RACISM + BIGOTRY + SEXISM + DISCRIMINATION = MONEY FOR NUTTIN'

Let's "be real". Mass Medias target their marketplace based upon the statistics of MONEY-MAKING. So let's see... The average I.Q. (world-wide) is 100, i.e., that of people everywhere. In the United States the average I.Q. is 98. Switzerland fairs somewhat better, with an average of 104. Whereas, Brazil has an average I.Q. score of 92. Anything under 80 is considered as, "mentally challenged." The majority of any given population, fall into the, 90-to-110 range. But HALF of EVERYONE will score under the "median" of 100. Meanwhile, anything over 110 is considered above average... A result above 130, is considered "gifted". Anyone whose tested result is consistently higher than 145, is considered to be a "genius". Scores which approach 200 are evaluated as being (almost) immeasurable, because there are so few others, to whom their true intellect can be compared. Thus, being that the MEDIA MOGULS are no fools [pun], they know that successful TV programming (including the advertising for: television, radio, and all multimedia) has to be very "dumb-ed-down". And so it is. 

Copyright ©2014 - Robert C. Kuhmann - All Rights Reserved.

An E=MC2 Christmas (the Bi-polar Expressed)?

E=MC2 Christmas again?
(AKA: the bi-Polar Express-ed)
    

While pondering the existence of Santa Claus at a very young age, I was guided by the traditional wisdom of: "Those who don't believe, don't receive..."  Indeed, and that is well-along the lines of 'you'd better not shout, you'd better not cry - you'd better not pout, I'm tellin' you why...'.  The combo aligned my childhood loyalties to the Nordic legend. However, as the years passed, I evolved into the mind of a scientist, and I sought to collect sufficient evidence to lead me to postulate a theory of "Christmas Physics". All of which has been designed to explain "Santa Claus" (A.K.A. "Kris Kringle") and his widely-reported, sometimes incredulous, always "Polar", goings-on's.

However, Christmas Physics is a distant cousin of Quantum Theory (and just as stringy), and multi-dimensional. The Christmas phenomenon is expressed in polarized energy units, known as "santas", Those are convertible to standard units to express: energy, time, and space (thank you Herr Albert, part-time violinist). This allows for the the (apparent) impossibility of "flying" reindeer and their annual around-the-world trip (in one night), etc. "Santas" are generated by particles of  "spirited" beings, called "elves". "Elves" exist in nearly all living matter (they are entities capable of doing good deeds or acts of kindness, in a wink). As "santas" are generated, the living beings nearby, feel a sense joy/happiness (jolliness - if you see what I mean?). However, a critical mass of "elves" must be reached to start the energy transformation (the paper-chain reaction). Only certain souls possess an adequately high concentration of "elves", consequentially, only they can generate the huge (truly massive) "santa mass" that is required. Voila! That explains the "Santa Claus" of legend, more or less, Me Thinks.

As these shorter, colder days of winter (and small children) act as a catalyst for this reaction, the catalytic conversion allows beings with average amounts of "elves" (at far less than "santa mass") to transform a limited amount of "santas" (by adding cookies and milk).

  To my way of thinking, anti-santa energy (i.e. "bah-humbug") can (and does) disrupt the local field-effect of the "santa" conversion. The origin of "humbug" is (essentially) unknown, but "relative" (as in "Relativity") as akin to bad-tasting fruit-cake and the inevitable, holiday traffic-jam. The interaction of high-energy "humbug" and large "santa mass" can lead to the "scrooge cascade". The resultant slippery-slide depends on the "quanta" of each - within the interaction (the chain reaction)?

? Of course, this theory is not restricted to Western cultural myth. As most cultures recount similar children's stories, hence, this must be something of a Universal occurrence. Therefore, the "Santa Claus" theory (story) is not so much, a fairy tale, but a mis- understood domain of specialized physics.  After all, how else could Santa Claus (possibly) get so much work done in just one day, or travel as far - with a red-nosed deer lighting and leading the way?  It's as simple as:

E=MC2 that is to say... Elves (do) = Most (of the massive work for Santa) Claus (on) Christmas (eve). But, children everywhere already knew that...

