Some Inspiration

A little philosophizing – life is, as we know, a journey, not a destination. We must always continue to expand our horizons; learn, learn, learn more about our surroundings, about how other people live and think and feel; about how things came to be and will be. The most important thing in the world is trying to feel what it is like to walk in someone else’s shoes.

At the time I post this the world has much to learn from this man. I hope he is allowed the chance and the time to fulfill his promise:

“This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.” – Barack Obama

And reminders of the sheer, stunning wonders around us – the beauty of nature and of the soul:

Not long after I snapped this they tore down the abandoned house on whose wall this poet had written.

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“Once the “what” is decided,
the “how” always follows.” We must not make the
“how” an excuse for not facing and accepting
the “what”. Pearl S. Buck

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“Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things as a meaningful unity” – Albert Einstein

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Excerpts from an essay by Alan Cohen called “They’re Playing
Your Song”, published by Eastern Spirit in March of 2002.

“When a woman in a certain African tribe knows she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray and meditate until they hear the song of the child.They recognize that every soul has its own vibration that expressesits unique flavor and purpose. When the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud. Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone else.”

“When the child is born, the community gathers and sings the child’s song to him or her. Later, when the child enters education, the village gathers and chants the child song. When the child passes through the initiation to adulthood, the people again come together and sing. At the time of marriage, the person hears his or her song.

Finally, when the should is about to pass from this world, the family and friends gather at the person’s bed, just as they did at their birth, and they sing the person to the next life.”

“ In the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them. The tribe recognized that the correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity. When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.”

“A friend is someone who know your song and sings it to you when you have forgotten it. Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness
when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.”

“ There is something inside each of us that knows we have a song,
and we wish those we love would recognize it and support us to sing it.”