Dogs - Wonderful Creatures

Dogs are such wonderful creatures.  In many ways they are so connected to us and in the best ways - so much their own individual souls.  If not painfully convinced to be otherwise, they are typically content to be where they are.  My mutt paw friends are most fortunate.  They have lots of people who love them and two places they claim as home.  The past few days they have had opportunity to re-claim their "summer house" with a 4 times bigger yard and a couch that's old and they know they can pretend to own.
Fearing their wails when they may miss me, I leave them music as hopeful comfort.  Often I enter the driveway to anxious barking and hope it is only because they heard me near.  Today - there was no barking as I entered - music - but no wild greetings.  I entered - no greetings.  I stood for what seemed to be long moments staring at the two sleeping soundly on the couch.  Tobey - the timid and wild child, was laying on his back with paws sprawled - the last to realize I was there.  I guess the music worked.  They were quite content and relaxed.  I was actually a bit worried when they didn't greet me with great enthusiasm but that quickly came about.
We can learn a lot from them.  Their expectations are low and consistent.  They forgive quickly and easily - and music really does sooth their spirits.

Ashes and Dust

A weekend in a rustic cabin is like heaven to me.  It calms me and makes me very introspective - which I tend to be anyway.  Last night I sat on the cabin porch listening to the rain and the stream below and imagined Waldon's Pond.
The idea of Waldon's Pond has always appealed to me.  I wonder as Thoreau did if I could "live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."
Could I last a year in some remote cabin and let the experience teach me?
What I heard in those moments are words I wish I could write to song - ashes to ashes and dust to dust - everything is connected in one way or another.  Each breath we take is shared with another and every other who ever was and ever will be.  There is no beginning and there is no end.  Even if we do nothing, we are part of everything.  Ashes to ashes.  Dust to dust.  The tree still grows because we once were.

If not you, then who?

Every one of us has the opportunity to change lives for the better.  It may be quite simple.  A stranger is struggling with pumping gas or short a dollar at the checkout and you step in to help.  It may be small to you but it just changed their day.
These easy things are not so rare.  I love the stories at Christmas about people anonymously paying people's lay-aways off.  Everyone feels good on both sides of that equasion.
And then there are the bigger occasions that require some risk.  You witness someone being abusive and intervene.  You run into a burning building or brave the fire in a burning car to pull someone out.  We call those people heroes.  Not everyone can or will do that.  It requires selflessness and risk.  Those are momentary decisions and most of us hope that we would do the same thing if faced with that situation.  But many of us could not.
And then sometimes we are called to do something that will change many lives.  It will be misunderstood.  It will be attacked.  It will come with risk.  But it is far bigger than you.  And no matter how hard you try to ignore it, you will be reminded from the right - from the left - in front of your feet and before your eyes.  It will not go away. 
So - do you run into the burning building or look around hoping someone else will?  Why does it have to be you?  When the time comes, you know why.  If not you, then who?  Only fear stops you.

Faith

I don't think faith is about our having a greater power watching over us that will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  For me, faith is the belief that we have, at our finger tips, all that we need to accomplish all things - to overcome all odds.
When we believe that some greater power will do it for us, we will fail.  Truth - faith - is in recognizing all that we have been provided and we have been provided all that we need - if we walk in truth and faith.
Our job is to reach out and recognize all that we have been provided.  Gratitude and thankfulness take us to that place.  We count what we have.  We begin to be thankful for what will become.  We see beyond what our eyes see.  We go where that faithful vision takes us.

Blogging on

I've enjoyed blogging for 3 years now.  I'm amazed that pageviews come from all over the world and I seem to have more of a following now in Russia than in the US.  When I notice people are viewing pages I wrote long ago, I quickly look to see what I wrote.  At first I was concerned that maybe I wrote thoughts then that I don't necessarily think pertinent today but that has not been the case.
When I started the blog, a friend said it would be a sort of journal.  It is interesting to go back and realize what was going on in my life at the times I wrote about certain things.  I've shared thoughts on a wide range of topics.  I also realize I've planned to write more about some things and then never did.  I guess those things show I am rather eclectic and I have a short attention span.
I'm happy to hear from people saying they enjoy reading my blogs but I've mostly done it for myself.  I cannot always say what is on my mind but I seem to be able to write it out.  I just like to write.  I would encourage you to write for yourself - if not a blog, a journal of some sort.  Look back from time to time and see where you've been and how far you have come.  Hopefully you can smile at yourself.
To those of you - wherever you are in the world - that keep reading my random thoughts - Thank you and I hope they make you smile.

