Mosaics in Time

MOSAICS IN TIME

A CHURCH IS A GREENHOUSE FOR THE GROWTH
OF SPIRITUAL QUALITIES

MOSAICS IN TIME


I know that Peace is a possibility and so is Love and that if we take a
mirror to our souls we may find some nice places to dwell in. For the Inheritance of Peace is rolling hills and spring-fed valleys and the
Inheritance of Love is a City of Friends with gemstones of beauty making the walls.
Thoughts are roads which travel to destinations
Ideas are people who express worthily or unworthily some of the qualities of God.
Who is in God's family if not: Peace Persons
Love-Persons
Joy-Persons
Forgiveness People Grateful Persons Life-givers
Humble Persons Repentant Sinners Strong Persons
People of Virtue Etc.
Therefore religion is not a set of rules but qualities of soul; these qualities already existent in a latent state.
To those willing to be Kind Persons, a book by a growing wisdom person in the hope that you may acquire Joy, Peace and Love
Be proud of yourself
And humble before God
People who seek prestige are often jealous of other people's Goodness or honors.
Goodness is not a contest; it is simply a wholesome variety.
Cornflakes, Raisin Bran and Special K may all be wholesome cereals That is the reason that there is a place for each of them on the market.
A garden contains geraniums, petunias, snowdrops and chrysanthemums. All are wholesome and beautiful flowers.
So out of one quality: wholesomeness, many types of worthwhile persons.
To love goodness is to consider what is right
To love a person may not mean to do everything that they say.
God may favor His friends as man favor's his.
A stone you can kick, throw, and stab and it will not break. God made rain showers and soft, velvety, flowers as well as stones. Wherefore does Canada make its business turning stones into flowers and rainclouds into stones?
When an enemy strikes pray for that one to be righteous and fulfilled in righteousness. If he persists in evildoing make sure that he becomes righteous by force.
Life is a set of tools on a workbench The Creator, it is He who is Master God will tea11 me to build my life
Reverence is the first lesson of life
Reverence not only for life itself but for God who created it And reverence for one another.
Treat other people with what they would like for themselves and not necessarily with what you would like for yourself
If we cannot meet one another's needs can we lead each other to God and to the people who can meet those needs?
There must be an answer to everyone somewhere in the universe
I must prepare myself to get my needs met
If I must choose identities I choose myself. But I choose a greater self than who I have been. I choose the best which is to come out of me. Therefore I cannot be you, yourself. Nor can I be remade by you as a manufactured item. Out of response to what God tells me I am a better me.
A person who is about goodness may fail in being truly good but they fail with the right love and the right intentions.
A good person is one who desires strongly to be good And not one who does not make mistakes.
Life is need and fulfillment
Some of us err in finding ways to meet our needs Depriving others we gain only a day before disaster.
Those who are well-off are also responsible to help those without opportunity or help.
They must share now or become as poor later on themselves
God is Him Self an answer to a deeper need
The Provider of the physical answers our souls as well
One who is forced to do ill towards others
Should secretly do much good in their spare time
Thereby are lives sacrificed for the sake of other people's lives 'Even the religious know this
Not an untouchable in his slum or a devil in hell who as not payed in some way
For the rights of others to enjoy heaven
Therefore attempts must be made to liberate the slums and the hells Lest the greater saints be found there.
Love is a spontaneous desire to ennoble and sympathize and is in itself a kind of wholesomeness, purity and goodness
Those who fail to feel nurtured, secure or mature in love may fail to give a wholesome Love yet Love of any real, genuine nature is not to be discarded: it is as a gemstone in a hunk of ore with the ore still to be removed or as a wildflower by the mountainside, beautiful though it is untamed and not grown in gardens
Love only asks where you are that I may be with you
Love seeks to give heaven and to rescue from hell.
Love is sacred, yet not as God is sacred. It is sacred before the greater Love of God who lends us a share; God loaning Himself to us in our experience of caring for each other.
Love says: "You complete myself that I may likewise complete and fulfill you."
Someone has to start loving first.
Sometimes we have to give constant love over a period of time before it is reciprocated by the other persons.
There is the love which is quiet and abiding
There is the wild storm of passionate love
There is sexual love
And love which is platonic
And love which is both sexual and spiritual
There is love which is peacemaking, wishing both sides well
And the love which is violent in order to protect the beings of one's affection.
There is self-love
And the love which says: "I must be true to you in order to be true to myself"
There is love which acts in justice; as a mirror showing you you.
There is love which says; "I wanted you and can't have you because of your bad "karma" (Karma being a series of bad deeds or good deeds acquiesce
acquiring an inheritance) Therefore even though you sin I love you and want you anyway.
Because you are my friend I fear to lose you
I still see the good in you.
Love seeks and saves that which is lost
Love tries to give everyone something.
Yet reserves its best for those who give it the most. Love may be unrequited by one
But fulfilled by another from an unexpected source.
We respect the relationships of others As we command respect for our own.

GOD IS LOVE.

First of all Joy
Then sorrow
Peace
Then fear
Love
Then hatred or loss
Wisdom
Then folly
Forgiveness:
Then resurrection of all divine gifts:
Love
Joy
Peace
and
Wisdom

PRAYER:

For the rising of love within all human hearts
As we give love in service and in charity
For the forgiveness of sins by the blood of the new covenant
Which is caring
For the renewal of friendship and healing
And the spiritual joys to be awakened each in its time
For the rest of peace and of starlight in the interior realms Thanksgiving be to God Most High
Now and forever.
Amen.
"I AM THAT I AM"
There are many beings here and to be is an Idea as it is Person hood
The Great Unknown becomes "I am a fish" "I am a bird" "I am a tree" "I am a man" "I am a rebel" "I am female" "I am a child" "I am kind" "I am an animal" "I am old" "I am intelligent" "I am love" Yet "I AM THAT I AM" OR "I AM WHO I AM"
It is no doubt possible for us in God to become any identity that we wish. God, who is formless identity takes on form by becoming each of us. God creates His creation as parts of Him Self, then sets us free. Now the secret of creation is the togetherness, separateness between identities; we fight wars, we sleep in each other's arms. Eventually we find God as One Spirit in all of us, the "I AM THAT I AM" who is beyond our separate identities. Yet we each travel the road of life with something of God in us, as assuredly as the water,I the air and the light are in us. We must try each one to be someone in life whom we can respect, forgiving our own failures and making further attempts to be worthy of God. For some are worthy and some less worthy in the way that we express God. Let us
therefore be humble and let God make us worthy expressions of what He wants us to say and do in each situation.
We know because there were dinosaurs on the planet prior to mankind that aggression has always been. Sexuality, also, is common to the animal kingdom. God must approve of life if He likewise wants it to progress to the higher levels so that we can enjoy the Higher experiences of His Heaven.
For first of all man was made in the Image and Likeness of God but then he was likewise created from the dust of the earth. Earth-man has to grow back into the God-life hidden within his soul. How tragic if the divine qualities of God's Ideal should fail to manifest here!
The devil is a personification of evil; God a Personification of the Spirit of Goodness . Yet what if goodness were found amongst the satanic or hatred amidst the people of God? Goodness is still Goodness wherever it grows and Love is still Love. To prove your group you must have these qualities.
There is God the Saviour, God the Child, God the Lover and God the Parent. There is God the Friend and God the Husband., and God the Wife. These may be read of in books but they exist in daily life. The best idea of a book is that you can lift the ideas from the book and make them live. Yet you may want to pick just a few good ideas out of what you read. Imagine a Healer coming to life for the sick, or a Liberator coming to free the prisoners of love caught for virtuous or political reasons. Imagine a Forgiver if you have done wrong or a Justice-person if your life deserves a reward. All of these kind of qualities exist in books., even the Lover-God of Walt Whitman who applauds every creature born as a potential Lover and who shows God as the Lover of Life. Behold the ones who create Beauty and the sharers of Bounty with the poor. Ideas are not just to carry around with you--you take an Idea and make it live! You be a Healer! Jesus Christ took the Idea of God as Father and Shepherd and lived out the Idea. He indeed illustrated various roles of mankind, presumed to be helpful: child, parent, student, teacher, master, servant doctor, judge, defendant, victim, food for the soul, poet, policeman
lawyer, husband and friend. After His departure He left His Spirit of Love to bring to life all who live out the role-play of life. Thus our role- play was no longer empty but manifested the Love of people meant to minister to and matter to one another.
We are each one ourselves, yet we live out the messages we choose, as far as possible. What is a relationship without goodwill in it anyway?
Never neglect to give a helper their "Thank you".
Sometimes we regard the person to be helped with more importance than the person who tries to serve.
To swear
Pollutes the air and burdens the earth.
Some people use swearing to express violence rather than physical aggression.
Others take pen or sword for venom
What is said coarsely and gruffly by some
Is said by the polite in other ways.
Those who want nice things
are forced to subdue those who protest
And those who protest likewise protest because they wanted something nice.
Do you make fun of love then?
Verily I say there are many who wanted love who made fun because they could not get any.
Or will you too walk away?
Without first of all offering a cup of tea
A smile and a handclasp for starters?
It is acceptable to tell God our feelings.
We can be polite but state our case, like Job
A real relationship is one in which the person and God share with each other.
Does God not tell us of His feelings?
A confession is not an example
But a trusted friend may know your bad side also God is to be a trusted friend.
The cure for blasphemy is to praise God And to bless the earth
It is never too late to find Love
To find Love we must become a Love-Person But what if other people are not Love-Persons?
A man or woman may share a relationship with God And with themselves
Flowers are love to a lady
And homemade sweaters to a man
But if a man tells a lady she is unworthy will she become unworthy?
Or if they tell one another "I don't care" will they look elsewhere for their affections?
We receive our inheritance by how we are towards others Act loving and you have love
Act peaceful and you acquire peace
Act forgiving and you have forgiveness
Act joyful and you become joyous
First the quality of expression in the play Then the quality of feeling deep within.
In any play there is both protagonist and antagonist Problems and surmounting obstacles
SURVIVAL is the fist play
Then shame and DIGNITY Fear and COURAGE
Trouble and SALVATION Sickness and HEALING
Doubt and FAITH
Hate and LOVE
Indifference and CARING
Boredom and INTEREST
Sorrow and JOY
Misery and ECSTACY
War and PEACE
Agitation and CALM
Poverty and PROSPERITY
Stinginess and GENEROSITY Laziness and SERVICE
Pain and PLEASURE
Infidelity and COMMITMENT
Hurt and COMPFORT
Mediocrity and GENIUS
Rude talk and POLITENESS
Urn righteousness and RIGHTEOUSNESS
Condemnation and FORGIVENESS
Enmity and Friendship
Insecurity and SAFETY
Evil and GOODNESS
Rottenness and WHOLESOMENESS
AND A BALAN( E BETWEEN PERSONAL AND UNIVERSAL
The celibate has an Interior Love
Greater than the loves of the flesh
Therefore to her or him the secret lover is Perfection
The secret lover may appear in the physical with imperfection And win the celibate's heart
But this may not happen in this lifetime
Or if it does marriage may not be possible in the circumstances one is in He who builds his soul builds Paradise
And the development of oneself results in greater Love and Power
Make me to love myself
It is part of the salvation of my soul Make me to love others beyond myself This is the salvation of God in us.
Love and Power should be wed in a person
Faith should be placed in a greater love than ourselves.
God is both male and female
The Creator has both sexes within Him
As Eve came forth out of Adam
So out of God's
One Self came both masculine and feminine
What will the selves do with what the Creator gives to each one? This constitutes the play
God creates but also creates
God sanctions or aborts our creations.
I may love myself in you and you may love yourself in me., and both of us may be possessed by the love of God through us.
God is the Love who gives us all loves And therefore if I lose Him I lose you also God is the Higher Self of myself
If I lose Him I lose my center and gravity. In
God I commune with the soul of the other. And thereby know my own soul
For in the soul resides both need and desire.
And also the divinity of "God-in-us" If I lose my soul I lose everything
The devil seeks to capture my soul in bondage
That I may be slave to non-being.
Without a soul I could not live A soul has likewise a body
Or shall we not wear clothing for dignity?
A Spirit has its temple also I worship the Spirit
By how I adorn my body temple Music has oboes and violins And does not remain silent
I am music but my body is the instrument
Love is the self hood of two people merging
And touch is its expression
God's hands are not always for war
His heart loves to bestow pleasures.
Food is food
Drink is drink
Unless fellowship Is added therewith
Lovemaking is food for the soul
The fellowship of Persons a feast beyond the feast
A real friend is as close as a lover
And a lover is as god who brings God
A husband is the other half of oneself
Two halves joined as one is the marriage celebration
Who has the heart of David?
Or the wisdom of a Prophet?
Or the romances of Solomon and his beloved?
Who is as Ruth to Naomi adopting her friend's people and land To follow her friend forever?
Or as St. John lying on the bosom of Christ? Or as Jonathan dying in battle for David?
Are there real friends in the world?
Does the Father feel proud of his children? Is the Mother a hen protecting her brood?
Respecting other people's relationships We protect our own
Commitment is a foundation stone of life.
Bread and wine; life and Spirit
God gives us each our portion of Himself To feast upon
Every star is perfect light though not all the light that there is Every inspiration of Soul is perfect God
Though we are not all of God
We take our portion of Him
And with Him our inheritance in life.
Truth is a Word which springs to life And does not lie dormant on a page
The end of crying is not the end of sorrow And silence may only be a pause
In a symphony movement
Death is but sleep and an awakening in our best thought Life is the reward of deeds
Sanity is to care for the welfare of life And to be amazed at its miracles
A dream has more power than a fact
And faith is to inherit what we have confidence in
Keep your truths short and to the point
Keep your love long and let its mystery remain
We do not hear with our oars only nor see only with our eyes We hear with our Love and see with our Insights
Always something practical to do at hand
Always a simple deed or thought like the building blocks of a fortress
Physical exercise should be done daily
And a clean soul expresses through a clean body
Politeness is the tone of respect
A smile goes further than a learned speech Respect fosters love and adoration
Honesty fosters intimacy or challenge
An honest person gives security if she loves But people are afraid of their own mirrors Better to soften a blow with honey
Than to drink medicine without sugar added
Goodness is wholesomeness and cleansing Goodness originates from the soul which cleanses Love is the Goodness who overlooks our errors In order to draw forth life's hidden genius
When you draw a map show the territory as it really is
But let your words of blessing travel ten times past your words of
criticism
As you drive to your destination
A real friend you can share your troubles with and your joys also. A real friend keeps you in both success and failure
And in both failure and success
The Beauty of the Universe is my Church Faith in all Charity is my altar
And Love is my religion
Consecration and Devotion make one special Whosoever is put on God's altar is made holy And the offering of oneself redeems
By offering everyone through our prayers to God We redeem the universe.'
One expects more of a friend than of an enemy
One's spouse is accountable for more than a stranger
Beauty is God's gift to weariness
And refreshes the soul of the reborn
What is beautiful covers the thorn
And the carcass is acceptable to the maiden Beauty is the earth rejoicing in herself And without the Spirit there is no life That which is ugly is an unfinished creation We are to make it beautiful by mastering it So must we make beautiful the self
Cultivating the divine attributes of the soul

