SPIRIT IN MATTERS: Taking a Higher
View of Life on Earth
By Dianne Eppler Adams
Vol. 2, No 4 – February 27, 2004
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...
Learn from Others Behavior
If the criteria we use to judge other people’s behavior is what we would do in a
similar situation, guess what! We are doomed to be disappointed.
Since we are all unique individuals with different life experiences, it is
unrealistic to judge others using the same criteria you used to determine your
own behavior. As a matter of fact, we often hold ourselves to an very high
standard. When it’s hard for us to live up to our own standard, what makes us
think others can do it?
This was brought to mind recently, when I heard a friend say, “If I was Susie, I
would never have done that. How could she do such a thing?”
I bet Susie actions were based on different personal motivations, values, and
expectations from my friend and she arrived at these from different life
experiences.
Consider instead when faced with an action by another that surprises or appalls
you, what can I learn about the other’s action? Rather than judging by
appearance using the measure of your own likely behavior, you could gain from
asking some questions.
Ask why they did what they did and then listen. Ask what was the person thinking
and then listen. Open up to the possibility that your personal measure used to
judge others just might not be the whole picture. At the very least, you may
find out what drives people and at least find some understanding. But you also
may discover there is another way to think about a situation and choose to
change your actions.
By opening up to the possibility that there are other ways to think and act than
are in your repertoire, you grow and your world expands.
So the next time you find yourself thinking “If I was so-and-so, I’d never do
that,” expand your world to consider that so-and-so may have something to teach
you.
(Your comments are always welcome at
SpiritInMatters@aol.com.)
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"When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of
creation is completed inside us, the doors of our souls fly open, and love steps
forth to heal everything in sight."
-- Michael Bridge
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COMING EVENTS
The Power and Glory of Your Uniqueness
Saturday, March 20, 2004 - 10-5 PM
501 Slaters Lane #422, Alexandria, VA
Limited to 6 people - $85
Call to register (703-548-4553) and provide birth data by March 12.
Do you often feel as if you don’t fit in to your community, your work, your
family? Through a group astrological experience, we will explore each person’s
unique attributes, confirming the importance of honoring who we are, and
acknowledging our vital contribution to the wholeness of life.
Each person’s horoscope interpretation will be interwoven with the others, in a
spirit of confidentiality and inclusivity, by contrasting (not comparing)
differences and illuminating similarities. The goal is enhanced self-love,
appreciation of diversity and recognition of our unity.
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An Astrological Appetizer – Spring Equinox
Sunday, March 21, 7:30-9:00 PM
501 Slaters Lane #422, Alexandria, VA
Call to register (703-548-4552) - $15
Spring is sprung, the flowers bloom but what else is coming? What do the next
three months hold - in economics, politics, and your personal life? Come enjoy a
lively discussion of probabilities!
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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION...
GENETICALLY ALTERED SEEDS FOUND MIXED IN CROP STOCK
By Paul Jacobs, Mercury News
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/8028613.htm
[Dianne: This is becoming a serious matter as the quality of our body’s fuel is
being threatened. Are we so sure of the safety of GMOs that we risk destroying
the quality of organic foods?]
A new study has found low levels of genetically engineered seeds mixed in with
traditional seed varieties of some major crops, raising the possibility of
widespread contamination of food grown in the United States.
Although genetically modified crops have long been approved for consumption in
the United States, these new findings could mean trouble for the organic-food
industry and for grain exporters.
The study, done by the Union of Concerned Scientists, warned that the
contamination problem could represent a serious health threat if traditional
seeds should become contaminated with new food crop varieties engineered to
produce industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals and vaccines. While the study did
not test for those kinds of engineered contaminants, it did find others that
suggested the potential was there.
VOTING AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE: A Spiritual Voter's Guide
By Corinne McLaughlin
http://www.visionarylead.org/Voters%20Guide.html
Vote as if your life depended on it! If you care about your life, if you care
about the life of other human beings, if you care about all life on this
planet—answer the call of your soul to vote consciously.
ONE STEP CLOSER TO HYDROGEN ECONOMY?
By Mark Clayton,| Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.thechristiansciencemonitor.com/2004/0219/p15s01-stss.htm
Wanted: A cheap, reliable power source to satisfy energy-hungry industrial
superpower. Must also be pollution-free and provide energy security by being
domestically abundant. Immediate opening.
While candidates like solar and wind have sent in their résumés, it seems
hydrogen is the perfect match to fuel America's energy demands - right?
Well, maybe. President Bush touts a future hydrogen economy, while
environmentalists decry it as a red herring to avoid addressing global warming
today. But new research may add a fresh angle to the debate.
From the wintry climes of Minnesota, Lanny Schmidt, a University of Minnesota
chemist, and three colleagues of his have discovered a process that could leap
several of the hurdles facing the hydrogen economy: the high cost of making
hydrogen, the impact on global warming of burning hydrogen, and the safe and
efficient use of hydrogen in cars.
The new approach, reported in the journal Science last week, offers hope for the
cheapest and most efficient method for extracting hydrogen yet.
SLEEP ESSENTIAL FOR CREATIVITY
By Wiliam McCall, Associated Press
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SLEEP_CREATIVITY?
For the first time, scientists say they have proved what creative minds have
known all along: that our sleeping brains continue working on problems that
baffle us during the day, and that the right answer may come more easily after
eight hours of rest.
The German study is considered to be the first hard evidence supporting the
commonsense notion that creativity and problem-solving appear to be directly
linked to adequate sleep.
Some researchers said the study provides a valuable reminder for overtired
workers and students that sleep is often the best medicine.
VERMONT GAY LESBIAN CIVIL UNION STUDY PROVIDES INSIGHT
Newswise
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/503346/
Advocates and opponents of civil unions and/or marriage rights for gay and
lesbian couples in Massachusetts and California would be wise to look to a
Vermont study for insight into the attitudes and motives of couples joined in
civil unions the first year of this landmark legislation. The recent
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's ruling closely matches the 1999 Vermont
Supreme Court decision leading to the legislature’s approval in 2000 of civil
unions that give gay couples many of the same benefits married couples enjoy.
Sondra Solomon and Esther Rothblum, researchers and psychology professors at the
University of Vermont, sent a detailed questionnaire to the 2,300 inaugural
couples joined in Vermont civil unions between June 1, 2000, and June 30, 2001.
They also asked the couples to provide names and contact information for a
married heterosexual sibling and his/her spouse, as well as for a lesbian or gay
couple in their friendship circle. More than 1,500 people responded to questions
about monogamy, child-rearing and myriad other topics.
Among the study’s findings: love, commitment and legal issues motivated more
than 90 percent of 300 couples to unite in civil unions, although half of the
civil union participants also indicated they took advantage of the
groundbreaking Vermont law as a way for society to know about lesbian and gay
relationships.
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What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what
lies within us.
---Oliver Wendall Holmes
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©2004 Spirit in Matters: Taking a Higher View of Life on Earth - 501 Slaters
Lane #422, Alexandria, VA 22314. All rights reserved. Permission is granted
for reproduction or redistribution of the e-newsletter in its entirety only.
