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SPIRIT IN MATTERS:
Taking a Higher View of Life on Earth
By Dianne Eppler Adams
Vol. 1, No 7 – September 29, 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.
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FROM THIS VANTAGE POINT...
Self-criticism - whose voice is it?
Many of us are haunted by self-critical thoughts. What makes you think you can
do that? You'll never do it right? What if you fail? It doesn't matter
whether we've already proved yourself as capable. The inertia generated by self
critical thoughts can leave us paralyzed and unwilling to step forward and do
what could just as easily prove us successful.
I believe self-criticism may be part of the cause of depression, apathy,
immobilization, and general lack of direction. Who's doing the criticizing? By
that I mean, who determined you aren't good enough? Who said you never do it
right? Who said you are sure to fail?
As children we may have been influenced by a variety of caregivers who, with
usually a sincere desire to nurture and guide us toward adulthood, left us with
subtle (or not so subtle) messages about out abilities that stuck with us. We
internalized them as "truth" and our actions have been controlled by them ever
since. Sometimes they were merely personal opinions and biases our caregivers
passed on to us.
For example, I can remember being told "you have no artistic talent." Needless
to say, whenever there was an opportunity to be involved in creative expression
of any kind, I avoided it. This also works toward the positive. I was also
told "you have a good head on your shoulders." I've always felt confident of my
mental abilities. Unfortunately, it has taken much of my like to awaken my
creative abilities so they could work in concert with my mental faculties.
Just a few years ago, I observed something very interesting that I had never
noticed before. I actually hear a voice in my head running me down and telling
me I wasn't worthy or capable. When I thought about the voice and what was
being said, I realized I was being controlled by my father's voice. All this
time, probably under the spell of subconscious programming, I had been
controlled by a voice from the past -- not my own. In a moment of grace, I
became aware of that voice and I literally shouted, "no, no, that's not true and
I won't believe it!"
It produced a noticeable shift in my self-confidence around that issue. Now
when I feel uncertain due to self-critical thoughts, I try to listen for whose
voice is speaking to me and do I really believe it now.
There will also be times when your own conscience has some things to say, but
that doesn't usually come as raw self-criticism. It is more likely to be
admonitions for doing better next time or how to improve your performance, etc.,
like good advice.
Try it! Next time you become aware of inner self-criticism, consider who's
speaking, and decide if you agree that what is being said about you is actually
true.
(Your comments are always welcome at
SpiritInMatters@aol.com.)
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OPPORTUNITIES TO HEAR DIANNE SPEAK…
Exploring Spirit in Matters – Friday, Oct. 10, 10 am at The Local, 201 King St,
2nd Flr., Old Town Alexandria, VA, free. Call (703) 518-8130.
Exploring Spirit in Matters – Thursday, Oct. 16, 7 pm at The Local, 201 King St,
2nd Flr., Old Town Alexandria, VA, free. Call (703) 518-8130.
What Are the Stars Telling You? – Thursday, Oct. 23, 7 pm at The Local, 201 King
St, 2nd Flr., Old Town Alexandria, VA, free. Call (703) 518-8130.
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"It is easier to meditate than to actually do something for others. I feel that
merely to meditate on compassion is to take the passive option. Our meditation
should form the basis for action, for seizing the opportunity to do something."
--His Holiness the Dalai Lama
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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION...
Senate Approves Measure to Undo FCC Rules
By Frank Ahrens - Tuesday, September 16, 2003
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18674-2003Sep16.html
[DEA: Having written about this in past issues, thought you'd like to know
what's happening.]
The Senate voted 55 to 40 today to wipe out all of the Federal Communication
Commission's controversial new media rules, employing a little used legislative
tool for overturning agency regulations.
The resolution of disapproval, sponsored by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), is
now put on the House calendar, where a tougher vote is expected. Even if passed
by the House, the White House has promised a veto.
IMF Warns Trade Gap Could Bring Down Dollar
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1045193,00.html
Friday September 19, 2003 The Guardian
[DEA: A British paper reporting on the IMF indictment against our excessive
credit economy gives a perspective we don't get in the mainstream US media.]
