AND PEACE TO YOU

There was loud thunder rumblings about Midnight and flashes of light, but no rain until early Morning. It sounded like it was really coming down but according to the rain gauge we got less than one half inch. It was bright Sunshine when I got up, it lasted about an hour and then clouded up. The Sun peaks through occasionally.

I am getting a late start. It is already 11:30 AM. I have been having constant reminders that the most important thing I can do for myself and the world is to maintain peace.

We are going through a chaotic period both globally and nationally. The energy emitted sometimes is quite negative. If we let it, this energy affects our personal life, at both an individual and relationship level. It disturbs our peace.

Peace is crucial. Without peace we cannot feel love. Without peace our love stays bottled up. Without peace we cannot create. Without peace we stay stuck in a gloomy world we don't want.

We value peace, but sometimes at a conscious level, we forget how important it is. We love our emotions, and sometimes we are happy to indulge them, even when it disturbs our peace. How many times have we got riled up by a chance remark? How may times have we got carried away when our feelings got hurt? How many times have we engaged with someone, when we could tell by how we were feeling, that it was likely a mistake? Add to this list, how you contribute to disturbing your peace.

We might say, “We can't control our emotions.” Who is going to, then? Is it always necessary to let each of our emotions carry us to perdition? I have learned for myself, that I don't have to indulge in every emotion that flows through my being. I certainly am not successful all the time, but I make continuous progress.

The first step for me was to recognize and value the importance of being peaceful. There is no happiness without peace. Peace is the very foundation of the enjoyment of life. With peace, we can be joyous, loving, exuberant, and live life fully. Finding a base line of peace in our consciousness and maintaining it keeps out negativity.

I think we need to see how important this is at an intellectual level. When we recognize that, we can form an intent to bring more peace into our lives. Perhaps, I should not say 'bring peace into our lives', because the peace is already there. We are all peaceful at our center. It is the doubts about ourselves, and a whole mis-mash of unloving ideas we have taken on about ourselves, that keep us from realizing our peace.

So again it boils down to loving ourselves. It is very helpful to use some kind of meditation technique, daily, to find peace. I think I mentioned it in my last blog, imagining and emerging ourselves in a marinade of unconditional love. Let it soak into every cell of our bodies and every corpuscle of our minds.

When we develop an intent to maintain peace, we learn to catch ourselves, before reacting to an incoming hurtful message, and we can separate ourselves from the interaction. We can know, anything negative coming towards us, belongs to the source, not us. It cannot be a comment on us because we don't own it. The comment comes out of the sources craziness, not ours. It is all a painful way to ask for love. When we can recognize that, we can ignore the comment and send them love silently.

Learning to do this takes practice. We will fail many times. However, it is never to late to catch ourselves and stop where we were heading. Practice, practice, practice.

I know that I am not bringing peace, to a peace starved world, when I am not peaceful.

I want to experience a peaceful world. I know I have to start with myself.

When we are peaceful, we bless the world. We can do it. We will do it.

Love and Peace, Gregg

A RAINY DAY

I lost my blog and need to start over. I used to do this and it was a mystery and usually disturbing. Now I use a program that makes it almost impossible. With a modicum of idiocy I figured out how do do it.

No big deal. It is a rainy day and I don't have anything else I would rather do. My procrastination period is over for now. I did the last two big things that were bugging me. The rainy day gives me a vacation from thinking about the many other things that could be done. I planted the amaryllis yesterday and got oyster shell set up for my chickens. We were getting a lot of eggs with fragile shells; oyster shell, which is rich in calcium, usually cures the problem. Egg laying mash has calcium added, but I can't buy it, except from big-ag companies. I don't trust what is in their feed. I buy from a local mill. They don't make egg mash, but they do make up a fifteen percent protein feed that works. It is also fed to pigs. Our old biddies are doing well. We got a dozen eggs yesterday. We have about twenty hens.

Our chickens have the whole world to roam around in. They don't need to be fed at all in the Summer. For years we didn't, and I think they were healthier foraging for themselves. However, they were a little more pesky in the gardens. I don't remember what our egg production was like then. That was when we were living off the land and money was a very short item. I am into indulging them now.

I don't feel like I have anything to say. At least, not anything I haven't said many times before. What is happening, as reflected by the media, is dehumanizing. I can't believe the world can be that crazy. This health care fiasco is disheartening. How can people think we shouldn't take care of each other?

