Society Magazine

To Quote or Not to Quote

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:42:27 +0000

“By necessity, by proclivity, and by delight, we all quote.” Quotation and Originality 1876 Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American poet and essayist

Should we express our own thoughts in our own words? Or should we delight in repeating the sentiments of others? Disraeli, Johnson, Behan, Churchill, Wilde, and Emerson all voice their opinions in quotes on quotes. Even the book of Proverbs stakes out a position.

* “The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation.” Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) British politician and statesman

* “Classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world.” Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English author, critic

* “A quotation in a speech, article or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority.” Brendan Francis Behan (1923-1964) Irish author and poet

* “It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.” Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman, soldier, and author

* “Every quotation contributes something to the stability or enlargement of the language.” Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English author, critic

* “Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American poet and essayist

* “He is a benefactor of mankind who contracts the great rules of life into short sentences, that may be easily impressed on the memory, and so recur habitually to the mind.” Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English author, critic

* “A man finds joy in giving an apt reply, and how good is a timely word.” Proverbs 15:23

With all those persuasive pro-quote quotations, you might think the non-quote crowd would run up a white flag and admit their mistake. Not so fast. They’ve got their advocates too!

* “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish author and wit

Not only Oscar Wilde, but Emerson too. Yes, the same Ralph Waldo Emerson who praised quotes, also said: “I hate quotations, tell me what you know.”

Still others find humor in quotes:

* “I often quote myself; it adds spice to my conversation.” George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright and critic

* “What’s the use of a good quotation if you can’t change it?” Doctor Who

So, where do you take your stand? All in all, I side with the Disraeli - Johnson pro-quote gang. Quotes, at their best, are either funny tidbits or juicy little morsels of wisdom or inspiration. Sample these witty quotes from Will Rogers, Mark Twain, and Oscar Wilde and try not to smile.

* “Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘Nice doggie’ until you can find a rock.” Will Rogers

* “He was a solemn, unsmiling, sanctimonious old iceberg who looked like he was waiting for a vacancy in the Trinity.” Mark Twain

* “As long as a woman can look ten years younger than her own daughter, she is perfectly satisfied.” Oscar Wilde

Would you like to discover the secrets of human nature? Antoninus, Bacon, Outlaw, Churchill, Colton, Publilius Syrus, and Barrie unlock the mystery with these insights and warnings:

* “Our life is what our thoughts make it.” Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (188-217)

* “Chiefly the mold of a man’s fortune is in his own hands.” Frances Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, essayist, and statesman

* “Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.” Frank Outlaw

* “Success is going from failure to failure without the loss of enthusiasm.” Sir Winston S. Churchill (1874-1965) British statesman, soldier, and author

* “No company is preferable to bad. We are more apt to catch the vices of others than virtues, as disease is far more contagious than health.” Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832) Writer, author

* “Speech is the mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so is he.” Maxim 1073 Publilius Syrus (first century)

* “Life is a long lesson in humility.” James M. Barrie (1860-1937) Scottish dramatist, novelist

Wilson Mizner (1876-1933) once said: “Life’s a tough proposition, and the first hundred years are the hardest.” Point well taken, Mizner. So perhaps a few “words to live by” quotes will make our burden a little lighter and guide us along the path. Churchill, Lombardi, Hazlitt, Jesus, Johnson, Proverbs, and Lincoln volunteer their advice.

* “Never, never, never, never give up.” Sir Winston S. Churchill

* “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence.” Vince Lombardi (1913-1970) American football coach

* “If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory.” William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English essayist

* “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Matthew 7:12 Jesus Christ (c.6B.C.- c.A.D.30)

* “Whatever you have, spend less.” Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English author

* “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else and not your own lips.” Proverbs 27:2

* And Abraham Lincoln sums our best of the best wisdom quotes with: “Whatever you are, be a good one.”

For fun, inspiration, or wisdom in a nutshell, it’s hard to beat a good quote. Can your memorize one per day? Give it a try! Quotations just might become a lifelong love affair.

Mr. Boone is a sailor, author, webmaster, and cartoonist. His works include THE SAFETY LINE - EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN, an apologetic study published 1998, and Victoria Station.us a popular joke, quote, cartoon web site. He is also a contri- butor to “Christian Living in the Mature Years” magazine, and author of the article “God’s Billboards Invade Cyberspace.”

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Happiness - Cause and Effect

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:42:27 +0000

Your reaction to the events around you determines how you feel and how you affect those you come into contact with. Consider the following example:

Jane, a bank executive, got caught in traffic on her way to an important presentation at a board of directors meeting. As a result, she was forty-five minutes late for her presentation. After the meeting Jane was in a really bad mood. Upon returning to her office she discovered that several expected reports were not there.

Jane called Kevin, her administrative assistant, into her office and reprimanded him for not ensuring the reports had arrived on time. Another department was preparing the reports. Kevin had no control over when they would be delivered. Jane was in a foul mood and she didn’t want to hear any excuses.

Upset and stressed, Kevin called Donna, the secretary for the department preparing the reports. He started yelling at her that the reports that he had requested had not arrived. Although this was the first Donna had heard of the reports, Kevin didn’t care. He was upset and took his anger out on Donna.

By the time she got off the phone with Kevin, Donna was seething. Who did Kevin think he was speaking to her like that? Just then, Ed from the mailroom called Donna to ask how she wanted a package shipped. Donna accused Ed of being an idiot for not knowing the package should be sent overnight because it was so important.

Ed tried to explain there was no way he could have known what she wanted. Donna just slammed the phone down in a huff. Ed was livid. Did Donna think he was a mind reader? Ed was still agitated as he went to the diner for lunch.

The diner was extremely busy. His waitress, Stacey, took longer than usual to take his order. Ed was annoyed with the slow service. He was rude to Stacey and left her a small tip. Stacy was running herself ragged and was offended by Ed’s attitude and tip.

The rest of Stacey’s shift seemed to drag. When she finally got off work, she was in no mood for any more hassles from anyone. As Stacey walked into her apartment, her five-year-old son, Jimmy, ran excitedly to greet her.

Stacey immediately noticed that Jimmy’s pants were filthy. "I just washed those," she yelled. "Can’t you keep anything clean?" Jimmy ran up to his room crying. His cat came over to him purring. Jimmy was so upset he kicked the cat.

Wouldn’t it have saved a lot of people a lot of grief if Jane had gone directly to Stacey’s house and kicked Jimmy’s cat?

