Mood:
a-okTopic: archive newsletters
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Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think would enjoy it or benefit. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mood:
a-okTopic: archive newsletters
Mood:
a-okTopic: Positive News!!
Life is a Gift
Gill Edwards
In recent years, a tumultuous period of change in my personal life slowly led to a profound shift in consciousness.* I came to understand what unconditional love really means. I began to live from that cosmology, and see how it can transform our lives. And I still feel like a butterfly which has emerged from a dark cocoon, fluttering my brightly coloured wings in a warm summer garden.
Our cosmology is the foundation stone of our lives – personally and globally. It shapes our personal relationships, our mental and physical health, and our sociopolitical systems. In Life is a Gift, I explore three worldviews which govern our lives: namely that life is a trial, life is an accident, or life is a gift. I've been battling with these inner cosmologies for decades – and seeing them mirrored in other people – while aiming to live from the only cosmology which supports our health and well-being, loving relationships and world peace, which is seeing life as a gift.
Love vs judgment
When you see life as a trial – a view promoted by patriarchal religion and much New Age philosophy – you believe that the purpose of life is to ‘perfect' yourself. That you are here to prove yourself worthy (often through self-sacrifice), to learn lessons and to grow. And if something bad happens, you're being tested, have bad karma or somehow ‘messed up' as a reality-creator. The underlying message is that there is something wrong with you (or the world) that needs to be fixed. This cosmology is based upon judgment, or conditional love. It means that your priority becomes being good and perfect in the eyes of others. Or expecting others to be good in your eyes. You develop an inner critic who keeps you (and others) in check. You are vulnerable to workaholism, codependency and other addictions. You feel guilt-ridden or insecure – or at best, self-righteous – and inner peace is almost impossible.
My training as a clinical psychologist encouraged me to focus on what is ‘bad or wrong' – faulty dynamics, personal issues and traumas, or dysfunctional systems – and to seek growth and change. In other words, to see life as a trial. But while we blame, criticise or point a finger at what we see as wrong or inadequate – however well-intentioned we are – we are stuck in judgment. We're at the same level of consciousness as those who invade countries and drop bombs, who invariably see themselves as ‘in the right'. We are not seeing through the eyes of Love.
Make your heart sing
When your cosmology reflects a Universe based upon unconditional love – when you see life as a gift – it is a powerful tool for liberation. It beckons you through a sunlit gateway into a new and expansive world. You deeply know that your goodness and worthiness are never in question, and that this is a planet of free will. This means there are no right or wrong choices. And that the purpose of life is not growth – or even world service – but joy. Then you choose whatever makes your heart sing and spirit dance.
I believe that this age of awakening is primarily about shifting towards unconditional love. This means reclaiming our power and responsibility as co-creators. It means realising that your happiness and inner peace never depend upon what happens ‘out there' – since that is conditional love. You have to change how you feel from the inside out. Once you really ‘get' this, you are much nicer to be around. You are more loving, appreciative, inspiring and joyful. You see solutions rather than problems. You think like the Universe. Then what happens ‘out there' changes. What is more, you naturally make a loving contribution to the planet.
Life is an eternal journey
Seeing life as a gift also means knowing that the Universe/God is forever evolving. Life is an eternal journey, so we can never reach our destination. The world will never be perfect, or it would become a stagnant pond. We will always have new dreams to reach for, and fresh challenges to face. And that is perfect in itself. Contrasting experiences are essential in an evolving Universe – even when they seem dark and troubling – and are helping us to fulfil our personal and global dreams. In a loving Universe, everything is always unfolding perfectly.
Earlier this year, I was sitting at the foot of Mount Sinai – where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments – in a state of incredible joy and bliss, when I heard an inner voice speak: ‘Two thousand years ago, Jesus came with a message of unconditional love – but few were ready to hear it. Humanity is now ready to receive that message. As a wayshower for this new era, you will now be offered Ten Invitations to humanity as an alternative to the Ten Commandments – invitations based upon a spirituality of unconditional love, which restores the divine feminine. This period marks the dawning of a new heaven and a new earth.'** Afterwards I was in such rapture that I felt like an angelic being. As I returned home to the Lake District with the Ten Invitations, that extraordinary joy stayed with me, along with a thrilling sense of anticipation for what lies ahead – for me, for you and for our world.