I always thought health care was a right, just like education. I thought we would have come to our senses, years ago, with the rest of the world. It is amazing that people can put an ideology ahead of meeting peoples basic needs. The pretense that money is a problem would be funny if it wasn't so ridiculous. We can print out trillions to save the banks and there is an unending supply of money to supply arms to kill off people in strange lands, but we can't afford to take care of own people when they're sick!?

And health care is just one example of our absurdity. I know we are waking up and I know that people are not as crazy as the media would have us believe. I can only look around in my own little bubble of what we think of as reality. Some of the folks I know are, interestingly weird; but we are not crazy.

It is hard to escape the vibrations from the craziness. I find myself sinking into a meditative state frequently. I can find a deep sense of peace by closing my eyes and emptying my mind. At my age, this is sometimes nap time; I can use several short naps a day.

As usual, we can only work on ourselves. As we are waiting for the darkness to lift, we can remove all traces of darkness from ourselves. I know we have been doing that right along. It is helpful to make a point of sitting down everyday and looking over our consciousness. We need to forgive ourselves and everyone else. We need to check ourselves out; are we judging anybody, are we harboring any resentments, are we wishing everyone well, are we judging ourselves?

This exercise is not meant to be self-critical. Just observe and let go. We need to accept and love ourselves just the way we are. Criticizing ourselves, when we fall back into judgement of self or others, merely creates more judgement. Just see what is, if we don't like the thought or feeling, we can let it go without further comment.

The best exercise is just focusing on love and the negatives will float away, on their own, if it is our intent. We can close our eyes and imagine ourselves marinating in unconditional love. With every breath the oxygen, we take in binds with unconditional love, and is carried in our blood stream to every cell in our body. Our bodies radiate love, our minds can only know love. When we love ourselves we love everybody. When we are doing this exercise, we can begin to realize, we are everybody and everybody is us.

Yes, paradise has to begin with each of us. It is happening.

Love and Peace, Gregg

NATURE HEALS

It was 46 F when I went to bed last night. Cold for this time of year. It has been colder, but it is rare. I remember it freezing on June 21^st. It was 1992. It got down to 39 in the cities, but many areas of Minnesota had frost. It is almost 10:30 and it is only 64.7.

My procrastination continues, although I am making some progress. I usually plant my Amaryllis in the garden for the Summer. This year we are not having a garden and Jamie wants to cover it with a heavy mulch to keep the weeds down. It is such a lush year that the weeds are already knee high. I have been casting around for a place to plant them. I have had a few ideas but they haven't activated the body. In the meantime my Amaryllis sit on the front porch in their pots.

Speaking of lush years, my pastures are growing like crazy. I could use twenty more sheep to keep them grazed. I still haven't decided on what I am going to do.

I don't know what to write about. I have no faith in my ability to see the future. We have been seeing the light increase in the world for some time. We have been expecting the dark forces of the Earth to retreat for several years. And I think they have; but the chaos they are creating on their way out is extreme. If we look at it, too much, we get depressed. It is so awful!

We have the ability to ignore it, and live our lives in peace, and be loving and kind to each other. However, the drama is seductive. It is sometimes amusing; other times, fear provoking. I recommend we ignore it; but I don't practice what I preach. It is like a bad movie, we can't stop watching. Paying attention to the craziness, can have long lasting affects on our consciousness. I don't actually pay attention to it that much, but it is there in some corner of my mind.

We spend a lot of time outside, sometimes just sitting on the deck. The energy the Earth is giving off, right now, is spectacular. Everything is so intensely lush and beautiful AND VERY HEALING. It just takes a few minutes to rid oneself of the worlds contamination. Sitting outside, absorbing natures energy, is like taking a cleansing shower.

Great times of change can be unsettling. I know everything is okay. The awakening is happening on schedule.

Emerging ourselves in Nature is healing and grounding. The more we do it the easier will be the transition. Although we don't have a garden this year, we have many yard and farm chores to keep us occupied outside. I notice our perennial gardens could use some help.

Speaking of the perennial gardens. I mentioned earlier that we have raised chicken for over forty years, and for most of that time, we also, had many Hostas. This year, for some reason, the chickens started eating the Hostas. They did so much damage to one of them, I needed to screen it to keep it alive. A week or so ago, they started to let up on their Hosta eating. Yesterday, I noted a deer decided to dine on Hostas. He or she reduced three huge Hostas to less than half their size. Unlike my knowledge of chickens, I knew deer would eat Hostas. They have nibbled on them before. Never, however, to this extent. To add to the mystery of animal dining, deer have been terrorizing my young apple trees for the last four or five years {they left them alone for the previous twenty years} suddenly, this year, there has been no deer damage.

