Loren Eiseley

The nature of literacy, the history of reading, the process by which books become sacred texts -- these are areas which we'll visit today. It is my hope that this will deepen our understanding of the need to expand the context within which we study the book if we are going to maximize our harvest of meanings and values.

It is the scorched shoulder blade of a hare

or a beaver;

the cracks made by the fire are like palm prints

over the surface of the bone

pointing the way to tomorrow's hunting;

a charred cluster of lines

marks a rockfall up country and a herd of caribou,

--things to be seen on the morrow

inscribed here by the fire.

This cosmos of a little band of hunting Indians

has meaning.

Every rock, every stream, every animal

is accounted for

and the deep underlying

rhythm of things

can inscribe the message of the forest

on the cracked bone of a hare.

It is true that instructions for getting one's food,

for hunting,

might seem the sole issue here;

but the shaman's reading

extrapolated

becomes mathematics and systems analysis

in the modern state.

I envy this man sitting by his fire.

His magic is not small, he is reading

something permanently bound into his universe

that he can decipher,

a code that can be read by the informed seer,

a voice from the universe reassuring for man,

hungry, enfeebled,

but knowing

there is a message to be read and one can find it

any time in the fire.

The world is held together

and man has his place:

that is the message; the food comes after and is acceptable.

Passing beyond the asteroids toward Saturn,

watched by radio telescopes and directed by the earth's great computers,

doomed to leave the solar system

and wander the far void of the galaxy,

our latest space probe whispers its messages among the stars.

A great triumph of the intellect, surely, but the whispers are only of our own devising.

They are lost

in infinitude and vanish

leaving us no equivalent of what the shaman

quietly accepts by the fire,

aiding himself, perhaps, in understanding

by a small song and the tapping of a skin drum.

He knows about the daily renewing of a pact with man;

we hear nothing

except the electrons beamed back to us

by our fragile probe.

Quite frankly, I do not know how to judge this matter,

sitting here in my study with my books and my computer,

but I believe I envy him,

the wrinkled old shaman

summoning his inner one for guidance,

with a little offering of tobacco leaves.

Keeping the motor idling

__________

KEEPING THE MOTOR IDLING

I relate well to the comment made by Barbara Johnson: "Patience
is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping
your gears." I know that if I can keep the motor idling, it will
be ready to go when I need it.

A kindergarten teacher practiced keeping her motor idling. A
story has it that she was helping one of her students put his
snow boots on. He asked for help and she could see why. With her
pulling and him pushing, they finally succeeded and she had by
now worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered when the little boy
said, "They're on the wrong feet."

She looked and, sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier
pulling the boots off, and then she had to wrestle the stubborn
boots on again.

Just as she finished lacing them he announced, "These aren't my
boots." She bit her tongue to keep from screaming, "Why didn't
you say so?"

Once again she struggled to pull off the ill-fitting boots. He
then calmly added, "They're my brother's boots. My mom made me
wear them." She began to realize how close she was to stripping
her gears as she struggled with the boots yet again.

When they were finally laced, she said, "Now, where are your
mittens?"

"I stuffed them in the toes of my boots," he said.

She may have been the same teacher who once commented about a
particularly difficult child in her class, "Not only is he my
worst behaved child this year, but he also has a perfect
attendance record.

A Dutch proverb observes, "A handful of patience is worth more
than a bushel of brains." I may never have to worry about having
a bushel of brains, but I can sometimes muster a handful of
patience. And that should be enough.

-- Steve Goodier

Fractal Art

The land of me

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me,

For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn,
We spread our crinolines to dry in circles on the lawn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.
;
We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me , Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me , Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me , Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T ,
And Oprah couldn't talk, yet, in the Land That Made Me , Me.

We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me , Me.

We'd never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson, and Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was a virgin in the Land That Made Me , Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and 'gay' meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never coed in the Land That Made Me , Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me , Me.

Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me , Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for condoms in the Land That Made Me , Me.

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me , Me.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.

They send us invitations to join AARP,
We've come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me , Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children's children of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me , Me.

For those of you too young to remember Bob Hope, ask your Grandparents!!! And thanks for the memories............






I HOPE THIS WILL PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE

AND IN YOUR HEART.
Tribute to a man who DID make a difference:





May 29, 1903 - July 27, 2003

ON TURNING 70 "You still chase women, but only downhill".