LIFE IS A WORK OF ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT AND WE PAINT THE PLACES OUR SOULS INHABIT

An overflow of guilt increases crime
Those who cannot feel on equal terms of goodness Will seek to be on equal terms of wrong
We look at life and see our reflections in the glass
But sometimes life looks at us and we are life's reflections
WHOLESOMENESS can apply to anything fresh and of good quality
If a thing lacks wholesomeness it is sickly or poisoning in its nature God's decisions may not always be based on democracy
But I do not think He stands against a wholesome choice.
FRIENDSHIP uses materials to form bonds
But it is greater than the means of establishing the bond
A person cannot live without physical necessity
Yet if friendship is crushed the body is worthless
Some friendships are like badminton games
The only thing they have in common is the birdie being beaten back and forth by them
Alone I can be friends with myself
And my own friendship may mean more to me than God's or man's
The rules of a society can thwart love
But a view simple rules can also avert disaster Rules are to check people who love not
Those who consider their neighbor's welfare are free
To judge is to build fences to protect
To accept is a gateway to oneself
Bridges are a mutual project
Gift giving makes more happiness than theft or warfare
My fences need not disturb a foe
If he crosses them not
My gun must be hidden in my apartment
To be seen only by a trespasser
Fighting is for self-defense.
To create offense before the other strikes
Is to create havoc on our planet earth
Those who consider their neighbor's needs make Peace And those who give to the poor have a ticket to the world Those who give generously are wanted by many
Those who rebuild ruins have places to dwell in
Even suffering buys a meal ticket and a purpose in life to a doctor While drawing the family close
Making the policeman, also, a hero
All things have their place
Meaning and purpose give life unto life
To enjoy life is an act of worship
And fun should be had with secret praise to God
Heaven is not only a beautiful place
But likewise a kind person or joyous feeling
The miracle of life is in growth
Those who are afraid of error have not root The roots of success are corrected mistakes He who stop:; skating because he falls
Never becomes a champion
To love sin is to need illegalities
It means the rule itself no longer suffices The love of sin brings feasting upon rottenness And the support of folly brings trouble
There is Perfection of type imprinted in the soul
Though souls are not blueprints but unique and totally original selves There is personality which grows with this life There is personality of the soul which is beyond events. These dwell side by side
The saint, the human and the devil within us One more, one less as the will decides
As the will and the devotion decide
Love is not so much in loud trumpets or drums
As in a solo violin
A symphony knows 16ve by the blending of its instruments And by camouflage the individual is heroic
Jealousy is a state of believing life to be unfair
But in the end it is a weed which ruins the garden A dandelion is a beautiful golden flower
But it it leaves no room for anything else it is a weed
A fire cooks, warms and inspires
But let loose it explodes worlds
In wrath and daemonic force
So anything has its good and natural use
And if we are gentle we should end up with gentle folk.

NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME SHOULD BE INFLICTED UPON YOU
I SHOULD NEVER WISH A PAIN TOO GREAT FOR HUMAN STRENGTH TO BEAR

A forgiving person wins himself many another chance A just person saves the gentle by his sword
Forgiveness can cure a guilty conscience well But can it cure lawlessness to health?
Peace is just another opportunity for paradise
Unless there is something I still want which I cannot have.
A person who divides life loses his goods
Who is happy with only half of himself?
To expand myself in many directions increases myself
Countries which increase their boundaries are considered grander The empire which blesses its subjects stands
And those who bless their enemies have power over them likewise
To give of one's philosophy would indeed earn a living for many To give of one's pocketbook--this few would do!
Forgiveness without conscience leads to anarchy Those who fear giants become as tyrants themselves
If I love a Person and that one changes over the years I am left with what that Person has become
If I love Love itself and fall for someone's Person I still have love long after that one has gone.
To admire someone is not to admire all of them
To emulate someone does not mean that I forfeit myself
Those who have compassion on their fellows bear the suffering of many.
If you hurt someone it hurts me and I must react

EVERY HUMAN BEING HAS THE RIGHT TO FOOD, CLOTHING, HOUSING AND OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE
THEY MUST SERVE ACCORDING TO THEIR ABILITY
EVERY HUMAN BEING HAS THE RIGHT TO FRIENDSHIP WITH OTHER HUMAN BEINGS.
If I am not kicked I should not kick back
If I am kicked I should kick back the aggressor, not use a scapegoat Tolerance is a virtue as well as a principle
And there are exceptions to every rule.
Love-Persons
Peace Persons
Joy-Persons
Life-Givers
Are of many walks of life.
Religion is who you are and who God is to you Not what you read
Be as great as your vision of Greatness
Our own vision binds or frees us in its wake
Children are the hope of a Tomorrow
But they are timeless just a little hour.
Integrity is to leave something better behind you As you travel in the path ahead
The enemy is the quality, not the person
The Person is both need and divinity within the soul
Be a human before you become an angel
The angel who retains its human qualities is the love angel
Whatever you have done there are two directions you can move in. The Righteous Plan has Beauty of Person on its way
Convert hell and lo! there is heaven Destroy heaven and lo! you are in hell
If who you are today is not who you were yesterday Why do you trouble yourself with the dead and gone?
To die to self is not to exchange personalities
It is to exchange qualities of soul:
Love for hate
Kindness for meanness
A positive attitude for doubt and fear
Nothing is to be killed, it disappears
As Light going into darkness makes the darkness dissipater Not by force but Li Presence
Love goes into hale
Peace goes into war
Strength goes into weakness
Forgiveness into wrong
Joy goes into son ow
Life goes into death:
THE WORK OF- CHRIST-INSPIRED SOULS
If you cannot ,jet rid of a bad situation
Say your prayer s and ask for forgiveness and help
Do secret deed& of goodness in your spare time Wish happiness on all you have harmed
Bind up the enemy's wounds.
Appeal to a court of law even if you have to take your own punishment Thereby do you save many
Or failing this: you save yourself.
WITHOUT JOY THERE IS SORROW
WITHOUT PLEASURE THERE IS DISCOMFORT, EVEN PAIN
WITHOUT KINDNESS THERE IS CRUELTY
WITHOUT LOVE, HATE
WITHOUT GOOD! JESS THERE IS EVIL
WITHOUT LIFE, DEATH
WITHOUT BEAUTY THERE IS UGLINESS
WITHOUT PEACE, WAR
WITHOUT HOLINESS, SLANDER
AND LACK OF ERENCE FOR LIFE
TRULY LIFE IS BA ;ED UPON NEED AND FULFILLMENT AND THE SPIRIT IS PROVIDER AND FULFILLS

A house had love, merrymaking and gladness
But seeking to destroy its neighbor's house it fell to ruin..
A house of thoughts is a door to belonging
But Love is the window which looks beyond it own self
Death is sleep in which I travel in my best thought Life is the reward of deeds
God Her Self is the Reward of Rewards
Her incarnations be my inheritance for company
A confession is not to be confused with an example But where is the place it is safe to confess?
To give a gift is not to take advantage To love is to belong but not possess.
To have one's say is not to rule the crowd
To consider the other person's need does not consist of being ruled by him
Privacy is a human need, not a luxury
Time spent alone is friendship with myself as well as God
If we cannot relate to the children inside ourselves How shall we relate to the young
Or be filled with wonder at the world?
Pleasure without love is sin
Love is not only a feeling of yearning
Of admiration and empathy
Love is consideration for the other's Person hood And for the welfare of their personal soul Their individual Self.
Platonic love may last forever
But it is difficult to find
Who can love like a lover but restrain the senses? Rich is the Person who can do so
And her inheritance is among angels or gods
For a shell they have killed the Ocean
For my body they have murdered my heart
God said: "Because of your love I will give you any love that you wish for love is your Teacher, Conscience and Guide
But without love you shall only be honorable"
"Likewise as a private person you may have the love of your choice But as a spokesperson in the community you must be honorable."
I would be good for if I fail many fall under me
I would be loving for if I fail to love I fail everything.
A person who ruins their neighbor's debut
Should not expect their neighbor to put on a pleasing performance
Food is food
Drink is drink
Unless fellowship be added therewith
To make love is to embrace someone else's self And beyond the meal there is fellowship of person
A person who pleases often is persuasive
But those who take advantage of the kind inherit folks like themselves
I must listen until I can understand
To understand does not mean that I license wrongdoing
A friend who gives you desert is loved deeply But the friend who warns of danger is also true.
The poor, the sick, the young, the old, the imprisoned
Do we ever fear being in a position of weakness ourselves?
Those who force others to sin may be accountable for both sins:
theirs and the victim being forced
The authors of crime hold office with the devil
Or why do you break your sister or brother's back with a burden not
theirs to carry
Usurp the devil and there are other devils to take his place
Usurp God and you do not get rid of God
The devil jumps in with some quick ideas of how to exploit others
God waits to supply some justice to the case.
Death is a walk through the interior self Life is a waking dream
A nature angel may appropriate the living waters And the Interior sunrise for warmth
And be a Rainbow
To burn others is unthinkable
It is not righteous to make others do the humanly impossible Those who judge others unrighteously
Use the sin of violence to get back
Gentle corrections applied with force could redeem the masses When we are offered heaven we do not think of hell
Or who would contemplate the poor if he has already done so?

PRAISE IS A FOUNTAIN OF JOY
AND THANKSGIVING A FEAST BEYOND THE FEAST

A quarrel broke out between love persons So that there was no love
A peace-person walked in
And that was love in the situation.
Woe to those who engage in infant slaughter To the one who hurts a babe God is big And shall hurt you when you are only little.
Many a weed grows in the wilderness
Many a thorn is plucked by the Master Gardener
Has missed the wholeness of body and Person And is incomplete and jagged to the Universe Only sick people have their leg removed Or say to their soul: "I have no need of you
"I have a body and therefore I must forfeit you"
For in health I say truly:
Soul manifests through body
An artist without paints and paper Remains interior and unknown
God is Righteousness among wickedness
And Love argainst hate
But she is likewise Sanity in the midst of insanity
And thereby told a joke on the insane asylum personnel.
The glory of a Righteous Person
Is to share their inheritance with sinners
Thus do we buy Paradise with good character and good deeds Sharing our inheritance with those whose karma is poor So they turn to goodness
Pity you destroy the Righteous Ones
So that they have nothing left to give you
When you are hungry
Yourselves.
Those who have power over me say:"Because of this cup of tea we give you we murder"
Or "Because of these clothes we give you we hurt children" But truly their charity is lacking
Is murder because of need and necessity?
If it bears no rose
For the strong may carry the spoil In the early day
But in the latter day
What is Gentle
Fine
Meek
And Loving
Beautiful
And Sinless
Is preferred
Even the wilderness has beauty
And even the little insect is a being

LOVE-PERSONS
PEACE-PERSONS
GENEROUS -PERSONS
WISDOM-PERSONS
LIFE-GIVERS
IMAGINATIVE COAT OF COLOURS WITH PEACE

Is this not the essence of religion?
And without this religion but an empty cup And stale loaves?
Goodwill persons be unto you
Whatever religion you call yourselves by
Often need turned to jealously, hatred and meanness? Pride, lust and force?
Is a hospital a charity not a place to heal the sick? And poor?
Rather than to run them into the ground over a cup of tea?
God rewards those who care for the sick, the poor, the elderly and the little children
But he who forces another to commit crime Has two offenses to pay for himself
He pays for whit he does to his neighbor
And his neighbor's fall into sin is upon his head
Those who serve people as their calling, their mission in life Are not there to exploit persons for dollars
If they chastise those beneath them
Would this not be a concentration camp instead of a hospital? You who make ,1 gangster's outfit for the poor
An outfit of thieves or mafia
Instead of a correctional institute
Mental health hospital

CHARITY?
ONE ALWAYS WANTS EVIL RECIPROCATED UNTIL YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THE ENEMY
OR THE ENEMY IS A MEMBER OF YOUR OWN HOUSEHOLD, PERHAPS YOURSELF THEN WE MUST THINK OF GENTLE CORRECTIONS
AND SOFTEN JUS I-ICE WITH MERCY

I would take you Home
Setting before you the finest food And the most luxurious wine
I would build you cottages by fresh lakes Renewing your nature qualities
I would give to you the crown jewels of heaven
And the mountain peaks and holy cities of the world
Alas! These are not mine to give, but God's And my beloved and admired friends Would He not likewise do the same? I bestow on you my inner Self
Would God riot bestow on you Himself
In lowliness and richness for your eternal hour
Perhaps for all time?
You shall have pleasures, God's chosen And with them the divine qualities No one shall reign over you
You shall reign over all things
You shall be one with all that is beautiful
FOR PEACE IS OF LOVE AND LOVE IS OF JOY AND ALL ARE OF LIFE AND WISDOM AND FAITH ARE GATEWAYS TO THESE QUALITIES
WISHING OTHERS WELL IS A FRUIT TREE
WHICH GIVES ABUNDANTLY AND YET HAS PLENTY TO SHARE
AND WHICH REPRODUCES IN THE GIVING

Therefore he who rules himself shall rule a city
She who is one with goodness and love is one with the Creator And the children who seek the counsel of God
Shall be as little gods
In their own time.
You do that which interests you I do that which interests me
We get together to share interests Fences have gates
Homes have doors and windows also A bridge across a river
Do not respect my need to be a Person
Thoughts, feelings and self-image make up a Person God also is Father, Mother and offspring, the Divine Idea If you deny me my relationship with God
Or my philosophy
Where is my identity
Or integrity to live my life by?
Anyone can write a Biblical contribution We can all have our own story
What does Clod say as you walk in the woods? Or sit still ill your room?
Or do you find Him in the Person hood of a neighbor Or the Love of a Lover?
To make a friend
Is to pass on the flame of inspiration If I do not make it into Light
Perhaps I shall have been a light
And someone else can carry the flame of my inspiration Onwards
Why do you separate my body from my soul As if I do not have a body
But could sprout wings and fly out of prison? Or as if I do not have a soul
And never knew the Joy of communing with you? Truly she who separates her arm from her leg Or her mouth from her eyes
Saying: "I do not need this leg I choose my arm" Or: "I have no need of a mouth I choose my nose"
A person said: "You do not care"
And 400 people chimed in "You don't care.. you don't care"
So the person in question replied: "Not any more. I would have saved you but now you have to look after your own welfare"
And the people gloated because they were right.
To abort a person's self is to murder
There are many ways to kill the self
A person makes their own choice to change and grow and bear their own flower and fruit

HOW DARE YOU TURN A WATERMELON INTO A ROSEBUSH OR A CANARY INTO A PEACOCK?