The Ten Invitations
Gill Edwards
1. You are invited to love yourself, others and life without condition – trusting that, in an evolving Universe, everything is unfolding perfectly.
2. You are invited to do whatever makes your heart sing and your spirit dance.Only that.
3. You are invited to live fearlessly and passionately – to step into your divinity, while embracing your humanity.
4. You are invited to treat yourself and others with extraordinary respect and kindness – reaching out with love towards all beings, and seeing the Light within everyone.
5. You are invited to honour everyone else's beliefs, feelings, values and choices – knowing these add to the variety of life, and that everyone's path or guidance is unique.
6. You are invited to honour the earth, your body and all creation as sacred and divine – and to celebrate life in all its richness.
7. You are invited to choose your own mission or purpose, expressing your creative gifts, talents and vision in whatever way feels most joyful.
8. You are invited to listen to the inner voice of Love, which always sets you free – knowing that your goodness and worthiness are never in question, and that you can do no wrong.
9. You are invited to trust in a loving and abundant Universe. Ask and it is given. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened.
10. You are invited to follow your dreams and desires – trusting your feelings, and using your imagination, to create your own heaven on earth.
From Life is a Gift, © 2007 by Gill Edwards, published by Piatkus.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
I awake each morning to the magic of life’s gifts and blessings. I savor the sweetness of sacred time in soulful communion with Spirit and creation.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
I enter into a heightened state of awareness of the healing power of listening.
Monday, September 3, 2007
With great joy, I open to the practice of simplicity and sufficiency in my life.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
I deepen into my practice of expressing appreciation and gratitude.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
I am reminded of the goodness of life by taking in daily doses of inspiration
Thursday, September 6, 2007
I joyfully let the rhythms in my body, mind and soul be unleashed. I feel the power of dynamic movement expressed everywhere in my life.
Friday, September 7, 2007
I am a transparency for divine love. Everyone I encounter and hold dear in my heart is embraced in the unconditional, unwavering love that heals.
Mood:
a-okTopic: Musings
Food Definitions for the 21st Century
Or
Atlantis Revisited
By Brit Elders
We have to alter our identification of foods and expand our
vocabulary to incorporate terms that may seem un-foodlike.
The problem is defining what these 21st century terms really
mean. Food meanings and the undercurrent emotions they illicit
are dependent on which side of the fence you are on regarding
the serious topic of genetic engineering.
GMO - If you work for Monsanto GMO means money. If you are a
normal human being GMO stands for genetically modified organism.
This is a plant or animal that has been genetically engineered.
Many industries support the development and use of GMOs while
many consumers and organizations question their safety and have
called for adequate and independent testing of GMO products.
Transgenic - Sounds fancy, huh? Often, the label GMO and the
term "transgenic" are used to refer to organisms that have
acquired novel genes from other organisms by laboratory
"gene transfer" methods... at least according to the US Department
of Agriculture. It's an organism which has a foreign gene
(a transgene) incorporated into its genome. In other words
it has something in it that Nature didn't put there.
GM - It no longer stands for the car company. It now refers
to all human-designed changes in a plant or animal, whether
done through traditional breeding or genetic engineering.
Genetically modified and genetically engineered are sometimes
used interchangeably.
GE - This GE you won't see on a TV set. This is often an
interchangeable term with the labels listed above. So when
you hear GM, GMO, or transgenic food, you need to know that
it is produced using the genetic engineering process.
Monsanto - Monsanto Company is a multinational agricultural
biotechnology corporation. It is the world's leading producer
of the herbicide glyphosate, marketed as its flagship product,
Roundup. Numerous studies have shown that glyphosate is an
endocrine disruptor. Monsanto is also by far the leading
producer of genetically engineered (GE) seed, holding 70% of a
100% market share for various crops. Agracetus, owned by Monsanto,
exclusively produces Roundup Ready soybean seed for the
commercial market.
Roundup Ready Seeds - These are seeds that have been
genetically altered. Their DNA now incorporates one of the
world's most deadly and popular herbicides. Roundup Ready
Seeds were engineered so that farmers could spray their fields
with Monsanto's Roundup and the plant would survive while
the weeds died. There are only a few tiny problems with this...