What remains of the child, in you?

Christmas ideals are a reflection of traditions that have withstood the tests of time and which define who and what we honor (serve), as well as - who and what we cherish (value). May your holidays be blessed with much Peace and Peace of Mind. Know wisdom. Teach tolerance. Show patience. And be kind, for... 

(-: The smile you send out, comes back to you! :-)

Good and Ideal Husband will be found...

During creation, God promised women that good and ideal husbands would be found in all corners of the world.  And then He made the earth round.

During creation, God left the free will of choice to all men. Men decided that the world is flat; and the center of the universe. Whereas most women are; and believe that they are.

(giggle)

Your RIGHT to the TRUTH!

Whenever you hold the TRUTH, it is RIGHT to persue it...

Thinkology of LOVE, the inevitable...

Some authors would have you believe that a good romance is the equal of a marriage of the heart and mind... (AKA "chemistry")?

A "thinkologist" however is busy at rehash, preoccupied by a "theory of everything" (on one's mind and sometimes, below one's belt).

For those of us, for whom, "thinking" is both an inevitability and a part of the daily diet... 

Picture this:

If you toss two really bright people into one room (a male, a female), and then leave them there long enough... The fundamentals of today's theory are: that they WILL mate, fall in love, and that a romance will ensue!  Alas, I've spent time in one or two rooms decorated to those precise "House Beautiful" norms. Somehow, the physical coitus never seemed to supplant or offset the, "cogito, ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am) component of the intellectual copula that was ALWAYS well underway, and first. Does such a "union" make thinkers into part-time lovers, or part-time lovers into thinkers? 

When romance reunites people who have been "thus" united, then separated, and then re-united (after a certain time), is their reunion (also), once too often?

I always try to engage my readers with a tone of sarcasm (nobody ever really believes everything I say anyway)...  Am I wrong (rhetorical)?  ;-)

This sort of amusement invites everyone to laugh at the many easy foibles of our lives and our living.  A "thinkologist" makes observations about the most rigorous, purely formulaic alternatives - as well as the unpredictable nature of LOVE.  The objective being ...to make whatever one thinks about LOVE (thereby), a joy to read (and to experience)? 

Romance is a love story told in such a way, that it appeals to men (stiffened) and it appeals to women (swollen). Love's most primitive allures engage both the naive and the jaded - from Algebraic Number Theorists, to Professional Violinists - and (likewise) all those manic enough to harbor phobias towards either endeavor.  Patience comes to the penitent...

If I'm not being funny or clever here (nor original, in a way that pulls, you the reader, "in"), then blame me - for I am the only farcical, hugely entertaining, and equally as modest author of this strangest of stories.

LOVE is a Greek Classic (and oft-times, as lyrical): "boy meets goddess"; "girl meets a god"; "boy or girl loses the other god". Along the way, the two engage in playful eros romps that out-perform the soggiest TV-soap (and) every made-for-Broadway satirical play, ever written.  Pass the hankies, to wipe my wetted eyes... 

Each of those compositions become somewhat more accursed (as entertainment) than the other (...akin to a trash-talk, romance-novel - composed for, and targeting lonely, generally rather unattractive women whom men date once, at best).  In general, men aren't into romance (no, not even the unattractive guys). 

So, as YOU read this, weep with me...

As YOU become an active THINKOLOGIST yourself...

Soon enough, there will be thunderbolts raining down from your own Mount Olympus, as the gods drink themselves into a carefree stupor on cheap sex ...and cheaper wine.

Align yourself to "thinkology".

Save CIVILIZATION as we never knew it! Lock yourself up in an empty room with someone who thinks the way you do. Do it today!  It's the cerebral version of, "getting laid".

There is a spiritual teacher who states, that "if you fight against reality, you suffer". The object is to "come into acceptance".  Small words, big concept.

Difficult at times,
Me Thinks.