Therefore within each Soul his own pattern of being
We must perfect our own types instead of becoming something preferable to you that you did not have money to buy.
The worship of evil is satanism
Satan is not the worship of a being of evil Beings can change
The worship of evil itself is satanism and it is dangerous
Beings of evil provoke fear and send out prejudice, hatred and violent ideas
(We all have Satan trying to make inroads into our personalities
The idea of a devil interfering from outside is helpful
The human like the radio set picks up messages from; everywhere
We all carry over something of the dinosaur and the lion inside
Left over from previous stages of evolution We learn our "Yes" to God and our "No" to evil
People who give bad advice should not be paid to be counselors
To tell someone to hurt someone else is bad advice
God has old friends as well as new friends
Better to punch a punching bag than a person
Better to scrub a floor than to fret over things you cannot change
Human beings have limitations
The trials of life demand the strength of gods when we are only humans He who keeps his humanity under trial shall have home and friends And the one who resists evil shall have a place in God's family
The mind has the power to bring ideas into action According to faith it has power
What do I place my faith in?
What pictures do we feed our imaginations with? The Imagination being like food to the self? Bringing either health or sickness?
Therefore a tiny brain is like a television
And I must set the dial to look at that which is nourishing Or picture the violence ending in Peacemaking And the poor and needy being fed
To swing shady deals is to speak the devil's language It takes two sides to agree to a bargain
A smoky barroom may be a mental institution, a place of work, a public assembly or school
Be friends of anything and it will lend its genius to you
Fire inspires dreams
And warms you in the cold Crops of food grow under fire
Bathers tan on the beach under the sun
The Interior Sunrise to the lovers of fire
The warmth that is good cheer Fountains are pleasant
And flowing waters cleansing A flower is beautiful
And hurts no one
Sun and water make rainbows Co lours float in and out of the self
Force keeps a city safe
Those who make peace with suffering
Are released soon from bondage
God Himself calls us to be one together If this is not so then life is the betrayer
And God Himself sees to it that He betrays life
Project: Listen to "Solitudes" nature sounds and harmonious music for meditation
Some things are only symbolic
Water lets out the sell
With love for the self
To let go and let God is to release the self
He who releases his self to love has self-love
A fiery temper is not a fire
An everlasting fire may mean a long trial
A warm dream by the fireside is not a "hot flame"
Christmas is not just a snowy day A child is not a plaything to be used
My apologies to those I have hurt
But to those who hurt me without apology I am a flame of fire,
Tears of sorrow
A pillow to rest on.
To think things through is to be liberated
God ordains wisdom persons who are great thinkers
To ordain goodness, love, peace, joy, goodwill towards mankind Health-Persons and life-givers
Is to be Wisdom
A Love-Person wears many styles of dress
A Peace-Person may appear on many cultural occasions
A Wise-Person utters his truth in many different tongues A Joy-Person sings her praises to God and Life
And magnifies and increases good thereby
Who you are is not the written code
The written code is a wall around your understanding To build a fortress for your people you need some walls But life grows in the cracks of sidewalks
And weeds are God's joke on your garden
Behold a Jewish saint dying with a prayer on his lips for his people Behold a Muslim saint refusing to be blasphemous in a blasphemous era Beholds a Quaker saying that he is god as he struggles through untold suffering and violent attack in order to be a Peacemaker
Behold a Hindu in complete devotion to God
A Jain refusing to hurt anything, even insects
Behold the homosexual or lesbian who, because of our mores must deny his sexuality and perhaps his love all of his life
Behold the starving who do not murder their kindred for bread Behold the slander ed and those subjected to medical malpractice
Behold the alcoholic who has failed because others have also, because life has failed him
Behold the student of social work, bright with idealism who gets crushed by the system
Behold the persons in mental health asylums or hospitals forced to sin because they are locked up
Behold the prostitute who gets to be lewd because you are lewd and rude because you are and who is denied the right to LOVE IN MARRAIGE
Behold the store clerk who smiles and talks to you like a friend
Or the office worker who is a poet
Behold the comrade who swears like a trooper but who gives out free groceries as he tells a joke
Behold the Teacher who even makes friends of his students and the doctor who takes time to counsel his patients
Behold the odd fellow who is the children's friend
And the family who looks after the sick elderly grandmother at home
Behold the man who buys his date flowers
Or the one who of fears his seat to someone on a bus
Behold the Buddhist who does what is right by his neighbor
The Philosophy who ennobles life
The Christian n rho is saved so he can save others
Was the woman none of these?
Are they are weird to you because they wear foreign dress? Or are odd or are not in your club of elite?
Truthfully in all truth I say
Some are clothed in the clothing of angels
And knowing to recognize other love-persons like themselves Or would if our books and thoughts did not make too strong The fortress walls.
It was said in the days of old:
"Kill those who kill and for the rebel the torturer"
But I say that the hangman may also be guilty
And what doe:, he do when he is called upon to lynch the innocent?
Today God say ;:
"Get rid of all war weapons and all torture implements, for you see that both side, and all sides are now guilty
"Therefore get rid of the torture implements, drug tortures, and war weapons and these things shall happen to no one.
"Make pea,:e and thou shalt be a stream of life which quenches thirst." "For you :,see it is not mankind who is your enemy but the hatred of mankind and the war weapons which arose out of hatred"
I saw dinosaurs with ravenous teeth and lions with claws
I saw that man, must have been very aggressive in order to subdue these.
I saw the nuclear explosion and the population of mankind increasing with its power scientifically, and mentally and physically. I saw the heart grow numb rather than feel. I saw that woman has her place to s( !ten the world; since aggression is less and less needed the Home should be featured.
"The meek shall inherit the earth"
In the first ,generation: MASUCULINE PREVAILS
Hunting
Building homes
Protecting the household from predators and warring tribes

STRENGTH

In the second generation: MASCULINE-FEMININE PREVAILS
Men , id women work together to balance and build up the civilization- -We are still subduing the earth. We also second the feminine empathy and oneness oi life to subdue violence.
In the third generation FEMININE PREVAILS
Social races

Kindness Respect Love making
Pleasantness
Meditation
Prayer; Talent
Philosophy, poetry, art
Music: harmonious, gentle
Gentle idles arid men
I need the forgiveness of my Creator
Yet does the Creator need my forgiveness also?
That I may tell "Creator, I forgive you for the terrible things that
happened in my life And in anyone's life
For you created thorns beneath my flowering
Yet the rose in its fragrance of prayer was of your design.
Go to work and get rid of as many things like war and famine as you can. Sponsor a child in a poor country
Then when you come to judgment
To the consequences of your life
God may say: "You and I tried to get rid of hell
Therefore you have no hell."
And to the givers of happiness He says: "You made heaven for others. I shall make Paradise for thee"
If bad thoughts come true is it so hard for us to make our good thoughts
our realities?
If we live in our imaginations do we live in nice places?
God gives Him Self in exchange for ourselves.
Who can pay for the gift of Peace, or Joy, or Love, or Life?
Who is thee who can pay for God's ecstasy, for God's Self?
Yet the universe gives the consecrated and devoted God's Self in place of
ourselves.
God is generous to the generous.
Yet not in the way of a banking system.
people, of many varieties. Wholesome entertainment may be considered to be music of a harmonious and modest nature or family entertainment like comedies or "clean" romances (in which the sex scenes are private and left up to the imagination.--the actors may not love one another anyway—lovemaking is intimate and not a performance)
Epic films should hi-light heroes and not violence--they should definitely not use violence as a sensational display. No one should be hurt in making these films.
Tai-Chi and other forms of healthy exercise are wholesome. Socrates' "Goodness is within" is a way of choosing goodness in life.
DEATH
is like darkness or light It is no scary
It is sleep
The Light is for the people who have lived a good life
It is the embrace of the ecstatic Presence of God
A physical appearing of ecstatic forms may come out of the Light
But the highest experience has no form; It is Light embracing you in Love or Joy. Oneness with the Creator
This is the spiritual death.
Truthfully some are so attached to human beings
They desire a body
And may be given holiness
But for those who have lived a good life
Who die surrounded by relatives
With the handclasp of a loved one
What is left but to die in the embrace of God?
Eternally at Peace Eternally at Rest
Eternally One with the Heart and Soul of God's Life?
Truly we die and our thoughts incarnate us
We sleep and are born to another mother
We are embraced by God and nothing more is lacking.
Secrecy build up interior feeling.
Let not cruelty induce me to be cruel
Unless by defending the innocent I can protect them from danger.
No one else should be composing your symphony, writing your play or singing your song. You should be making up your own life within the confines of many reasonable and wholesome choices.
As one collects favorite books and songs which have meaning to their own personality they build a self to share with others.
He who sees no way out of his error will remain in sin.
The reward of goodness is to see itself multiplied in sinners
To say: "You sinner" too often is to evoke hatred Forgiveness puts a stop to an offender often And in the war between good and evil
A repeated Kindness wins.
No one wants to be considered inferior
Those who cannot feel on equal terms of goodness Will seek to make you on equal terms of wrong.
The best games are those in which the whole group works together to win. (Like "Musical Chairs" in which, as each chair is removed the children share the remaining chairs.)
PRAYER OF RECEPTIVENESS Divine Father-Mother God,
Enrich me that I may enrich others
Heal me that I may heal others
Forgive me that I may forgive others
Bless me that I may bless others
Perfect my character that I may be a good example And be with other generous folk
Prosper me that I may be generous with others Grant me peace that I may be a Peacemaker
And good cheer that I may bequeath to others Joy
For to the one in need you supply the fulfillment That I may be a Fountain of Light
A refuge to others.
That I may receive and give
Of myself and Yourself oh God
Forever.
I do not want pills for feelings
Or someone else to make my choices for me Yet I grow through social encounters
And learn from kind counsellings
The best gift a person can give is a kind example.
Self-expression and self-denial are both means of rising spiritually A mystic writes poetry
She may also fast
Everyone's name has a spiritual meaning
Jesus Christ's name means: " Anointed to Heal and Save"
If I had a little girdle I would like to call her "Amanda" meaning "Worthy to Be Loved"
My own name originally meant "Consecrated to God", "House of God' "God's disciple
Whatever is placed on the alter of God is made pure by devotion. "The alter" said Jesus, "Sanctifies the gift"
God takes that which is offered to Him to a higher level; to wholesomeness and goodness and higher enjoyments.
If you do not like the meaning of your name you may choose a spiritual name to live out in your Life. I would like to be "Our Lady of Kindnesses" because to me the great gift is to be a blessing to all who come to me.
The rich can afford to give the poor dinner
They can afford to give the sick medical aid
It will go well for them if they are generous.
Generosity for the poor fattens the pocketbook of the Righteous Granting them Joy in themselves and an inheritance in the hereafter To keep your wealth you must share it
To keep your love you must give Kindness also
As long as we have freedom of choice we have some measure of humanity A psycho-path uses power to assert his person hood
NO one should be regarded as a non-entity
It is useless to say: "I am a Person" by saying "You are not one"
To get angry but not to let our anger turn to hatred.
Anger is a moment's rage:
the thunder of a thunderstorm Hatred is an everlasting revenge
To look into the eyes of love and see who we might have been and are not: this is judgment.
At the end of time the completion of all in God
At the end of time Love, Liberty, Peace and Joy for all.
Each person must be as Daniel praying to "God the Most High"
God walks with each devotee alone and speaks to him or her alone.
So for each his own conscience telling what would be wrong for him to do.
Water loves with water Fire loves with fire
The earth loves with the flesh
The Soul is music and the flesh its instrument

THE PLANT:

Physical and spiritual as one self in existence

THE POTTER'S CLAY:

God and Life mold the person's character and then supply the
feelings or "wine" of the Spirit to fill out the Person

THE VIOLIN:

