Elder's Meditation of the Day - May 25
"If you listen close at night, you will hear the creatures of the dark, all of them sacred -- the owls, the crickets, the frogs, the night birds -- and you will hear beautiful songs, songs you have never heard before. Listen with your heart. Never stop listening."
--Henery Quick Bear, LAKOTA
The night time is full of life, full of song and full of beauty. Have you ever gone outside at night and listened? One has access to serenity and peace. At night all our senses change their roles. Because we can't see, our hearing is much stronger, our smell is even more enhanced, our sight is different. We are able to join nature through sounds and smells, through the songs of the night birds and through the night winds. We can close our eyes and experience interconnectedness in a different way. Try it tonight and experience oneness with the Creator.

Great Spirit, allow me to listen to the teachers of the night.

Bezon Dear Readers,

I have kept still as long as I can...every morning its like still I'm still in a nightmare of some scifi dream and there's no waking from it.  The sun is shining, my eyes are open but the nightmare is still there.

How absolutely scary that the price of gas varies by the minute.  How the hell are people going to afford even going to work?  Then if they can do that, how can they afford health care in this screwed up country who allows millions to do without medical and dental care and eveidently don't give a damn. The price gas also causes food costs to adjust upward to cover the transportation costs.

Oh...the food.  Not only is our pet's food poisoned but so is ours it seems.  This is not including ecoli that makes Popeye do without his spinach and other greens.  China is building the world's largest navy, exports tons of "stuff" to us and allows us to export next-to-nada.  That is bad business.  Don't forget the fish, none of which is safe from any pond, lake or river in the US, farm raised fish is probably contaminated by Chinese originated fish food, not to mention the feet we import from them.  Then there's bird flu and the poultry industry and mad cow disease.  Holy Moly Bat Man! Read on.

Katrina's scathing damage is barely touched, billions of money has been misspent, mobile homes sit idle in fields as far away as the midwest, some are in New Orleans without proper plumbing/wiring.  The commercial part of the city is "fixed up" and life goes on, but 1000s of people are displaced with little hope of ever getting home again and if they do Donald Trump and his ilk have been busy trying to buy up what they could to replace lower income housing with condos.  This goes on in the whole Gulf area...and the saddest thing is we are not prepared for a rerun of that catestrophic series of events.  "Good job, Brownie". Pshoi!

We are stuck in a war we should never have been in, losing our Nation's youth (and older Reservists) to the great god of greed. I am a US Marine vet and support the troops whole heartedly but curse those who keep them there as cannon fodder for a Middle Eastern civil war....Don't forget that our illustrious leader has an itchy trigger finger on the button to bomb Iran.  That man is absolutely either crazy or without a modicum of common sense.  His cronies are evil...he is their pawn.

 As an Indian my heart breaks at what has, and continues to be done to our Mother, the Earth.  (In our dialect my name Tula means earth.)  It breaks my heart that people find it too messy or time consuming to recycle, too lazy or too busy to schedule walking instead of riding where possible, choosing not to use AC, except in case of real need (both in cars and at home).  And it seems the same ones jack the heat up in the winter instead of adding another layer of clothing....they also leave the water running while they brush their teeth or shave. They leave lights/computers/tvs on when not using them and finding "green" products is too time consuming, or a bit too expensive.

Well, to the ones of you who are guilty of not doing these easy things to ease the burden on Mother Earth - you should be ashamed.  Teach your children responsibility to the Planet and set a good example. Its the only home we have and time is running out.

Vote out those who value instant gratification over preservation.  Support those who do support ecological prudence.

Maybe tomorrow I will feel better when I wake up.  Together each one of us can contribute to keeping this lovely Blue Ball going for us, our children and our grandchildren.

Tapalot chena melooshe/love and peace to each of you,

Okema Tula/Chief Tula

Wherefore, O ye beloved of the Lord, bestir yourselves, do all in your power to be as one, to live in peace, each with the others: for ye are all the drops from but one ocean, the foliage of one tree, the pearls from a single shell, the flowers and sweet herbs from the same one garden. And achieving that, strive ye to unite the hearts of those who follow other faiths.

Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha
p. 280

Upon another occasion 'Abdu'l-Bahá said to a group of friends around him: "Taken in general, women today have a stronger sense of religion than men. The woman's intuition is more correct; she is more receptive and her intelligence is quicker. The day is coming when woman will claim her superiority to man.

"Woman has everywhere been commended for her faithfulness. After the Lord Christ suffered, the disciples wept, and gave way to their grief. They thought that their hopes were shattered, and that the Cause was utterly lost, till Mary Magdalene came to them and strengthened them saying: 'Do you mourn the body of Our Lord or His Spirit? If you mourn His Spirit, you are mistaken, for Jesus lives! His Spirit will never leave us!' Thus through her wisdom and encouragement the Cause of Christ was upheld for all the days to come. Her intuition enabled her to grasp the spiritual fact."

'Abdu'l-Bahá then added: "But in the sight of God sex makes no difference. He or she is greatest who is nearest to God."

 (Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 104)