When the plant grows up every cell contains Roundup. And in
order to get the Roundup into the plant the wall of the cell
had to be broken and a carrier used so that the cell would
not reject the Roundup. Guess what they use as the carrier?
They use viruses such as e-coli as the carriers. And they top
that of with a healthy dose of antibiotics. And that goes
on to dinner tables?
BT corn - A corn plant that has been developed though
biotechnology so that the plant tissues express a protein
derived from a bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis, which is
toxic to some insects but non-toxic to humans and other
mammals. But how would they know? It hasn't been tested!
A recent study from Cornell University in New York was
recently published in the science journal Nature and suggests
that pollen from Bt corn may have toxic effects on larvae of
the monarch butterfly. The caterpillar, or larval stage, of
this insect feeds on milkweed.
This and other GM foods are being carefully considered as the
source for the demise of the honeybee. Studies are underway;
no doubt the big 'Pharma' corporations that produce the GMOs
will conduct much of the 'fact based research'.
Irradiated food - There are several types of radiant energy
used to sterilize foods. Gamma irradiation is commonly used
to sterilize laboratory animal feeds. The amount of
irradiating energy is controlled to kill all microorganisms,
without affecting the quality of the food. The treat fresh
or processed foods with ionizing radiation that inactivates
biological contaminants (insects, molds, parasites, or bacteria),
rendering foods safe to consume and extending their storage
lifetime. Or so they say. Personally, I don't want people
irradiating my food with any form of energy other than Nature's.
The big problem in all of this is that you don't have a choice
of what you consume or even the knowledge of what product is a
genetically altered crop because there are no laws requiring
labels on GMOs. Congress won’t step up to the plate and demand
that we know what we consume. The FDA, EPA, USDA, and even the
Justice Department are so infiltrated with former Monsanto
employees that they should have a revolving door between those
organizations and the big biotech corporation. Bio Agriculture
is horrid under this administration, but it didn’t start there.
It goes back to Reagan and was floated by Bush/Quayle and then
by President Clinton, who spoke at the BIO conference last year
and said, "The biotech industry has a job do to."
Well, President Clinton, they are doing it... on us.
In his and other's views, biotech is critical to the survival
of the planet. I don't buy it. That's propaganda in it's
finest form, especially now with the world thinking green
and eco friendly. We are being used as laboratory rats. When
one examines the potential consequences to the health of the
planet and the health of mankind GMOs should be banned from
distribution until they have been independently tested and
shown to be safe. In fact, scientists at the FDA strongly
recommended that these studies be conducted before the altered
foods were shipped around the world. That hasn't happened.
There is one way to make certain you aren't a lab rat and
potentially damaging your health and the environment...
eat organic. Nature spent eons perfecting our food and keeping
it safe from cross contamination. In nature fish DNA didn't find
it's way into a tomato and human DNA didn't naturally occur in
rice, but they do now after the mad scientists altered DNA.
(Next time you have a tomato think about the fish you are eating,
too.)
So what is missing in this high-tech, 21st Century food chain?
How about a little tiny word with a great big meaning? God.
I don't usually editorialize in my newsletters, but I can't
help but wonder if this isn't the same thing that happened in
Atlantis when the scientists decided they were smarter than God.
We sure don't learn our lessons well and seem to have a
propensity to revisit them again and again.
As the old saying goes, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."
Mood:
rushedTopic: Musings
I'll be away for 10 days at Unicorn Camp- so activity on here will cease! enjoy flicking through old posts...and the sun shine, love Rachael
| It Is Insanity |
| Yours is a culture that has long used physical pain as a punishment for unwanted behavior not only in children, but in adults. You actually kill people to get people to stop killing people. It is insanity to use the energy that created a problem to seek to solve the problem. It is insanity to repeat the behaviors you want to stop in order to stop them. It is insanity to model behaviors all over your society that you say you do not want your offspring to copy. And the highest insanity is pretending that none of this is happening, then wondering why your children are acting insane. |
Friendship with God Neale Donald Walsch Pages 129-130 |
Mood:
brightTopic: Musings
| I Love You |
| I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are [children] of one religion, and it is the spirit. |
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American artist, poet, writer |
Mood:
cheekyTopic: Positive News!!
