We can change the course of planetary events. While solar cycle 24 is becoming more active, affecting all beings on Earth, we can decide on how to react to these changes. It is important to remember that the increasing solar activity has a positive affect – it’s a time when opportunity and creativity can flourish along with increased individual and collective enlightenment. It’s an auspicious opportunity for advancing our intelligence on how to cooperate more harmoniously with each other and with Mother Earth. This can eventually lead to a global consciousness transformation and increasing peace. A few effective co-creative actions we can take through these opportune times would include committing to reducing fear, becoming more responsible for our own energy, and increasing love, care and respect for others and for ourselves. This can do much to restore balance and energetic alignment between Earth and the global community.

Many thanks to all who are caring and holding the vision of humanity in the state of joy, love, peace and health and a vision of a vibrant Earth. I would like to end this commentary with a quote by Albert Einstein:

“Our task must be to free ourselves – by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.”

An excerpt from today’s message from the Global Coherence Initiative. Read the entire message here. It talks about this years earthquakes and the effects of recent sun flares. Become a part of CGI and help protect the Earth. www.glcoherence.org

-o-oo–oo-O-oo–oo-o-

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The Cenotaph at Whitehall, London on Remembrance Day

Today is Remembrance Day, or Poppy Day. It is the day to commemorate the end of the First World War in 1918. Even though another world war happened since then this is the one that is still commemorated. The dead who died in both wars are remembered for their sacrifices, a sacrifice which we all, throughout the world, ought to be thankful for. And I am grateful.

A few years ago we visited the graves in Normandy, France, with our four sons. That was a very moving moment, to see thousands of graves of 18, 19, 20 year old young men who gave their lives to save the world. Many died before they even set foot on shore.

Why is it we remember? Why do we keep the memory of such tragic, devastating wars alive? Is it to keep in mind who was the enemy? Is it to remind us not to trust foreign leaders? Is it solely to say thank you to those who have their lives? Or perhaps some remember to boost their egos that they belong to a great nation.

May I suggest, no, may I urge everyone to remember these wars, these valuable sacrifices, not for the sake of remembering the past, but for contemplating the future. Remember the wars of the past, and the present, in order not to go
that path again. Remember the sacrifices to remind us to value human life.  Remember the past to improve the future.

Normandy Graves WW2

Let us never forget that they sacrificed their lives for a better future. Let us not disappoint them by repeating the same all over again. Let us honour the sacrifices made, and those still being made, that their souls are crying out to stop making war.

The time is over when we go to war. More and more citizens are rising up to declare peace. More and more nations are disposing of their dictators. Let us contemplate a future of peace, where nation sits with nation, black with white, where religion is not a means to hate, where love rules the day. Remember the fallen. Remember the living.

Thoughts are a little like that. They grow old and become lifeless when the flow stops. The thinking behind old ideas becomes lifeless, powerless and out of date. They no longer serve a purpose and need to be replaced with new ideas, new thinking. In short, old ideas, old thinking, stinks.

Too many of us are still living the lives of our grandparents, or even our ancestors. The old way of doing things is what fills our lives. They get us through, just about, but they no longer meet our modern needs. Many of these ideas are religious. We live by the rules, we live by the book, and if it was good enough for grandma it’s good enough for me, my kids and grandkids too. This kind of thinking is stinking and will never improve your future. It keeps you living in the past.

It is time to let go of the past and nurture the new progressive thinking. Whatever is pure and good think on that. If it benefits humanity think on that. If it propels us into a future of peace and harmony then think on those things. Don’t be a stinker, be a thinker.

This was an challenge and exercise started on Twitter and Facebook on started 2^nd August 2009. Here is a collection of the blessings of each day and some of the comments received. Why not try it out and post your experiences?

Challenge for the next 30 days: Silently wish everyone you see or meet the best possible blessings. See what happens!

Day1:

Tracie
Do we have to do it silently?

Belinda
I think so … it shouldn’t be about ego …

Tracie
Not about ego at all…just letting people you meet know someone they may not know at all cares…making a connection

Belinda
Good point. Perhaps we can use it both ways? Not easy to make a connection with every person we encounter…

Tracie
No it isn’t easy, but it’s a great goal isn’t it!