When you take out your frustrations on others you may be starting a cascading chain reaction. If someone takes out their frustrations on you, break the chain by not taking it out on someone else. When you react negatively to another’s behavior you allow yourself to be drawn into their problems. You control your thoughts. If you feel annoyed, wait and think before speaking or acting.

Keep things in perspective. Let stress roll off you without grabbing hold of and internalizing it. Don’t kick the cat.

Bryan Golden is a self-development and motivational expert, author, and adjunct professor. He is the author of “Dare to Live Without Limits,” and writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column. For more information please visit: http://www.daretolivewithoutlimits.com or http://www.bryangolden.com

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Computerized Christians? Get Ready for the New Church!

admin — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:42:27 +0000

Isaiah 43;19 declares: “Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

A new thing? Try this one on for size: Just as the Apostle Paul brought the Good News to the Greeks, today’s latch key kids will bring it to the GEEKS!

Here’s what I mean. Does anybody remember those radical Jesus Freaks of the 60s and 70s? They’re still around. They became the pot-bellied Baby-Boomers we know and love today. These people seem to have become more conservative with age (having children of one’s own will cause that transformation). Many who were once yesterday’s liberals are today’s conservatives. They scorn the vulgar videos and movies of today’s youth and turn in disgust from the their nasty grunge clothes, pierced noses, and tattoos. These Boomers can’t stand the in-yo-face vulgarity and arrogance of today’s young no-commitment “slackers.”

To you pastors out there, I hate to break it to you, but these kids are the new recruits. These young people ARE the new Church. I call them the Omega Warriors.

Together, we Boomers must get over something that is much more than a generation gap. It’s the most paradigm of paradigm shifts because there is a total misunderstanding of these new recruits on the part of today’s “organized Church.” The Boomers must come to recognize the hidden sorrows faced by today’s “latch-key” kids . . . the heart-rending despair of their broken homes and the poor parental skills under which they were subjected as we’ve all discovered that TV makes a terrible surrogate parent. This is the stuff of their lives that makes them act “that way.”

Christians, gone are the days of the “one-talking-to-many” mediums, the talking heads of today’s Baby-Boomer Christianity. We are entering a one-to-one digital medium. These kids want to interact. They desire interdependency. They want to collaborate and dialogue with others. Common interests are drawing these kids into common communities. One quick glance at their Internet chat rooms makes this extremely evident. They’ll discuss anything. They WANT to commune.

SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING

Can we discern the spiritual side of all the apparent nonsense they force us to deal with? What can God do with so big a mess? Consider that the idea of connecting to one another in another space is inherently spiritual. The notion of a “covenant network” of allied individuals is certainly Christian. And, perhaps for the first time in human history, the Body of Christ can be perceived as being truly global, totally possible, and walking in more agreement than we ever imagined. How is this being made possible? By way of the Internet.

Nobody’s better at negotiating The ‘Net than today’s youth.

“It is important to fulfill the great commission by getting the saving Gospel message to the people who need it most,” claims Mark Harpt, President of the World Wide Christian Web. He continues, “The amount of ignorance about the truth of God is staggering, especially in countries that produce the greatest technological advances. These people need God and wireless Internet technology is a great way to let them know that the God who created the universe wants to enter into a special relationship with them if they will allow it.”

Sadly, many of today’s Church leaders - some of whom were yesterday’s radical Jesus Freaks - have largely missed what is happening right under their noses because they see the lowly computer as nothing more than a glorified office machine at best, a tool of the devil at worst. True, the predictions regarding the information highway may seem like so much hype today, but the wise Christian leader will prayerfully consider its impact in regard to tomorrow. Though computers may hardly seem to be of any significance where the future of the Church is concerned, the way the Church utilizes this tool may totally change Christianity on planet Earth as we know it.

The new millennium is a watershed moment in Church history. The Internet will soon impact the growth of the Church at a staggering rate and at aglobal level. The question is, will YOU be part of it? Some may say, “We’re miles ahead of the game at First Church! We have our own website….” Wrong! Again, for anyone to find that website, THEY must be looking for YOU.

The Church MUST make every effort to go to THEM!

SPIRITUAL CONSUMERS OR SPIRITUAL PRODUCERS?

Last Wednesday night, I was almost late for my Coffee Studio Bible study. Why? I saw a commercial for NBC’s Dateline with Stone Phillips in which a ministry team was performing an exorcism in a condo in North Carolina. Yes, we taped it for later but we watched it, too. When I finally joined the Coffee Studio group, some had been watching the TV there and had caught the show as well. Early in the program, Phillips made the statement, “As many as 10,000 exorcisms take place annually in the USA, most by evangelical Christians.” (I’m performing one this Saturday. We had one last month at a Bed & Breakfast, too, an Englishman. Man, I am REALLY enjoying Christianity, you?)

Regardless of one’s stance on demons and exorcisms, on that same video cassette, a friend included a segment from the 700 Club, a Pat Robertson interview with author James Rutz about his new book, “Megashift.” When my wife and I watched it, I was spellbound. After listening to Rutz, I ran upstairs to read what I could about his book, my wife following close behind. I found this quote, “If you read one ‘Christian book’ this year, make it ‘Megashift’ by Jim Rutz.” — Joseph Farah, founder of WorldNetDaily

Another book review read as follows: “The 1700-year nightmare is over. A megashift of spiritual power into the hands of ordinary people is about to overwhelm the world and put it into vastly better shape. Prepare yourself to take part in a total makeover of Planet Earth!”

It went on to say: “You are about to discover a new world where…

* Over a billion non-Christians may become highly active Christians in the next dozen years.

* A whole new form of Christianity promises to bring a far greater impact than the Protestant Reformation.

* Millions of ordinary people are doing miracles.

* God has brought hundreds ofpeople back from the dead, mostly in the last 15 years. These are not near-death experiences, but real resurrections of actual corpses. (NOTE: It’s true. In the last decade, 52 countries report dead being raised and diseases miraculously cured.)

“New book tells all: “Megashift” not only documents a wide range of miracles, but also spotlights hundreds of thousands of house-church teams around the globe that are producing a new culture of responsible freedom. In these teams, people are allowed to speak and interact. They often form deep friendships, dump their heaviest problems, turn into free and powerful spearheads of worldwide change, and get connected with God and man in ways that almost defy description. This is a “Megashift” away from spectator religion.

A GROWING OPPORTUNITY: 8% CHURCH GROWTH PER YEAR!