P.S. My next entry will be about "missed opportunities" in life...

Unscrupulous Souls

American business was once riding a euphoric high, but with good times come the bad. Many unscrupulous souls are out there. They prey upon unwitting consumers and are looking for easy "openings" to bilk, swindle, and entrap ...YOU!  Save more, spend less and avoid rip-offs!

Need a source of good advice and great ideas? [link]
 

Don't lose your head (take the 5th)!

Ever notice? How certain people (you know the ones)... "go silent" because they're well-aware of their GUILT! Moreover, those same individuals (usually) don't give a rat's ass about anything (nor anyone), but themselves.

Me thinks that France had it RIGHT all those years ago. Let's roll-out a "guillotine" for use at public executions...

" Vive le pays de Napoléon Bonaparte !!! "

SCIENCE

Science: it's what one must do - to know the Truth.

As-Salāmu `Alaykum (السلام عليكم)

"Salam", to my readers and friends around the World.

When I was a child (of Norwegian, German Saxon & Bavarian origins), I grew-up in Illinois, within a Protestant Methodist, Christian household. As a family, we maintained a tradition of reciting this prayer (whenever we sat down together for meals):

"God is Good, God is Great.
And we thank Him for this food.
By His hands we all are fed.
Thank you God, for our daily bread."
"Amen."

The wording of that benediction parallels the (same) prayer in many languages. Indeed, once translated, the concepts conveyed by those words are components of the tenets of several World religions. I am thinking of: "God is Good", "God is Great" - in particular.

The takbīr or takbeer (تَكْبِير) is the Arabic name for the phrase Allāhu Akbar, الله أكبر. Usually translated as, "God is great" or "God is [the] greatest," it is a common Arabic expression, used as both an informal expression of faith and as a formal declaration. Note that (in the spoken language of Jesus Christ), the word for God, is "Allah".

As-Salāmu `Alaykum (السلام عليكم) is an Arabic spoken greeting used by Muslims, as well as Arab Christians and Jews.

That greeting was used today by US President, Barak Obama.

I for one, am PROUD to have this fine gentleman representing the American people abroad. His pronunciation was correct. His usage was one of respect. He did honor to his hosts, and to himself. While it is true that Obama has stated (during public speaking engagements) that his African, Muslim father was "agnostic", his father's past was deeply rooted in Islam. Mr. Obama has been wise to draw upon his intimate familiarity with customs and language.

Admittedly, I have a bias in this matter.

Three of my children are half-American. One is married to an African. They (like Mr. Obama) have parents who share two nationalities and two belief systems. Those two sets of values stem from two very different ethnic cultures and two very distinct political systems.

My daughters, their mother, and I invested the time and energy to learn and KNOW more than one language (fluently) - several, in fact.

I am doubly PROUD to have a US President whose international savvy includes a diverse knowledge of culture and language - moreover, to such a degree that he could (and did) quote passages from the Holy Koran. In addition, he was apt (and able) to greet his "hosts" (abroad), in THEIR language. BRAVO!

At last! America has a intelligent, broad-based knowledgeable, and worldly person in the White House. (Thomas Jefferson MUST be pleased ...smiling, from the hereafter.)

Mr. Obama is distinguishing himself as a class-act statesman, an intellectual, but also a man sensitized to the needs and values of grass-roots folk in this great land, and the World.

Were it that he could speak a dozen languages, or more (so as to best articulate the message of Peace and sane international dealings), that would be wonderful! The world needs competence from its leadership...

May "His will be done." Or (again), in Arabic language, Inch'Allah (arabeg: إن شاء الله in šaʾ Allāh), "As God would will it".

What an irony, that some Americans make ridicule of cultures (about which) a sad majority know little to nothing - too often by, misquoting, mispronouncing, misrepresenting, stereotyping, and misunderstanding the peoples for whom they formulate mindless slurs. (I am most impressed by their stupidity, not by their ignorance.)

Too many Americans have remained intellectually lazy - all those who have remained ignorant of the great diversity and profound interest of this vast, wide world. Those who seem to value their personal status quo far more, than knowledge.