Hakan
This is a fantastic exercise, the more you have gratitude & appreciation you give to others, whether they are aware or unaware, the more you will get in return.
While you do this exercise coming from a place of genuine intent, you will undoubtedly notice there will be changes in your body.
Could be more joyful, positive & uplifting.
By doing it for 30 days it automatically becomes a habit & you’ll find yourself doing it sub consciously.

Jim Murdoch
I started the day by wishing mentally blessing to everyone I saw, on the bus, the train, the tram, the street. Gets a bit busy. A group of school children got a sweeping blessing as I passed. Even the smelly old man who sat in front of me. It certainly beats being grumpy. You don’t have time to be grumpy, so many to bless. Yea, do it aloud too when you have the chance. Praise someone, or thank them, or just wish them a great day.
Let’s hear how it goes.

Blessing challenge: ran for tram today, door shut on my nose, wouldn’t open, tram drives off. Curse or bless? Bless him, higher awareness.
Did pretty well sending blessings out in all directions to anyone and everyone. Oh, must include wife and son

Day 2: Stay at home day – 30 day blessing. I can bless those out the window, those who come to mind. I can bless you. Have u blessed people today?

Tracie
Bless you too Jim! And everyone else who sees this post ;~)

Day 3: Who are you thinking about right now? No matter good or bad, bless them now! Wish them good things. Day3 of 30 day blessing challenge.

Laura
Wow. You got me on a hard one. It is done. I bless her.

Jim Murdoch
Good for you? Have you realized the blessings return multiplied?!

Laura
So far, an immediate blessing was a feeling of peace. I
think that it actually occurred at the moment of decision.
Haven’t yet noticed blessings multiplied but am convinced
they will. “She” will be included in my daily blessings for
awhile.

Day 4 of 30 day Blessing. I bless those who have the annoying pop-ups on their sites preventing you from closing the window

Day 5: Bless my wife for making me lunch even so she only eats fruit today. She’s a darling. @katharizo

Day 6: Bless Google Chrome programmers, my Chrome browser crashed and lost all my open tabs. Don’t you just love 2 bless rather than curse?

Here’s one for you all. Go to the mirror and say: In spite of all the crap, I love you unconditionally. I believe in you!

Day 7: I bless my Mastermind – great friends, great thinkers, great achievers and great inspiration

Day 8: Continuing to bless just whoever falls into my eyesight or my thoughts. How about: Bless the tax collectors?

Day 9: Kindness is one of your wonderful traits, but where you really shine is in your generosity. Neale Walsch – Fits well with 30 day blessing

Day 10: “Those still stuck in the mass paradigms drift along with no definite purpose, no focus, and no chosen direction.” Wings of Change

Day 11: Good morning friends Day 11 Bless your boss today! Yes even if he/she is one of those. Just bless them. Now enjoy the bliss free from anger.

Day 12: bless all those who bless you, give you joy, a smile, friendship. Often we forget they need blessing too.

Day 13: Today I bless myself for my achievements, plans , dreams. Go ahead, bless yourself today.

Day 14: Today I bless my parents. Bless yours today. Overlook all the negative – just bless them.

Day 15: Who to bless today? What about your government? Remember, blessings return to you – so do curses. So be sincere – for your own good

Day 16: I bless all those who have humbled me by their kind comments and gratitude. Let no one steal your dream!

Day 17: Are you still blessing instead of cursing, blaming, accusing, mocking? What you give out comes back to you!

Laura
Yes, indeed. Good to have reminders to make it habitual.
Bless you, Jim

Day 18: Lost your job? Been downsized? Bless the situation. Take responsibility and break the pattern.

Day 19: Bless the Italian worker at the train station who was friendly and told us when the next train was arriving. The Blessing challenge!

Day 20: How about blessing those who prepare our food, bring it to the stores, and make it available to us? Time to eat lunch.

Day 21: This fits in well for day 21 of my 30 day Blessing Challenge. Be grateful for all the good, bless and be blessed. Have fun dancing!

The Original Gratitude Dance! (www.TheGratiDudes.com)

http://www.TheGratiDudes.com We started the Gratitude Dance out of moment of celebration at a coffee shop in Victoria, BC while writing our book on Manifesting Awesomeness. Out of this little jig came the idea to film it and put it on Youtube. …

Day 22: Bless the people who did bad things to make you lose your job, your home, your money. U don’t wanna curse them! That comes back to you

Doug
Yes, Jim, you are right. What we give out comes back to us.