My home town boasts a community growth rate of about 3% annually; the local college, about 7% per year. This is for perspective. One item mentioned in Megashift was this: “There is a hidden world that already has 707 million evangelical/charismatic Christians who are growing by an incredible 8% a year. In the center of this shockwave are roughly 100 million in informal networks of committed circles who run their own show without buildings, paid pastors, or sermons. “Megashift” is a startling introduction to that surge of grass roots power and love, which is forming the culture you will soon live in.”

It appears God is using the rank and file, willing Believers everywhere more and more these days, and OUTSIDE the friendly confines of Churchianity at that! Rutz mentioned having met a 7-year old boy in India who died at age 5. The boy had scars from where he was burned by a power line. On the emergency room table for two hours, doctors could not revive him. The hospital contacted a church which called a 60-year old Indian woman to pray for the boy. She was illiterate; an “untouchable”; the lowest of the low in the Indian caste system. She prayed until 4 AM. The boy was alive with no brain damage or any other physical problems. When Rutz asked the woman if she had ever done this before, she replied that she had been involved in sixteen resurrections!

“The Church, as we have it set up now…is really not set up to handle it all so God is empowering people to work through small teams, house churches particularly, school churches, business churches and so forth…small teams where people are able to interact and work with each other…kind of like the early New Testament idea of going house to house…,” Rutz said.

Are you ready? Church leaders, is your Church infrastructure in place, or are you expecting these young people to come to Church, learn the prayers and hymns and when to say ‘Amen” and listen while you teach them where to sit, how to act…and expect them to do so for the next 70 years? Sorry, but young lions gotta roar!

Me? I contend that, not only are these pierced ‘n tattooed, navel-flashing, latch-key kids our latest raw recruits but that America’s corporate offices are going to be the place of another huge move of God as well. Such things HAVE to be so because we spend so much time there. Is the Church going to meet them where they’re at, or cling to its pews with both hands, serving the Institution rather than the Institutor? Just as Aquila and Priscilla were there, strategically in place to greet the Apostle Paul after his Damascus Road conversion, will you be there for these kids when they need you to be? Again, I’m NOT talking about greeting them at the door of a church building - I may be talking about going to their campus, joining forces with other denominations and pooling funds for a youth event (we organized one that included 26 churches, 9 bands and over 1,000 kids) or starting a Coffee Shop Bible study where they can relax and be themselves.

Anything to show them that you LOVE (spelled T-I-M-E) them.

I met with 30 people around a campfire a few weeks ago. We cooked steaks and chicken and sang with guitars. We prayed about revival, too. People, we were being the Church and no less than 5 denominations were represented there. This past weekend, we knocked ondoors and prayed for people at their doorsteps - Lutheran alongside baptist alongside pentecostal alongside Church of the Nazarene. Eleven denominations in all, taking out town by storm for the third time (we’re going out again in mid-September). Though it may appear that Satan has strategically managed to make workaholics out of us and has systematically drawn millions of mommies out of their homes in an effort to join the workforce, thereby creating legions of latch-key kids, the TRUTH is that our God WILL get His Church back (I’m not talking buildings, folks). God WILL have His way. Satan ALWAYS shoots himself in the foot.

Be a part of this upcoming revival. It’s not going to look like anything any of us have ever seen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pastor Michael is founder of t.e.a.m. ministries (team1min@aol.com). His eMail broadcasts, known as “Your Town for Jesus” (SEARCH it!) are reaching tens of thousands WEEKLY. Log on at http://www.PlanetaryMinistry.org

Michael’s mission is to bring Discipleship and Encouragement to the Body of Christ. Michael is the author of numerous booklets on a subjects that will interest the thinking Christian. Since 1999, he has written and broadcast nearly 500 inspirational articles and a dozen booklets, al designed to accelerate the process of spiritual development in God’s people.

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Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

admin — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:42:27 +0000

In a time when public scrutiny is becoming tighter and more pervasive businesses have learned that they need to be on guard more than ever to ensure they are operating by ethical standards. Though not often mentioned in this discussion, I believe it is especially true of Christian organizations in whom trust is placed by donors. The old adage "heads I win, tails you lose" has a particular bite on this that says ouch. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be.

John Dalla Costa, in his book The Ethical Imperative, provides numerous examples of businesses that sought to play by this rule. By cutting ethical corners (playing games of delay and dodge when it came to expenses for health and safety requirements) many were "winning" the economic game in the short run, but losing over the long-term through fines, restrictions, and erosion of public confidence. By covering up illegal employee practices and denying basic benefits as a reward for helping to make the company profitable they again "saved money," over the short term only to see the long-term effects of this neglect take an economic toll in the form of low employee morale and employee lawsuits. Many of the business Dalla Costa cites are no longer in existence. For them it was "heads I win temporarily, tails I lose permanently.

What can Christian non-profit organizations learn from this? For one, boards need to be more involved. Many Christian organizations have boards that "trust" the organization’s management to operate by ethical standards. They meet and simply listen to the glowing reports of success without asking probing nature. Secondly, Christian organizations need to pay close attention to its employee practices. This is the biggest area of litigation faced by non-profits today. Third, Christian organizations need to exercise care in ensuring donor intentions are adhered to in the application and usage of contributions. Fourth, Christian organizations should put in place appropriate internal control procedures to ensure that financial transactions are handled with care and efficiency.

Many well meaning Christian ministries advertise themselves with lofty Christian ideals, such as-

"We operate at the highest levels of integrity."

"In all our decisions we are guided by the lordship of Christ."

"The worth and value of every individual is given the highest respect."

The list could go on an on. The point is these are all subjective statements that cannot be measured in any rational way. And when perception becomes the guiding instrument through which evaluation of business practices takes place, it makes any challenge to leadership anathema. The landscape of Christian organizations gone sour as a result of focus on short-term gains at the expense long-term effectiveness, and at the expense of honesty and full disclosure, is dotted with embarrassing examples of ministries that have been less than circumspect in their principles of operation.

These kinds of organizations may not have the luxury of changing their business practices based on boards waking up to the realities of what has been happening or leaders realizing they need to be more forthcoming in their standards. New laws brought on by the scandals of Enron and other public corporations are casting their shadows over the private sector as well. When Christian organizations are forced into correction by the public sector rather than by their own policies and governing boards the whole scenario is changed. It is still "heads I win, tails you lose," but the loser becomes the ministry that has allowed itself to sacrifice long-term effectiveness for short-term gain. The other side of the coin, quite literally, is public shame, humiliation, and embarrassment. Trying to beat the odds of the consequences of public scrutiny is a coin toss in which a Christian organization would not want to become a participant.

