WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN
I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels.
My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.' I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.
Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.The angel then said to me, 'This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them.' I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.
Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. 'This is the Acknowledgment Section,' my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed 'How is it that there is no work going on here?' I asked. 'So sad,' the angel sighed. 'After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments .''How does one acknowledge God's blessings?' I asked.'Simple,' the angel answered. Just say, 'Thank you, Lord.
''What blessings should they acknowledge?' I asked.
'If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
''And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who have that opportunity.'
'If you woke up this morning with more health than illness ... you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day .'
'If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 700 million people in the world.'
'If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world. '
If your parents are still alive and still married ..... you are very rare .'
'If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair.'
Ok, what now? How can I start? If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
We always have options, the world is full of choices.
We can choose to focus on the negative things that we see everyday, or we can choose to remain positive striving. Seeing the things, the blessings that are all around us while striving to improve the things that we can improve.
March 12, 2009
March 7, 2009
A little bit Pretentious
Ok this is a little bit silly, but I was feeling a little sorry for myself today and needed a little pick-me-up with a pretentious show of everything. So here goes:
I've Been To 24 Countries in 25 Years:
- United States (this counts)
- Canada -- British Columbia
- Puerto Rico
- Barbados
- Bahamas
- England
- Scotland
- Ireland
- Spain
- Portugal
- Italy
- Greece
- Austria
- Hungary
- Vatican City
- Monaco
- Romania
- Switzerland
- Germany
- Belgium
- The Netherlands
- Denmark
- Sweden
- Japan
- ? Have time this year to catch one (or more) to my passport
- Sewing, quilting, etc.
- Knitting
- Japanese Tea Ceremony
- Painting, Drawing, Ceramics, Colored Pencils, Pastels
- Container Gardening
- Chicago Tribune crossword puzzles / Sudoku
- Cooking
- Getting movies on Netflix.
- Piano, Flute playing
- Education: foreign language, art history, technology
- Many, many things filling up many many journals and most of the time, it's hard to make decisions about what I'm going to spend my time learning.
February 18, 2009
Chanoyu Reading List
"The Spirit of Tea" by Sen Soshitsu (XV)
- Beautiful color illustrations / use of captions
- Nice beginner book for tea and the Tea Ceremony
- Learned about the spirit behind chado ... "the way of tea"
- Tea isn't something one can learn through books, one must learn through the body
"Tea Here Now" by Donna Fellman & Lhasha Tizer
"Urasenke Chanyo Handbook One" by Sen Soshitsu (XV)
"Wind in the Pines: Classic Writings of the Way of Tea as a Buddhist Path" by Dennis Hirota
- Translated from the original Japanese, historical documents relating to chado
- Recommended by sensai as a good history book that covers a wide variety of teachings
February 14, 2009
February 11, 2009
Japanese Tea Ceremony Class #2
How to fold my Fukasa
Japanese pottery (natural coloring, asymetrical, imperfect)
vs. Chinese pottery (intricate design, symetrical, flawless)
How to place my fan pointing toward the other guests if I am the high guest and toward the high point in the room if I am the low guest.
After entering, place fan on first fold of tatami mats, bow 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, place fan in above position upon taking my position 16 folds back.
Grab the tea bowl with my left hand.
Support bowl with left hand, right hand cups bowl gently, right thumb resting under mouth.
Wipe mouth of bowl with right thumb and forefinger and when presenting cup, present it front facing host.
February 8, 2009
Wisdom From My Coffee Cup
| "Americans spend an average of 29 hours a week watching TV -- which means in a typical life span we devote 13 uninterrupted years to our TV sets! The biggest problem with mass media isn't low quality - it's high quality. Cutting down just an hour a day would provide extra years of life - for music and family, exercise and reading, conversation and coffee." |
January 24, 2009
Obama Story
Once upon a time there was a far away land called America. America was full of people who thought they needed more and more stuff even though, compared to other lands around America, they had the most. America thought getting this precious "stuff" was all they needed to feel fulfilled in life, so they bought more Spoozles and Floozles and Wizzies and Fizzies. And even though their relationships were deteriorating and they became distrusted by the rest of the lands for their selfishness, they just kept looking for gold-plated Spoozles and the latest Fizzies. The people of America got together and placed a man in charge named Twig to run the country of America. For eight years, Twig delivered bad judgment after bad judgment and the world outside of the land of America began to fear how far America would go to attain it's quickly tarnishing glory.
