GLOBAL CONCERNS:
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April 2009
What You Can Give the World ?
“Do not ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that, because what the world needs are people who are alive!” Ashley SmithFrom our uniquely personal gifts and strengths we have what the world needs. The silence of others affirming us, the media who blasts overloads of bad news, the churches who blast what we lack — where these occur we can remain detached from what makes us come alive. So, find what makes you come most alive and meets a need of the world, and go for it. Realize you are your path.
The last piece in the “Healing Earth Life” is “It is Time.” A powerful piece of music, encouraging each person of this generation that “It is Time” to come alive and bring earth life alive. Love and Blessings
Monday, April 23, 2007
| Earth Day Yesterday was “Earth Day”. A story came my way on the same day, and it seems so appropriate for holding this incredible planet of life:Have you heard the story by Oregon resident, Sharon Mehdi, as a gift to her granddaughter? It’s titled The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering. Below you will find a shortened version of the story:A busboy who worked in a café whose window faced the public park noticed that two grandmotherly looking women had been standing in the park all day without moving at all and without talking. They were dressed up in their Sunday best and were just staring at the town hall. He asked the other patrons in the café what they thought the women were up to. They speculated on a variety of things. Then, a five-year old year who was in the café spoke up and said “One of them is my grandmother and I know what they are doing. They are standing there to save the world.” All of the men in the café hooted and howled and laughed. On his way home the busboy decided to ask the women what they were doing and sure enough their answer was “We are saving the world.” Over dinner that evening the busboy told his parents and he and his father hooted and howled, but his mother was totally silent. After dinner, the mother called her best friends to tell them. The next morning the busboy looked out the café window and the two women were back, along with his mother, her friends, and the women who had been in the café the day before. All were standing in silence staring at the town hall. Again, the men hooted and howled and said things like “You can’t save the world by standing in the park. That is what we have armies for,” and “everyone knows you have to have banners and slogans to save the world–you can’t do it by just standing in the park.” The next day the women were joined by the women who were in the café the day before and a number of their friends. This brought the local newspaper reporter to the scene. He wrote a derisive article about the women. The day after it appeared, hundreds of women showed up to stand in the park in silence. The mayor then told the police chief to make the women leave because they were making the town appear to be foolish. When the police chief told them they would have to disperse because they didn’t have a permit, one of them responded that “we are just individuals standing in our public park and we are not giving speeches or having a demonstration so why would we need a permit.” The police chief thought about this and agreed with them and left the park. At this point 2,223 women including the mayor’s wife, the police chief’s wife, and one five-year old girl were standing in the park to save the world. The news quickly spread and soon women were standing all over the country. The story ended with women standing in every country throughout the globe, standing to save the world.”For all of those who actually see nature and not just a neighborhood to cross through; for all of those who plant trees to replace the ones taken out; for all those who care about the habitat of the life that we share this planet with; for all those who have ever participated in Earth Day, a HUGE thank you. I don’t think we have to stand for hours to make a difference. I think moving through life during a day demanding of ourselves to see where and what natural life surrounds us is to make a difference. Awareness leads to knowledge; and knowledge leads to understanding. And understanding leads to changing our behavior, and the behavior of those who are affected by us. Just living with awareness can be the personal effort that saves the world. Hmmm, another blog entry about “connection.” Loneliness stems from isolation not lack. There are hundreds of thousands of lives we pass in a day. How great is that? |