I have observed many cycles of Nature in my lifetime. Interesting. There are some that are worth mentioning. It will have to wait for a future blog. I think Jamie wants me to go the Amish with her to get milk and I should do the dishes first.

Love and Peace, Gregg

THE REAL WORLD

 

Another amazingly beautiful Morning on Planet Earth. I know there is more to Planet Earth than I can view from my window and I would hope everybody's experience is similar. The portion of the Earth, where Laughing Water Farm resides, has been more lush and beautiful this year, than I have ever experienced.

Jamie and I don't get very far afield in our travels. We generally travel in an area that doesn't exceed 25 miles in any direction. Going any further is a trip. So I don't know what it is like outside our bubble. However, we have never seen a world more lush. Everything is exploding with energy. Has it ever been greener!? And the flowers, earlier the lilacs showed a splendor I haven't seen before. The shrub roses were and continue to bloom with abandon. The peonies have been outstanding. Oh, I don't want to forget the magnificence of the flowering trees, this year, they were just loaded with bloom. Now, I notice the Catalpas are exploding. We go for a little ride almost every day and we are almost overcome with the beauty of the world.

It is not just the flora. The animals seem to be showing themselves. We have seen baby turkeys, pheasants, many flocks of baby geese and we see fawns frequently. Thursday, on our way to Mora, about a mile from home, we encountered three fawns standing in the road. We had to stop as they wouldn't move. I doubt if they were more than a week old. Mommy must have been the woods nearby. We didn't mind waiting while they made up their minds which way they were going to go.

I don't know if it was perfectly timed rain and the right temperatures; something seems to be different. How could the world, I experience personally, so differ from the world seen in the media?

I am not immune to the anguish of the world. The anguish of the world, as seen by the media, is not the real world. It can't be. The people I meet everyday are sane. Most are happy and pursue their lives joyfully. It is true if you go beyond the outside layers, we discover folks are troubled. Most the folks, I know, have some anguish, hidden or not so hidden.

The unreal world [the world of conflict, divisiveness, inequality] generates a negativity that sometimes floods our minds. It acts as a magnifier and makes what are usually small problems seem huge. My life is about as perfect as a life can be. I live in a beautiful house, in beautiful surroundings {actually paradise}. I have enough money, I have great food. I am in good health for an old codger. I couldn't ask for a better life. Yet, I can suffer the anguish of the world. At the best of times, it seems, like there is a waiting, for the other shoe to drop. And we don't know what the other shoe might be.

I know, I am not helping myself or helping the world, by letting the unreal world, create any anguish in my being. I can generally find a place of peace and love inside and I do retreat to it daily. I know it is very important to stay grounded in the real world [the one of love and peace].

I know it is hard to keep our noses out of the idiot box, I, too, am curious how this strange sci-fi flick is going to turn out, and when it is not horrible, it is amusing.

Remember, we are creators and we grow what we give our attention [with feelings] to.

Actually we cannot fail to bring in a loving world. We are more love than fear. Even when we are most miserable, we are more love than fear. We can, however, delay our awareness of the real world. The more we can give up our anguish and embrace love the sooner we will experience the real world of love, peace and joy.

Happy Friday everyone! Let's celebrate!

Love and Peace, Gregg

SUMMER SOLSTICE

 

It is another spectacular day on Planet Earth! The weather is near perfect. We have a string of days, with the highs in the low seventies F and cool nights, perfect for sleeping. It is a wonderful way to celebrate the Summer Solstice and that is the way it is on Laughing Water Farm.

I don't know what to write today. Well, nothing unusual about that. Today I am preoccupied, by the awareness, of how many things I need to do. Just little things that I have neglected to do. I had, yesterday, slated to be my catch-up day. However, the gentleman from the repair shop was scheduled to pick up my lawn tractor. I thought he was coming in the Morning, he didn't get here until Afternoon. I used the excuse to procrastinate. I didn't do any of the scheduled things.

I have learned to deal with procrastination by doing things when they come into my mind. Yesterday, I was giving myself the day off. Of course, if I was completely successful, with dealing with procrastination, I wouldn't need a catch-up day.