Tracie
By blessing them you’ll find getting around the boulder they put in your stream a bit easier…and the waters on the other side much more smooth running than the ones you were in before it happened!

Day 23: Bless the mobile phone company, even when the signal isn’t what it should be. – Are you blessing all those you meet?

Day 24: People who make fake profiles -dare we bless them too? “Father forgive them. for they Know not what they do.”

Day 25: Time to bless our friends – the joyful, the woeful, the annoying, the loving, the draining, the giving – bless them.

Day 26: Now we hit the mother in law sisters brothers cousins & all- bless them, wish them the best they can possibly have. R u feeling it?

Day 27: 30 days are almost up. Is there anyone you missed whom you know you ought to bless? Do it now! Feel the energy coming back.

Day 28: Bless those who encourage others to reach for their dreams. It’ll help you reach yours.

Day 29: Bless those who serve: hairdresser, doctor, dentist, judge, lawyer, politicians, presidents, ministers, cleaners, soldiers!

Day 30: Bless God! Yes! That too will return to you. How did go for you? Feel the blessing return? Now keep on blessing. Never stop.

How far should love go? When is loving too much? When is it not justifiable to love more, forgive more?

If someone has harmed you, you have a right to seek justice and see the culprit punished and the wrong righted. But what if you were to forgive the wrongdoer? And what if he does the same again, and again, and again? What if you really do forgive seventy times seven?

Is justice always the best road to take?

Forgiveness releases energy, an energy which goes out to the forgiven and deep into the forgiver. This energy is greater than the energy dissipated by justice and revenge. The energy released by forgiveness is Love. Love is the greatest force in the universe. Nothing can conquer love. Nothing can replace love. Love is over all. Love is beautiful. Love calms. Love inspires. Love forgets harm. Love overcomes evil. Love supersedes justice. Love forgives. Love avoids conflict. Love heals.

What has love done in your life? What peace has been sacrificed when justice has been sought? Can we choose? Dare we choose?

Think about it. Every area of conflict has one basic problem: one or both sides believe themselves to be right and in the right to do harm to the other side. We scold our children when they fight over toys, yet we accept the same adult behaviour which leads to fists, fighting and feuds. Why is it, that after hundreds of years, people persist in hating the other side? Why is it that we insist the other back down before we do? Don’t they see that when no one backs down that conflict will persist and fighting will continue and children will still get killed?

In this world we have those still acting out of a low state of awareness. They are unaware of the universal connection to all humans. They think themselves as separate entities and of their cause as their identity as an individual being belonging to an distinct group. They feel the need to protect this identity and are prepared to kill for it. And here’s the crunch – Not one of them, no matter which side they are on, is thinking their own thoughts and making their own decisions!

Every one of us has grown up with indoctrination. “Don’t do that!” “Do this!” “Don’t trust them!” “They are not nice people.” And so on. We learn as children to mistrust our fellow human beings simply because they were born to different parents who lived on the other side of the fence. So now they are are enemies and all we know is we must fight them to stop their evil from spreading. And that child on the other side is being taught exactly the same thing.

Mr. Taliban, Mr. Ulsterman, Mr. Iranian, Mr. Israeli, Mr. Palasitnian, Mr. Religious, Mr. Colleague, Mr. Neighbour, and you too, isn’t it time in this world of growing global consciousness to stop our childish, petty quarrels and learn to forgive? Isn’t it time to put aside the centuries old conflicts and outdated views and seek to help our neighbours and give them food, rather than bomb them out of existence.

And Mr. USA, isn’t it time you stopped bullying the world and attacking out of fear and mistrust, and started using your might to build schools, factories, food plants and educate the world to provide for his neighbour? Isn’t it time to turn our swords into ploughs, our tanks to tractors, our bombers into carriers of water and grain? Isn’t it time to make this planet a world of peace and prosperity for all?