As-Salāmu `Alaykum (السلام عليكم) Mr. President!

The term "Salam" in Arabic means "Peace".
Me Thinks (do you?)

P.S. The salutation, "Salam" is used throughout the world (by approximately, 1.7 billion Muslims) to greet each other daily. It is the greeting which is truly the most universal of greetings used by Mankind.

P.P.S. Today, I choose to describe myself as: Spiritual, not Religious - I seek to practice a "religion" of mutual respect.

The genetics of death: H1N1

The W.H.O. (World Health Organization) escalated the ongoing pandemic to a LEVEL 5 alert status, just yesterday (in an attempt at containment).

"Influenza A virus subtype H1N1", also known as "A(H1N1)", or simply "H1N1" - is a subtype of influenza virus A, and the most common cause of influenza in humans.

Discussion: In each time and each place, mankind has always sought to avoid disease. Historically, we've tried to limit the diffusion of diseases.

Surely, I am not alone to have taken notice of the fact that ALL of the deaths attributed to H1N1 (to date) have occurred in persons of Hispano American origin.

Let us also take note of the ethnological fact, that a very large percentage of the human populations alive today (from the Hispano American region)... is genetically speaking, descended from the aboriginal peoples who lived in isolation (from the balance of planetary populations) for at least 12,000 years, and possibly longer...

Genetic studies conducted by the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY have produced "genographic" mappings which describe the genetic-geographic origins of the peoples of the world (based upon DNA samples obtained from humans, all over the planet). Their statistical results connect (and disconnect) the "families" of the Planet, and span a sea of time...

It is clear, that all of Mankind has ties to the most ancient of the "Out of Africa" genealogies. Since anthropological times, the descendants of those "men" have bound all humans alive today to a common ancestry. But that same expanse of time served to produce the divergences of race, and the geographic isolation of entire populations. Both have fostered the evolution of immunities (and vulnerability) to specific types of disease.

Could it not be, that the H1N1 victims (Mexican descendants of ancient American peoples), have an inherent genetic predisposition (vulnerability) that other genetic groups may not share (carry)?

Are the "purest" aboriginal, Hispano Americans alive today, not part of a remnant population - the result of the varied geographic isolations of time? And does not such an inheritance, make them who they are today (from an immunology perspective)? And perhaps, particularly vulnerable?

Time will tell, and history is a wondrous teacher.

As the first Europeans arrived in meso-America (during the XV, XVI, XVII, and XVIII centuries), they also introduced an entire array of communicable diseases. Some of those ailments ultimately ravaged the indigenous aboriginal populations. Indeed, entire cultures were virtually obliterated.

Is it not true that disease became the most efficacious "Conquistador"?

The practices that were used to avoid disease (those 500 years ago), were derived from observation. And the only control measures were to stand clear from the contagious places, and to isolate sick persons (by means of the simplest of quarantines). There was merely implied epidemiologic surveillance.

The supply of safe drinking water, sewage disposal, and sanitary control of food were not habitual practices, as they are today. Food residuals - waste collection were not opportune. Those were the practices of ignorance. They favored the existence and proliferation of many parallel vectors that serviced to spread the tides of disease (including insect-borne ailments and through various animals).

Domestic waste did not simply disappear in a timely fashion. Society allowed an accumulation of excreta and waste near to dwellings. In some places, there were measures related to water supply, excreta disposal, handling of dead bodies, and environmental sanitation - but there was no knowledge of the risks, as we know them today.

It was believed that (through) ceremonials, sacrifice, processions, and prayers to various gods - prevalent diseases could be avoided.

It is certainly true that hygiene (or lack of same) is still a contributor to endemic illness across the Hispano American region, but that the larger more logical vulnerability may simply be tied to the acquired genetics - that is to say, the mere genealogical make-up of the victims. Logically, all descended from native peoples who were present 500 years ago (and perhaps as much as 20,000 years ago).

