❧❧❧ Whatever you can do or dream, you can BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Goethe ❧❧❧
❧❧❧ You were born whole, not broken. Sandra Hammel ❧❧❧
Friday, October 8, 2010
GOD AND US
Religion in the USA is the focus of this PBS series on American Experience's Frontline
Although I don't consider myself as a religious person, I was raised in a very religious family and environment. Very fundamentalist, very conservative and not encouraged to think for myself/ourselves...beyond what we were told is the truth. I don't fit in my family's plan for me. I am therefore a misfit, an outcast, a "disappointment" to what was expected of me and judgment from the members has always been present.
I approve of me. Although at times, I would prefer to feel like I fit in my family, it is necessary that it is enough that I am okay with who and what I am. Being a "member" has been secondary to living a life that is not pretentious and in my truth.
But, I am interested in learning why I am what I am and where I "came from". So this American Experience's Frontline series sounds interesting to me. I plan to watch it. It is always online if you miss it when it airs on TV.
...For the first time on television, God in America, a presentation of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and FRONTLINE, will explore the historical role of religion in the public life of the United States. The six-hour series, which interweaves documentary footage, historical dramatization and interviews with religious historians, will air over three consecutive nights on PBS beginning Oct. 11, 2010....
..."The American story cannot be fully understood without understanding the country's religious history," says series executive producer Michael Sullivan. "By examining that history, God in America will offer viewers a fresh, revealing and challenging portrait of the country."...
..."Americans are awash in a sea of faith, but their knowledge about religious faiths and religious history often runs as shallow as their commitment to religion runs deep," notes Stephen Prothero, chief editorial consultant for God in America, professor of religion at Boston University, and author of Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know -- And Doesn't. "A series like God in America can help correct that imbalance and provide the basis for a common understanding of the role religion has played in American public life."...
And this series will be airing again....
We Shall Remain
~ this is a "must see" about the people who lived here before the immigrants came and took their land and denied them to live their lives in the freedom they had before the government of the USA was formed
I love to write in my journals. I only have 3 blank pages left, so journal number 21 is about to begin. I write a lot to gain clarity, process personal pain, write about social injustice, the needs of children. And my son. Many books from past years are full of relationships that now as I read those pages, I realize I tried too hard to make something work that wasn't destined to work.
Today I wrote to my son in my journal...
September 20, 2009
1:45 p.m.
A stray sentence once in a while in the times we have been together over the years, I have heard you say or merely mention your saxophone, your clarinet, heard you recently read your own poetry that you obviously felt drawn to do –
Please bear with me so I can say to you – it seems to me to be apparent that your playing music, your writing, is a way for you to feel more yourself, lets you feel your soul in a way that is uniquely you.
Be aware of this specialness. Always be aware, the gift of doing these things, where art can be a “home” for your spirit, your heart, your soul.Don’t let the busyness of life cheat you out of being in your art, whatever it is – music, writing, drawing, creating.“Being” in these art moments will bring you more joy, peace, depth of feeling than the business of life can ever mimic.
You are your destiny.The universe is unfolding you and for you.Be mindful of it.It will be a source of joy, contentment, sustenance and freedom from anxiety.
Always be listening for the destiny’s voices.The destiny happens when we let it.
In a way, it is our job to be happy, to be kind.All else is a form of waiting for these moments.
The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 4 - 8:15
At 4:13 " Eastern philosophies fundamentally say that ... human beings are stronger if they embrace their destinies. They believe that destiny is given. And therefore, your strength, your honor, your dignity, your purpose in life lies in your embracing your destiny." Shekhar Kapur, Director of The Four Feathers
I encourage my son to follow his dreams. I hope that he will.
I haven't always followed mine front and center. But I have always been nearby the dreams. Never completely off the track. I have followed my heart, confused as it has been, at times. I have been honest with myself.
Recently, I had a "SoulProfile" done. A Soul Profile lists lifetimes lived before, where my soul originated and other places I have visited and the gifts that I have gained from those places. Whether others believe in such things, is a personal thing, like other beliefs. When I was in my early twenties and taking a required course in philosophy at an extremely conservative fundamentalist Christian college, it came to me that believing is a personal thing, in that, where we choose to draw the line of what to live by is arbitrary for the most part. As someone who was raised to be a fundamental Christian, including the dos and don'ts of my parents' beliefs - I was searching for my own principles of what to live my life by.