For God’s sake and the sake of our children, grow up and stop pointing the finger. We’re no more perfect than the one being accused. Here’s why:

We are all one. All of us! Everyone, no one excluded. We are ALL one. We are living in a sea of energy and we are ourselves formed out of energy and we are all connected via energy. Everything I do effects you and the rest of the world and vice versa. Believe me, God, Jesus, Muhammed, Buddha, Krishna, King David and every other religious or political leader that ever lived are looking down on us right now and shaking their heads. They are urging us to remember their most important message: Love your neighbour as yourself – forgive one another – do good to those who abuse you – provide for the poor, the orphans and widows. If I kill another I kill part of myself. If I love another, no matter where he was born or what he believes, then I am healing myself and humanity.

Isn’t it time to wake up and recognise that the human race is unique and a part of something much greater than humanity? This is our testing ground. Will you mess up, or pass into global acceptance and universal love? What do you think? write a comment below.

Fear is nothing more than a memory. A memory is something that happened in the past. Fear is not what stops me jumping off a building, that’s common sense. But fear will stop me achieving my goal because I am afraid of what might go wrong or what others might think. So Fear can also be fear of the future, which is probably based on past fears.

Fear is also the product of religiousness. I discovered, once I had distanced myself from it, that religion gains its adherence through fear: fear of hell, fear of sin, fear of punishment, fear of falling short, fear of breaking a rule, fear of God, fear of so much.

This latter fear disappears completely when the religiousness with its rules is removed. There may be memories, but they no longer induce present fear.

As for the fear from past experiences, this too can dissolve into mere memory by placing it in its proper perspective – past. It is a past event, it does not belong to my present, and certainly not to my future. In my studies of the mind and how thought controls what we do and experience, I have come to realize that I can determine my own outcome. Even if things go apparently wrong there is always a positive experience and lesson to be learned, which will make the next experience more enriching.

I do not agree that fear is a natural self-defense mechanism. Fear is an illness based on a lack of faith in the Divine. That Force, when recognized removes all fear. It is not a force to be feared, as taught in our religions, but a Force to be welcomed and lived out in our own lives.

The faith reminds me that the future holds whatever I desire. So if my view of the future is fearful, so be it. However, if my view of the future is something wonderful and desirable, then so be that also.

This gets into metaphysics and how the energy of thought influences the energies of life. Be it simply stated that fear, based on how one sees the past and the future, can be eliminated. It is a matter of changing one’s perspective. Stand on a mountain top and the vast city below looks like an insect colony. The city hasn’t shrunk, but my perspective of the city has changed.
It is the same with whatever we find fearful. Take a different viewpoint and the fear becomes an interesting lesson. Fear paralyzes, knowledge empowers. It is knowing what the thing is that has caused fear and knowing that I am a channel for Divine energy. How I channel that energy depends on my perspective, my attitude and my intentions.

When next you face fear, take a step back and look at the fear. What is it you are fearing, a past recollection, or a future fantasy? For that is all it is. So many worry about what has not happened. Why not instead put that energy into seeing a positive and desirable outcome? Fear is only a figment of your imagination. Use your imagination to dispel it and imagine a bright future for yourself.

Rule 1. The Thumb: Take a hike – Get out for a walk – Take a 10 minute or even a 10 second break.
This gives you the chance to calm down or think before you react. It is always better think before you respond, rather than react.

Rule 2. The Pointer: Remember that when you point to accuse someone that 3 fingers are pointing back. Usually when someone accuses, they say a lot about themselves.

Rule 3. Middle Finger: Show no aggression. Avoid harse words. Again it is good to think before speaking.

Rule 4. Ring Finger: Remember the love bond. Respect your relationship, whatever it is, with the person you are in conflict with. Is it really worth it to stress your point of view or insist on you being right?

Rule 5. Little Finger: The pinky – don’t make mountains out of moalhills - Don’t fight over little things.

.

As I write this column on January 1, 2008, the film that has garnered almost every film critic group’s nod as the best film of 2007 is NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, which centers around one of the nastiest, most vicious, and soulless serial killers ever depicted on screen.

Read the article for yourself at http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com/scc/p/FAVORITE-FILMS-OF-2007.

What do you think? Are our modern day movies depicting unnecessary violence?

Can you put the change that must be made into one sentence?

I already have several times.
You must stop seeing God as separate from you, and you as separate from each other.”

“The Complete Conversations with God. An uncommen dialogue”, by Neale Donald Walsh, Book 2, ch.13, p.340-341.

The Complete Conversations with God (Boxed Set)

And with this I wish you all a Happy Holiday and a new dream for 2008.