A genetic predisposition (vulnerability) to specific, albeit evolving flu strains, may well explain why the deaths are occurring inside of selected populations, but not in others...

Me Thinks

Black on White...

Ever notice...
How self-important people consider themselves "experts" in just about everything that THEY choose to introduce into THEIR conversation? How their pomposity reigns, as an incessant stream of tasteless diatribe (and sometimes, while unethical or illegal inviction is imposed), as they attempt to rule? And how their listeners reject the impositions [and quickly], by dropping all of the unwelcome gifts?

Ever notice...
That whenever someone demands "frank" and "open" communication (from you) - once provided (to them), the same person tries to get YOU to stuff "Pandora" back into the "Box"?

Ever notice...
That the enchantment in our lives, is not necessarily shared by everyone?

Ever notice...
How many people are sure that they will go to "Heaven", albeit that they've yet to spend any of their due time in "Hell"?

Ever notice...
How I think you - just beside me, and how I miss you - just the same?

Ever notice...
The degree to which, "play" is very serious business, for a child?

Ever notice...
That "depression" can be the "sand" that makes the "pearl"?

Ever notice...
All who aren't busy livin', have already begun their dyin' ?

Ever notice...
It is said that the true test of maturity, is the ability to have empathy for the suffering of another?

Ever notice...
One ought to know how to give-out HOPE (by carrying dark chocolate in one's pocket)?

Ever notice...
While he (a man) thinks that she's playing "hard to get", she (a woman) thinks that he is playing hard to get rid of - because some women need a man about as much as a fish needs a bicycle. And because some men, "bite" - far more frequently than, fish?

Ever notice...
How simply "saying nothing" - can provide for an Oasis of Peace, in a Desert of Turmoil?

Ever notice...
How everyone is on their way to somewhere?

Ever notice...
H2O - it's always the same water, and there are many wells?

Ever notice...
In the pursuit of TRUTH - the Goal and the Destination, are One and the Same?

Ever notice...
The most important thing to SEARCH-for, is ANSWERS-from?

Ever notice...
There ought to be something grammatically, "Eternal" about a poem written for a woman, you know -- both, Past and Present?

Ever notice...
True "togetherness" - it's when you can sense the movements of the hand of the other (without touching), like "his and hers" hands immersed in warm water?

Ever notice...
Raindrops on Roses, are akin to Whispers and Kisses?

Ever notice...
The best Apology is to: have Even; having Forgiven?

Ever notice...
That LOVE ...is the most effective Anti-drug, Drug?

Ever notice...
When your Heart "opens", your Mind "opens up" -- when Tibetans refer to the Mind (one's thoughts), they gesture towards the Heart... ever notice?

And so it is,
Me thinks

Universe & Creation

The more profound the revelations of SCIENCE ...the more certain one can be that there is a Great Spirit who made everything so.

Me Thinks

Righteous is as Righteous does?

Ever notice how ...people who want to share their religious views with you, almost never want you to share yours with them?

Me Thinks

The Nag Hammadi Library

The “Nag Hammadi Library” (popularly known as The Gnostic Gospels) is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts (written in Coptic script) discovered near the Egyptian town of "Nag Hammadi", in 1945. That year, twelve leather-bound papyrus codices were found buried in a sealed pottery jar. The documents presented here are English translation(s).

HTML PDF Word

Enjoy! This 3-format collection was prepared by your host.
RK

Strength Through Structure

1) Seek Truth.
2) Make Peace
3) Have Reverence for Life.
4) Know Love.

Observe that the strongest geometric (3-D) shape is triangular: three trianglular sides + 1 triangular bottom = 4 sides and 4 "corners", but there are 6 edges (the "unions" of two sides, times three). What would you add to describe:
5) ?
6) ?

Easter is on it's way...

Me Thinks,
Spirit

As spirit gently weeps...

This troubled World must be a constant source of tears for the Creator.

Me Thinks

Galileo Galilei ~ ANNO 1632 ~

Galileo Galilei ~ ANNO 1632 ~

"Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems"
[HTML] [Word] [PDF] - English

"Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo"
[HTML] [Word] [PDF]- Italiano

Poetry (love) brings meaning to life...