The International Monetary Fund yesterday warned that the colossal United States
trade deficit was a noose around the neck of the economy, emphasising that the
once mighty dollar could collapse at any moment. Arguing that the world's big
economies were already too dependent on the willingness of American consumers to
live beyond their means, the IMF said the US could not continue to run a current
account deficit of 5% of GDP.
The IMF's chief economist Kenneth Rogoff said that it was just a matter of time
before the gap closed, tipping the dollar into a potentially steep fall. "If we
were looking at a poor developing country, the world gives them just enough rope
to hang themselves. A country like the United States, they give them enough rope
to tie the noose around their neck several times. But it does happen in the
end," he said.
Killing Them Softly
By Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times - Saturday 20 September 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/20/opinion/20KRIS.html
[DEA: It's highly notable when a conservative columnist writes an article
critical of President Bush in favor of poor African women and children.]
NAIROBI, Kenya - In fairness to President Bush, he presumably meant well when he
cut off funds for some of the world's most vulnerable women.
…U.S. officials acknowledge that the refugee consortium (which also includes
CARE and the International Rescue Committee) does great work. But they said this
was outweighed by Marie Stopes's activity in China.
It's true that Marie Stopes International operates in China — providing
contraceptives that reduce the number of abortions there. If Mr. Bush were
trying to do something about coercive family planning in China by denouncing
such abuses, I'd applaud him. But instead he's launching his administration on
an ideological war against groups like the U.N. Population Fund and Marie Stopes.
In fact, these groups are engaging China in just the way the White House
recommends most of the time.
When the topic of human rights abuses in China is raised, Mr. Bush usually
argues, wisely, that it would be wrong to impose sanctions that punish the
Chinese people. So it seems odd that when the issue is Chinese family-planning
abuses, Mr. Bush responds by punishing African women.
Mr. Bush probably sees his policy in terms of abortion or sex, or as a matter of
placating his political base. But here in the shantytowns of Africa,
the policy calculation seems simpler: women and girls will die.
Cuba's Security in Fresh Produce
http://www.foodfirst.org/media/news/2003/cubaproduce.html
September 12, 2003
[DEA: Interesting paradox that Cubans who lack our freedoms are eating
healthier food.]
Across the Florida Straits from Miami in the capital city of a country ranked
90th in GDP by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), students in Havana,
Cuba, are munching on a wide variety
of fresh fruits and vegetables, picked by their own hands in the school garden,
or grown nearby in urban organic gardens.
In the early 1990s, the average Cuban dinner table did not boast a spread even
remotely close to the bounty enjoyed by many today. During these years, when
foreign economic support disappeared with the collapse of the Soviet Union,
average caloric and protein intake dropped to nearly 30 percent below 1980s
levels.
Faced with the possibility of widespread starvation, the Cuban government
foresaw that a full-scale mobilization of domestic resources, both human and
natural, would be required in order to increase production to meet the demands
of a hungry populace. And with few options to import food given the
stringency of the U.S.
embargo, Cuba turned over a new leaf
by converting almost entirely to an organic production system within 10 years.
Cuba's nationwide commitment to food self-sufficiency without reliance on
chemical or mechanical technologies has borne some startlingly successful
results, not only in terms of food production but also in the development of a
more personalized food culture, woven deeply into patterns of food consumption,
nutrition, and community.
Belief-O-Matic Quiz
http://www.selectsmart.com/PRO/beliefnet/index1.html
[DEA: Have fun with this!]
Take this simple quiz. The top score on the list represents the faith that
Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches
your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are
all shared by this faith, or vice versa.
Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in
common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the
more closely it aligns with your thinking.
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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.
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"Terrorism will only be defeated if we act to solve the political disputes and
long-standing conflicts which generate support for it. If we do not, we shall
find ourselves acting as a recruiting sergeant for the very
terrorists we seek to suppress."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (9/22/03).
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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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