LOVE is music and the instrument of the flesh expresses the
music. The Spirit expresses excellence through the flesh
We are not to speak and hear in words so much as in meanings.
We learn the "language of Love" and how to express our Meanings in the best possible way
WHOEVER YOU HURT A PART OF YOURSELF IS HURT WITH THAT PERSON WHOEVER YOU HELP A PART OF YOURSELF IS HELPED THEREBY
THE REMEDY FOR CUSSING IS PRAISING
PRAISE IS THE 'MIDAS TOUCH' WHICH LIFTS ALL THINGS TO A HIGHER LEVEL
IDEAS are reality: all the rest is human need.
Examine for a moment fears, lusts, anger, resentments, and jealousies and you will see that all are needs for some unattained ideal. Therefore the Reality is in God's Imagination, in His Mind; this is the first Heaven. When the shadow likewise becomes Ideal its actualization makes the Second Heaven.
Are goats on the mountain not as legitimate as sheep? Are wolves not made by God
And dogs and cats?
Therefore the sheep had lessons to followed the shepherd
But the goats on the mountain had to learn the laws of balance And the deer of the woods learned intimacy, goodwill and trust. Is the Universe only for sheep?
Or is it one universe under God with many geniuses?
Woe! to those who exploit women
For lust without consideration for the woman's Person hood Or dignity
Seduction to win favor is also corruption
Those who use us to climb socially are not caring for us.
A man looked everywhere for happiness until at last he stopped to rest from his labors at a Peace well. He expected that the well would answer his wishes so he threw in a coin and wished for fame, a new sports car, a beautiful girlfriend and a trip to Las Vegas. Instead the well just gave him feelings with every drink of water.
Inside the water of the well he beheld a beautiful maiden with long flowing hail and a veiled face. He threw up his arms in disgust.
"I cannot marry an imaginative woman!" he exploded. "This is a ridiculous wishing well!"And he threw black ink down the well and went his way.
Behind him he heard a woman's voice.
"You could not have been very thirsty for the well quenched your thirst. You did not need a well but a television. You will have to save up your money and buy one."
He turned abruptly and there was the woman whose picture he had seen in the well. She was standing before him. Peace and Love and Light were all around her. She emanated Goodness and Purity.
"Wow!" he exclaimed "Fancy meeting you here!"
"I'm sorry hut I'm not your type" replied th4e lovely maiden. I requested you for my inheritance but you said that you preferred a sport's car. MY type goes only with Peace Wells."
The trees of the forest each of its type got into an argument about God.
"God is with the survivors" said the Evergreen "Life is hard and the Lord enables us to survive."
"God is a doctor" said the Elm He ministers only to the sick and sinful"
"No. God is with the thin and lovely," whispered the Poplar."
"God breathes through us like the wind." said the Birch, "And he likes white trees best."
"God is a Canadian" said the Maple, "Canada has a say for itself."
Just then a human being walked through the woods. "Some people don't understand God," she said. "They find God in nature. God is a Divine Human Being."
We understand God by who we are ourselves. God is unlimited genius
A garden of flowers was filled with beautiful intolerance. The petunias boasted that they were the Gardener's favorite and inherited the Light of the sun.
The begonias boasted of God's mercy in providing the shade; surely they were Supreme before the Gardener's Love.
The tomatoes explained that they provided food and were therefore the only useful plant in the garden
The roses boasted being used for Romance
The dandelions defied anyone to pick them out of the lawn; the Gardener favored the unlawful
At last the Gardener came and spoke:
"I chose all of you," he said. "Each in his place," and he frowned at the dandelions. "Each one of you," he said "Has a purpose but must blend harmoniously with the other flowers in the garden."
Then he turn( d to the dandelions: "You didn't think we had a place for you" he said. "But you have pretty flowers and are good for wine and for sandwiches. We will find you a place with the rest of us.
An old thorn heard that gardens were to be all that was left of the wilderness. rearing this dire prediction the thorn begged God for its selfish survive,(1. So God placed on the thorn a beautiful rose and promised flowers to it offspring, also. And the rose became everyone's favorite flower; no one noticed the thorn but God had enabled it to survive.
PRAYER;
(Not that fire and water mingle but that i am a small portion of I)
I am a candle flame to your sunrise oh God I am a star in your galaxy
I am a drop of water in your lake
I am a wave in your ocean
I am forgiven in your larger mercy
I am beloved in your greater Love
I am Peaceful in your Greater Restfulness I am strong in your strength
And gifted because of your gifts of genius I am joyous because you are Ecstasy And good cheer in your greater Joy
I am Goodwill in your greater well-wishing Generous in your greater Generosity I am Righteous in your greater Goodness Wholesome in your greater Purity
I am a little bit of You
A self in your
Greater Person hood.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus
God of Jesus
God of David
of Elizabeth
Save me from my own sins And those of others
Save me from temptation And wrongdoing
Save me from hatred, resentment and jealousy
From fear, horror and terror
Save me from blasphemy, slander, swearing, cursing
Save me from hurt and injury Save me from disease, illness discomfort, pin
Save me from trouble and disaster Save me from indifference and cruelty
Save me from Loneliness
And inferiority
E;Ave me from excess pride over others
Save me from poverty
Save me from death and decay
Save me from confinement and locked seclusion
Save me from bitterness In my relationships
Save me from lack of helpfulness, from lack of good healthy fruit bearing Save me from guilt and negative influence
Save me for Thyself oh God
Amen

ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING NICE TO SAY ABOUT EVERYONE WHATEVER YOUR COMPLAINT

These things I learned on my Christian journey, translating for you, as it is the essence of the message and leaving aside legalism and undo anxiety over who is to be accepted by God.
Shall Goodness betray Goodness or Love betray Love or shall the lack of Love and Goodness not bring with it its own kind of hell?
Therefore a bunch of Wisdom Persons got in an argument about religion. The Joy-Person said: "Thank you' a Peace-Person said: "Peace" a Love- Person said" I love you even if you are different from myself" and a Life- giver cried out "Praise the Lord!"
The Love-person, the Peace-Person, the Joy-Person and the Life-Giver all had wisdom but some of the wisdom persons had only words, without the other qualities.
Thus the essence of your religion is in the kind of person it makes you. May men and women know your God by how they are treated in your presence.
One has only to remember the "Beauty of Beauties" prior to one's birth, that is to say the Heavens in order to love God forever.
One has only to behold the unspeakable horror, that is to say "hell" in order to know that hell must be eliminated, conquered, done away with.
Therefore to those who will take heaven, to share it. To those who need heaven to give it
To those who hate hell, to save from it.
To those who attempt none of these:
Sleep,
death
Extinction.
IF you cannot love do you need loving first?
If you always give do you need to receive?
A kaleidescope has many fragments which form different designs. Our meanings and values from different patterns in each generation, the
latest pattern not making the older patterns wrong. Family, friendship, romance, work leisure, art, literature, music religion, education,
athletics, protection from enemies, architecture and building, healing for
sickness, food production, birth and death: all of these form mosaics-- different designs of the same fragments.
The stars of heaven represent spiritual genius--caring, family, charity, justice, forgiveness, eating and drinking, balance, etc. The universal lights correspond to living ideas in mankind.
After you have tried to be:
A Peace-Person
A Joy-Person
A Love-Person
A Good-Person
A Humble-Person Then there is forgiveness if you fail.
Be as charitable as a fruit tree which gives freely of its fruit to anyone in passing.

GOOD PERSONS
PEACE PERSONS
JOY PERSONS FORGIVENESS PERSONS
IMAGINATIVE PERSONS
BEAUTIFUL PERSONS
HARMONIOUS PERSONS
IDEALISTIC PERSONS
FORGIVEN PERSONS
KIND PRSONS HEALING PERSONS
LIFE GIVERS LIGHT BEARERS

HYBRID PERSONS (who have several of these qualities: Tribe of Joseph with his many colors.)

We need forgiveness and therefore must make some for one another sometimes.
Lord God,
Grant me Joy instead of Sorrow Good Cheer instead of despair Happiness instead of sadness Ecstasy instead of misery
Calm instead of disturbance
Serenity instead of anxiety
Tranquility instead of nervousness
Grant me oh God
Love instead of hatred or resentment Love instead of loneliness or loss Love instead of indifference
Love instead of jealousy
Courage instead of fear
Forgiveness instead of wrong
Forgiveness instead of guilt
Pardon and Mercy instead of condemnation
Grant me God, Kindness instead of cruelty Comfort instead of hurt
Stability instead of disturbance
Prosperity instead of poverty Generosity instead of stinginess
Genius instead if mediocrity
Righteousness instead of unrighteousness Purity instead of impurity
Wholesomeness instead of unwholesomeness
Hope instead of despair
Success instead of failure
Beauty instead of ugliness
Life instead of death
Healing instead of sickness Health instead of disease
Wellbeing instead of discomfort
Service instead of laziness
Strength instead of weakness
Trust instead of mistrust
Harmony instead of discord
Patience instead of bad temper
Friendship instead of enmity
Holiness and politeness instead of blasphemy, swearing being rude
Pleasure instead of pain Commitment instead of infidelity
Light in Darkness
Both Personal and Universal loves
Dignity instead of shame
Faith instead of doubt
Caring instead of indifference
Salvation instead of trouble
Protection instead of danger Security instead of insecurity
Survival instead of perishing
Respect instead of disregard

HEAVEN INSTEAD OF HELL GOODNESS INSTEAD OF EVIL

Help me oh God to be made of good qualities myself and to bring these qualities to humanity.
AMEN
To listen is great
To serve is to express what one hears.
All of life is based upon an exchange in services Service is the foundation stone of society
Humor is an enjoyable way to tell on folly
We are lovable humans instead of perfect ones And we smile in kindness at ourselves.
God ordains safety at all times Even through fearful circumstances.
I pray for the Healing, Deliverance and Happiness of anyone who has been injured in my name, or because of me
A man was reported to be very powerful and was suspected of being very cruel. The valley people sent a delegation to him to see what would happen if they talked terms of Peace. To their surprise the Big Man gave the Peacemakers gifts and kindnesses. Only one person suggested a final Peacemaking effort. Would the Strong man offer good to his fellow men who did not follow him? Would he make gestures of goodwill to those weaker or full of sin or as members of families who had their own ideas?
And the Powerful Lord said; "What kind of friend can you be yourself? I am a friend to my friends but I can help you be a friend to your own' friends--bring their concerns to me and I will help you help them."
But the people thought that they had the vote as to heather or not this person was in power over them. They had not a heart to love Film.
A reputation magnifies some qualities of a person but not all of him. Does God differ with what we choose out of His character? Or is God like the sun who shines on everyone yet who is experienced differently on the Sahara desert than by the beach in the Caribbean?
Life is a School of Learning. At each stage from preschool to University there are lessons to learn., before we progress to the next level. Spiritually as well as mentally and physically there are stages of learning. I do not believe in exact karma but that we must learn one lesson before we progress to the next. As we correct our mistakes we progress to something new to learn.
Someone's great success is someone else's grade one; someone's master learning is someone else's miracle beyond belief.
"The leaven in the dough leavens the whole lump" (Jesus). Goodwill infiltrates everything to make it rise to a higher level. Christian Universalism is about the welfare of God's Universe, whether humans in slums or successful people who are spiritually empty or the welfare of seals and animals; the ecology and fresh drinking water. We are stewards of the land and take care of the earth while blessing God for bestowing blessings on us.
I saw an angry figure move across the sun with a tight fist. Then the
figure fell and disappeared. Instead the sun was as a heart-shaped rainbow of light spilling colors across the garden.
God showed me that He is Love, not just Judgment.
I saw colored flowers unlike anything I had seen on earth. The flowers unveiled themselves and then gathered into a book. I was disappointed that they were in a book instead of a teal garden. Is life only for a book? Did I create beauty in books?
I broke my arm and insisted on praying for it instead of having it set in a cast. I told the doctor; "I don't want a cast, I am going to go home and eat vegetables." I realized that this sounded crazy but faith often appears almost insensible. I practiced moving my arm a fraction of an inch every day in the swimming pool while I prayed "Thank you God for healing my arm." Two weeks later I was on my way to the Variety Store when I slid on the ice and fell on the broken arm. As I fell I called out "God Triumphs!" I leaped up and my arm could move up and down with almost no pain. I never had trouble with my arm since.
God is no respecter of persons. He answers faith if we dare to believe.
I was unconscious for three days and awoke mentally retarded and unable to speak. My mother and auntie were by my bedside, perhaps praying for me. Even though I could not formulate thought my spirit reached up to God's Spirit and asked for help. God organized my thoughts and set them in order, showing how everything related to everything else. My mind became like a library. Still, I could not talk so I asked God for speech. HE fixed my speech for me., so I could speak clearly. This was truly a miracle. Only my lack of heart feeling remained a handicap.
My glasses broke and I was not in a position to get a new pair. I prayed and was able to read the Bible and other material without glasses. This was a temporary miracle until I could afford glasses. I have been nearly
blind from the age of three and have worn glasses since I was five. God let me see!
I was in a street home where they had bunk beds. One night before going to bed I found a big black death drape hung over the lower bunk. Pulling back the drape I saw a torso without head or arms. With sudden faith, I placed my hand on the body and said; "Lord, this person thought she was
going to receive charity and there was none. Please bring her back to life Thank you Jesus."
Then I looked and there was a figure of a full person on the bed and she said :"Hello".
Later when my exchequer came in I phoned her from Union Station and asked her to travel with me. She said she remembered being knifed to death and she had gone to hell. The Lord saw that she needed charity and there was none. She told me that she had been ordered into a Nazi government
and she kept ending up in prison for resisting. She was elderly at the time I knew her.
Not every person can be a King or Queen. A Royal Person represents that which is fine in the tastes of the country. Queens, Kings and Popes and other notable persons hire many people to do art work for instance or to serve for cooking fine foods or making fine clothes or to build great churches and palaces. To help the poor is the work of everyone. However it must not be forgotten that the rich hire many people to do fine work and that is one way of helping people to live and to enjoy their labor.
Everyone including royalty has a duty to help people who have no opportunity to learn or work or who cannot do so because of sickness, and other conditions. However, he or she who hires someone to do fine work is not without help to those who would be poor if they were not hired to serve. To help someone so that they can grow to earn
their own pay justifies the person receiving charity as well as the giver of that charity.
God save the Queen.
Many people are not yet at the level where they love their own families, let alone strangers. My father used to say: "Elizabeth, what if you were to love the people who love you."
Abraham's children might have still been learning with Abraham's example to love their own families. The whole Bible is useful for lessons--do we love our own?