> Biscuit Recipe
>
> Please forward when you finish reading!
>
> A little background: Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already, is a VERY expensive shop; i.e. they sell a typical $8.00 t-shirt for $50.00.
>
>
> THIS IS A TRUE STORY
>
> My daughter and I had just finished lunch at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas. Because both of us are such biscuit lovers, we decided to try
> the "Neiman-Marcus cookie". It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe. The waitress said with a small frown, "I'm
> afraid not, but you can BUY the recipe." I asked how much, and she responded; "Only two fifty - it's a great deal!"
>
> I agreed to that, and told her to add it to my bill.Thirty days later, I got my VISA statement, and the Neiman-Marcus charge was $285.00. I
> looked at it again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two sandwiches and about $20.00 for a scarf. At the bottom of the
> statement, it said, "Cookie Recipe-$250.00". That was outrageous!
>
>
> I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress had said it was "two fifty", which clearly does not mean "two hundred and
> fifty dollars" by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase.
>
> Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money because, according to them; "What the waitress told you is not our
> problem.You have already seen the recipe. We absolutely will not refund your money."
>
> I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the state of Texas. I threatened
> to report them to the Better Business Bureau and the Texas Attorney General's office.
>
> I was basically told: Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of
> your money back"
>
> I said, OK, you've got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250 worth of fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that
> every cookie lover in the world with an e-mail account gets a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus... for free. She replied,
> "I wish you wouldn't do that." I said, "Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you RIPPED ME OFF!" and
> slammed down the phone.
>
> So here it is!
>
> Please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make
> another penny from this recipe!
>
> NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved)
>
> 2 (500 ml) cups butter
>
> 24 oz. (680 g) chocolate chips
>
> 4 (1000 ml) cups flour
>
> 2 (500 ml) cups brown sugar
>
> 2 tsp. (10 ml) (Bicarb) soda
>
> 1 tsp. (5 ml) salt
>
> 2 (500 ml) cups sugar
>
> 18 oz. (500 g) Hershey Bar (grated). (Cadbury chocolate for England)
>
> 5 (1250 ml) cups blended oatmeal
>
> 4 eggs
>
> 2 tsp. (10 ml) baking powder
>
> 2 tsp. (10 ml) vanilla
>
> 3 cups (375 ml) chopped nuts ( optional )
>
> Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder.
>
> Cream the butter and both sugars.
>
> Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and Bicarb (soda).
>
> Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar, and nuts.
>
> Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet.
>
> Bake for 10 minutes at (180 °C ) 375 degrees.
>
> The above quantities make ± 112 cookies.
>
> Enjoy!
>
> PLEASE KEEP THE RECIPE AND SEND IT TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN E-MAIL ADDRESS!
Mood:
brightTopic: Musings
A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared.
He
sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to
force its
body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any
progress.
It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no
further.
So to help the butterfly, he took a pair of scissors and snipped off
the
remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it
had a
swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the
butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would
enlarge
and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in
time.
Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of it's life
crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was
able
to fly.
What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that
the
restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get
through the tiny opening were Nature's way of forcing fluid from the
body of
the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once
it
achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If we were
to go
through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would
not
be as strong as what we could have been. We could never fly!
Mood:
a-okTopic: Positive News!!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Today I open my heart, mind and soul to the revealing presence of God. I trust that God assists me in seeing the world and others with purified senses.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Today I choose to tune into God. I know that I have within me the power to fill my world with divine melodies.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Today I look at my own life to discover the diamonds before me. I see beyond the illusion that the grass is greener somewhere else. Instead I look at my life to see the bounty of God.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Today I aim at putting into practice what I already know will serve my life. I celebrate my oneness with God.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Today I choose to love myself. I engage in activities that honor the spark of divinity that I am.
Monday, July 30, 2007
In the love of God I realize my life is blessed. I give thanks for this, and so it is.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Today I adjust my attitude to be in accord with circumstances beyond my control. I claim my freedom and do not let situations in my life overwhelm me.
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