The young man who was helping with chores, like cutting down dead trees and some fencing projects, is moving to Duluth. I had plans to utilize his skills all Summer. He did get the most important things done.

I am at a point in my life where I can't look into the future. I mean, less that usual. I have no objection to just living in the moment. However, at this moment I would like to get more sheep but I don't know if I will be able to deal with whatever work it entails. There are things now, I can no longer do, with the ease that I once had. I have a barn and chicken coop that need to be cleaned out. These are two tasks I had hoped to accomplish with my handyman.

The bodies aging is kind of a mysterious thing. Sitting here, it seems like I could do anything. Then I move my body do do something; shovel manure, weed a garden, walk up or down stairs carrying something, and I am suddenly old. And, sometimes I can be very old indeed.

Accepting mortality, in terms of disintegration of body function, is much harder than death. At least, I think it is. I am not there yet. I can still do everything, just slower. The risk of falling down, which I have done frequently all my life, suddenly becomes more serious. That is what statistics say. I don't seem to get hurt. I just worry about getting up. I fell down, the other day, in the chicken coop, reaching for an egg laid, in a corner just beyond my reach, I don't get hurt. I do have to find ways I can pull myself up. Suffice to say, that I am at a point in my life where things are likely to change. That is okay. I don't really mind. I will be happy, no matter what happens.

I have discovered that happiness is a decision I make. I will be in love with life regardless of what happens.

I am going to start on my list of neglected chores.

Be happy!

Love and Peace, Gregg

OUR MINDS VII

 

It is cool, only 69.4 F at 10:22 AM. It is not horribly unusual for this time of year but it seems chilly after the 80s and 90s last week. It started cooling off yesterday and the highs will be in the low seventies all week.

I gave myself the Father's Day present of getting my lawn mowed. Just before completing the task my mower went ker-plunk. It suddenly wouldn't move. It looks like something just disconnected. I called the tractor people and they are coming out tomorrow to pick it up. Hopefully I will get it back before it grows a foot. My lawn is broken up into about six segments, but it must total about 2 acres. There is a large section I could convert into pasture but I have apple trees growing there. I need to figure an easy way to protect the trees from the sheep. Sheep are inconsistent in some of their dietary habits. They can be around an apple tree for years, and leave it alone, and then one day find the bark is tasty. They will eat the leaves as high as they can reach.

The media, both mainstream and alternate, is really inviting us to be crazy. We are constantly invited to take sides. We are constantly invited to invest our energy in one cause or another. We are encouraged to join the fight. In what world has fighting solved anything?

I don't think the world has ever been so blatantly crazy, as it seems right now. It can be depressing. It doesn't have to be.

On this planet we have the constant choices between opposites. The light and the dark; love and fear; good and evil; war and peace; etc. Indulging in war can't bring peace. We can't use the negative to achieve the positive.

As individuals we are constantly invited to choose between some form of darkness and light. The distinction is not always clear. However, whatever choice we make encourages more of the same. Darkness always brings more darkness and light brings more light.

So we want to change the world. We can't do it by picking fights or joining a fight in progress. We can do it by extending peace. We can do it by radiating love.

The world is made up of a collection of minds. Each mind has the power to influence all other minds. As they stand, each mind has equal power. However, most people have given, part or all of their minds, over to some idea or ideology, thus giving up their power to those, who would use the energy of their minds, for their own purposes. Thus, folks can feel helpless about controlling events, without realizing they have given up their choices to others. War would be impossible without the acquiescence of minds.

We need to be very careful about how our minds are being used. Don't jump into any fray no matter how worthy it seems. Look, does it engender conflict? Does it add to the love and peace of the world or doubt and fear? We are always making a choice in our minds between some form of love and fear.

We need to separate ourselves from the world drama. We must resist all attempts to be led into camps with labels on them. Labels almost always imply beliefs. Beliefs almost always imply trust in an authority or an ideology. The dark have been using our minds for untold generations for their own purposes. Their purpose always includes, their wealth and power, and their tool is divisiveness {the denial of Oneness} which leads to war and conflict.

We can not gain the world we want by using their devices. We must avoid creating more divisiveness.

The best way is to start with ourselves. Are we sovereign individuals capable of thinking for ourselves? Have we rid ourselves of all the extraneous beliefs we have absorbed from our upbringing etc. Have we been successful at resisting labeling and group-think?