THE SCARRY ELEMENT

Life is full of scary things. When I was a little girl our basement was dark and dank, and full of cobwebs. I hated going down there to get potatoes for my mother's supper preparation or to deliver laundry to the laundry machine.
Then my Father as a surprise, turned the scary basement into a recreation room. He put down floor tiles, put in ceiling tiles and lighting fixtures, painted the walls and put up wallboard. Then he made library shelves and bought us a record player. My brother added a piano and organized a ping-pong table that turned into a dining room table for parties. Soon the floor had nice carpeting and was no longer cold. There were pictures oh the walls and my plaques won at speech contests, were hung on the pillar. What was once scary was now a place of refuge to enjoy solitude poi company in.
The world is full of heavens and hells. There is war and pain everywhere, while others are having romance and family and serving the community. I myself lived in a mental institution for many years. To me bad conditions are for the purpose of bettering them. What God left unfinished is for us to beautify and heal and complete and fulfill. The cross was Jesus' attempt to enter hell that he might free the captives
and bring to life the dead, to indeed create sympathy for prisoners. When I am in a carry place I think of God as my Father putting in a recreation room and lighting the darkness. It is my desire that hell should be transformed as that old basement made into a recreation room.

TAKING SIDES

Daddy was often grouchy. He grumbled and sometimes condemned. Yet at Christmas he should give us all lovely presents, and his face would light up with joy to give them for our happiness. In summer he took us on vacation to beautiful nature spots. All year he worked hard and put up
with me not doing my chores; he got eaten alive by mosquitoes on our vacations and he had headaches while he worked.
Us children learned how to win favor with Daddy so he could give us
kindnesses; we liked the better side of him, with his sense of humor and his strong protecting presence.
God does not always seem to be benevolent. Like Daddy He appears
sometimes to condemn. But when we win His favor we share in the benefits of His Universe.
Everything has its Kind and Cruel side. A fire that burns a building is like unto a fire that cooks food, warms us in the cold, or supplies sunlight on the sandy beach. An ocean of water drowns many a ship but is refreshing for surfers and bathers on the beach. And some things, like
flowers and trees are simply there as a blessing instead of harm though they must put up with ice, cold, and insects.
To believe in the Kindness of the Universe is to link us with that Kindness. It is like going shopping. We have so much earnings of pay and we pick things to purchase. What you purchase you get stuck with. Those who purchase Kindness in life have nice homes and friends.
The universe is selfed and it is no mistake that we each want to do what is best for ourselves. When we love someone else that person's good "
becomes our own good, the welfare of their self becomes important to our own welfare. Our self expands and becomes at least partially one with the other person.
Religion only masquerades as being against the self. "For the Joy that was set before him Jesus endured the cross."(I) We endure some of us with the idea that we will be benefited in the long run. Jesus was to reap an entire Kingdom of Eternal Life for his suffering. He gave testimony to himself, that God would turn His suffering to good. But He said: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do(2) Why? Because the people who hurt him thought they were looking after themselves too, and it is the way of the universe that creatures do what is best for themselves.
There are no wicked people, only people who have found love and meaning and those who have not.
My friend used to say: "People will do terrible things to you if you don't love them"
Mother was not in the charismatic movement of the church. She believed in the goodness and wisdom of many besides Christ.
However she acknowledged Jesus as God's Son which was a contradiction because she even doubted some of the miracles recorded in the Bible. However every morning mother had her half hour of prayer which no one was allowed to interfere with. She cared for her family and must have prayed for us. Many of the church people probably thought she was "lost" that she was supposed to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Well what do they think prayer is? God and mother shared life together and every morning during her Bible reading she asked questions and listened for answers. Prayer is a relationship with God. The way a person lives should reflect the time spent in prayer. A person who prays joins with God in petition for others and thanksgiving. However we all have selves and God is a Self. God does not get rid of the self, he ennobles and blesses it. He helps us to be at our best and loves us through
our failures. As Jesus said "Freely you have been given; freely give" (3)
Any relationship has to have two selves., at least in it. IF God did not bless us ourselves, if there were no gifts or heavens no one would praise Him like David or Paul. Chiefly we love God because His Self heals and enhances ourselves and we likewise befriend God by being His representatives here on earth. Thus we develop love for our own identities. Jesus had genius and abilities far beyond what most people dream of. But God asked Him to intercede for people who were at a low level of spiritual development--to die for the common prisoner, the sinners, and not just the "Pure in heart", "the meek" and "those who hunger and thirst after righteousness" whom he also acknowledged and promised rewards to. Because Jesus had more to give God expected him to give it. But the Bible makes it clear that Jesus triumphed over terrible wrong and came into his own kingdom. The people who hurt Jesus did not know there was life after death or help for people on crosses. Truly, we each do think of our own welfare and God tries to make the unselfish decision to bring the greatest benefit to the self.
HEAVEN
Happiness is not only circumstantial. Happiness is the AWARENESS AND REALIZATION of that which always is, visible and invisible. God makes Himself manifest to the heart and the Wonder, Love, Joy and Wholeness of Being are in the Realization of that which alway is, made our experience here and now.
We must invite God into our home's and lives instead of finding him elsewhere He is Here and Now.
I must say that God punished me for blasphemy and suicide attempts before I came to my senses and chose to live for God as much as possible regardless of whether people suffer too much or i do not always get my own way. I would never counsel people to do the wrong things; it doesn't pay. Mine was thwarted love, yet there are always opportunities to love, and love is a decision as well as a feeling.
Suffering deepens our experiences and helps us transcend the self (Or develop a Greater Self). The purpose of suffering is to create compassion to alleviate it, through our efforts to heal and help one another. We overcome suffering just as central heating and air conditioning create better circumstances for us and exist in response to a problem. Much of life is actually lived trying to overcome problems. When we sew Jesus' suffering we need not say; "I will inflict this on someone eke if they can bear it." nor "I will go to a hard death in order to follow." We see Jesus' pain and ask how we can alleviate His pain in loving creation. Mother Teresa tells a story about a bird who kept trying to take a thorn off Jesus' brow. The thorn hurt the bird as it tried to help. Think now that the bird did not say: "I will be like Jesus and hurt myself." Both Jesus and the bird were trying to heal someone else's suffering. It is said that Jesus descended into hell and ascended into heaven "That he might fill all things with Himself"(4) Jesus went right into hell, or "the lower parts of the earth" (5), and gave gifts to men at every level of being, releasing love and joy for people who had no heaven before. "He gave gifts to men, yea even to his enemies."(6)
A story does not have to have literal truth in order to be true. Many persons discussing the virgin birth miss the beauty of the story by trying to figure out if it is factual. The story of Scrooge in Dickens "A Christmas Carrol" may not have been someone's life story exactly but it has inspirational value and borrowed from life to explain the truth of Goodwill. I have presented factual truths but if you want to just be inspired and not believe in miracles, well a garden is full of miracles and a baby is a miracle and there are many truths that exist as truths whether or not thy are factual.
A person who has murdered
A person who steak
A person who committed adultery
A person who practiced false witness A person who hated her neighbor
A proud person who despised others A blasphemer
A person who swears:
Sin is sin
Forgiveness is for all sin; everyone has a human weakness whether of large proportion or little selfishnesses
Not that we encourage sin
But that we allow one another future chances for good character We do not feed on wrongdoing
We do not boast about it
We do not encourage each other to commit sin
But sin is not final
It is the mask of the child of God
To be taken away so that the person can see themselves as beloved and whole
In God's eyes.
Sin is not a doorway to belonging
It is an obstacle in a race to be leap over
And to provide future chances to clear the bar.
We learn goodness by reversing our sins
Sometimes the bar is too high to overcome and we must love ourselves even in our failure.
One who takes life learns to give life One who destroys learns to build up
One who steals learns to work for a living and to give generously to the poor
One who has a bad temper practices patience.
A scoffer comes to the place of praising God
And blesses God's creation
A stingy person learns generosity A lazy person learns to work hard
A restless person meditates and acquires peace
In the discipleship of qualities we reverse our negatives
And do the opposite of our sins.
A proud person takes account of her weaknesses
And confesses sin
A frightened person learns courage
And reaches out to others with life
A foolish person thinks until Truth makes itself plain A gruff person learns to praise the good in others
A complaining person learns to find good in his experience A loose person learns commitment
A rude person learns to be polite
A fat person learns to diet A glutton to fast
We are, however not responsible for everyone else's life. If I tell you to love others and praise God and do good and you choose not to I am not responsible for your decision.
A sin leads to sin leads to sin pockets disaster
This is the law of the pool table
A virtue leads to good deeds, leads to praising God leads to more virtue, pockets Joy
We all do affect each other with some influence
How is my behavior and speech affecting the people around me?
Must I like Alcoholics Anonymous accept that I can make some changes but there are things I would like to change that I may not be able?
I think a person needs to look after their own welfare by bathing and having something to eat, a few clothes and perhaps a luxury like music. We get ourselves to a place of safety and wholesomeness and then help as we can.
Many people do not understand Christian fundamentalists but here is a story so that you can understand.
A group of people were together on a hike in the woods when they came across a lake of fire. One of their friends fell in the lake. Someone shouted "Hold on, I'm coming in after you" and he jumped in himself. Another person cried out "I'll save you" and she also jumped in the lake.
Finally three other people decided to jump was the only thing left to do. Someone suggested the lake of fire did not exist but to the other hikers it was apparent that it did.
Then a different person got himself to a place of safety and proceeded to help people climb to safety with him.
Which of these people showed wisdom in dealing with their reality?
The world is full of different kinds of creatures who prey on each other. Usually, in nature the big fish like the sharks win. Jesus tried to reverse the order of nature so that the little meek fish can stand a chance.

HARMONY

It is not whether you or I are high or low
It is so that the Master God can bring harmony out of the whole piano.
Discord is called evil.
Harmony is a beautiful combination of the whole piano., all its octaves working together.
You and I are meant to be the Music of Peace, and Love and Joy
Not a bad note in us so much as something out of place with the music and the other notes
A need to blend:
'LOVE BINDS EVERYTHING TOGETHER IN PERFECT HARMONY" (ST. PAUL) (7)
I fell in love with a Jesus Freak when I was 12. When I was 16 I fell in love with a Yogi. both had eyes blazing with love, life, light and joy. These spirituals would not have accepted each other
But I loved them both.
How shall I love God other than to love
Beyond prejudice
And to ask His love to dwell in me
As it did in differing disciples?

SPIRITUAL?

Once I met a mountain climber on a train. In winter he and his friends went camping in Quebec. He liked to fight nature and conquer.
The man had an attractive personality. He was not a church-goer perhaps or a religious but he was interesting to be with. The man asked me to go out with him in Banff. He asked; Will I see you in Banff?" I was in such a hurry to get off the train at my stop I didn't realize he had asked me
out on a date.
Some people are justified not by religion but by what they make of their human personality. A mountain climber is special.
Love is the way to love
Peace is the way to Peace
Forgiveness is the way to forgiveness Righteousness is the way to Righteousness Wisdom is the way lo wisdom
Service and Generosity make way to riches Faith feeds on what we believe in
If you wanted to know me you could ask all kinds of people about me. That would not be the same as getting to know me for yourself. Getting to know God is an actual experience in relationship. As we practice some of God's character qualities we find union with Him in ourselves.
The color black is not wicked. When an artist creates a picture black and white are separate from the other colors. Black deepens a color and white lightens it. IF you want to paint a tree, for example you need to add black to darken the green leaves. Black makes the waves a deeper blue as white lightens the sky. Black is needed to see the stars of space. Imagine, for a moment that you are a slave of Egypt building pyramids in the hot sun. At night maybe the temperature is cooler: you can make love and sleep. How wicked is a rest? Black got its reputation for evil because you can do things in secret at night that would be seen by the light of day. Yet dreams have often shown to advise a person on their life situation. Night is a time for dreaming.
Angels are higher life forms than people. To an angel we are as cows dogs, wolves, eagles, beavers, or insects are to a human being. How do we treat animals which are lower life forms than ourselves? How am I to a cat or bird or fish? Many people realizing the value of other life forms become vegetarians. However chickens need a barnyard and cows a stable. Do we give animals a nice life before slaughter? Many animals rely on humans for their care. Can we be amazed the the miracle and purpose of life forms in their own world? God bless the person who has been kind and loving to a dog.

October 28, 2005

FORGIVENESS

I went to Queen St. to visit yesterday. A long time ago I had a falling out with my friend Moira and I was afraid of her aggression towards me. Then, yesterday, she spotted me in the mall at Queen. She exclaimed: "Oh! I'm so glad to see you --I was praying that you would come back to visit." She threw her arms around me and hugged me. I was so pleased. Forgiveness doesn't always hurt; sometimes it feels really good.
PRAISE
Andy's girlfriend Eleanor just died. HE showed us a song she had written to him just prior to her passing away. In it she blessed Andy for being such a wonderful support and presence in her life. I got to thinking how important it is to tell people that they are important and special while we still have the opportunity to do so. One day the person is taken from us and then we think of all the things we could have said to tell how important the person is in our lives and it is too late for them to hear. I gave Andy a sympathy card which said; "When you look at the stars at night don't see stars see porch lights on welcoming your loved one home. Wishing you peace at this time."

PRAYER

Who is so proud that they feel no need of prayer--either others praying for them or them praying for themselves? The Lord asks us to be humble enough to pray and ask for help. Pride gets in the way of God helping us perhaps more than sin. God can help us deal with our sins, but we need to go to Him for help. Who is so proud that they never ask God for help?

October 29, 2005

PROTECTION

I watched a program called "Higher Ground" about a treatment center for disturbed youth. In it, there was mention of a girl who had been abused by her father. She was sent home with him.
I am appalled at the idea of sending someone home to an abusive relationship. I had a friend who was abused at home and her psychiatrist told her to keep the relationship. I would have gotten a divorce. I believe in a clear "NO' TO ABUSE". I do not think it helps either the victim or the abuser to allow abuse. Abuse is sick. I think that people in treatment centers and hospitals should set examples in kindness for those they care for. The greatest teacher teaches by example. Never the less I think working with teenagers is partly an attempt to win a popularity contest. What if I would have cared but I am not "cool".