To live Fearless

I believe that the root of all evil, all pain, is fear. It's true in any relationship - personal, community, national, international. Trace the source of any harm that you have done to another or that another has done to you and you will find fear as the source. We do not pursue our full potential due to fear. We do not reach out to others due to fear. We hate our enemies due to fear. We fail to speak out for others when they are wronged due to fear. We don't apologize when we should, due to fear. The source of greed is fear. We fail to solve problems out of fear.
Fear is powerful. It invokes strong emotions and can drive anyone to behave and act in ways that are not true to their professed values and beliefs. Fear creates monsters and monstrous people are riddled with fears. When fear drives our lives the monsters grows larger than reality. If we allow our fears to grow, the insatiable monsters need to be fed and we will create situations - real or mythical - to prove our fears.
The only thing more powerful than fear is love. But we act quickly and spontaneously out of fear and slowly and deliberately out of love. Fear is a sprint. Love is a marathon. Fear will flame high and spread fast but Love grows slowly and will overcome in the end. Fear lies. Love is truth.
So how do we overcome fearful influences - lies - greed - all the harmful outcomes driven by fear.
First, we need to recognize and identify our own fears then work to overcome them. Silence our own monsters.
Second, if we understand our own fears, it's easier to recognize when others are speaking and acting out of fear.
Third, train ourselves for a marathon. Love is patient. Love is at peace in knowing the outcome.
Finally, speak from a source of love - patiently, in truth, and deliberately with a steady pace. Don't stop the pace - speak out - but be very careful that love is the source from which you speak and act. Don't feed the fear or fear mongers.
One of the best examples is what happened in Hitler's Germany. He was a very effective orator and was able to create great fear throughout his country targeted at Jews, Homosexuals, disabled people - anyone who wasn't deemed as the perfect race. The fear grew to a monstrous level that resulted in a whole society doing or overlooking horrific things. Fear allowed the horrors to continue for years.
Love worked tirelessly underground. Love saved lives and smuggled thousands from the country so they could give witness to truth. The Danish people stood up - in acts of Love - and said "NO this won't happen here." Those working against Hitler during those most fiery times, shed fear and acted out of love. It had to have felt hopeless but they did not stop. They didn't focus their attention on Hitler, they focused on those who were at risk. Ultimately the world stood up.
When you hear anyone speaking words of fear - personal or political - look for the truth. Dig a little deeper. Tune in to fear trigger tactics. They are all over our political landscape. Those who try to mislead you, politically or personally, will use fear. For the short term people fail to act, act and react much quicker based on fear. Dig deeper. Look carefully at the long term outcomes of acting on the fear path. Find truth and love.

"Untouchable girls"

Months ago a friend recommended that I watch the documentary "The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls" and I finally did. It is fantastic!!!
The Topp Twins have been mesmerizing audiences down under in New Zealand for decades. A singing duo with great talent, crazy skit characters, and deep commitments, these women reach people with their humor and charm. The Prime Minister calls them "a national treasure".
Farm girls - they traveled the country in a wagon pulled by a tractor, performing in small towns and packing the house. Their skit characters are homespun, eccentric and became so popular, the twins had their own television series.
Oh - and they happen to be lesbians.

Here are some things I walked away with at the end of the documentary.
1) Develop your talents and share them generously.
2) Don't let anyone define you in a way that is not true to the real you.
3) Never forget where you came from.
4) Deep roots are good. Great humor is even better.
5) Do what you do out of genuine love.

You can watch this documentary instantly on Netflix. "The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls". They will make you laugh while they make you think. I like that.