"Love Brings Meaning To Life, it is what Makes Us Whole..."

POETRY & PROSE

A Kitten Went A Walkin'
Poem
PDF Word

Adoption Baby
Poem
PDF Word

A Friend Is
Poem
PDF Word

A Love for All Time
Poem
PDF Word

And so it is that I love you
Letter
PDF Word

A Nation of Victims
Essay
PDF Word

Apocalyptic Xmas Gift Giving
Essay
PDF Word

Beautiful All Over
Poem
PDF Word

Blind Justice
Essay
PDF Word

Blue Heron
Poem
[PDF not online] Word

Divide Thy Grief
Poem
PDF Word

Does the Philosopher Love the Poet?
Poem
PDF Word

Earth Dancing
Essay
PDF Word

Friendship Gold
Poem
PDF Word

Frist Times & Let's Be Friends
Poem
PDF Word

Good Morning World
Poem
PDF Word

Gwenevière had Green Eyes
Poem
PDF Word

Her Egnimatic Smile
Letter
PDF Word

I am a Man Who ...
Poem
PDF Word

I Don't Know
Poem
PDF Word

Joy and Pain
Poem
PDF Word

Keep the Candle Burning Bright
Poem
PDF Word

Live Life to the Fullest!
Narrative
PDF Word

Message in a Bottle
Poem
PDF Word

Negative Thoughts Positive Thoughts
Poem
[PDF not online] Word

Not Even the Rain
Poem
PDF Word

Oh Beautiful Woman
Poem
PDF Word

On Behalf of Common Courtesy
Essay
PDF Word

On Love
Essay
PDF Word

On Self Confidence and Relationships
Essay
PDF Word

Our First Kiss
Poem
PDF Word

Our Love Gate
Poem
PDF Word

Our Time
Poem
PDF Word

People and Horse Sense
Narrative
PDF Word

Raindrops On Roses
Poem
PDF Word

Secret Crush
Poem
PDF Word

Secret Dreams
Poem
PDF Word

Sometimes We Walk Alone
Poem
PDF Word

Spirit the Magician
Poem
PDF Word

The Bullshit Society
Essay
PDF Word

The Great Spirit Known As ...
Essay
[PDF not online] Word

The House of Cards
Poem
PDF Word

The Slow Dance by the Light of Moon
Poem
PDF Word

The Lady in My Dreams II
Poem
[PDF not online] [DOC not online]

Touched By Love
Poem
PDF Word

Tone of Voice
Poem
PDF Word

Trials
Poem
PDF Word

Violintuition
Poem
[PDF not online] Word

Volubilis
Travel
PDF [DOC not online]

Walk in Beauty
Poem
PDF Word

When I Weep
Poem
[PDF not online] Word

Without You
Poem
PDF Word

Contributed by Others (Friends and Guests)

Gale, You gave Me the Sea
Memorial
PDF WORD

His Wounded Heart
Poem
[PDF not online] [DOCnot online]

Sayings
Sayings
PDF WORD

The Search for a Rich Man
Narrative
[PDF not online] [DOC not online]

Inspirational Reading
As A Man Thinketh
Essay
PDF WORD

Byways Of Blessedness
Essay
[PDF not online] WORD

"Life should be Enjoyed and Savored, not Endured and Suffered".

All selections are Copyright ©1999-2008 RCK
All Rights Reserved, all Wrongs Avenged.

FORGIVENESS (Attribute of the Strong)

ATTRIBUTE of the STRONG

To forgive
Is really to know
That nobody is perfect.
To forgive
Is not to forget.
To forgive is to see,
That we can be more kind and caring --
By accepting another's flaws,
So we can accept our own.
To forgive is
To pick one's self up,
Because each of us may stumble,
When we were trying to stand tall.
To forgive is
To acknowledge,
That each of us may sometimes say things
We wish we had never said.
To forgive is really to recognize
That we are much more
Than our mistakes.
To forgive is to calculate
That the odds are pretty good that
We might soon need to be forgiven ourselves.
Forgivenss is a statement.
That life sometimes gives us more
Than we can handle gracefully.
To forgive is to remember
That we must make room in our hearts to
Begin again, and again,
And again, and again.
To forgive is to remember that love
Is always more important than being right.
Forgiveness is starting over...
(with the knowledge that we have gained).
I forgive you, and I forgave myself.
I hope you can do the same.