NATURE

I have just finished reading a book on American Forests. It is refreshing to reverence life that is not human; it puts life, survival and beauty in perspective. The book talked about the community of a forest. Different species vie for supremacy and survival. The book spoke of the interference of people in the natural selection of forests through logging for lumber and pulp. There was mention of efforts at conservation . Even fire could help forests in some situations because it opens the canopy of the forest to sunlight and frees seeds in pine cones, for example. One statement of the book is "We're reaffirming the bond between man and nature in a setting straight out of paradise." There was talk of trees 310 ft. high and some thousands of years old. My friend Thomas loved nature, and wanted to be a forest ranger. He thought civilization destroyed the wholesome life of the wilderness.

Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005

RIGHTEOUSNESS

I listened to Charles Price today talking about morality. He was saying that contrary to Freud who thought morality was instilled as conscience by the "dos and don't" of parental guidance Christians believe in a Universal code of ethics common to all cultures. This code of ethics is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. He also explained that the actual behaviors of morality spring from the love of God and the willingness to make good happen. Having God "in our hearts" we act out of love and not just in response to a moral code.
However I believe in the Ten Commandments as a universal code of ethics. In addition to the ten we are instructed to give to the poor.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength and all thy soul and all thy might (with thy whole being)
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself
Thou shalt remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.
Thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not kill
Thou shalt not commit adultery
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor (lying)
Thou shalt not take the Lord thy God's name in vain
Thou shalt not have any Gods before Me ( in particular thou shalt not worship materials or graven images instead of the invisible God)
Honor your father and mother

Nov. 3, 2005

OEDIPAL COMPLEX

In ichthyology they teach us that around the age of 5 the child identifies with their own sex and falls in love with the parent of the opposite sex. I know that this went wrong in my own life because, although I had sexual attraction to my father I fell in love with my mother's personality. I grew up with strong emotional feelings for women. My brother John saved men for me because he and I were companions. He was II years my senior but he was devoted to our friendship and took me for walks in the woods, bought art work for me and instructed me is classical music which I still enjoy. When I was still quite young he used to get me to sit on a blanket and he gave me a "magic" carpet ride by flying down our hardwood floors with the blanket. My emotions are less now and I am normal physically; if I were to be attracted it would be to a man. But I never really felt wrong about loving anyone; only my expression in thought of others, even wishing them sad so that I could comfort them, was wrong. I had a sort of duel personality, not really separated but somehow I was both a man with passionate love for a woman and a woman who was a friend to a man and a mother or sister of children. Now I am merely female but I miss my stronger emotion. My type of person probably used to feature as shaman in an Indian village or a nun in a Catholic convent which I also considered.

Nov. 3, 2005

INFLUENCE

I watched "Touched By an Angel" tonight in which a little boy named Scott was going to suicide because his friend had done. I suddenly realized that I had attempted suicide myself and how would this have affected people who knew me if they knew? I still remember some of the children I worked with and I have loved them in my heart and soul. Committing suicide gives your loved ones the feeling that they are not a good enough reason for you to live. All I can say to the people who loved me is that you were good enough and I wish I had lived to make you proud of me.

Nov. 4, 2005

SALVATION CONSCIOUSNESS

Life can be an act of rescue. We live to save things. Salvation might be saving someone from sin, from wrongdoing which will lead to trouble. It also might be saving someone from negative feelings, from depression and guilt. Salvation might be a matter of survival; saving someone from death or saving someone from sickness. How about saving the seals from being skinned alive or making a zoo, like a Noah's ark to save endangered species of animals? We need to save our drinking water and air from pollution. Salvation might be reconciliation or separation in a bad relationship. There is friendship, salvation from loneliness. Or prosperity, salvation from poverty. There is salvation from character weaknesses; from obesity and overeating, from greed, from a bad tamper and from complaining and criticizing others. A person might be saved from grief or from indifference and hard-heartedness. Our hearts need saving from loving what is wrong to loving that which is right. Nature needs saving; as in saving trees, forests, farms, and garden plots around homes. We need saving from anger and from fear. We need saving from natural disasters; earthquakes, floods, volcanoes and lack of moisture. Salvation might mean we need to be touched in a marriage or find the right companion to spend our lives with. We need to be saved from helplessness and lack of power to act. Salvation might be something beautiful in an ugly world, loveliness to feast our eyes upon, harmony as in music and inspiring stories and plays. Salvation might be an interest or hobby instead of boredom. We need salvation from war and aggression. We need to be saved from sexual abuse and sexual perversions.
The religion of Jesus Christ is based on the principle of salvation. No wonder we call our leader "Saviour." Together with Jesus we are commissioned to rescue life and the things that make for abundant
living. Salvation is from hell and the things of hell. Salvation is for the best; for heaven

November 4, 2005

PRISONERS AND GOD

I was in prison myself on an assault charge. I had thought myself to be defending people and I had lashed out at someone. In prison I met all sorts of wonderful people--some of them cried, some of them shared their story. One elderly lady and I did a jig around the cell. Some people missed their boyfriend, children or parents. I thought of the people as friends.
I think that a policeman has to identify with the victim of a crime, because someone has to care about the lady who gets her purse stolen or the person who gets beaten or who has someone they love killed. However, once in the prison there should be people to help a person live and reform. In particular chaplaincy plays a large part in helping a person to accept themselves, find forgiveness, forgive others and turn to a decent lifestyle. I quote from psalm 107:
Some sat in darkness and in gloom
prisoners in misery and in irons
for they had rebelled against the words of God
and spurned the counsel of the Most High Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor they fell down, with no one to help
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and He saved them from their distress;
He brought them out of darkness and gloom,
and broke their bonds asunder.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love for his wonderful works to humankind
For he shatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron.
And from Luke 4;18 Jesus reads from Isaiah "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
because He has anointed Me
to bring good news to the poor
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor"
The New Testament calls sin sickness. "Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5;31) We need to treat the sick with compassion. "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." We need not compare sin with sin nor levels of sickness with sickness. Instead we must find the healthy part of the person, and rescue that from whatever sin or sickness is binding them. "For whoever commits a sin is a slave to sin" (John. 8; 34)

INSIGHTS ON THE BIBLE: The Book of Mathew

The Way of Righteousness
Blessed are the meek
Blessed are the pure in heart
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are you when you are persecuted for being a good person
On the cross we see the Righteous One suffering: "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" God justifies Christ by raising him from the dead and giving him power and a following of disciples
The Book of Mark
The Way of Deeds
The physical Christ releases his spirit to God at the point of death "Father into your hands I commit my spirit"
The Book Of Luke
The Way of Forgiveness: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
The Book of John
The Way of Person hood God the I AM is incarnate in Jesus
The Way of the Spirit. God becomes our drink, our living water, our wine of the Spirit, our Bread from Heaven .God saves us with His Self
The Way of Relationship
IN the gospels God becomes master, teacher, mother hen , father, child, servant, friend--and we are saved through relationship with him
The Way of Peter
The way of good character. The Pope sits on the throne of Peter. The second letter of Peter 1;5-8
:For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness and goodness with knowledge and knowledge with self-endurance and endurance with godliness and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The Way of Paul
The way of faith Our faith in Christ makes him part of us and he acts from within us to renew and perfect us
"Consider your own call brothers and sisters; not many of you were wise by human standards. But God chose what is foolish in the world in order to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the Presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption in order that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord' (I Corinthians 1;26-31
This is the faith of the Protestant Church; the Pentecostals, United, Presbyterian and so on.
The Way of John
We are saved by love, Christ's love for us and our own love for one another.
"Beloved let us love one another, because love is from God and everyone who loves is born of God and Knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God for God is love"
"In this was love not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God is love and those who abide in love abide in God and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment because as he is so are we in this world.
I John, 4;7-9, 12, 16-17
The Quakers and the liberal United chose the way of love

THE WAY OF JAMES

James is the way of Wisdom, particularly the power of the tongue, and our ability to direct life with our speech. James affirms our divine state to be one of being made in the image and likeness of God and that we must see ourselves in this light of God in order to be good persons in action.
"For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror for they look at themselves and on, going away immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act --they will be blessed in their doing."
James 1;22
"If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships; though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.
"How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species but no one can
tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My
brothers and sisters this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree my brothers and sisters yield olives or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. (James 3;3-12)
"The prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise them up.", and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven."
James 5;15 The Unity Church of Truth is the way of St. James

THE WAY OF JUDE

The world is a wicked place destined for hell but Jesus Christ is a real friend among other Godly people, who saves us in purity and towards eternal life
The idea of Christ as a Friend in a friendless world is often the truth of Anglicans.
DISSAPOINTMENT Nov. 4, 2005
My friend David was thinking of moving in here and yet he didn't come for supper tonight, as was planned. David is Jewish and I think he thinks I want to influence him to be Christian. M Other Teresa warns against using too many words to proclaim Christ. She suggests we simply love. However, I am about human personalities and I like to share my faith as part of my personality just as I like to listen to other people share their own persuasion. I was so looking forward to David moving in; he is a dear friend and I thought that I would give him space to be by himself but that we would also be there for company. David doesn't like where he is living very much; the people don't cater to each other's wishes. He says his roommate leaves the light on all night so David can't sleep. David himself likes to cater to other people and I think he needs to be a self and not just a religious persuasion. He is often afraid that people don't like him for himself. He doesn't need to change so much as to unfold the Person within him. Inside of him are resources he doesn't know he has because he is so worried about offending others. He likes to build other people with praise and he lets others know he likes them. What if he feels he can't tell me if something bothers him about me or someone else? Acceptance would allow him to unfold his own personality.

OH, THE COMFORT--THE INEXPRESSIBLE COMFORT OF FEELING SAFE WITH A PERSONL--HAVING NEITHER TO WEIGH THOUGHTS NOR MEASURE WORDS, BUT POURING THEM ALL RIGHT OUT, JUST AS THEY ARE, CHAFF AND GRAIN TOGETHER, CERTAIN THAT A FAITHFUL HAND WILL TAKE AND SIFT THEM, KEEP WHAT IS WORTH KEEPING, AND WITH THE BREATH OF KINDNESS BLOW THE REST AWAY.-

Dinah Maria Mulock Craik
Sunday, Nov. 6, 2005

THE MIRACLE OF LIFE

I have been reading "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman, an old
favorite of mine. To Whitman all of life is a miracle. God is accepting of His creation. Whitman has a personal self of the body and a Universal Self of the universal body of the universe. His soul and body are friends and travel together. Whitman's Self is the lover of the universe and the friend of mankind. HE is a kind of God-Self acting as a friend to humans as Jesus Christ does only Whitman is for everyone whether they are friends of his or not. He believes that who we are in each life, determines who we are in the afterlife and he believes both in reincarnation and in a spiritual body which inhabits the spiritual world between incarnations.
Leaves of Grass: "Song of Myself"; 31
I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars, And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand and the egg of the
wren,
And the tree-toad is a chef-d'oeuvre for the highest
And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven, And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery, And the cow crunching with depressed head surpasses any statue, And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillion's of infidels
The only criticism I have of Whitman is that I do not believe "everything is beautiful in its own way" as a songwriter puts it. Whitman believes that even evil is necessary to the good and this is partially correct; even "Little House on the Prairie" and "Touched By an Angel" and "Road to Avon lea" and other TV shows which are wholesome have things go wrong and are largely about rectifying evil. However I would never say it is a beautiful experience to have leprous or to explode under a bomb in war., or to die in childbirth. We find goodness partially through its opposite and evil sharpens the virtue of the righteous. Whitman shows good and evil in each person's personality and he celebrates the identity of each person. I, too, wish to compliment and recognize other people's identities. What happens to each matters to me. and so I am against
evil and pain instead of accepting it.
To Whitman everything in life has a self and the self is good, but we also transcend ourselves and reach out to others. The Over Soul is the Universal Self and includes all individuals who each make a contribution to life as a whole. And God is the Caretaker of, and the Lover of His creation.
Whitman was not lawless. To him, the inheritance of every human is in his self. Who we are determines what we experience.
"Leaves of Grass", "A Song of the Rolling Earth"; 2
The song is to the singer, and comes back most to him
The teaching is to the teacher, and comes back most to him
The murder is to the murderer and comes back most to him
The theft is to the thief and comes back most to him
The love is to the lover and comes back most to him
The gift is to the giver, and comes back most to him--it cannot fail
_ The oration is to the orator, the acting is to the actor and actress, not to the audience.
And no man understands any greatness but his own, or the indication of his own.
I disagree with Whitman that people do not influence each other and earn gifts for one another. Jesus said: "You reap where you did not sow; others have labored and you have entered into their labor".

BEAUTY

I love my Ideals Magazine books with poetry, inspired writing, stories of famous Americans, and beautiful, beautiful photographs of nature. Beauty feeds the soul. The Ideals Magazine illustrates a way of life, from Christmas to Easter "Including pictures of snowy fields and then the awakening of nature in spring with flowers and flowering trees. The book shows religion as warmth in cold and resurrection in spring. The rest of the year is given to Mothers Day, Country (with Fathers' Day) Thanksgiving and Friendship. All in all we celebrate the loveliness of countryside with the happiness of relationships. Then, of course there is homespun pioneer living from recipes to homemade quilts to collector's items and jars of jam. I would like to live an Ideals life.

LOST

lost sheep saves the Shepherd
I had dreams of saving Jesus from inflicting violence over little, rebellious humans. I was of Jesus but against violence. Of course Jesus told Peter to "forgive seventy times seven" even one offender before inflicting violence in return. I know that if we had to forgive to that extent we would be just in wishing the other person hell. However it is not simply a case of whether or not the other person has the right creeds or not.
There is a modern song: "We are lost together". My real emotions identified with that song. I felt lost, lonely and there was the other person to be with but we needed God with us.

