Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.
–Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Category Archives: Humanities
Eyes & Soul
The eyes are given to see;
the soul to see further.–Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid `Inayat Khan
From: A Meditation Theme for Each Day
Selected and arranged by Hazrat Pir Vilayat `Inayat Khan
SpongeBob & FOTF
Inundated
I have been completely engulfed by my new job as an academic coach and supervisor. The job is an intense learning experience; it’s challenging all my conceptions of control and chaos. I like some of it, and some parts I dislike intensely. This is a good sign.
What this means, though, is I have been struggling to keep up with the rest of my life. Reading for pleasure is on hold at the moment. Exercise, however, is not. Writing is also on hold. I believe this program, once it’s running on all cylinders, will leave me time for these other activities.
On a more personal note, my future father-in-law continues to fight for his life. His is a grim battle. The type of cancer he has is rare and insidious. So when I’m not working, or doing life tasks such as buying food and going to the bank, my energy is absorbed by this concern.
One quick note, however. If you’re looking for a compendium of worthwhile blogs, check out DeepBlog. They’ve got quite a smorgasbord of good links, and I’m honored to one among them. They write:
Beyond popularity, DeepBlog.com investigates every site for content, insight, fascination, uniqueness, and usability in order to highlight quality sites for quality time.
DeepBlog is a simple way for blog newcomers to get accquainted with great bloggers and savvy professionals to quickly find everything blog.
~ Support Citizen Journalism ~
Enjoy!
Do Not Pray
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.
–Phillips Brooks
Stillness Speaks
Let us accept the invitation, ever-open, from the Stillness, taste its exquisite sweetness, and heed its silent instruction.
–Paul Brunton, Perspectives
Woven
Heaven and earth are threads from one loom.
–Shaker proverb
Some Things Blogging Does
Euan from The Obvious? provided a peek into a post that asks the question, “What happens when you replace the word blogging with thinking?”
Many bloggers (me included) have raved in our blogs how the simple act of writing a blog does great things to your life and your mind. ThereÂ’s also some big criticisms of blogging being aired in various places too. I’d like to talk about 6 benefits of blogging here and present some counters to the arguments that surround those benefits.
- Blogging helps you to notice what you are noticing in the world and leads you to question why that is.
- Blogging tests your commitment to what you believe your passions are.
- Blogging expands your own and other people’s minds and ultimately contributes to the learning and development of society.
- Blogging removes boundaries and traditional sources of power and introduces a new currency: your thoughts.
- Blogging is about thinking, not necessarily journalism.
- Blogs are the chaff not the wheat. What you post in your blog isn’t necessarily the most important thing, itÂ’s that you’ve done some thinking.
–Claire Chaundy, Organised Chaos
A further discussion of each point can be found at Claire’s blog by clicking on the link. Great stuff to ponder.
SpongeBob SwishyPants?
Oh, please.
SpongeBob – who appears on the children’s cable channel Nickelodeon – is seen as an icon for adult gay men in the US, apparently because he regularly holds hands with his sidekick Patrick.
His creators deny that he is gay, but he is not the first such character to cause controversy.
In 1999 conservatives claimed handbag-carrying Teletubby Tinky Winky, an import from the UK, was a bad role-model.
Oh yes, let’s always label any type of affectionate physical expression between males as taboo so that we can continue to deprive them of a necessary and healthy form of human interaction by pathologizing it. And oh yes, if it’s not a briefcase or backpack, then it must be a purse and therefore a sign of transvestitism (a pastime not limited to gay men). Maybe we can allow a man to carry a diaper bag, but only with a special permit.
BBC news states “…conservatives say it sees the video as a cunning attempt to promote homosexuality.” Don’t those people have something more worthwhile and helpful to do? Such as fighting poverty? Promoting education for all? Wouldn’t that be a better way to “focus on the family?”
Attune Ourselves
A lifetime may not be long enough to attune ourselves fully to the harmony of the universe. But just to become aware that we can resonate with it — that alone can be like waking up from a dream.