One uncluttered mind radiating love is more powerful than a thousand conflicted minds.

We can only change the world with love. We can join the love that is flowing through the world right now. With every smile, with every laugh, with every sparkle of our eyes we add to the light.

We are works in progress. I don't know if there is anyone on earth, at this moment, who has a completely uncluttered mind. But, all of us, can have an uncluttered mind for a moment. All that we need to do is have the conscious intent to be loving and we have already helped. Remember moment by moment choose love in every situation.

We have the power, a world of love is emerging.

Love and Peace, Gregg

SHENANIGANS

It is a cloudy, cool day. It is supposed to in the 80s this afternoon. It is 71.9 F right now [outside] but it is cooler in the house.

I am almost free of the itch. What a strange thing! I have lived over 82 years on planet Earth and I never before had a severe allergic reaction. Many people may not think of the reaction, I had, as severe, as it only deprived me of one night's good sleep. I slept pretty good Wednesday night and perfectly last night. I had the help of Jamie's homemade salve of coconut oil infused with frankincense. Allergies are sprinkled fairly commonly in my family, both close family and extended. I have been one of the fortunate ones. I don't believe in accidents, so I wonder what I needed to learn from this experience. Perhaps, I need to learn a little more appreciation and compassion for others. I had more of a reaction than just an itchy rash, my left ankle [which was one of the locales for the rash] swelled up to twice its size for example. And, there were things, I will refrain from mentioning.

That is the second bizarre health incident I have had in the last few months. Let that be the end of it. At least, it helps me appreciate, what a healthy specimen I have been all my life. Indeed, I am thankful! I think, I have yet to visit a doctor, for the tenth time in my entire life. Well, when I think about it, it is probably more than that. Not much more.

I have been thinking of things all week to write about and now none of it comes to mind. I have been wondering why the recent Russian bashing. We are criticizing Russia for alleged interference in our elections? How hypocritical can we get! We have been interfering in other countries elections for the last 50 years or more. Our interference is far more heavy handed than a little computer hacking. Look it up, the information is not hidden. It is one of the favorite practices of the CIA.

But what puzzles me most is why the Democrats joined the fray with such fervor. Traditionally, they have not been nearly as anti-Russian, as the Republicans. It is as if the parties switched sides over night. Are the Democrats just looking for a scapegoat? Are they that bitter over Hillary's loss? If they are after Trump, why are they choosing this route? It is very doubtful they will find anything substantial. Obstruction of justice can be made out of an accumulation of minor missteps. Do we want to do that? In the meantime, Trump and his more conservative colleagues, are pushing through an extremely destructive agenda and every day Trump reverses progress, whether it be about relations with Cuba, or saving the whales. Behind this smokescreen of anti-Russian sentiment, some horrible things are happening. War is cranking up. Trump has given free range to his generals; innocent civilians are being killed in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and several African countries.

 

In some cases it is empire building, and in others, corporate theft of the countries mineral wealth. Why isn't the media paying attention to this?

What has further puzzled me; why have the major networks been taking on the Democratic side? They have never done that in my lifetime before. In my experience they have always backed the Republicans. There have been exceptions, but this situation is rare. Even during the worst of the Nixon fiasco, the media did not really desert the Republicans.

What are they fomenting? Why this sudden anti-Russian sentiment? Is it really over election tampering? Listen and read carefully, most of what has been said is hot air. What is substantive, could have been done by a fourteen year old in a Moscow basement. This is a smoke screen. For what?

Yesterday, the Senate voted 90 to 2 to put sanctions on Russia and Iran. The excuse for Russia was election tampering. The sanctions against Russia are geared to prevent them from selling natural gas to Europe. It turns out that American companies have been salivating to sell, their excess gas, gained through fracking. It would be far more expensive for the Europeans as the gas would have to be compressed and shipped in tanker ships. Pipe lines are much, much cheaper. The Europeans have been made aware of this strategy and it will probably backfire.

Could this be the whole reason for this election hacking silliness? Has this huge media push been orchestrated by those in the energy/banking industries. Did they seduce the Democrats into believing they had a just cause? The Republicans were already in their corner and the Trump administration is heavily populated by folks from the energy industry.

