Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses.

Perhaps we would accomplish more if we listened.

I am sorry!

Miracles: You do not have to look for them. They are there, 24-7, beaming like radio waves all around you. Put up the antenna, turn up the volume - snap... crackle... this just in, every person you talk to is a chance to change the world
Hugh Elliot

'tis true my lovelies...turn on the news tonight and listen; all that is a result of what each and every one of us chose to do, or chose not to do.

They say that the beat of a butterfly wing can cause a ripple effect large enough to cause a tsunami...think what we can accomplish if we'd only try.
Stop whining, stop expecting others to fix things, stop expecting others to be as smart, or smarter than you...
You think the world is stupid, and it is, but remember this my love, you are part of this same world (if only a small part); you are the wings of a butterfly....

Just One

a thought...gleened from a Mirthful Mystic via The Quotations Page

If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day.
John A. Wheeler

Today was 'much of a day'

Mama, we're all crazy now...

‘Abused patience turns to fury’

J'ai un nerf qui me reste et tu saute là-dessus; And to quote The Hulk “You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.”

I have a right to this anger.
I don't want anybody telling me I shouldn't be angry, that it's not nice to be angry, and that something's wrong with me because I get angry.

But it’s all lost in the wind, yes?

I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.
Some come from ahead and some come from behind.
But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see.
Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!
~Dr. Seuss

As the Yiddish Proverb says: I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.


I suppose we must all learn to embrace and endure our pain; burning it as fuel for the journey, but not allowing it to make us bitter.

Beannachd Dia dhuit

It's a small comfort...

Don't stand beside my grave and weep,
For I'm not there, I do not sleep,
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond's glint on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush,
of quiet birds in circle flight,
I am soft stars that shine at night,
Don't stand beside my grave and cry,
I am not there. I did not die.

Poem: Mary E. Frye
Photo credit: Michael Haydon (photo.net)


You are free. May you be blessed.

We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but when we say this we imagine that hour as placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon, this afternoon which is so certain and which has every hour filled in advance. (Marcel Proust)

Give those you love an extra hug and don't hesitate to tell them how much you love them. Death often comes suddenly and we may never get another chance.

The death of someone we know always reminds us that we are still alive - perhaps for some purpose which we ought to re-examine. (Mignon McLaughlin, 1960)

After the tears we shall remember that we're alive.

A bountiful Lammas to all

John Barleycorn

There was three kings into the east,

Three kings both great and high,

And they hae sworn a solemn oath

John Barleycorn should die.

They took a plough and plough'd him down,

Put clods upon his head,

And they hae sworn a solemn oath

John Barleycorn was dead.

But the cheerful Spring came kindly on,

And show'rs began to fall;

John Barleycorn got up again,

And sore surpris'd them all.

The sultry suns of Summer came,

And he grew thick and strong,

His head weel arm'd wi' pointed spears,

That no one should him wrong.

The sober Autumn enter'd mild,

When he grew wan and pale;

His bending joints and drooping head

Show'd he began to fail.

His coulour sicken'd more and more,

He faded into age;

And then his enemies began

To show their deadly rage.

They've taen a weapon, long and sharp,

And cut him by the knee;

Then ty'd him fast upon a cart,

Like a rogue for forgerie.

They laid him down upon his back,

And cudgell'd him full sore;

They hung him up before the storm,

And turn'd him o'er and o'er.

They filled up a darksome pit

With water to the brim,

They heaved in John Barleycorn,

There let him sink or swim.

They laid him out upon the floor,

To work him farther woe,

And still, as signs of life appear'd,

They toss'd him to and fro.

They wasted, o'er a scorching flame,

The marrow of his bones;

But a Miller us'd him worst of all,

For he crush'd him between two stones.

And they hae taen his very heart's blood,

And drank it round and round;

And still the more and more they drank,

Their joy did more abound.

John Barleycorn was a hero bold,

Of noble enterprise,

For if you do but taste his blood,

'Twill make your courage rise.

'Twill make a man forget his woe;

'Twill heighten all his joy:

'Twill make the widow's heart to sing,

Tho' the tear were in her eye.

Then let us toast John Barleycorn,

Each man a glass in hand;

And may his great posterity

Ne'er fail in old Scotland!

Robert Burns

for seekers: Lammas, or Lughnasadh, is the fifth sabbat on the Wheel of the Year. With Lammas, we celebrate the first stirrings of autumn and the harvests. Summer, with its light and warmth, will be gone soon. Even though it doesn't quite feel like Fall yet, the coming of the dark times of the year is inevitable.

There is some debate as to the exact date of Lammas / Lughnasadh. Agriculturally speaking, this is the time when the harvests would begin and depending on the weather the celebration dates can vary (generally August 1 -6).

In many agrarian societies, the last harvested sheaf of grain was treated with special honour, for they believed that with the cutting of the last sheaf, the corn spirit retreated into the ground. There the corn spirit slept through the Winter. In the Spring that last sheaf was returned to the fields when new seed was being sown, so that its spirit would awaken both seed and land.

One traditional Lammas custom was the construction of the kern-baby, corn doll, or corn maiden. This figure, braided into a woman's form from the last harvested sheaf of grain, represented the Harvest Spirit. (In America, the tradition is continued in the making of corn husk dolls.) The doll would be saved until Spring, when it was ploughed into the field to consecrate the new planting and insure a good harvest. In other traditions, the corn dolly was fed and watered throughout the Winter, then burned in the fires at Beltane to insure a continuation of good growth.

Another custom drawn from Lammas relates to fire. Lammas was, to the Celts, one of four Great Fire Festivals, held on the cross-quarter days. During Lammas, the custom of lighting bonfires was intended to add strength to the powers of the waning sun. Afterward, the fire brands were kept in the home through the Winter as protection against storms, lightning and fires caused by lightning

MythingLinks

who's going to pick up these pieces?

I'm not concerned about all hell breaking loose, but that a PART of hell will break loose... it'll be much harder to detect. (George Carlin)


Dear George,
You have only to listen to the news…the pieces of hell are in evidence everywhere.
There are pieces in the Middle East. There are pieces in Africa. There are pieces anywhere a child is harmed, and anywhere Gaia is irrevocably damaged. They are everywhere where people choose to hate rather than find a way to co-exist, and everywhere people turn their backs and do nothing to help those in need and those who suffer (not just those in war torn areas, but all those who are alone and forgotten)
…Chaos has indeed come again.
Kindest Regards,
Me


I pray for all of humanity to one day feel the pulse of the Mother Earth in their feet as they tread.
I pray for mankind to find the faith to believe in the messages carried by their dreams and to see beyond the visible world.
I pray that everyone I come in contact with can walk away with much, or at least some, of the happiness that lives within me.
I pray for peace, acceptance, and tolerance for all who express their love for the higher power (whatever that name may be).
Most of all,
I pray for an end to the violence and depravity that darkens many souls.
Peace be with us all!

photo credit: unknown