David J. Moore is Vice President of Research and Development for Compassion Alliance, a humanitarian aid ministry with offices in Nixa, Missouri and Ocala, Florida. He also teaches part-time at a local University. He has years of experience in the non-profit sector, including having served for 8 years as a college president. He holds an MA in Cross-cultural Communication and has completed course work for a PhD in Higher Education Administration. Find out more about his ministry by visiting the web site at http://www.compassionalliance.org

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The American Melting Pot Myth

admin — Fri, 29 May 2009 23:42:27 +0000

Most myths have some element of truth in them. The ‘melting pot’ that media of all sorts (which includes our propaganda in law and education) tell us became America, is another of the half-truths or superficial observations which deserves a little study if we are to accept the deeper potential meaning in it. John Hope Franklin of Duke University is a respected Black scholar who says some powerful words after pointing out the kind of thing that media managers or manipulators galore have said about the open-minded American with no reason to bring prejudices to this new and exciting land of opportunity. I would point out that it was not so new and historians like himself have participated in a cover-up but let us see what this man has to say about the ‘melting pot’.

People do not generally like to find out that they have ‘bastards’ in their family tree and the woodpiles of America created a lot of ‘bastards’. My father used to tell us about the Virginia legislature and legislation proposed that would make anyone with any black blood not able to sit and participate in it. This was the early 1950s not the 1850s. One legislator did the research that most Americans will not even do about their own family. He did not get more than half way through exposing every member of the legislature for their mulatto blood when the others were all in an uproar and clamoring that he must b silenced.

"This was one of the earliest expressions of the notion that the process of Americanization involved the creation of an entirely new mode of life that would replace the ethnic backgrounds of those who were a part of the process. It contained some imprecisions and inaccuracies that would, in time, became {become?} a part of the lore or myth of the vaunted melting pot and would grossly misrepresent the crucial factor of ethnicity in American life. It ignored the tenacity with which the Pennsylvania Dutch held onto their language, religion, and way of life. It over-looked the way in which the Swedes of New Jersey remained Swedes and the manner in which the French Huguenots of New York and Charleston held onto their own past as though it was the source of all light and life. It described a process that in a distant day would gag at the notion that Irish Catholics could be assimilated on the broad lap of Alma Mater or that Asians could be seated on the basis of equality at the table of the Great American Feast." (8)

Needless to say he also addresses the matter of black emancipation and those who were ‘already in the country’ though I do not think he was referring to the blacks who were here long before Columbus. In fact there was no race that had not been coming to America since before the time of Christ. Genetics is indeed a powerful tool used in court to free innocent victims of our justice system but so far our history is still allowing lies to victimize our cultural perspectives or myths. It is important that we act as if there is no race except the human race.

Author of Diverse Druids, Columnist for The ES Press Magazine, Guest writer for World-Mysteries.com

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Choose To Integrate Body, Mind, & Soul

admin — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:42:27 +0000

Our bodies were made in such a way that everything is integrated. The mind appears to control everything. When something happens to the body whether good or bad, it registers in the brain and the brain then dictates the bodies response. Scientists has found that it also works that way within the body. Biofeedback has shown that the mind can direct the immune system to fight various infections in the body includ- ing the dreaded strains of cancer. For the average person this is a wonderful idea, but biofeedback costs money and besides not everyone has a life threatening problem. Imagine being able to do this for yourself in the comfort of your own home, office or anywhere else you can go to be alone for a few minutes! There are another kind of science that is telling us that the body listens when we talk. Think about that for a minute. When we talk we are saying what the mind is thinking; we are just saying it outloud. So, it follows we can do our own biofeedback anywhere we want. A very simple illustration of this will prove this to you. Hold your arms out in front of you extending your two index fingers. Shut your eyes and repeat our loud, “fingers come together”. Think it and say it and within two minutes your fingers do come together. When I first tried this it was very exciting to me that it worked because for me it opened possibilities in my mind! Since then I have become a talker to myself! A self whisperer if you will. I talk to my body and to my sub conscious even and I have gotten amazing results. This is one thing that I think will work for everyone because this is one of the functions of the body, mind and soul that was part of the design, just as blood running through everyone’s body is the same. But, you must have an open mind! Your mind accepts that blood runs through the body in a specific manner and so it must accept that the body, mind and soul will listen when it is spoken to, no matter who is speaking, yourself or someone else.

In the morning when you first wake up, lie still, calm your breatheing, still your mind, and have a talk with yourself. Tell yourself what kind of day you are going to have. Keep everything positive! Tell yourself that you are happy and that you are going to be happy all day and that you are going to smile all day. Tell yourself what you are going to accomplish during the day. Tell yourself you will be relaxed and feel good about yourself. Tell yourself that you are a good person and that you have a lot to offer others. You will be surprised at how well your day will go. Always be honest with yourself! If you are a person that has low self esteem, spend some time telling yourself what areas you excel in, list your good qualities. When you are caught in traffic on the way home from work you can tell yourself what a good day it has been, list your accomplishments, tell yourself you are going to have a nice relaxed evening. Tell yourself you will be kind to your mate and your children.

Talking to yourself in this manner can change your life! I challenge you to try it!

www.naturallivingbychoice.com

I am a health conscious individual that spends a lot of time researching different ways of thinking. It is important to me to think outside the box or the matrix if you will! I do not believe and accept everything I see, read, or hear. Some things I have found to be truths for my own life and those things I pass on to you. My maxims are “think for yourself” and “listen to your whole self, body, mind and soul!” I have found that if I do those two things I am always happy! The goal of my web site is to supply those of you that have made the choice to go natural with quality products! http://www.naturallivingbychoice.com

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The Moment of Truth

admin — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:42:27 +0000

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated to all of Israel, and the world last night that the moment of truth had arrived. Announcing his resignation as Finance Minister in the Sharon cabinet, he stated that he had been forced to remain in the government, and also remain mostly silent regarding his opposition to the disengagement over these last several months in order to complete his economic reforms, he claimed that he anguished over the continued march towards the disengagement with no signs of gaining anything in return. He also categorically pronounced what the rest of us have been shouting from the rooftops since its inception, he stated in no uncertain terms that this move would escalate terrorism, empower Hamas, and ultimately put the survival of the state in danger. While many felt his timing was strictly politically motivated to position himself to take control of the Likud party, wresting it away from Ariel Sharon, I must say I have a bit of a different take on it. Please read on to understand what it is and why I feel that way, and also what I really think about BiBi Netanyahu.