NATURE

I watched two animal programs on discovery channel, showing how animals survive in incredibly hard conditions and that while we consider them a menace to our civilization our civilization is also a menace to the animals. I am filled with wonder at the diversity of creation. God has a magnificent imagination. I know that the Bible says that God created man in 6 days. However it says in the Bible and an old hymn "A thousand ages in thy sight is like an evening gone." A day in God's time is not the same as a day in our time. I know that aggression is a part of nature but I believe Jesus tried to change the world so that the meek and little win out over the bullies. Everlasting punishment is not really acceptable to me although that might be what it is like to live over and over through every famine, war, prison, premature death and poverty. In the end if we have a nuclear explosion we have to deal with even that. Starting all over again in evolution we would have to evolve millions of years as fish and animals even to get up to the point where we are human and face another nuclear explosion. The Christian Ideal of being saved from the world as it is is still not outmoded. And if there is
"The resurrection of the just" and "The resurrection of the unjust' . that might denote a good or bad reincarnation in the physical realm. However, even with all that said everlasting hell is still no acceptable for me as a belief. I believe that if some people are too wicked to come back to life in good circumstances they should become extinct and their punishment is not to live again. WE see in nature that there are very hot places and very cold ones and nature itself might be a kind of hell or heaven--I love cross-country skiing on a smooth snowfall or tanning and swimming in the sun on a sunny beach.

DISSAPOINTMENT

David is not going to move into the house--he withdrew his application--no one told me why.

REMEMRANCE DAY

I watched the Remembrance Day program on TV. The children sang "IN Flanders Field" and the dignitaries placed the wreath on the tomb. I think that World War II happened for a reason and it is edifying to the survivors. Hitler's nation was guilty of what many nations and religions teach: that only one group, their group in particular is saved and has merit. Ethnocentricity or what is actually prejudice takes on military significance. Jesus Christ is often painted as a military figure who will descend with bombs and fire on judgment day and get rid of anyone not in a particular group of people. Most people do not go to church to be violent. They go to pray for their friends and to ask forgiveness for their wrongs. They go to worship the Creator who gave them life and sustenance. However, the undercurrent of Christian teaching is to get rid of anyone not Christian. The Jewish scripture is likewise intolerant of outsiders. If Christ does come back in judgment it may not be against anyone's particular group but against crime, war, famine and sin. God has planted goodness in various groups as a gardener plants different types of flowers and shrubs. One kind does not cancel out the other. I believe in goodness and love wherever they are to be found.

November 12, 2005

EARTH-DANCE

I watched a program on TV called "Wandering Canada" in which they discussed the Canadian Indian tradition, in particular the dance. The narrator was University educated and hopes to share some of the Indian traditions through poetry and the art work of his people. Later I watched a program about the Hollyhock Dance retreat center, a vacation center devoted to expressing the earth through dance. There is the beat of the drum and body movements free-style meant to experience water, earth, fire and birds. My sister was married by a Canadian Indian priest who had a statue of Buddha and one of an earth-goddess along with plants in his house. His wife, who wrote Kristine's and Shaboz's wedding vows was discussing a dream she had with her husband. The priest did what was called a "Smudge", scattering the fragrance of sage while everyone waved their arms in a circle of the earth. I must say I feel at home with this veneration of the earth-spirits. The priest called upon the ancestors of Kristine and Shaboz to be present at the marriage. Kristine was dressed in a beautiful blue gown in the Hindu tradition with jewels at her forehead and neck. The sacredness of the earth is venerated in the expression of reverence through dance, verse and statue.. There is a close feeling, even in Christianity between nature and spirit. Christians celebrate the "Living Waters" and "Tongues of Flame" of the Spirit. Peter is a "rock" and followers are "sheep". There is the "Blood of the New Covenant" and the "Wind which bloweth where it will (so is as everyone who is born of the spirit")
The Seven-Day Adventists have a cookbook which is a healthy diet of vegetables and herbs; no meat or tea or coffee. I used to be vegetarian and would be again if I lived on my own. The food at the boarding house is good and is provided for us by a wonderful cook, Elsie. I remember attending a Seven Day Adventist meeting and they were all black people. I was the only white person in attendance but they welcomed me and invited me to return. I was homeless at the time and they gave me a handout and treated me well. Their cookbook describes the nutritious value of various herbs, outlining what each is useful for. There are no milk products or meat used in their recipes but the food is delicious and you can easily create "vegetarian meatloaf" out of lentils which tastes like meat but has no meat in it.
I had a friend named "Ricky" who claimed to be an Indian chief. He knew how to make his own moccasins. Ricky had been an alcoholic but he had made a Christian commitment; .he said that the Christians on the reserve were always willing to be of help. It was Ricky's ambition to open up a shelter for homeless people and run it himself. HE wanted to help Indians coming into town from the reserve, for example. I met Ricky at Queen St. He was always telling me that he cared about me. I liked him a lot but I didn't know if he would go back to alcohol once he was out of the secluded and restricted atmosphere of the hospital. I had bought a pair of moccasins for myself from the Canadian Indian Craft Store on Queen St. I love native dress, made out of leather with bead work. I love nature and admire the Indian culture based on the natural world. I think that the Indian culture is more honest than ours. We eat meat every day for example but seldom associate it with killing anything; it all comes in a plastic-covered package. When an Indian eats or dresses they know where their product comes from. Everything, after all, has to come from somewhere; you can't make things from nothing. I wonder what "synthetic" furs started out as? In one Indian culture, I am told the people apologize to the spirit of the caribou for killing it for food. How far removed from warehouses with animals mass-produced in cages who never see the light of day! This is the product of "civilized"
cultures; we can't even let the animals have a barnyard under the sun. The Indians knew themselves to be part of nature like anything else and nature was sacred to them.

November 12, 2005

PERSONAL YOGA

When I was locked in solitary confinement at Queen St. i developed my own personal yoga, pretending that I was a flower unfolding to the sun. I would crouch down in a ball and then stretch my arms and hands and reach upwards, slowly unfolding myself. I was trying to awaken my heart like a flower, and to make my body a garden. I understand that the ancients left us ideas to elaborate upon. The "Dance of the Flowers" is my own yoga system.

Sunday, November 12,2005

BOOK-MARK

I am reading "RING OF BRIGHT WATER" by Gavin Maxwell. Gavin Maxwell was wealthy and, after attending Oxford chose to "rough it" In the Hebrides in Scotland, right next to the sea. He describes the awesome sense of being alone, as he says that being alone to the average person in Britain is experienced in the midst of lots of people but his aloneness was with the land in the absence of neighbors. (he had only one close neighbor) . The book is a colorful account of animal and fish life but really comes to life when he adopts a sea otter while sojourning in Iraq.
He has to fly the otter back to London with him and there is a hilarious account of the otter, biting its way through the box it was kept in and gallanting down the aisle of the plane, to the consternation of the travelers. Then, like a naughty child it chewed its way through a lady's purse.
The book shows life and death as intertwined, while everything fights for life and this means death must occur. It also caricatures the otters, showing them to be playful and personable and one has the sense of the person hood of natural beings, besides just humans. The otter's favorite place in the house was the bathtub, wherein it splashed water all over and it liked to play with a ping-pong ball and other toys like a child.
Margaret Wood and Wendy, David's mother and sister visited tonight. Margaret always has a story. Tonight she was telling me about her brother who taught would-be pilots to fly in the heberdes during the second world war. She said flying over the north water was dangerous.

SIMPLICITY

Gavin Maxwell, although from a wealthy background, lived a life in the country without amassing possessions. HE made furniture out of crates washed in from ships at sea. Like Thoreau he wanted an uncluttered life unimpeded by too much man-made comfort.
I too, like simplicity. There is a commercial on TV. for Christmas adversing that all you need is a steno set, a new computer, and a digital camera. I would find the hectic life of driving a car and working on computers too stressful. I like to read or listen to music but I don't want a life cram-packed with activity so that i can afford lots of things. Never-the-less I like The Antique Roadshow on TV. showing the appraisal of people's home antiques and what their value is on the market. I particularly like historical hand-carved furniture, art work or ornaments. My friend, Peter, was a junk collector and he had a couple of pricey magazines from the turn of the century. In particular he had a magazine showing the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. I like the craftsmanship of workman in the old days as opposed to the fast factory assembly lines. There was a sense of art work in making furniture, and other things. In a beautiful "Touched by An Angel" episode there was the story of a watchmakers' shop that tried to preserve tradition and craftsmanship although it is a dying art. I loved the watchmakers' shop in the story. As a young girl I loved Charles Dickens and identified with his time zone in the 1800ds. However, no doubt the insane asylums in his time were abusive. They were also abusive in my time, with the use of too many drugs. I love the old horses trotting down the street. I like horses instead of motor cars and trains instead of airplanes. I love the solid old furniture made of oak or mahogany. My grandmother had a buffet created in the old style of furniture and Auntie Ida didn't want it in the living room because it didn't go with the rest of the furniture. But Granny was so happy that her grandson John liked the buffet because to her it had nostalgic meaning and was a time piece.

LOVE AND FEAR

When I was just a little girl of four or five I had a strong will. One night I hung onto the doorhandles and screamed: "I won't go to bed tonight! You can't make me! I'm going to stay up and watch TV!"
My mother, patiently said to me: "Elizabeth mummy worked hard all day to give you a nice day and now you're spoiling it for me."
I looked up at my mother and thought to myself: "Gosh, she's nice about it" Then i obediently went to bed.
After that I had a sense that I dearly loved my mother and didn't want to hurt her feelings.
Later on, while working as a teen with children I remembered my experience with my mother. I DECIDED THAT SOME CHILDREN WILL NOT OBEY OUT OF FEAR BUT THEY WILL OBEY OUT OF LOVE. The trick is to get them to love you and then show them how their actions affect you. A child who is aware of being loved is more able to express love to others. We are "loved into being good" so to speak. I used to play a game with the children when it came time to put their toys away. I would say: "I'll count to ten and I bet you can't get all your toys away by the time I get to ten. If I get to ten first I win." Then the child would hurry to put away his toys and I would make a fuss of him as a winner. One little boy broke down one day and cried to me: "Nobody likes me!" He had had a behavior problem and it was the first time he expressed a desire to be liked by others. Another boy, after being listened to for a long time started to cry and told: "I don't even like to fight like I do. I'm doing it for my step dad. He wants me to be tough. I have to make it with him. He's the only dad I've got now." The step dad came to pick the boy up and said" "So you've been in another fight. Good sport!" and thus verified what the boy tried to tell. Yet even if the boys remained disobedient I hoped that one day they would remember they had a friend in an adult who listened and cared for them and that the memory would make them try to do something good for somebody else. Many of us adults have the same psychology. The love someone showed us is a reserve within us to
draw upon when we are faced with opportunities to love others. This is the real Christianity. The idea of grace is that someone is loved first and then, out of what they have received freely they can give. "We love because He first loved us."

ATTENTION

Behaviorism uses the term: "attention getting" to refer to children seeking the attention of adults or others. However, everyone likes attention. Someone once said of the university that it was "to see and be seen". Why do we receive diplomas or give compliments if not to recognize the value of the other person?
One little girl was very shy at the day care and talked to no one. I began relating to her by making a fuss of her art work, telling her how talented she was and asking her to express what she wanted to say with her work. Soon she was talking to me and bringing her work to show me. Shy children crave positive attention, a non-judgmental attitude; to be noticed and cared for.
AGGRESSION?
Some children are naturally aggressive. Their aggression has to be restrained and dealt with. However, some shy children are disparately afraid of offending anyone. I used to play a game with such children, getting them to pull me by the nose and eat me up with a set of play teeth. You might say that this was teaching aggression. To me it was telling the child that he wasn't going to offend me or "step on my toes' as it were by expressing himself. He was free to imagine and play.

LANGUAGE OF LOVE

There is a "language of love' that says things gently often using "sir' or "madam" or as an expression to call people "Love" or "Dear". For example "I was hoping to watch my program on TV tonight dear." Or "I don't think that is a wise solution Love." Also we are taught to rephrase what the other person says to show that we hear them. For example a person may say:" I got chased by someone on the street, " and I reply, "That sounds scary. Someone followed you home and it frightened you."
SON-RISE
There is a book called "Son-Rise" about an autistic child. Autistic children do not relate to others. Some of them are quite smart and can be taught things but they do not like affection, being hugged or playing with other children. They live in their own world. The parents in "Son- Rise", a true story about an autistic did not like the programs available for their autistic son. So they developed their own program. They sat with the child and imitated his behaviors. When he rocked back and forth so did they. When he spun a top on the floor (autistics like shinny objects) they also took turns spinning the top. When he flapped his hands they flapped theirs. After awhile they made contact with the boy's feelings and personality. The boy came out of his shell to join his parents in their world. The preschool boy came to hug people, play with other children and start school.
A psychologist in Toronto started a program with four preschoolers using the "Son-Rise" approach. One child dropped out of the program but the other three changed dramatically in a year. One was then admitted to a regular school class and the other two to special education within the school system. They hugged people and played with other children as children usually do. The government refused to fund the psychologist (Fern Levitt) 's program the following year. I expect to hear that it was a costly program but autistics usually do not recover and have to be institutionalized for life. The "Son-Rise" approach almost cures the children within a year, and allows them to enter the regular school system. Apparently the people using electric shocks and punishment
- to teach the children to tie their shoes or learn things didn't want to know that acceptance and patience can work miracles in the children's lives. I myself worked as a student where there was an autistic and I was afraid to stand up for the new form of therapy to my superiors. I now know that if I had stood up for what I believed would help I could have saved that little boy's heart. It is our heritage in life to find new ways of doing things that defeat the old systems. I pray for autistics and the new "Son-Rise:" approach that lets love save in a gentle way.

