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 14 Dec 2004 @ 12:47
THE RAINBOW TREE
WHAT..... strange seed is this that doth grow, HERE...in the dust and filth of despair and wretchedness.
Tis not Love for Love hath wings, Tis not joy for no happy song it sings, and tis not grace of common variety for it is of slow passion, yet here it doth labor and grow, taking and transforming as it nourishment, this
bitter sweet sewage and sludge and makes of it so into these lines most
clear and plain.
Ah but alas for once this was a great city and planet of humanity,
yet some poison of heart did render and wreck upon it disaster great and speedy
and though the whispers of love and light sought vainly to shore up its moorings, it
succumbed and died, deaf and dumb and dead to their ministry, collasping like some great house of cards upon itself and own weight.
But look here what time in its glory and wisdom doth now fashion, this seed, this plant, this tree that we now gaze upon and behold. Yon tree that hath sprung from the wreck of Love and Hate , of Good and Evil,
Tis a wonder, aye? That doth now grow and since so be its nature of darkness and light and of good and evil and of love and hate..... Let us call its name the
Rainbow Tree and eat of its fruit that be both bitter and sweet as is this life we call our own.
a. g. jonas.
(c) 2004
Earth More >
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13 Dec 2004 @ 12:21
Livelihood .... the way we make our way in the world.
What are the considerations. Would we do whatever it
takes to provide us and our loved ones the necessities
of life?
What if it were illegal?
What if it were unethical?
What if it damaged the environment?
What if it damaged our health?
Are there any decent jobs that even take such things
into consideration or are they even considerations
or do we do whatever the boss says and whatever pays
the bills?
Never thought ones livelihood was such a messy issue did you?
Yet this is the nature of civilization. Sure there is free yet legal enterprise
and some would argue it should just be the enterprise of the free and brave
but our actions and work has consequences and these consequences effect others and the environment and our world and eventually ourselves. It is truly a small world of sorts. So how do we sort through this mess or does the market or should the market be the sole arbitarator of what is good and right. Yet oft in its glee for profit and gain the market assigns the spoils of its enterprise to no one. Whos going to pick up the trash that the market produces or does the market decide? Well it depends. There are those that see an opportunity and go for it and that has its place but there are perhaps other considerations, holistic considerations. Some say Government is to big and that the market should rule but the market does it have a conscience?
They say that when a society reaches a certain stage of viability then such concerns have a tendancy to surface and this is how we progressed from the farms and homesteads to the cities. Yet it seems a complex system of a lot of mumbo jumbo and red tape at times and is it really better than the market place?
I don't know I don't have the answers and its just another one of those things to consider when deciding upon the sustainability and viability of ones career choice and such. Do we need to think about the future when it seems hard enough worrying about the day or do we just live for the day. Choices and decisions we need to make in the course of our lives. Whether its possible to meet all the crieteria and find that dream job is probably unlikely and you're probably going to be steppin on someones toes or at least at some point.
The market and the system and sadly the church and government all seem to have there fingers in our pockets from time to time, so life and livelihood becomes a matter of becoming a "juggler" of many hats and fancy footwork and sometimes flyin on the seat of ones pants but oh were it that it weren't so. More >
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11 Dec 2004 @ 12:05
Towards A Holistic Lifestyle
It seems with each passing day, we are beginning to hear more and more about how the planet can no longer tolerate or process, what seems to amount to our abuse or ignorance of it. Our desires for instant gratification and addictive natures seem to have accumulated to the point where, if we do not become conscious of and change some of these destructive patterns and now, the consequences to the future will be compounded and dire. It is interesting to realize that hey, we puny human beings as a whole, can have an impact on this planet, which when thought about is quite extraordinary given its vastness and scope. Yet wouldn't it be more logical and better to have an impact that is perhaps beneficial, constructive, and advantageous rather than negative or destructive.
What though, could be considered in a nutshell, to be our most destructive behavior pattern? It is difficult to say and to nail it down to one predominant behavior. I think the effects are cumulative and habitual and the problem lies in the area of "behaviors" or lifestyles. I suspect then that it is the "consumptive" lifestyles that have allowed the problem to propagate and fester. They say for instance, that there are now more cars in North America than people. An indication that something is rather skewed. It would seem then that this consumptive lifestyle is somewhat inconsistent, problematic, and incompatible with the planets design constraints or at least the design constraints of the existing and current "biosphere."
Now over time perhaps, the planet could possibly "evolve" to accommodate this human error but evolution does not happen overnight or not usually and I think humanity has to kick a little cash and effort and contribute something to the equation. How? What can be done? What can we do?