Things can't be hidden anymore. More and more of the shenanigans of the Cabal are going to be exposed. They are masters at forming public opinions. People are becoming more and more discerning. They will be fooled for a little while, especially, when they have the major talk show hosts, going along for the ride. I don't think the talk show hosts are in on the game. I think they are seduced by their outrage of the Trump phenomena and, hey, it is good for a laugh. No president has ever given comedians such a rich source of material.

I have been an interested observer for the most part. I just watch. I don't get excited. I know this has to play itself out. The craziness has to come to the surface. It will be skimmed off the boiling pot, by the raising of humanities consciousness.

If we keep our noses out of the idiot box we will note the increase in love. We can see it in our neighbors. It is everywhere. The world is a remarkable place and we are reclaiming it from the dark ones. Bless the world and everyone in it.

Have a great Friday! Celebrate!

Love and Peace, Gregg

THE BIG ITCH

Another beautiful Morning on Laughing Water Farm. We had a magnificent thunder storm in the middle of the night. We got just shy of two inches of rain.

I should be very tired. I only had a couple hours sleep last night. Actually, I feel pretty good, except for the horrible itch I have on my back, right above my belt line. I have never had such a horrible itch.

The story. I was seeing articles promoting turmeric as something good for what ails folks. It is supposed to help with inflammation. My right shoulder has been chronically sore for years and I don't think it is arthritis. Sometimes I have a hard time raising my arm above my head and I can't scratch my back. I have to be careful how I sleep and it often causes pain in the night. I thought, maybe turmeric would help, as I read testimonies to that effect.

We had some. I used it for a week until in ran out. It may have been my imagination, but I felt it helped a little. I showed Jamie the empty bottle and she said she had a formula, that was the same thing, only much stronger. I took a couple yesterday afternoon. By Evening every place that itches, once in awhile, ankles etc., were suddenly itching with burning intensity. I had no doubt it was caused by this more powerful turmeric formulation. Yep, Jamie looked it up on the internet, sure enough, turmeric can cause itching.

Back in the sixties and late seventies, I experimented with hypnosis and self-hypnosis. I learned to distance myself from itches and minor pains and I could go to sleep in most situations. Last night was an exception. I itched several places on my body and I could ignore most of them; but the itch on my back, just above my hips, was torturous. And it still is. Jamie applied some cortisone cream, a couple hours ago, and I think it made it worse.

Oh well, time will cure it.

Well I took a little break and contemplated whether I could continue writing. I decided not to. I don't think I can come up with anything profound when I itch all over.

A word of advice; there is no such thing as 'just an herb', be cautious. Do some research. Herbs are drugs too; or, at least, the original basis for drugs.

I hope to be itchless on Friday.

Love and Peace, Gregg

ON THE JOURNEY

It is an absolutely gorgeous Morning on Laughing Water Farm! Fortunately, yesterday's storm did no damage here. We got an inch of rain which was welcome. It is 75 F and the Sun is bright, perfect. The peonies are about to burst into bloom. They were a little battered by the wind, but they will be okay. In general, the flower gardens are in fine shape.

The gardens need weeding and I need to get out the weed whip and cut down the grass that has grown over the rocks on the borders. It will get done.

We are not having a vegetable garden this year. Jamie tried, but her shoulder gave her too much trouble. She dis-located it, in a fall, last year and it hasn't healed sufficiently yet. Then there is the age related stuff. When I am sitting here at the computer I have no sense of age; I feel I could do anything. But when I try to get my body to do things, it is a different story.

In the future I will write about the difference in accepting death and accepting mortality. Accepting death is simply getting over the fear of it. Accepting you are mortal, includes accepting what happens to the body as we age. I am not afraid of death and I don't mind the idea of being old. However, when being old means accepting body deterioration, we're talking a different kettle of fish. That is a discussion for the future.

I don't know what I want to discuss today. Sometimes I feel I am caught in Limbo. You know Limbo, in Roman Catholic theology the place where you go between Heaven and Hell. Your not bad enough to go to Hell, but you are not ready for Heaven. {or is that purgatory- one of them you are not worthy yet, and the other, you are not quite qualified} It may all be nonsense, but sometimes I feel that way in my spiritual/psychological evolution.

I have the intent to be loving at all times. I have the intent to keep my mind free of negativity. I have the intent to be in the 'now' without thought of the past or the future. For moments it is my experience. But then.........................

In my Our Mind series, as in all my writings, I am attempting to teach myself. I am a persistent seeker of sanity. I am pretty sure what is insane [fear and lack of love] and I am pretty sure what is sane [love, peace and joy].