I have watched Benjamin Netanyahu for the last twenty-five years or so and have never failed to be impressed with his intelligence, his ability to articulate a situation or concept, and his overall charisma in front of a camera. He is without a doubt a masterful politician, and that is a point to remember whenever we hear BiBi state a position or make a speech. Was the resignation last night from the Sharon government timed for maximum political impact? I’m sure to some extent it was, like I said, BiBi is a masterful politician.

But there is something more about Benjamin Netanyahu that I have observed over the years, and that is what I believe to be an honest love for Israel and the Jewish people. I don’t have time here to go into the history of BiBi or his heroic brother Jonathan, if you aren’t aware of the Netanyahu history, you may want to read up on it. Many like to say that Benjamin will never be the star his older brother was who died in the daring rescue of Israeli Olympic athletes at Entebbe, but I don’t think such comparisons are ever fair. No one knows what Jonathan would have done had he lived, and no person can ever walk in the shoes of another, especially a famous and beloved brother who died a national hero.

I have no doubt that BiBi knows the score. He knows what the New World Order is all about since he was groomed by Kissinger and educated in the New York environs of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has proven that he will go along with the plan when he signed the Wye River accords with Clinton giving away an additional 13% of Judea and Samaria (the so called west bank) but he also has made moves to slow the progress of such plans and actually spoken out against them to some extent, which I believe is what ended up getting him removed from power. His problem is that Israeli society has a long memory and they feel betrayed by his giving in on this issue when he promised that he would never trade land for peace. It also cannot be ignored when he said in his speech last night that he believed we should get out of Gaza, he just objected to the way Sharon was doing it. This would appeal to a lot of Israelis who want out of Gaza because of the high cost of watching their sons murdered by terrorists.

As you know I am 100% against any pull out of any part of Israel as I believe that it is part of the Jews biblical heritage and God ordained right to posses this land. It is not even in the power of the Jewish people not to possess this land, as it is God Himself that is bringing the Jews back to Israel to inhabit their inheritance.

So where does BiBi fit in? Time will tell, but I think that he has a true Jewish heart, while Sharon, Perez, Beilin and the rest have the heart of Edomites, that is like Esau they despise their birthright. I may be completely wrong, but in the end I think that Netanyahu just may do the right thing and stand up against the world powers that are out to destroy Israel. Many will tell me that this is wishful thinking, and well it may be, but I think that Netanyahu has a lot of patience, and the determination to form a plan and see it through. He is much smarter than most of his opponents, and while they may gain the upper hand for a while, he will keep waiting for the right time to strike. My hope is that he will allow himself to look like a part of the problem knowing that at the right time he will prove to possess a heart like David.

I am also a little worried however because the religious Zionists are flocking to him as their only hope right now as they gather at a rally in Tel-Aviv. Since BiBi announced that he too wants out of Gaza, he would not appear to be their long-term answer. What I do think could happen however as a result of his announcement and his speech is that the Israeli public could be woken up to the actual danger and stupidity of the plan Sharon is foisting upon the country right now. Netanyahu very passionately and articulately explained to an entire nation exactly why this plan was suicidal, and he carries a lot of weight in Israel, even if people are mad at him. If Netanyahu is truly the insider people think he is though, he could be another smoke screen to get the religious right to follow after a wicked shepherd who will lead them over a cliff.

We only have a few days left until Tisha B’Av, which is the tradition time of mourning for a myriad of historic tragedies that have occurred on this day, from the evil report of the spies Moses sent into the promised land, to the destruction of the Temple, and this year seems to be poised to go down in history as another possible tragedy. Many are hoping that it will be a day of triumph, reversing the history of this date from a day of mourning to a day of rejoicing. If this evil plan of expulsion somehow is cancelled in the last few days, it will indeed be a miracle, and a time for rejoicing. My prayer is that God, and not Benjamin Netanyahu would get the glory.

There will certainly be a backlash if this plan gets cancelled. The world is in a near froth that I believe will be turned up to a full fury if they are not rewarded with a victory over Religious Zionism and the God of Israel. The world will move forcefully to press Israel into a no win situation through sanctions, and even U.N., with possible U.S. troops, on the ground imposing the One World Order agenda upon the people of Israel with the capitulation of the Israeli government.

In a recent article Barry Chamish, an investigative reporter here in Israel, who has stumbled upon the One World Order and written several books about the betrayal of Israel by their leftist leaders, received a phone call that confirmed something I had always suspected. Barry has written extensively about the fact that Shimon Peres was behind the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, and this conversation focuses on the details surrounding that murder, but in the midst of it is something I find much more revealing. That is the origin of the disengagement plan, and the ultimate motive for it:

Three days ago I received a phone call from Oslo. The caller was Henry Gluksman, the advance man for the Oslo negotiations. He read my website and was impressed by my Rabin murder research. The first thing he said was, “You missed the real motive for Rabin’s murder. It was financial.”

A little background about the man. He lives in what he calls a “fool’s paradise” as a political refugee in Norway. The government there provides him with an apartment and pension as protection against mortal retaliation from Israel. Strange that he would be used to pave the way for the Oslo “peace” talks.

He claims the Shabak made attempts on his life and he was forced to flee Israel in the early 1980s. Argentinian-born Gluksman publicly accused Israel of being behind the Falklands War. “I discovered that it was Israel Aviation Industries that provided the Argentinian planes and missiles and it was they who sunk the Lancaster,” he explained. “They convinced the Argentinian government that they could win the war for them.”

Mr. Gluksman’s motives for talking freely to me appear not to be ideological. He is an avowed Marxist. Simply, he believes his Oslo talks became corrupted and that Rabin was murdered by the corrupters of his negotiations. His insider revelations are startling and verify the crux of my own research.

HG - When I began laying the groundwork for the Oslo talks in ‘88, money wasn’t even considered as a political issue. It’s when it became the core issue that things turned ugly.

BC - What do you mean ‘88? The talks began in ‘92.

HG - The plans for them were initiated in ‘88. We had to wait until Rabin was elected to put them into action. He sent the two negotiators, Pundak and Hirshfeld, to Oslo and the initial talks were aimed at establishing an honest groundwork for peace.

BC - I interviewed Ron Pundak in 1996 and he told me something remarkable. He said that his boss, Yossi Beilin, doesn’t believe in borders. Borders cause wars. He told me the end result of the accord would be the removal of Israel’s borders. This would be done by dismembering the country piece by piece. After, Israel would blend into a Middle East bloc of united Arab countries.