ON TURNING 80 "That's the time of your life when even your birthday suit needs pressing."

ON TURNING 90 "You know you're getting old when the candles cost more than the cake."

ON TURNING 100 " I don't feel old. In fact I don't feel anything until noon . Then it's time for my nap."

ON GIVING UP HIS EARLY CAREER, BOXING "I ruined my hands in the ring ... the referee kept stepping on them."

ON NEVER WINNING AN OSCAR "Welcome to the Academy Awards or, as it's called at my home, 'Passover'."

ON GOLF "Golf is my profession. Show business is just to pay the green fees."


ON PRESIDENTS " I have performed for 12 presidents and entertained only six."

ON WHY HE CHOSE SHOWBIZ FOR HIS CAREER " When I was born, the doctor said to my mother, 'Congratulations. You have an eight-pound ham'."

ON RECEIVING THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL "I feel very humble, but I think I have the strength of character to fight it."

ON HIS FAMILY'S EARLY POVERTY "Four of us slept in the one bed. When it got cold, mother threw on another brother."

ON HIS SIX BROTHERS "That's how I learned to dance. Waiting for the bathroom."

ON HIS EARLY FAILURES " I would not have had anything to eat if it wasn't for the stuff the audience threw at me."

ON GOING TO HEAVEN "I've done benefits for ALL religions. I'd hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality."







GOD BLESS AMERICA

Give me a sense of humor. Lord,

Give me the grace to see a joke,

To get some humor out of life,

And pass it on to other folks.

A lesson on Worthiness

Worthiness is at the core of being. It is not a feeling you are familiar with. All humans have problems feeling worthy at some time in their lives. With fear, it is the most common blight on this planet. This feeling of not being worthy can lead to depression and ultimately to a paralyzing fear and an incapability in the mortal to move forward in life, because of being afraid. It carries a feeling of not being accepted and of being a cosmic orphan. This alienation in the core of being can start at conception when a loving atmosphere and a certain maturity is not present between the young couple. Truly, one has to start at the source of this scourge which gives humans a mental block and which is hard to overcome. The infant experiences non-acceptance by one or both parents. It senses very early that it is not worthy of their love, although they may in their own way do their best to care for the child.

This has been carried on throughout untold generations, and especially the female of the human species has been made to feel unworthy. This is totally unacceptable in the sight of the Eternal Creator God, who created both male and female as equal and complimentary to each other. It is hoped that with increasing spiritual enlightenment and increasing understanding this blight of feeling unworthy will slowly be eradicated from the genes of humankind. It is the DNA, which will be altered with this increasing understanding that man and women are created equal, that each does bring their own God-given attributes, capabilities and potentials to a partnership, and both ought be honored as such.

Meanwhile, what to do with feelings of unworthiness? I advice you to fight this feeling of not being worthy with ‘tooth and nail.’ Remember whose child you are in truth and fact; a child of the most High God. In God’s eyes it matters not where you came from, it only matters where you are today, and today the best remedy is to seek counsel with the Fragment of God within, the richest source of unconditional love and acceptance. Allow these feelings of unworthiness to evaporate in Its healing Presence, for unworthiness shows a lack of faith and trust in the heavenly overcare, and is unbecoming for a child of God.

Flex your faith and trust muscles, and know that you are a most wanted and beloved child with as yet unawakened potentials. If you will but accept that God gives you eternal life to turn all these potentials into actuals, you will be thoroughly surprised at what you are capable of becoming. The feelings of unworthiness will then have receded into the distant past, never to be recalled.

© 11:11 Progress Group.

Forgivness and Love

Now here is the work for the human, who finds him or herself not at ease. The greatest tools are forgiveness and love. To learn to forgive unconditionally with unconditional love is approaching the ideal state of being. These go to the root-cause, and free up the soul from these tenacious entanglements. You will see all past grief and hurts disappear into nothingness. The body is then freed up and can breathe easier as a big load is lifted off the mind, and the soul is finally free to sing. Always be ready to forgive and forget. Send unconditional love to its source as often as is needed to free up the imprisoned self.

© The 11:11 Progress Group.