Yet in our intent to be in one place and not the other, we struggle, we bounce between heaven and hell way to frequently. We learn from our teachers that we cannot struggle. We must accept. Just surrender to the love around us. It sounds so easy. And it is, at the moment I am writing this, I can feel I am basking in Unconditional Love. It is great. Everything is perfect. But I can get up from this chair and walk in the other room, and somebody can say something, which will cause my mind to cloud up or worse.

All our paths are different but I suspect most of us do a lot of forward motion and then backslide, perhaps minute by minute. I am not pessimistic I know I will make it and I know all of you will too. A mind filled with peace is our goal and our reality.

Perhaps we need to accept our path is like that, we find ourselves in heaven, then later, we are dangling over the pits. May our stays in heaven be longer. Will I be writing anymore when I realize my intent to always be peaceful?

Anyway, HAPPY MONDAY!

We can always choose love.

Love and Peace, Gregg

OUR MINDS VI

 

Yes, Summer is here indeed. It is cool and gorgeous right now; it is supposed to get close to a 100 F tomorrow. I hope not. We have air conditioning as part of our ground source thermal system, but we don't like using it, and if it will get cool at night, we won't. We love having the house open to the outdoors.

Trying to keep our minds free from destructive thinking is not a simple thing. It is a simple concept, doing it however, isn't. When we focus on freeing our mind, our ego becomes alert to the idea, it may be losing its position, as controller. The ego will throw up all sorts of memories of past incidents, yours or others, that caused pain. It will try to inflame every little fear we have in our consciousness. We cannot do battle with our egos. We cannot take over our minds by force.

So, paradoxically, when we realize we need to free ourselves of negative thinking, we might set ourselves up for an influx of negative thought. When we keep our intent, to have only loving thoughts, we will pass through this period soon. We will discover that we don't need to pay attention to any negative thought. We are better off not dealing with them at all, except to let them drift away. We learn to just bring our mind back to love. We cannot do battle. We can end all war and we can begin with our mind.

The word surrender is used in spiritual literature. I think it may be poorly understood. It is not giving in. It is not giving up. It is realizing that fighting will not get you where you want to be. Imagine we are always surrounded by love, an energy we won't acknowledge; imagine acknowledging it and letting it envelope us. In the literature it is called surrendering to your higher self or God. The Buddhist have another word for it, that escapes me for the moment. I suspect most religions have a similar construct.

When we can separate ourselves from our own ego battles and thus everyone else's, we recognizes everyone is on their own path of discovery. We don't have to intervene in someone's path unless they request it. We become observers. Our greatest help is extending our love to all we meet. Seeing through a persons ego facade and seeing the loving being within can be the greatest gift we can give.

Once we remove ourselves from the ranks of combatants and become observers, we can see where we can be of greatest help.

As we look out on the world, via the various medias, we see endless conflict and division. It can be greatly amusing or disturbing, it is certainly a world of clowns. We don't have to add our minds to the fray. Know that all those we see, are learning at the pace they are at. We are all on the path of discovering, there is nothing but love. Some are going the wrong direction, they are learning the hard way. We have all done some learning the hard way. Many of our paths have gone through brambles and thorns. I know I have. It is no fun.

Let us be observers. Let our hearts be full of compassion. Let our minds be glowing with love. That is how we help.

Love and Peace, Gregg

SUMMER IS HERE!

 

Summer is here! Well it is Minnesota. I suppose it could retreat again. But for now, it looks like it is here to stay. How come bugs so often end up in the sink? How do they get into the house? Are they looking for water? There was one in the sink this morning struggling to climb up the stainless steel sides. As always, I rescued it. When I released it outside I discovered it bit me, or it felt more like a sting. I ran into this creature before. As I was carrying it out I was vaguely aware it could sting or bite. It was slim, somewhat wasplike, but more beetleish about 3/4 inch long. Life on planet Earth. I make no metaphorical interpretations.

It is an absolutely beautiful Morning.

Something came up that necessitates my attention. I don't think I will be able to finish this blog today.

Friday, I will continue the Our Minds series.

Love and Peace, Gregg

HAPPY MONDAY!