HG - Yes, that was our objective. The Gush Katif disengagement was agreed to in 1993 as part of the broader plan. To understand how this would lead to peace, look at Hong Kong. It was a colony of six million in a sea of over a billion Chinese. Israel consists of six million Jews in a sea of over a billion Moslems. When Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1999, nothing changed for the people of Hong Kong. They went on with their lives as before but without the threat of attack hanging over them. That was our objective. Israel would become Arab and nothing would change, but the threat would end. The Jews of Tel Aviv would go on with their lives, run their businesses, build their homes but the mayor would be an Arab, the police would be Arabs, the courts would be Arab. It was the ideal solution.

BC - So if the plans are on course beginning with Gush Katif, what is your problem with the accords?

HG - The problem began when the Labor Party leaders saw Oslo as a way to make a quick buck. Everyone was rushing to join in, Peres, Ramon, Micha Harish. And they all came with their Palestinian businessmen in tow. I mean, who were Micha Harish and Chaim Ramon? How did they become peace negotiators? Oslo was drawing the greediest crooks to the money pot. They didn’t want peace, they wanted a piece of the action. People who were absolute nobodies suddenly were showing up for discussions. The most absurd was this Rabbi Melchior who Peres brought along. Who ever heard of him before? He had no legitimacy or constituency, never wrote learned tracts and overnight he jumps from Oslo to the cabinet of Shimon Peres. Everyone the Israelis sent to iron out details were there for what they could get out of Oslo and the PLO more than cooperated in the thefts and corruption. From a Marxist beginning, the discussions turned capitalistic.

BC - Where did Rabin fit in?

HG - He saw how corrupt everything had turned and decided to abandon the whole enterprise. He was going to put the talks on hold or shut them down for good if the corruption didn’t stop. That’s why they murdered him. He threatened to bring down the house of crime and that would have been very costly to the crooks. I read your work. Your conclusion is similar to mine but you left out some people who stood to lose big if Rabin stayed alive. It’s a broader plot than you’ve found out.

end

Please understand that as I have been saying for many years, Israel has been subdued by the most crooked and evil kind of self-serving backbiters one could ever imagine. The southern stereotype of Boss Hog looks like a choirboy compared to these people. I started an article a few days ago that I haven’t finished, but I will say it here, every death, every lost life, every ruined family can be laid at the doorstep of the "Peace Activists" in this country and the countries abroad. They are by and large self-indulgent haters of God, and it is their insistence upon unworkable humanistic solutions that have caused the enemy to be armed, and empowered to hatred. Without the Peace movement, Israel would have remained strong in their resolve, and the enemy would have never had the armaments or the initiative to wage a war of attrition. You may think this statement too strong, or too much of a broad brush, but I say it will prove out in the end to be absolutely true. Even those who are na�ve and have no idea about who they are in bed with are responsible because of their anti-God agendas, and their inability to see the truth. Just like Hitler’s youth, or the young communists, they have bought a lie, and worked with vigor to promote it to the detriment of thousands of innocent people.

I have long suspected that the disengagement was conceived before Sharon came into power, and that he is simply following a plan, a road map lets say, and that this whole disembowelment of Israel was part of a greater plan to actually destroy the country from within. You must understand that the devil does not want Israel to survive, and he has found willing accomplices within the Jewish political body. That does not excuse anti-Semitism, or justify Jew hatred; on the contrary, it should accentuate the need for prayer for the Jewish people in this terribly difficult time.

Who was the architect of the Oslo accords? Yossi Beilin! What does he want to see eventually? An Arab controlled Palestine under whose authority the Jews will live. Who has empowered Beilin? Shimon Peres. The two of them profited in the tens of millions of dollars by selling the guns to the PA security forces after the signing of Oslo, and today they are plotting many ways to profit from the dismanteling of Gush Katif including building a casino like the one they built in Jericho. Who heads the Peace movement in Israel? Yossi Beilin and Shimon Peres.

Where does Netanyahu fit in? I don’t really know. He seems to be outside the framework of these guys, even though he has had the same handlers who have raised him to power, and I believe who removed him from office. Maybe like Rabin, there were lines he wouldn’t cross. Only God knows and time will tell.

I agree with Netanyahu about something, and that is that the "Moment of Truth Has Come." As a believer that means that the time for absolute and complete repentance is here, for without clean hands our prayers will avail us nothing. The time for true intercessory prayer is long overdue. Giving up our leisure time activities and exchanging them with long sessions on our knees before the throne of God is our most important activity from now until the coming of the Lord. Praying for the salvation of the Jewish people is our top priority. I am not saying to stop praying for other needs, but I am saying that this should top our list every day. Pray also for massive Aliyah (immigration to Israel) because this is the best way to overcome the corruption and the dividing of the land. It will put more pressure on the government and bring more accountability to what has been an entrenched system. Pray for the safety of the Jewish people and the Soldiers and Police who are on the front lines of this war against the Jewish people. Pray for the protection of this nation from the enemies without, and the enemies within. Pray for the salvation of government officials, and that corrupt officials would be either saved, or removed and replaced by righteous leaders who will honor God. Pray that the Jewish people would be given a heart of David in these last days, to stand up to the goliath of nations and say, "How dare you blaspheme the Holy Name of our God. Today He will give you into our hands" and then they will chop the head off of the beast. Pray that God’s name would be glorified, in Israel, and throughout the world.

All of these prayers by the way are biblical in their foundation and you can pray this way knowing that you are praying according to the will of God. If this isn’t enough to pray about, I can give you twenty or thirty more things like this to pray.

Don’t underestimate prayer. All things begin in prayer. All victories are won first in the Spiritual realm and then they are manifested in the physical. Prayer is not easy; it is hard. It is probably the hardest thing to do in service to God, which is why so few people undertake to do it. You can say that others are given the mantle of prayer, but before you dismiss yourself from the room, I would like to suggest you ask God which one of the people you are supposed to be. One who is given to prayer, or one who leaves the battle to someone else?

Please I implore you? put down the remote control and pick up your bible. Everything that God said was going to happen is happening now! It is going to get worse not better.

In Luke 13 Yeshua gives us dire warnings about our need to strive to enter the narrow gate. In chapter 21 he explains the frightening reality of the last days in which men’s hearts will be failing them for fear and ends with an admonition: "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Many believe that this means a rapture in which the believers escape all this nasty stuff that is going to happen, I know I may alienate myself from many readers here, but I believe that He is talking about escaping the darkness that is about to engulf the world, the sinful nature that is about to become fully manifested in the evil heart of mankind. What are we to do? We are to be watchful (as the watchmen on the wall of Isaiah 62:6,7) We are to pray always, pray what? To escape? I don’t believe so, I think He is telling us to pray always as we were instructed in the same chapter of Isaiah, why? So we may be found worthy to stand before the Son of man. The way to escape the coming darkness that is going to flood the earth, and the delusion that will fool even the elect were it possible, is to be doing the word of God when He comes. To be praying and giving the Lord no rest, and taking no rest for ourselves until He has made Jerusalem a praise in all the earth. When will He do that? At His glorious coming.

