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Dianne Eppler Adams Bringing Spirit into Everyday Life |
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SPIRIT IN MATTERS: Taking a Higher View of Life on Earth By Dianne Eppler Adams
Vol. 1, No 6 – September 11, 2003
GUIDING PRINCIPLES ...Ours is an interconnected, interdependent, sacred world. ...All relationships – personal, communal, national, global – are equal and best approached with fairness, respect, honesty, and compassion. ...Darkness is overcome, not by avoidance, but through shining the light of awareness on it and choosing otherwise.
SPECIAL MESSAGE If you enjoy this newsletter, refer others to it so they can benefit as well. To subscribe, send an email to sim-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com.
FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT...
Who me? I’m not afraid!
As I write this, it happens to be the 2nd anniversary of the biggest wake up call in American’s history. I will spare you the memorial comments, patriotic declarations, etc. Personally, I don’t believe we’ve even begun to process the meaning and significance of that event, but then that’s another topic.
Pondering that day leads me to consider the topic of - FEAR. It was an inconceivable action that occurred that day. Until then, the average American was completely without fear of foreign attack by nations or persons for that matter. Since then the possibility of attack – anytime, any place – has been a constant reality, fed by the news and Secretary Ridge’s persistent color-coded alarms. In short, we’ve been constantly reminded we should be fearful – to the detriment of the health of our body and mind.
It’s been said that there are only two pure emotions: love and fear. In the book, Love is Letting Go of Fear, Dr. Jerry Jampolski presents the reality that when we are in a fearful state, love is blocked from our awareness, and yet love is the very thing we yearn to experience. Love is our true nature.
That said, what does it show us about the general atmosphere for most Americans in the last two years? Our psyches have been barraged by an environment of fear, anger and revenge acted out on the world stage, making it difficult to remember that love is our true nature. Now I happened to believe that what is out pictured in the world is both a view of the state of our collective consciousness as well as a message ultimately for humanity’s growth and evolution.
All this fear in the air tells me love is crying out to be realized and expressed. If love is our true nature (and the stuff of God, by the way), then maybe we need to turn this climate of fear into a greater opportunity to express of our loving nature. To do that though, we need to recognize when we are being fear-driven and, therefore blocking our loving nature.
When I feel reluctant to act, make assumptions about whether something will work, or find fault, am I being controlled by fear? When I feel discouraged or decide that if something didn’t work before it won’t work now, am I clouded by fear? When I doubt my abilities and feel others are talking behind my back, could I also be bound up by fear? Wherever I feel contracted, I am fearful.
Love, on the other hand, engages in life, looks to possibilities knowing that every moment is fresh and new and that the past never writes the future. Love opens up to all people, embracing differences and seeks understanding of another’s perspective. Love creatively seeks points of agreement and envisions a world that works for everyone.
What are some ways we could all open more to the expression of love in our personal, communal, national and international relationships – recognizing where fear constricts us and opening to the possibilities inherent in our true nature? Fear confines and Love expands! Have a love filled day today!
(Your comments are always welcome at SpiritInMatters@aol.com.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality... To change something... Build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete..."
-- Bucky Fuller
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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION...
Toward a Peaceful Tomorrow [DEA: Really worth reading the whole article!]
Two years ago today our loved ones were
tragically murdered in an act of terror that shook the United States and the
world. In the time since their deaths, as we continue our personal paths of
grieving, we are comforted by the thoughtful and compassionate response of
people all over the world who have offered sympathy and support to the victims
of these terrible attacks. But much about the U.S. government’s approach to
responding to our loved ones’ deaths stands in stark contrast to the common
sense words and comforting actions of ordinary people. On this two-year
anniversary, we stop to reflect on the dangerous course of current policies and
to call for a new approach to 9/11 that is focused on bringing about true
security and justice.
Oil giant's conservation promise [DEA: A corporation with an environmental ethic. Something to be praised!]
Home Alone
Bob Herbert, New York Times [DEA: The free market, with all its benefits, apparently needs “adult supervision.”]
Here was an interesting lead paragraph in an article on the front page of The Wall Street Journal last Thursday:
"The blackout of 2003 offers a simple but powerful lesson: Markets are a great way to organize economic activity, but they need adult supervision."
…What if we had called in the best minds from coast to coast to begin a crash program, in good faith and with solid federal backing, to substantially reduce our dependence on foreign oil by changing our laws and habits, and developing safer, cleaner, less-expensive alternatives? This is exactly the kind of effort that the United States, with its can-do spirit and vast commercial, technological and intellectual resources, would be great at.
Wisconsin High School Remedies Behavior Problems With New Lunch Menu Global Village News & Resources [DEA: Behavior modification with food? If we are what we eat, what does that mean for the wider question of genetically modified foods?]
USA
- A revolution has occurred in
Appleton,
Wisconsin. It's taken place in the Central
Alternative
High School. The kids now behave. The hallways aren't frantic. Even the teachers
are happy. The school used to be out of control. Kids packed weapons. Discipline
problems swamped the principal's office. But not since 1997. What happened?
The Way Ahead Nobel Prize Winner Joseph Stiglitz http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8835 [DEA: A thoughtful look at globalization, not to turn back but to move forward toward more equity between nations.]
Today, globalization is being challenged around the world. There is discontent with globalization, and rightfully so. Globalization can be a force for good: the globalization of ideas about democracy and of civil society have changed the way people think, while global political movements have led to debt relief and the treaty on land mines.
Globalization has helped hundreds of millions of people attain higher standards of living, beyond what they, or most economists, thought imaginable but a short while ago. The globalization of the economy has benefited countries that took advantage of it by seeking new markets for their exports and by welcoming foreign investment. Even so, the countries that have benefited the most have been those that took charge of their own destiny and recognized the role government can play in development rather than relying on the notion of a self-regulated market that would fix its own problems.
But for millions of people globalization has not worked. Many have actually been made worse off, as they have seen their jobs destroyed and their lives become more insecure. They have felt increasingly powerless against forces beyond their control. They have seen their democracies undermined, their cultures eroded.
IT WORKED! http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8762 [DEA: Democracy can work and government can produce – occasionally.]
With most media outlets focusing on the recall debate, one of the country's few examples of democracy that works is going unnoticed.
… It's a win-win situation for democracy. The voters are spared a nasty fight between the financial industry and privacy proponents and we will have one less ballot measure to consider next March. The Legislature looks good because it can rightly say that it responded to the overwhelming wishes of Californians that our privacy be respected. And all of us get some protection that most of us want.
Wisdom Flash – Neale Donald Walsh, The Journey http://www.consciousone.com/wisdomflash/wfview.cfm?PID=148&CFID=16702&CFTOKEN=45882234 [DEA: Enjoy this wonderful Flash show!]
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“As the human species awakens to itself as a
collection of immortal souls learning together, care for the environment and the
earth will
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©2003 Spirit in Matters: Taking a Higher View of Life on Earth. All rights reserved. Permission is granted for reproduction or redistribution of the complete e-newsletter issue only, provided this statement is included.
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