-ooOoo-

Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. -Mahatma Ghandi

These Times...

Friend. Do not lose heart. You and I were made for these times.

I correspond with people from around the world, and of late, many are quite deeply and properly perplexed. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our turbulent world, because our world is simply the way it is.

Ours is a time of almost daily amazement and often (righteous) rage over the latest degradations of all what truly matters most to civilized people and even to the visionary.

Stand straight and seek to be right in all assessments. The glitter and hubris some have aspired to (while endorsing heinous acts against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless), is incredible. Yet, I urge you (ask you, gentle you) dear reader, to please not bankrupt your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times nor those who are responsible for such chaos. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is - we were made for these times.

Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing – we’ve been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plane of engagement. And those of us who grew up around the Great Lakes or by the shores of inland lakes, recognize a “seaworthy” vessel when we see one.

With respect to awakened souls, there have never been more able crafts in the waters than there are right now, right around the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal to one another -- as never before in the history of humankind...

Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats -- righteous souls on troubled waters with us. Even though our veneers may shimmer upon every wave in this stormy roil, we may rest assured that the long timbers composing one’s own prow and rudder, come from a far greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless.

We have been in training for a dark time such as this, since the day we assented to come to Earth. For many decades (and worldwide) souls just like us have been felled and left for dead in so many ways -- brought down (over and over) by naiveté, by lack of love, by being ambushed or assaulted by various cultural and personal shocks -- to the extreme. We have a history of being gutted, and yet remember this especially -- we have also (out of necessity) perfected the knack for spiritual self-resurrection. Over and over again we have been the living proof -- that which had been exiled, lost, or foundered can be restored to life again.

In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward collapse over how much is wrong or un-mended in the world around us. Do not focus on that. There is a tendency too to fall into being weakened by choosing to persevere onwards -- to whatever is outside our reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That’s a blowing wind without a raised sail.

We are needed, and that is all we can know.

Although we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn't you say you were a believer – but a believer of what?

Did you not say that you would pledge your listener’s ear to a Greater Voice? Did you ask for grace? Do you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice of universal Greatness?

Understand the paradox: If one studies the physics of a waterspout, you will see that the outermost edge of the vortex whirls far more quickly than the inner edge. To calm such a storm, means to bring quiet to the outer layer, to cause it to swirl much less, and to more evenly match the velocity of the inner core - until whatever has been lifted into such a fluid funnel falls back to Earth, lays down, and is at peace again. One of the most important steps a person can take to help calm the storm, is to not allow one’s self to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or desperation thereby accidentally contributing to the waves and the swirl.

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend small parts of the world that are within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts (or by whom), will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.

After all, even the flap of a butterfly wing ultimately affects the direction and strength of the winds that make the weather. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of many such smaller acts, adding, adding to, adding more, and continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these -- to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.

Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you too will help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. There will always be times when you will feel discouraged.

I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; for like Thoreau, it is best to keep two chairs in a room – a chair for one’s for self, and another for a guest. I will not entertain the solitude of a room, outfitted with but a single chair of no community.

Similarly, it is not allowed to eat from my plate -- when a setting is for two or more. The reason is this: In my bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you are not alone and when you remember why you came to Earth -- who you serve, and Who sent you here.

The Good words we say and the Good deeds we do are not ours: they are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here.

In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall, and into your heart, and lay it out before your mind’s eye: when a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for.

May this come to you with much love. May you always remember who you are, who you came from, and why you were brought into this wonderful, beautiful, needful Earth.

And so it is...