I threw out the don'ts of don't: dance, wear make-up of any kind, go to movies, wear jewelry, conservative everything... and the limitations of what a female should and shouldn't do. The don'ts of what is acceptable got a major overhaul by me. In my family, I am the odd one out. I am okay with that because I have no other choice. I have followed my destiny. I am at "home" with my music, my writing, my creating. I am most alive at times that I am in touch with my rawest and deepest parts of my spirit. It is a time of communion with my destiny, my universe.
We are breathing energy and the fact that the universe is like a big complex energy field, makes it acceptable for me - to believe we are part of the universe of energy. And just because we are life forms as human beings, that doesn't mean that there aren't other life forms that manifest differently from our physical forms.
The centering thought for me
I think the most important thing is to be kind. Kind to ourselves and kind to others. Kindness is always welcome.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
I have found pretentious people repelling. Always.
People who are closest to being themselves are the ones I want to be in the presence of.
I like this story...
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
Excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
The Four Feathers is probably my favorite movie with Heath Ledger. And that is saying a lot. Although he lived a short life, he played his roles with such realness. Such authenticity. He let the characters come through him as he was their vessel. This movie's story has such depth. It is about destiny and finding yourself with the willingness to do what it takes to do so.
I highly recommendThe Four Feathersand watching its special features. Below are some of the special features uploaded byspringrose147.
The Four Feathers - DVD Special Feature segment 3- 7:58
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Embracing more than western religion
Click on post title to go to Joseph Campbell talking with Bill Moyers talking of Faith and Religion - Perspectives. Included there, is text as well as audio.
Bill Maher goes further than some may feel comfortable with. But sometimes he just is too funny not to laugh. ..........................................................
.......................................................... Bill Maher New Rules October 3, 2008 Great guest discussion with Garry Shandling Alec Baldwin and Christiane Amanpour - if you get a chance to see one of the many repeats of this episode in the coming week it is one of the best discussions, especially Garry Shandling.
What I started out to do was post George_Frideric_Handel's Messiah's All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray. All I found was this. And then I found this by a poster in the Philippines, which is a tribute to Sam.
In high school, my choir director selected He Was Despised for me to sing. I'm not sure why. The Messiah to me is best when the whole chorus is singing. And listening to it doesn't hold a candle to actually being in that chorus and singing. But here is a glorious trumpet solo and Teddy Tahu Rhodes singing The Trumpet Shall Sound.
And then . . . .....................................................
..................................................... Silent Night on guitar .....................................................
..................................................... Silent Night sung by St. Thomas Boys Choir of Germany
The people of Darfur are in my heart today.
GENOCIDE STOPS WITH US AND IF OUR LEADERS WON'T LEAD ON THIS ISSUE WE MUST LEAD THEM.
You can give a tax deductible donation of $30 and provide a way for the women and girls not to have to go after firewood to cook with where the systematic rapes take place as a tool of the governmentally-supported genocide: Solar Cooker Project $30 Solar Cooker Donation Provides:
2 Solar Cookers per family 2 Pots 2 Pot Holders Year supply of plastic bags Skills Training for refugee women and girls » Learn more about the Solar Cooker Project
Call President Bush's Comment Phone Line 202-456-1111 or Call 1-800-GENOCIDE Enter your zip code. Choose to be connected to President Bush. You will receive talking points on SADA (Sudan Accountabiltiy and Divestment Act) before you are connected. Visit www.1800genocide.com after your call to tell how it went.
It isn't that I want to lay guilt at anyone's heart who already desires to help end the genocide on the Darfuri people of Sudan. I just want us "Not to Forget". It is so easy to forget because our news media has chosen to NOT REPORT THE DARFUR CRISIS. You can however still catch the well-done HBO documentary film, Sand and Sorrow, as it is repeatedly aired.
It is Christmas and I know that Darfuri people don't celebrate Christmas because they are Muslims, however according to the website of Ontario Consultants of Religious Tolerance, there are 2,039 million Christians in the world. I was raised Christian. A fundamentalist, born-again, Bible-knowledgeable Christian from Indiana where my heritage points strongly to the Mennonites. Indiana has strong regions of Mennonites and the not-too-far-different Amish.Anyone, Christian or not, who has a moral code with humanity at its core, would ~ in my way of thinking ~ include genocide as one of those things that we must make a stand against. And I don't mean in the way that President Bush has taken a stand ~ merely rhetorically. I mean in actually forming a strategy to bring humanity to where the inhumane behaviors of genocide are getting nothing more than a statement against it every several months by the Christian, President George W Bush. A strategy to bring genocide to an end. You can't say you are a Christian and then act immorally and amorally as Bush has done for the last 5 years regarding the people of Darfur ~ and have credibility. Here is a man in a position to actually do something. And he has done nothing. ........................................................................................................................ Still, Still, Still
Christians all over the world celebrate Christmas, either on December 25 or January 6. And it seems so right to me to think about Darfur and the five year genocide, that is going on there, while we have knowledge of it ~ while we celebrate the joy of the birth of "our" Saviour. If "our" Saviour didn't come to free us from our ignorance and cold-hearted indifference, then it seems to me like a wasted trip to this mortal life if only for our isolated, individual souls. And that is, if you didn't know the teachings of the baby Jesus when he starting imparting his parables and demonstrating his Christian behavior while he walked on this Earth. Because if you have knowledge of those things, you know what we are to be doing for our brothers and sisters of Darfur, who are in such dire need.