Because America was built on working hard to get stuff, The people of America (in order to pay for all these unneccesary Fizzies) took out Lorcacs from the Blatoms. A Lorcac was something that allowed you to buy a Spoozle or Wizzie but pay for it later. The people of America thought Lorcacs were great so sometimes they would get dozens of Lorcacs to pay for all the stuff they didn't need. One day, the Blatoms, or the people in charge of giving the Lorcacs, realized they had overstretched themselves...that there was no more support behind the Lorcac to make it possible for them to keep giving them out. This was when it became scary to live in the land of America. Blatoms started firing the people who worked for them, the people couldn't pay their Lorcac, and eventually the Blatoms realized a vicious circle had started because of their greed. But what could stop it? The people of America began to live in fear every day. They lived in fear they would be attacked by one of the other great developing lands. They feared losing their jobs and having to get by some how. They feared that this downfall of the Blatoms and by President Twig would lead to the economy of the land of America crashing down and anarchy taking over. For years, the land of America had been so powerful and now, they felt powerless ... even to help themselves and their families. The dozens of religions the people of America practiced, strengthened their hope and faith for this to all just "get better" or "be solved quickly and painlessly." In some cases, that gave them hope, but when they were laid off, they realized they needed currency to buy enough food to feed their children and keep shelter over their heads and the heat on in winter. Even for those with a life of faith, fear began to creep in.
But, for some, there was a ray of hope. During this scary time, when the Blatoms were crashing and the people were losing their jobs, a new president was selected to take Twig's place. His name was Hopema. Hopema was either loved or hated by the land of America. The good thing is, that the majority of the people approved of him more then the other guy, so that's why he was president. He took the oath and was sworn in and immediatley started taking action. The people of America were overwhelmed by his honesty, his consistency in his messages and his faith in the goodness of his people of the land he was elected to rule. The land of America, crumpled and ragged, now had a new ray of hope to show them a way. Hopema's leadership didn't take the place of religion, rather he strengthened all that was good with his people in the land of America, including their faith and their hope for the future. The world rejoiced that America had decided to elect Hopema because they could see what a wonderful and honest man he was. No longer would America be seen as a beacon of Gluttony, Paranoia and Selfishness.
"It is time to change," Hopema said to his people. But it wasn't until Twig was finished and Hopema took office, that people with no hope were able to lift their tear streaked face and repeat...
"I have a dream."
Because America was built on working hard to get stuff, The people of America (in order to pay for all these unneccesary Fizzies) took out Lorcacs from the Blatoms. A Lorcac was something that allowed you to buy a Spoozle or Wizzie but pay for it later. The people of America thought Lorcacs were great so sometimes they would get dozens of Lorcacs to pay for all the stuff they didn't need. One day, the Blatoms, or the people in charge of giving the Lorcacs, realized they had overstretched themselves...that there was no more support behind the Lorcac to make it possible for them to keep giving them out. This was when it became scary to live in the land of America. Blatoms started firing the people who worked for them, the people couldn't pay their Lorcac, and eventually the Blatoms realized a vicious circle had started because of their greed. But what could stop it? The people of America began to live in fear every day. They lived in fear they would be attacked by one of the other great developing lands. They feared losing their jobs and having to get by some how. They feared that this downfall of the Blatoms and by President Twig would lead to the economy of the land of America crashing down and anarchy taking over. For years, the land of America had been so powerful and now, they felt powerless ... even to help themselves and their families. The dozens of religions the people of America practiced, strengthened their hope and faith for this to all just "get better" or "be solved quickly and painlessly." In some cases, that gave them hope, but when they were laid off, they realized they needed currency to buy enough food to feed their children and keep shelter over their heads and the heat on in winter. Even for those with a life of faith, fear began to creep in.
But, for some, there was a ray of hope. During this scary time, when the Blatoms were crashing and the people were losing their jobs, a new president was selected to take Twig's place. His name was Hopema. Hopema was either loved or hated by the land of America. The good thing is, that the majority of the people approved of him more then the other guy, so that's why he was president. He took the oath and was sworn in and immediatley started taking action. The people of America were overwhelmed by his honesty, his consistency in his messages and his faith in the goodness of his people of the land he was elected to rule. The land of America, crumpled and ragged, now had a new ray of hope to show them a way. Hopema's leadership didn't take the place of religion, rather he strengthened all that was good with his people in the land of America, including their faith and their hope for the future. The world rejoiced that America had decided to elect Hopema because they could see what a wonderful and honest man he was. No longer would America be seen as a beacon of Gluttony, Paranoia and Selfishness.
"It is time to change," Hopema said to his people. But it wasn't until Twig was finished and Hopema took office, that people with no hope were able to lift their tear streaked face and repeat...
"I have a dream."
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