What do we who want to enter by the narrow gate need to be doing? Praying! When? Now! For how long? Until His coming!

Praise the Lord. This isn’t a time for fear but for focus. This isn’t a time to give up but to dig in. This isn’t a time to look at the Anti-Christ but to be enthralled with the glory of the Only Christ!

Look Up, for your redemption draweth neigh.

God Bless You,

Tom Cooper The Israel Report http://theisraelreport.com

Tom Cooper is the founder of The Israel Report. More than News and Commentary, it is a full ministry to believers in ISrael, and throughout the world. Based in Jerusalem, The Israel Report is your portal to Israel.

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The Saga of Puffed Wheat Anderson, A Minnesota Legend

admin — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:42:27 +0000

I have no idea how old I was when I first learned about the famed Minnesota scientist and inventor Alex P. Anderson, AKA Puffed Wheat Anderson. My Dad told me about him when I was eating a bowl of cereal, you know, the one that’s shot from guns. Or doesn’t Quaker use that line any more? They sure did when I was growing up. I’d hear it a dozen times in a half hour when I used to listen to Sgt. Preston of the Mounties as a six-years-old. I naturally wondered if he was a relative. He wasn’t, but I couldn’t imagine how shooting rice or wheat out of a cannon could make them puff up.

I thought of that again as I was shopping in Byerly’s, a local grocery store, and happened to pass by the cereal section. I decided I wanted to find out how it was done so when I got home, I immediately looked up Anderson in Google. I wasn’t prepared for the fascinating story surrounding his life and accomplishments. Or the Quaker company’s marketing history, for that matter.

It seems that Alex Anderson could have been famous for an entirely different reason. According to a Minnesota Public Radio interview with Robert Hedin, Anderson’s grandson, Master Alex of Goodhue County was the youngster who gave directions to the Jesse James gang about how to get to Northfield, MN. Those of you who aren’t up on your folk history might not know that robbing the Northfield bank was the biggest mistake ole Jesse ever made. Two of his members were killed by the local townspeople and things got so hot that the rest of the gang was lucky to escape with their lives. (An even more interesting coincidence from a personal standpoint, is that the gang camped out on the point in Cedar Lake near Annandale. Our lake cabin was just a couple of hundred yards down the shore from where they cooked a meal and licked their wounds before heading back to Missouri.)

Hedin says that Anderson included an account of the fateful meeting in an essay about Silurian fossils. Alex was also interested in Phrenology and could tell you your personality by feeling the bumps on your head. Even though he was a fine poet and memoirist, his greatest accomplishment was to invent a way to break down the starch in grains by subjecting them to intense heat and pressure, greatly enlarged the kernels in so doing. To do this he devised a large wooden gun. Albert Lasker, an early advertising genius hired by the Quaker company, explained the process. The lab must have been a hundred feet long. The so-called gun was actually a drum that was super-heated with the mouth covered. When it reached the correct temperature, workers removed the cover with a pulley. The grains exploded out and flew wildly around, expanding to eight times its original size in the process. Hedin puts it more colorfully. "It made the lab sound like a battlefield, smell like a bakery and look like a snowy winter morning."

Pleased with his invention, Anderson decided to show it off. Puffed rice made its premier appearance at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. A minor hit as a novelty, it also caught the eye of an unnamed executive of the Quaker cereal company in the process.

In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, cereal was considered to be a health food and the Quaker company saw a virtual gold mine in Anderson’s process. They were right, but for the wrong reason. Aftey they bought the rights they spent a considerable amount of money advertising the product to the Japanese. Puffed rice was ordinary rice, they said, but many times larger and it took less to fill you up. Better still, it was delicious. The campaign turned out to be a total flop. Lasker proved that Americans were the right target, so to speak, and under his tutelage ’shot from guns’ became a household word. No one needs to be reminded that the Quaker company survives to this day selling the same products.

Anderson died in 1943 after donating his house to the Red Wing School District. It turns out that he became a patron of the arts. Now it is a haven for writers and other artists. The Kiwanis hold regular meetings there, making the residents sing for their supper by reading Shelley and William Blake. But that’s not all. If you like modern art or improvisational jazz, you’ll find someone with those talents at the Anderson House. I wonder what Jesse James would have thought of it all.

John Anderson is a Minnesota author who has not spent any time at the Anderson House. His novel, The Cellini Masterpiece, was written under the penname of Raymond John and is a mystery- thriller set on the island of Malta. John invites you to read the first chapter of his book at http://www.cmasterpiece.com. If you have any questions or comments, you may contact him there.

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The Oldest Concept in History

admin — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:42:27 +0000

I find it funny that one of the oldest concepts in the world has become one of modern society’s biggest irritants. The problem with this is that the concept has been lost behind all the problems created by people who did not fully understand the concept to begin with. Religion is, by far, at the forefront of this list of problems. Government is close behind. So what is the concept we’ve lost? At the risk of sounding "philosophical", I’ll put it in one word. God.

The concept of God is a simple one. Or at least, it was at one point. God is everything. That’s pretty much the long and short of it. At no point does religion enter into this, this is just a true and utter definition of the word god. Scientifically, it has been proven that all matter, even our own bodies, is made up of energy. All energy, broken down, is inevitably made of the same thing. Studies are currently being done to show that Energy broken down is, in fact, fluid and without separation. The Brookhaven National Laboratory has labelled this energy a "quark-gluon plasma" (for more information visit http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/19990614quarksoup1.asp). This simple fact is a clue into the realm of god. God is everything. No religion or faith involved.

So where does this information lead us? Well, it gives us undeniable proof that all of reality is, without doubt, connected by something. The separation we see between us and anything else (chairs, people, animals, dirt, air, etc) is completely of our own making because that space is actually Connected by energy. This energy could be called "Life", "God" or "Reality", the label means nothing. The concept is true. All of life is connected.