I don't concern myself by describing myself as a Christian or by religion, but how I live my life. It is simple for me. What I make of those who say they are Christians and don't act in ways that I could tell, is this ~ if I don't see your life bearing any resemblance to your words, then truth is missing. There is a song "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love" that says it all in the title.
As I get hungry and think of the cookies and milk that are mine by simply walking to get them or if I am tired, I know I have the comforts of a bathroom and a cozy bedroom to feel at home in ~ I almost always think how it is for the hungry and homeless living in the cold because a man named Omar al-Bashir wants power over the Darfuri people.
Yes, it is Christmas in my life and even though Christmas is not a religious day for the Darfuri children and adults ~ they are not out of sight, out of my mind.I carry their hearts in my heart. As we all could if we chose to. And I do more than give it lip service, I work toward ending the genocide.We need our elected politicians to get the fortitude, the political will and moral imperative to use their power to bring the spirit of Christmas ~ Peace on Earth ~ in the way of strategies to end this man-made disaster named genocide. The Power of The Dream China will open the world's Olympics, August 8, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. with the theme, "One World, One Dream" and yet China supplies the weapons for the Darfur genocide and provides money for the genocide's military equipment and funding. And Russia sells the antonov planes to bomb the Darfuri people in conjunction with the government-backed janjaweed soldiers. China is also funding the new residence of Sudanese architect of the genocide, President Omar al-Bashir. Eric Reeves has written an article Partners in Genocide: A Comprehensive Guide to China's Role in Darfur. Also, Mia Farrow, writes of Darfur and her trips there. She also writes of the fact that the 2008 Olympics will be Genocide Olympics ~ just as the Olympics in Berlin, Germany were dubbed, that took place while the holocaust was going on.I am a great believer in "We the People" and our importance of forming the world we live in, the world we want to live in, the world we want to shape for our children' and grand children's future.
GENOCIDE STOPS WITH US AND IF OUR LEADERS WON'T LEAD ON THIS ISSUE WE MUST LEAD THEM.
You can give a tax deductible donation of $30 and provide a way for the women and girls not to have to go after firewood to cook with where the systematic rapes take place as a tool of the governmentally-supported genocide:Solar Cooker Project
Call President Bush's Comment Phone Line202-456-1111 or Call 1-800-GENOCIDE Enter your zip code.Choose to be connected to President Bush.You will receive talking points on SADA (Sudan Accountabiltiy and Divestment Act) before you are connected. Visit www.1800genocide.com after your call to tell how it went.
I love my life. I love where I live. And I am passionate about my passions. I love to dance. Necessary to live: music, piano, singing, writing, acting, painting.
I have been fighting for and supporting the arts all my adult life. Since 2004, I have been working with other activists to end the Darfur genocide.
I have traveled to Europe many times since my early twenties. Places I have been: many USA states including Hawaii, Montreal, Canada, Barbados, France, Spain, Luxembourg, England, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Germany - and have wonderful memories.
My last trip was in May - June 2013 to Spain.
I would like to travel to Europe and Kyoto, Japan.
I love the southwest where I have visited Hopi, Navajo, Zia and San Idlefonso potters.
Life is exciting and I intend to live it full-out to the end.
B.S. and M.M., both in music
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Khartoum, Sudan Stop Genocide Time
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Spain Time
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Melbourne Time
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Hawaii Time
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RAFA NADAL -BRING BACK LONG PANTS - SLEEVELESS TOPS
Double Click on Videos to Enlarge
Darfur - The Abandoned Genocide - a video by Sandra Hammel
Want to help? Call 1~800~GENOCIDE
"May I Suggest" by Susan Werner
Satchita - Playing for Change
Stand By Me ~ Playing for Change
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Genocide is not only a word,
it is crying of the whole human race.
There is nothing redeeming about being silent
when speaking up is the humane thing to do.
The honor and integrity of the human race is at stake.