Only in him

Know that only in Him, who may bring peace and harmony by or through the contacts--the thoughts of self as in relationship to the whole, may there be brought about those better relationships.
To continue to condemn only brings condemnation, then, for self. This does not mean that self's activity should be passive, but rather being constant in prayer--knowing and taking, knowing and understanding that he that is faithful is not given a burden beyond that he is able to bear, if he will put the burden upon Him that has given the promise, "I will be with thee; there shall not come that which shall harm thee, if thou will but put thy trust, thy faith in me."
. . . First make an analysis of self, of self's relationships, of the impelling influences that cause others to act in their manners in the present.
Do not condemn self, do not condemn another; but leave the activities that would bring about condemnation rather in His hands, who requireth at the hands of all that there be meted, "As ye would that should be done to thee, do ye even so to thy fellow man!"

Edgar Cayce Reading 290-1

Not of Material things

Hence as has been given, know thyself, in whom thou believest! Not of earthly, not of material things, but mental and spiritual--and why! And by keeping a record of self--not as a diary, but thy purposes, what you have thought, what you have desired, the good that you have done--we will find this will bring physical and mental reactions that will be in keeping with the purposes for which each soul enters a material manifestation.

Edgar Cayce Reading 830-3

A Lesson on Forgivness

A Lesson on Forgiveness.
A Thought Adjuster Transmission – September 10, 2004.

There cannot be enough said about forgiveness, as this is an ongoing issue, and or a problem for countless people, especially those who have been greatly wronged so their entire lives take different turns to what would divinely have been expected. Some people’s lives are warped because of this. Others are able to shrug off the occasions of wrong-doing, but there are the more sensitive ones, who, even though they think they have forgiven the wrongdoer, the event, or events, from time to time, still creep back into memory, and they relive those demeaning situations. This then becomes not only a matter of simple forgiveness but it needs something extra, which is unconditional forgiveness, so the matter or issue can be put to rest, and be totally forgotten. At least, the memory of it will have completely lost its sting and will disappear over time.

With unconditional forgiveness comes a new acceptance for the perpetrator, and a blossoming of a love, which was not there before. It is truly living the spiritual life in the manner of the Christed one, who could pray while hanging from a cross, saying, ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ Often the perpetrator has no concept either of the far-reaching effects his or her words have on you. It becomes your choice and a soul-felt decision of the highest degree, to be able to forgive unconditionally, and to then forget the whole situation as if it never occurred. This becomes even more important when the visible results are always there, and the wound needs constant help to not result in a poisoning of the whole mental, emotional and spiritual systems, which can result in all manner of physical ailments.

This often turns the mortal to a higher Power, because he or she simply cannot do this on his or her own. It is an ongoing lesson, although the willingness to forgive is then already a foregone conclusion that this will occur for God, never mind how much time the human needs to accomplish this. This is one of the most important lessons to learn. The other lesson, which is a close companion, is forgiveness of self for past mistakes, and badly made choices that one has to live with for the rest of one’s life. Some get out of a bad situation, which might not always be the wisest thing to do. This is better done after all possible ways to improve matters have failed. Others ‘battle on’ courageously, and gain a far greater insight and perspective on life, which they would not have had, had they chosen to get out of the situation, and perhaps land in a worse situation.

These things tend to repeat themselves, unless the first situation got resolved and one has gained a semblance of wisdom, which is always the result of a greater understanding. Those, who do reach out to a higher Power, are the best equipped to bring this unfortunate life situation to a victorious completion, because they practice faith and trust as oars to row their little life-boat, whilst they have made contact with the Pilot of their little ship. Others need rescuing from an untenable situation as their self-esteem is constantly being eroded by the one who is supposed to love them. These are some of the reasons, why forgiveness, especially with the added quality of the word ‘unconditional,’ is essential in your lives, to live life and to be victorious at the end of your material existence.

© 11:11 Progress Group.

Feeling Forgotten

A Lesson on Feeling Forgotten.
A Thought Adjuster Transmission – September 9, 2004.

There are so many lonely people on the planet, who really feel that they are forgotten. Somehow it feels like they have lost the ability to reach out and be heard by anyone. On the other hand there are those who are not willing to seek contact with others, and emanate an energy that they desire that they wish to be left alone. Yet, silently their souls cry out for help. There are those who have been shunned as social outcasts, due to their stations in life. Then there are those feeling unwanted and have carried these feelings with them since childbirth, and, actually, this often already began at conception, because these feelings are laid down at the cellular level.