CHANGE AND NORMALACY

IT seems to me that life is always changing us from one type of person to another. Therapy especially operates on the idea that people change to fit a norm. I worked with some boys who were reckless, fearless courageous types like you would see in the Wild West. We wanted them to sit in school; life was a library. The boys would have done well in the Calgary Stampede riding bulls. They liked hockey and sports. They were action people; not reflective types. At the same time there was a boy who was with us who liked adults. His younger brother had been punished for being naughty but Brian (not his real name) liked books and quiet discussions. He thought he was favored by adults because of his good behavior and quiet disposition. It was our job to see that he got angry with adults over his brothers' punishment and learned to fit in with all the dare-devil types of boys. One type of boy had to learn to sit still and the other to act out. What if we had based therapy on the idea that each person has a degree of genius all their own to develop.? The wild boy could learn to tolerate school because there would be his hockey match and perhaps one day he could play professionally or be a coach of a little league hockey team. The quiet boy could be a friend to adults yet learn a little compassion for the feelings of his brother. He didn't have to be someone's best friend unless the other person had things in common with him. The boys could be under "contract" that is they could set goals for themselves and learn to develop into the kind of person that would meet their goals. A boy has strengths and weaknesses and works with his own personality so he can be a sportsman if he wants or a writer if he likes books. Who would the boy like to marry when he grows up: a beauty or a friend in a woman or someone who appreciates him? What kind of woman would the woman he wants like to marry be? Can he work with himself to get someone he would like in the future? There is always room for people to discuss their feelings and upbringing. However part of therapy is to discover that I can make up my own life despite what life has dished out to me; I have enough power to direct my life in the course that I choose and the courage to fail because that courage can also help me to succeed. It is important to develop friendships that last in both failure and success and to know that it is better to fail trying
than to succeed doing nothing, or by doing the wrong things.
THOUGHTS TRAVEL
Imagine my dismay to find that some of the negative fantasies I had about others actually affected them! People have thought unkind and critical thoughts about me and I have reacted to the thought message. No wonder Jesus taught us to watch over the thoughts we entertain. Thoughts become things, and in heaven, I believe, we can actually travel with our thoughts. Recently I asked myself: "Supposing you had unlimited power as God's child to make anything you wanted happen. What would you imagine?" I decided I would like to see the poor prospered, help people find nice romances, heal sicknesses and give people nice feelings like peace, love joy and so forth. I would wish their natures to be alive with the spirit of water, wind, fire and blood. I would not wish to embarrass them in any way. I would wish families to be happy being together. I would wish prisoners help and halfway houses to help them readjust to society. I would wish people creativity in their work place. I would wish a beautiful Basilica of Brotherly Love showing art pieces of people helping each other. There would be pictures of factory and office workers, police, firemen and ambulance staff, farmers and food processors, truck drivers and shop keepers. A picture of Jesus might be surrounded by pictures of modern day doctors and nurses healing the sick and lawyers defending the guilty. A picture of Moses would lead up to people writing laws in the legislature for the country, particularly human rights laws. On the altar at the front of the
basilica before a curtain would be a prayer book. People coming to the church would be welcome to write a prayer before they left.
I would wish an end to earthquakes, volcanoes fires and natural disasters
I would wish people in churches to find God close to them, touching their hearts. I would wish people to find satisfaction in being good persons. I would wish people nice homes and gardens and parkland preserving nature in forests, plains, lakes, rivers, mountains and seaside places.
I would wish new learning to further the ability of people to be happy and to care.

VOTE

Today is election day. I used to always vote liberal. I thought of them as the caring party that supported social services. Then, a few years back when Chretien was Prime Minister someone out west sent the Prime Minister pictures of children who had been sexually abused and tortured. This was documented in the city paper, I believe the Toronto Star. What was Chretien's response? "Oh," he said, "It's art work."
What would have happened if the University had been broken into and its students raped and tortured? We would never have heard the end of it; everyone would have been in shock. Why is a child not valued the way a beloved adult would be? I voted NDP this time and I only hope that their government can give us a humanitarian alternative to the corrupt liberal government. We want a government that is FOR human welfare; the good of the whole society. It is one thing to establish rights for prisoners in jail and after their release and another to condone evil in any form. The society has a right to sleep soundly in bed at night without having to worry about rape, murder and torture, abduction and abuse to orphans. What is our country coming to if we do not stand up for innocents?

THE ELDERLY

My mother was an elderly person who came to visit me in prison and hospital. I saw a picture of her on television "defaced": her eyes and mouth wiped off her face. I recognized her body with her cane I did not know that being "defaced" could be literal until that point.. Later someone posing as my mother (was it another part of her spirit) came to visit and the floor opened up and she was swallowed into the SOTU dungeon in the Queen St. Hospital. A third person claiming to be my mother died at the St. Joseph's Hospital. I attended her memorial service. I loved my mother; remembered her talking to me about life and supporting my literary efforts. She was always there to lean on; and then she wasn't and it was painful that she was hurt and I couldn't help her.
You may not believe me, of course, but it is apparent to me that witchcraft has found its way into social services. Patients are manipulated by the use of ESP. And what about the elderly? I worked with elderly people as a volunteer and student. They were all on drugs
but I, of course, didn't know what the drugs were doing. Most of them had
_ given the better part of their lives to their family and community. The experience of loneliness in elderly people is terrible. I worked in activities trying to give the seniors something to do with their day. We had crafts, music appreciation, outings in the community and chapel. Part of my work was simply to talk to the seniors about their lives and reminiscences. People in broken bodies are still people; they are alive indeed trapped inside bodies that no longer work. A visit reaffirms their value as human beings.

DRUGS

It was common practice in Ontario Hospitals to "break" a patient by giving them too much drug. My own friend was disabled with drug so that she couldn't feed or toilet herself or even stand up straight. Once when I went to visit her I went to the bad ward by mistake and saw someone in chains thrashing and moaning in his chains, his mouth clenched shut so that he could not even scream. My friend's only apparent problem was that she wanted to marry someone they said she couldn't marry. Why didn't they have her boyfriend show up to say that he would marry her or not? How long have people suffered in psychiatry without anyone knowing?
Many caring professionals are now at work to change the system to a more caring model. People at Queen St. for example have put in lounge furniture to replace the benches that used to be all the patients' had to sit on. They have plants and pictures on the walls and aquariums. Everyone has their own room, some with a private lock. A coffee cart comes up to the floor and patients have a little money to spend on coffees and snacks. The SOTU floor has its own private gym with equipment. There is a gym to play sports in , a library to take books from and a swimming pool. The people have outings to the country for picnics and sight-seeing. The last remaining thing to be changed is that patients might want to care for others instead of feeling that they are betraying people for their welfare. The idea of Social Services is that people are cared for and supported. Many professionals are now acting on the premise that human life, whatever form it takes is valuable and that serving the community is an honor. I petition doctors to "make" instead of "break" people, not suggesting that people be turned into someone they are not, but that the best in each person should find expression.

ARTISANS

In Queen St. and St. Joseph's we had art programs. Some artists were amateur but there were some very talented artists amongst us. One group painted plates with glaze while some of the people worked on canvas. The photograph is often the enemy of a good artist but some people made pictures as real as life. Others were interpretive artists, showing mountains and gardens in their own way. We had music therapy groups and we improvised with drums and maracas and made up our own songs.
I have met professional artists and songwriters in hospital. Hurting people often like to escape through art and are talented. At Western Hospital we have a gardening club in summer and a cooking club in winter. It is healing to grow things and do constructive things like cooking. But you know I have seen lesser art sell, even be put in the province art gallery, and I want people to know: you don't have to have an art degree to be a good artist or a music degree to write a song. Much superior art goes by unrecognized. I am a writer and I don't have a PHD. Art in therapy is used to express the self, and some art groups focus on expressing feelings on paper. A sick person has a need to communicate. Even fondling clay to make sculptures and vases is relaxing. And at Joseph's we had leather work; some men even made their own wallets. It is true that an artist makes a contribution to the community. Many artists are not recognized in their lifetimes but good art remains with a community even in future generations.

WHO?

Who ends up on the "bad wards" of a hospital? Is it a religious person: Christian or Jewish or Muslim for example? Most religious people have moral and cultural persuasions and might not fit in with the rest of the society. Humanists might take them for people that are against other cultures and therefore not pro-humanity. Yet we cannot just get rid of God and keep creation; the Creator ultimately has a say over what he has created. And as Jewish people are good and Christian people are loving and Muslim people are devout they deserve a place in society where they can be at their best to help people live and worship God. In Queen St. there was a representative from each of several different religions working on Chaplaincy. I hope that the people working in the center do not negate their help because the idea is that a troubled person has a right to a cultural identity and worship. As Canadians we do not get rid of someone because of their spiritual preference. Yet to come into a relationship with the living God is choice that should remain open to people and ultimately God has His own decision over our decisions The people called upon to represent Him must try to preserve Goodness and Love as well as devotion. We can also learn from the East the
virtue in Buddhist people, Taoists and Hindus. Lessons on Brotherly Love, Goodness and Devotion appear in every culture. But as Canadians we do not destroy people on the basis of cultural preference. I do not think anyone should end up on the "bad wards" of a hospital under persecution. In Queen sway I even saw people being carried out of hospital beheaded. We are not supposed to be killing and hurting each other to preserve truths of Brotherhood and Love. And those who uphold humanist values need to understand the instinctive need of a human to worship a God greater than himself., as well as the instinct to try to be virtuous in one's choices in life. As Mother Teresa said; "If you are a good Christian be a good Christian, if you are a good Muslim love others as a Muslim;
if you are a good Hindu, be a Hindu who helps with devotion. Make the best of who you are." And if you want to invite others to church it is their decision to go with you or not.

BLASPHEMY

A blasphemer is often a person who loves humanity who can't stand what happens to human beings. You often find this person in therapy. Under some circumstances anyone might be tempted to blaspheme. Not everyone takes pain like Jesus without asking God "Why have you forsaken me?" in not so very polite language. Yet God is trying to bless people and needs our co-operation to help him care and heal. A blasphemer might be the nonbeliever you know who really wants to believe and needs your invitation to church. When we look at a person's beliefs we also need to look at how they live their life. What if a person really cannot believe in God but spends their life trying to help human beings?. "Abou Ben Adam" is a poem about an angel who asked Abou if he believed in God. Abou Ben Adam answered: "Put me down as one who loves his fellow man" . And the angel answered by putting Abou's name first on the list of believers. As St. John in the Bible said; "NO one can love God without loving their neighbor. It is useless to say "I love God" whom you have not seen without loving your neighbor whom you have seen." (1st John; 19) Many of us no longer even have hearts to love. But we can WILL TO LOVE, making efforts to be kind and hope that God sees our efforts and gives us the assurance of his Healing Love.

PROMETHEUS

Is the person who ends up on the "bad wards" Prometheus of Shelley.?
I do not believe in Satan but to Shelley the God who was left out by the other gods was the one who wished well for everyone. HE suffered endlessly because he did not want anyone harmed and his position was not respected. I was this type of person. I could not make everyone happy but I wished everyone happiness. When I was pressured in hospital I felt called upon to take sides and I sided with children, elderly people and sick people, as well as my family and friends. But really I didn't want anyone hurt. When a person posing as Jesus Christ asked me what I wanted him to do to hurt the doctors and nurses I said "Nothing." Yet I turned violent myself trying to establish justice for the oppressed. Can you imagine someone who did not take sides, someone who held out with the effort to please and help everyone? Shelley was in Bracknell in England, some type of prison and he came up with his poem "Prometheus Unbound" to show the person who tried not to hate anyone at all. In his day and culture anyone who was not Christian was the equivalent of a Satan worshiper. But the type of person who finds his own God as a Person who does not wish sickness and misery for human beings does exist. Many alcoholics worship a God who is simply there to help them. I had a friend who was Buddhist who basically wished people well.

BOTH SIDES

William Blake believed the universe to have both a gentle and aggressive side to it and therefore believed God to have both natures in Himself.
He asked the question of the lion: "Did He who made the lamb make thee?" He died singing hymns to God that were unknown. He said of the songs" "They're not mine, they're not mine." To love through pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow, good and ill might indeed be a Christian act.
The Outsiders
In every regime be it political or religious there are "insiders" and "outsiders". If you are in communist China and you are democratic there is a persecution of the democrats. If you are in America and are communist how kind is America to the proselytism of communism? If you are Hindu there are the "untouchables" who are poor and if you are Christian there is hell for those who are not Christian. IF you are Jewish there are the enemy Arabs and if you are Muslim there is your enemy the Jews. What I propose and what I see the beginning of in Canada is a society that includes everyone and is kind to everyone. This takes a stand in good character by the majority of people. However, if the Kind people rise to the top of the society and the people at the bottom of the society receive examples in kindness you would do away with the persecution of those who are different from the rest. The Canadian social service system at its best is designed to allow people who are hurt a chance to live. Nearly everyone has something to contribute if the society believes in people's talents. I have seen great artists and musicians amongst the mentally ill. However the ultimate success of the social service system in Canada depends upon the examples of kindness set by those in authority towards those underneath them, regardless of talent or industry. In prison prisoners see the example of the police, parole officers and clergy towards the now "oppressed" people. IF we had a vision of a world without hell, without torture or cruelty of any manner would we not create the best society the world has yet to boast of?
"You know that the Gentiles say that the great man is the one who sits at table and is waited on by others but I say to you that I have come among you as one who serves" (Jesus)
"But I say to your bless your enemies, be kind to those that persecute you and give to those who use you..." (Jesus) In a regime where people's violence can be restrained is it not possible to give people examples in kindness regardless of their previous behaviors?

DRUG ADDICTIONS

Drugs appear to be a magical solution to problems but to me drugs for use in therapy is a last resort after other methods of health have failed. For many drugs can be a temporary measure to help a patient while they undergo counseling. Mediation practices, creative outlets and prayer can help when combined with an understanding counselor to talk things over with. I see a society in which, if people were at some point unable to get their drugs there would be chaos. I think health is an attitude and a lifestyle and although I myself was helped by drugs when psychotic and sick I would appreciate a genuine experience of God and other relationships instead of a contrived one by medication. I once was given a pill while I was waiting to see a psychiatrist which gave me a beautiful experience of harmony and love. But again, my answer to the pill was that I did not want to become an addict to a false happiness. People become slaves to pills to give them their feelings. It was my desire to obtain positive mystical experiences instead of drug abuse. I court God with devotion and if He chooses my experience of "nirvana" would be permanent and real instead of sugar coated cereal.

CHARITY

Along with the idea of receiving a free gift comes the idea of giving a free gift. God gives to us a gift of love and we are to give gifts of love. God is hidden in his creation so that whatever we do to God's creation we do to Himself.
"Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and welcomed you ? And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me"
Mother Teresa was charity incarnate. She suggested that we give not only out of our surpluses but make it cost something to give a gift. Could we give up a dinner a week and give the money for that dinner to the poor?