Understandably, this information seems a little pointless when faced with the toils and troubles of everyday life. People still feel separated from reality because they feel they have no control over reality. In fact, religion was based on this simple premise. Those people, so fearful of what might happen, turned to prayer and worship. The sad part about prayer and worship is that the people who feel the need to do these things often feel that, they themselves, are not good enough to understand "god’s will". They feel that they could never have control of their lives because they are "flawed". Surely someone closer to God, someone "better", could tell them what to do. You and I both know that there are plenty of people out there just aching to prove they can be better, especially if it means taking responsibility away from someone else for their own life. And so, religion was born.

So, if not religion, then what? Well, religion is basically nothing more than a group of people so puffed up in their own self-righteousness that they feel they need a certain "status" in the world. They feel they need worshippers, a church, hymns and prayers, and maybe a little advertising. Why? Because they feel they can guide you through the world better than you can guide yourself. Not all of them are self-serving, though in that position of trust the temptation is surely there, but they are nonetheless taking your life away from you. You, as a person, are responsible for one thing. Yourself. The things you own, the people you love, and the beliefs you follow are just things you’ve picked up along the way?they can leave just as quickly. You are responsible for one thing. How you "respond" to everything.

I’ve went a little off topic here but I assure you there was a reason for it. Often, people will tell me that they have no faith in god because bad things happen all over the world. They have no faith in god because bad things have happened to them. They feel separated, as if there is no connection to anything around them and they’re afraid. So the question here is "Who are you?". I don’t mean your name, your status, or what you do. I don’t want a description or even a short sonnet. I mean you?without the physical, without sight, sound, or touch. How do you know that you exist? You know you exist because you are aware of yourself. You know you exist because you can say "I am". So who are you, if not a name or label?

Many people, throughout history, have asked this question. Unfortunately, they have been labelled "philosophers" for the most part, which usually puts them in a class we don’t feel we can relate to. The sad part is that people ask this question everyday and always get slammed down by others saying "Don’t be so philosophical (or religious)". There is nothing philosophical or religious about this question, it’s just a good question.

So, back to the question of who you are. For the moment, we’ll call yourself "consciousness". It’s a good term, and basically it means "the awareness of yourself". That awareness, we humans pride ourselves on it, and we often think we’re the only species with it, but where does it come from? What is the spark that allows all living things to move around in and experience the world? Even science has shown that the human brain is almost like a giant sponge. Using electricity, different parts of the brain are stimulated to allow in more information. If you’re a computer whiz, the term hard-drive might be more appropriate. The common belief is that as we interact with the world around us and "learn" different things, our brain forms to allow more information in and then comes up with an appropriate response. This is partly true, the brain does indeed receive information from the reality around it.

In an article I read once, the Dalai Lama asked the question "why does the brain have to create consciousness, can consciousness not run the brain?" Obviously, we have no way to prove this, but it changes our entire concept of how the brain works. If consciousness is what drives the brain, then indeed all of our insights, intuitions, and instincts stem from that consciousness. Have you ever realized you knew something you had never actually thought about? Said something to someone else that, in fact, taught you something?

Back to the original concept God as "everything", consciousness exists within the reality around us. It exists within that immense "quark-gluon plasma" and is therefore part of it. Almost everyone has heard the saying "God exists within us all". I know it sounds dogmatic and a little self-righteous but, taking away the religions context, what does that mean? Now, think about this, it’s a strange concept at first.

The human body and all matter (including electricity) is made of a very base energy that connects everything.

The human brain collects information and runs the human body with the aid of Electricity to stimulate the parts of the mind needed to "record" a lesson.

Sight, touch, sound, and all the senses are nothing more than our "physical bodies" interacting with the energy around us moving at different vibrations.

After looking at these points, we now know where consciousness stems from. It stems from the energy around us. Everything is made of this "energy", not just physical things like furniture, but intangible things like thought as well. With that said, can it not be said that we, all matter (living or un-living), are indeed extensions of "God" Would we be able to say "I Am" if we were not connected to everything? No, because we would not exist.

You see, the concept of God and Us is very simple. There are no religious "requirements", there are no "sins" or "hellworthy trespasses". There is simply you, and you are God. You are responsible for yourself, and that means how you affect everything else. You are a reflection of an infinite consciousness that wants to experience everything. This consciousness, God as we call it, is nothing more than the combined efforts of all of us. God’s will is reflected in how we respond to the reality we’re given. God’s will is reflected when we relax and live without fear, because all of this is ours.

Raymond Rheault is a mid-twenties “philosopher” from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is currently involved with several groups focussed on discovering personal freedom. His website http://www.pathtoeden.com is a testament to this effort. If you have questions, please contact us.

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Body, Mind, and Soul

admin — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:42:27 +0000

Being in tune with your mind, body, and soul and how they work is the one most important thing you can do for yourself. We know now that, the three work together. If the body is ill, the mind and soul are affected as well. If the mind becomes ill the body and soul show the stress of that. But, I think the strongest combination showing the most illness is when the soul becomes stressed. That seems to make the body and mind crumble the quickest. I, myself, have learned that first hand! But, it also works in the reverse! When the body is healthy, the mind is sound and the soul is happy. Keeping these three in balance is a life long task. So, learning how to do it and then maintaining it with little effort is very important. We do have other things in life to accomplish! However, the other things we are accomplishing will be enhanced and go much easier if we take the time to be in tune with ourselves.

The first thing one must learn about being in tune with yourself, is to be in tune with YOURSELF. When a person finds something that works for them, they are so enthused that they want everyone else to do the same thing. Someone loses weight using a specific diet, someone joins a new religion, or someone tries a new vitamin. We also want to lose weight, or find the happiness in joining a group, or want the benefits that other person is enjoying from the vitamin, so we try it fully expecting the same results. My Dad used to say that if a person took mega doses of Vitamin C they would never have a cold or the flu again. Thats because that is the way it worked for him. What happens is sometimes we get the same results and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes nothing happens or we get bad results. The reality of this situation is that each of us is unique. Yes, our bodies are alike in structure and the method they operate, but there the sameness ends. Each of us have a different balance. Because of that you can take one diet and try it out on ten different people and some will lose weight, for some it won’t make any difference, some may gain and some may lose too much weight. Take ten different people, expose them to the same religion or group and get ten different interpretations of what that group is all about about. Some will embrace it entirely and find joy, others may be left cold or violently disagree. Give ten people the same diet regimen and there may be ten different results. Some it will affect dramatically and others it may not. So, the key to getting in tune with your body, mind and soul will include finding what works for you, useing those things, and not being discouraged when something doesn’t work for you that work for your spouse, best friend or neighbor. Remember, you are unique!

www.naturallivingbychoice.com

web site is to supply those of you that have made the choice to go natural with quality products! http://www.naturallivingbychoice.com

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