That feeling of being unwanted, and of being an accident, can be so strong that it will influence the rest of a person’s life. He or she can grow up with very little self-esteem and feel themselves to be unworthy, and sometimes a social outcast, which is indeed very difficult to overcome. The result is that they begin to feel they are on the outskirts of life, never having experienced acceptance at soul-level from anyone, until some happening triggers something in them and awakens them to a higher reality. This then becomes a life-changing moment in their lives. These moments in time are actually moments in eternity as such a moment is forever ‘carved in their soul-self,’ and they can begin to help evolve their own soul by following their inner Guidance to a higher level of existing in live. They do then not just exist, but become active participants in whatever life has to offer them, because they have awakened to their true destiny as children of God.

The ones which need your prayers are the ones who continue to languish in their own way of unprogressive thinking, and are bound in chains of feeling unworthy, because they entertain the disabling thoughts that they are not worthy, and that nobody loves them, so they are caught in the mire of non-acceptance of themselves. This is a great waste of time. Acceptance of self is a pre-requisite of loving oneself, as this is key to loving all others. The word ‘unconditional’ will need to be added somewhere in the equation to know the reality that one is at peace with oneself, with total acceptance of the way one is. This is obtained by effort and struggle to be able to come to grips with oneself at the deep soul-level of existence through the cultivation of faith and trust in a Higher Being.

It is through living and experiencing life, and the discovery that there actually lives a Spark from God within, that the mortal becomes already immortal in the material phase of existence, as the soul is growing at a healthy pace due to the faith and trust being cultivated in such a one. This will have its repercussions in the outer life, as manifestations of the growth of the inner life. These two go hand in hand as one strives to become more sincere and honest in the dealings with oneself, and these will reflect outward to others in becoming more loving and understanding -- more tolerant and forgiving -- more willing to see the needs of others, rather than to be so self absorbed as to be blind to the needs of others. Therewith loneliness will be a thing of the past, as a connection to Something greater than oneself has been established.

© 11:11 Progress Group.
You lit a Flame, and it will become a Raging Fire—ABC-22.
Google this text:
Learn How To Contact Your Celestial Guides

Philosopher and economist Friedrich Engels said, "An ounce of action
is worth a ton of theory." Perhaps it is easier to talk about what to
do than to do it.

U.S. District court judge Woodrow Seal was active in a philanthropic
organization known as The Society of St. Stephen. It is an
internationally recognized organization with the sole purpose of
helping people in need.

One day a church invited Mr. Seal to speak to their congregation and
explain to them how they might begin a Society of St. Stephen. The
plan was for the him to speak on the various programs of the society,
then follow up with a time for discussion.

The people took their seat and the minister introduced the featured
speaker. The judge helped himself to cookies and poured a cup of
coffee. When the introduction was completed, Judge Seal walked over to
the piano, put his coffee cup on top of it, and began to fumble in his
coat pockets. Finally, he pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper and
from it read the name of a mother and her four children, including
their ages and clothing sizes.

He noted several other unmet needs of the family and mentioned that
their address was on the paper which he carefully laid on top of the
piano. The judge then said, "If you want to start a Society of St.
Stephen, then you should contact this woman by 11:30 tomorrow morning.
If you are not able to help her, don't worry, I'll be in contact with
her tomorrow and I'll get her help by mid-afternoon."

With that, the judge turned to leave. "Now, forgive me," he said, "but
I really must be going. Thank you for inviting me and for the coffee
and the cookies."

Before anyone could respond he walked out the door. It all took less
than five minutes.

Here was a group of people who thought they were going to spend an
hour listening to a program on how to help others in need, and maybe
discuss its merits for a while. Instead they spent an hour deciding
how to help one family - and the next day they did it.

Judge Seal wasn't content to sit around helplessly waiting for people
to make a decision. The problem for most of us is not lack of
knowledge but lack of action. When all is said and done...more will
have been said than done. But like the Chinese proverb teaches, "The
best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time
is now."

What are you trying to plant? The second best time to do it is now.

-- Steve Goodier
__________
 

_______