–David Steindl-Rast
Can It?
In an article from the UK publication, The Guardian, a report:
The New Yorker reported this week that the Pentagon has already sent special operations teams into Iran to locate possible nuclear weapons sites. The report by Seymour Hersh, a veteran investigative journalist, was played down by the White House and the Pentagon, with comments that stopped short of an outright denial.
However, there are denials coming from the Pentagon, as reported in Express India:
Pentagon’s spokesman Lawrence Dirita said in a statement that the article “is so riddled with errors of fundamental fact that the credibility of his (Hersh) entire piece is destroyed”. …However, the spokesman did not confirm or deny Hersh’s claim that the administration had authorised covert operations against the countries, located in West Asia and South Asia.
Considering all this, I have a question.
Don’t weep for the dead; weep for the brightness in the eyes which is dimmed, for the feeling of love which has withered before its time and for the weeds of hate and revenge which have inherited their place. Can a plant grow on salty soil? Can a nation grow on the soil of fire and sulphur, hate and revenge?
Surprise!
Remember:
There is no surprise more magical than the surprise of being loved.
–Charles Morgan
When you look into a child’s eyes, think of this. And when you look into an adult’s eyes, imagine the child within. Now go to a mirror and look at yourself. That quote applies to you, too. Who loves you? Take a moment to ponder this. Somebody loves you and cares about your well-being and success. Somebody finds you endearing, notices your talents, accepts your quirks. Even if that somebody has died, the love they carried and gave lives yet. When you feel impoverished of love, try to remember this. Then turn around and remember this of all the people you meet — somebody loves them too. Look for the reasons why this might be. You’d be amazed at what you find, and how this affects your perspective of the human race.
The Nature Of Goodness
Writers would have it that heroes and good characters are less interesting than villains and pests because virtue is boring. I’ll agree that that’s often true in stories, or if you’re Dickens, and it may be that this chapter is doomed to fall short of rousing your passionate interest. But in real life, I have to say, I have found authentic goodness magnificent, muscular, tonic, as rare and grand as Yosemite’s El Capitan, a mountain whose magnitude stuns you further when you realize that it is a monolith, one whole, seamless rock. I find absolutely nothing boring about true goodness.
–June Sprigg, Simple Gifts: Lessons in Living from a Shaker Village
More Than Flinging A Coin
We are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside. But one day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
–Martin Luther King Jr.
Speak! Speak!
My friend Tiffany sent a url to an up-and-coming site. I visited, and an issue regarding censorship caught my attention. From the site:
PBS has announced that it will censor two HBO movies in order to avoid the FCCÂ’s wrath, according to a report in Variety.
Sex scenes? Nope. Get a load of this.
The two films in question are “Dirty War,” about a hypothetical dirty bomb attack, and “Sometimes in April,” a film about the Rwandan Genocide.
As a result of PBSÂ’ self-censorship, “Dirty War” will be cleansed of a scene in which a (naked) woman is decontaminated in a shower. (Think “Silkwood,” only post-9/11.)
And the best part – “Sometimes in April” will be stripped of an F-word. No, the curse in question doesnÂ’t come from an angry Rwandan genocide victim. According to Variety, this F-bomb comes from a bit of dialogue on the Senate floor. The scene is the one where Vice President Dick Cheney famously gives Senator Patrick Leahy a friendly suggestion that starts with “go” and ends with “yourself.”
Fearing a backlash from conservative activists, PBS has chosen to censor these scenes. PBS executive Jacoba Atlas is worried that cash-strapped PBS affiliates could be sunk by FCC/right-wing action.
Concerned? Click the link to Speakspeak.org to learn how you can fight censorship. What’s next? Cutting footage in PBS programs of Holocaust victims in the camps because they’re naked? Hmm. The ultra-conservatives would avoid encountering life on its own terms — good, bad, and ugly. Fine — for them. If you don’t like what’s on television, turn it off. But I want to choose for myself, and my taxes support public television programming too. I urge you to write. I intend to.