breads, and white rice.
When a patient becomes sick, one of the first things a doctor will prescribe is folic acid. Folic acid is nothing more than the synthetic version of folate. Folate comes from the Latin word “folium” which means leaves! You can avoid medical visits in the future by just adding the greens now so you won’t be prescribed the synthetic version later!
I wonder what kind of medicine God would want us to take. It makes sense that everything we need has been put here for us for a reason and within our reach naturally. God inspired Hippocrates when he said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Eat your greens.
(Beth Anderson is a certified Holistic Health Coach and founder of the Holistic Health Hotspot in Evansville, Indiana. She is also the author of “The Holistic Diet: Achieve Your Ideal Weight, Be Happy and Healthy for Life.” Beth received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She is a speaker and also presents workshops on health and nutrition topics. Beth offers in-person and phone consultations – contact her through email or Facebook for more information. You can find Beth on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HolisticHealthHotspot or email her at beth@holistichealthhotspot.com)
If God created the universe in six days, and on the seventh day he rested, can God also fix the universe in a week, or less? Rhetorical questions and doomsday predictions aside, the 7 billion people occupying earth are all sinners and saints in global sustainability. As much as we don’t like to admit it, humans are an imperfect species, particularly in our relationship with the natural world. However, it is understood that the fate of the natural world and of our own are one in the same. The fundamental element of the universe (as “we” know it) is “people” and our ability to work together, or at odds with each other, toward a purpose-driven life and global society.
Being able to think beyond ourselves requires patience, humility, a strong capacity for listening and learning, and an ability to separate ego from our true “self.” Sustainability, then, is very much tied to spirituality, and how we choose to embrace, or not, our journey of self-discovery, enlightenment, and living life with sense of purpose. Understanding that spirituality goes beyond the practice of religion, and that we all are part of a generation living within a context of time and fate which is requiring more accountability from each of us, is a perspective toward how people can begin to embrace sustainability from personal point of view.
I have been a sinner, and I remain far from being a saint. However, I feel an obligation to live a life with a strong sense of purpose, passion, and balance. In doing so, I hope that my life will show more good deeds than bad in its final ledger. My personal passion is to help others find their role, as citizens and consumers, in creating a more sustainable world. While I may be passionate about sustainability, I am not naïve. For example I don’t believe that “sustainability” can ever be fully reached, in part because there is not one singular definition to what it is, and because our the needs of our generation are always in flux, changing as we age and mature throughout life.
Further, there are as many definitions of “sustainability” as there are people, 7 billion and counting! And for each of us, sustainability means something different, and manifests itself in our daily lives in unique ways. For example, who says and controls what sustainability is, or isn’t? For some people the gift of living another day is “sustainability.” For others, sustainability is a desired utopian state yet to be achieved. Whether it is a state of mind, an oasis in the sand, or a physical realization of perfection, sustainability can seem to be a far away land from where society now resides. The “Arab Spring,” “Occupy Movement,” and “London Riots” represent recent reflections within society of our distance from each other, and sustainability.
But, amid all of the chaos the “24-7” news cycle would like us to absorb, we should not be discouraged from trying to get there. As much as it may seem ludicrous to have God “clean up our messes,” it should be equally as absurd for our generation to push social, economic, and environmental challenges onto our children and future generations. Kicking the proverbial “can down the road” will only perpetuate the sinners in each of us. And, to succeed as a societal “norm,” sustainability cannot be dictated, mandated, or regulated.
Our generation should be grateful for the world we occupy and in its current state, with all its distorted warts, bumps, and bruises. Gratefulness is a lost virtue, and one that challenges our capacity to flourish in life. In gratefulness toward the world, we need to rediscover what it means to be selfless stewards of the earth, and friends to each other. At its core, sustainability is about how humans interface with each other and the natural world, and in a manner that has us consider not only our needs today, but it also challenges us think beyond ourselves toward the needs of future generations. That requires selflessness, gratefulness, and mindfulness. The act of working toward “sustainability” will require that each of us choose to be personally accountable to our individual lifestyles, and that we collaborate as conscious citizens and consumers, on achieving more of those “good deeds.”
In the past year there has been a great deal of focus in the U.S. and in Europe on the financial crisis, and the “fiscal cliff.” There is no doubt that the state of the global economy is in turmoil and our financial futures very uncertain. The financial markets have seen sinners and saints in the past decade. Sinners have laundered billions, ruined lives of many, and negatively impacted global economies. Saints have begun to redefine the object of money and wealth, and are creatively working on business models that can be a win-win for people’s pocketbooks and for the planet. But finance is but one aspect of the challenges before the world’s sinners and saints. If a fiscal crisis does not crush this generation’s sense of entitlement, a sustainability crisis will. For far too long, the consumption-driven model of developed nations has lived with a sense of entitlement over natural resources and the natural world. Given this one must ask, in doing so, we have created too much distance between what God created 4.6 billion years ago and what we consume during our “24-7” hectic lifestyles to fully appreciate the true value of life?
Our notion of success and what it means to be responsible stewards of the planet might not truly align with the “developed world” that has been created. We are no longer dreamers, doers, or creators. We are consumers first, and “fixers” of the holes we created from our consumptive lifestyle second. In this self-defeating model of evolution the holes we dig are only get wider and deeper, and our ability to “patch and fix” our troubles less plausible. This gets back to the fundamental element which driver our capacity to be sustainable: people. The common denominator to a more or less sustainable world is “you, me, and we.” We must relearn what it means to be grateful for a world of bounty and beauty. We must also recognize that there is richness to life, beyond what we consume, that can bring meaning and pleasure to us as individuals, and as an entire generation.
As individuals, we are the stewards of our own lifestyles. We have the power to make decisions that impact our health, spirituality, and sense of self. The equation for a more sustainable world is complex, and there is a certain amount of sinners and saints in each of us. The challenges impacting our generation mount as competition for the world’s energy, water, food, and other natural resources intensifies. Global competition is causing disruption and challenge in our economy, environment, and throughout society. As much as we should be grateful for the bounty and beauty of the world, we should equally be grateful for the life and wisdom of each other.
As individuals, and as a generation, we do not have to fall victim to negative behaviors and influences within society, or events which impact the world. “You, me, and we” are the “Sustainability Generation” living in the here and now, and that can take action toward a more civil, balanced, and accountable world. By discovering who we are as individuals, and being accountable in roles as parents, citizens, friends, neighbors, teachers, and leaders we can lead a purpose-driven, productive, and sustainable life. And, by better understanding our sense of self, and our views on spirituality, we can collectively become better stewards of our individual behaviors, our interactions with each other, and our generational impact on the earth. Let’s begin by being grateful that as individuals, and as an entire generation, we are lucky enough to continue to have the ability to have choices for our future. We should also recognize that we can deliberately choose the path of a sinner, or that of a saint, in our gift of life.
(Mark Coleman is the author of the book “The Sustainability Generation: The Politics of Change and Why Personal Accountability is Essential NOW!” Visit his website here: www.thesustainabilitygeneration.com. Throughout his career Mark Coleman has developed a strong focus on the critical areas of energy, environment, and sustainability. His career has spanned strategic and leadership positions in government, applied research, technology development, and management consulting organizations. This rich and diverse experience has enabled Mr. Coleman to have access to, engage, and work with a broad range of regional, national, and international leaders on the subject of sustainability. Mr. Coleman resides in Auburn, NY with his wife Aileen and two sons Owen and Neal.)
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