Well in my own opinion and estimation, I think part of the answer perhaps lies in making and adopting a more conscious, committed and holistic lifestyle and thusly living in a more holistic manner or what could be called, adopting a more holistic outlook to life rather that the consumptive one. What would a more holistic lifestyle or outlook involve or be? Being holistic perhaps is about thinking logically but also living a little more out of ones own box and on a global scale or sense and being conscious and aware of how ones behaviors, actions and even thoughts effect, affect and impact the well being and health of the planet as a whole. And it means not simply paying lip service to such but actually doing, living and embodying it. It means accommodating and following the process and path through to its natural, logical and cumulative outcome and outputs, in the that way things work on this Earth, which to my understanding, is in a sense, in a whole systems and cyclic manner.
Is this the answer then? Ah alas if only life were so simple but If we can at least begin and do this and perhaps a little more and then if we can pass this knowledge and wisdom on to the future generations then humanity could stand a better chance of being more than just a minor blip on the universe's timetable.
Alfred G. Jonas
2004 Earth (c) More >
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10 Dec 2004 @ 09:42
Quote
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When I was attending a Presbyterian seminary, in training to becoming an ordained minister, I learned that, during the 300 years following the death of Jesus, the early Roman Church carried out considerable research to choose which of the many religious writings, which were available, to include in the canon the church was assemblying. They included the Old Testament, whose writings portray a perception of an angry, jealous, vengeful, judging and punishing God, which are quite at variance with the loving God portrayed in the New Testament. They also included a Book of Apocrypha, which has since been omitted in our modern versions of the early Roman canon, which we now call the Holy Bible.
It is historical fact that neither God nor Jesus directly contributed any writings to the Bible. All of the writings in the Bible were created, edited and interpreted by men (no women!). Many of these men were inspired and created very inspiring writings, but the writings for the New Testament were translated, interpreted and edited by the early church authorities into the ancient language of Attica, from whence they were again translated, interpreted and edited into Latin and other languages. The Bible can be a powerfully inspiring source of good for the benefit of humankind, but, depending on who is doing the translating, interpretation and editing, it can also be a powerfully inspiring source of evil for the detriment of humankind (for example, www.raptureready.com ).
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Thankyou for this Sir Mindlink
It just bespeaks for the troubling questions religion faces in our time yet it even the piece I contributed offers hope but does not come right out and say what is needed.
It strikes me that the great need then for religion is a Global Holy Bible or Conconcordance. This would not necessarily just be another dogmatic text but a global reference book on spiritual stories and traditions from around the world and of many even some obscure religions. It would be a massive undertaking and who would be responsible for its authorship and editing would probably have to be of a democratic nature at least in part which would be somewhat problematic but perhaps a good exercise in itself.
I think the first task might be easiest in that it could be based on the "themes" of the current text ie Genesis or Creation Stories. It would be interesting to have a collection of say Creation Stories that are say old or on the order of 500 or so years old for it has to has some credibility in time and tradition. These could be derived I suppose for ancient writings and I suppose even some verbal traditions from what few remaining tribal elders are still practicing. Then I suppose you could have a book on miracles or such and another on noteable prohits so we have three books so far and then I suppose one on moral laws so thats four
Heres How it breaks so far
THE GLOBAL HOLY BIBLE
1, CREATION STORIES
2. EARLY MIRACLES
3. THE PROPHETS OF OLD
4. THE LAW GIVERS
etc. etc
Even this would be a massive, problematic but exciting undertaking for some or all to undertake but it would be a start and perhaps a solution to the troubles our world now faces but it would recognize the globality of religion or spirituality and its interpretation would probably give rise to many sects anyway depending on the emphasis and interpretation readers choose to empasis and embrace but at least it would provide an intitial core and unifying reference. It would sort of be the rebirth of a tree on a global basis..... The tree giving birth to itself. More >
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5 Dec 2004 @ 15:41
ahh hello world.....
what of the now....
where and what is the now
the global now.....???
or the local now.....????
well it be Sunday..... Yes?
and December.... Yes?
and the year 2004 ...... yes?
on the planet Earth.... yes?
in many places..... Yes?
and it is the 5th of Dec...... yes?
and morning..... yes?
Yes and no.....
we live in a swirling whirling dervish of time
Locally it is cold and windy here today and early.....
and cloudy... but quiet......
Globally ..... it is many and every thing perhaps.... yes?
Now again .......
what is our "agreement"...???
of this?
of now?
What is our "understanding".....???
of this?
of now?
time is circularly passing......... More >
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