Monday Morning! Of course, Mondays don't mean the same to us retired folks as it does to the working stiffs. Yes, I remember, it has been seventeen years, though. It is hard to believe I have been retired that long. The truth is, I didn't mind Mondays that much. Oh, there may have been a little pang on Sunday night, but the jobs I had were so social. On Monday morning I could reconnect with my colleagues and hear the adventures they had over the weekend. Yet, there were those Monday Morning meetings, frequently.

Well we had a good weekend! The weather was great, perhaps a little hotter than we are used to. Elijah and Naomi were here much of the time. Elijah is still here and adding light to our lives. We had a great evening, the weather had cooled off a bit, and it was perfect for dining on the deck. It has cooled off considerably today, it is only 66.5 F.

Our house abuts the North pasture and now that we have the pastures connected I can look out my North window and see the sheep when they are over here. They like being near people so they can baaa at them. I throw the kitchen scraps to the chickens and the sheep feel they need to get in on it. Sheep have, more in common, with pigs than one would think. Every time they see me, they think, I might be bringing them a treat, so they greet me with loud baas.

We don't have as many sheep as we need to keep the pastures down. They are getting overgrown and the season has just started. I would like more sheep. Do I really want more sheep? I am beginning to be aware, that I am in my 83^rd year on planet Earth. Can I handle the work more sheep might bring? I have given the question to the Universe.

Speaking of work, I have a lot of pruning to do. We have an ornamental cherry [or plum] that has lost limbs. From what, I don't know. I noticed that it has the scars, of suffering sun scald, when it was young. Our lilacs could use some old branches cut out and one needs to be shaped. There are black walnuts growing where they will be a nuisance and need to be removed. Lots of other little landscaping chores.

I have a neighbor lad cutting up an old Sugar Maple that died. He is a much valued handyman, but some of the more nuanced chores, I need to do.

I will probably get back to the “Our Minds” discussion. When I don't know. Right now I just want to avoid the craziness. The main stream media portrays a world gone absolutely mad. There are folks, that I attributed with a modicum of common sense, who have embraced causes and ideas that do not have any intellectual structure, and they seem to be going off the deep end. It is, as if, politicians and other notables, have decided to join the cast of a huge farce. At least I hope they are only acting.

On the other hand, most the folks around me seem to be level headed and just enjoying their lives. Oh, a few get lost in a cause now and then, but for the most part sanity reigns. Most of us, seem to understand, that we just need to love each other and be happy.

I think the craziness of the MSM, creates a negative energy, that makes it harder to keep negative thinking at bay. I think it is true for me. I always said, that I could watch TV news and it didn't affect me much. I don't think so now. I find it easier to avoid destructive thinking when I keep the idiot box off.

We will get through this just fine. The World needs our light. We need to hold our love light high. To do this we need to keep our minds clear of negative thinking. Look for the awakening among your friends and relatives. It is happening. We are beginning to see, that except for the craziness, we are living in paradise. What is the craziness? Anything that is not love. What else is there to do but love each other and take care of each other?

It is a Happy Monday!

Love and Peace, Gregg

A CELEBRATION

It's almost Noon. I am getting a very late start. A good thing is that I have already done the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. We were celebrating last night. What were we celebrating? Hmmmmmm..... well it was the second day in a row of Summer weather; Elijah and Naomi were visiting; it was Elijah's last day of school; but more importantly, we just felt like celebrating.

We spent most of the time outside. We burnt a pile of sticks, collected from the lawn in our fire pit, when the fire died dawn, we migrated to the deck. We ate supper on the deck and stayed out after dusk, when Minnesota's unofficial bird started to probe us with its beak; we repaired to the screen porch. I don't mean the official Minnesota bird, the loon. I mean those six-legged, winged creatures with vampire like appetites.

It seems to be a little early for mosquitoes. They were not real bad. Some heartier souls may not have minded them. Those of us, with bare ankles, seemed most vulnerable. It has been an unusual Spring. It was slow to start. It was colder than normal. It was rainy. But the Summer days interspersed with the unpleasant ones, were warmer than normal and seemed to encourage the most luxurious growth I have ever seen. Jamie and I go for a ride through the countryside and are just in awe of what we experience. The energy of the awakening Earth is amazing. Amazing doesn't even cover it. I don't know if it is me, or it is really that phenomenal.

This is the third day in a row of Summer weather. It is 81.6 F right now.

Perhaps it is wishful thinking on my part, but I think if we look beyond the surface craziness of our world, we will see the dawning of paradise breaking out. By paradise, I mean a world where all our decisions are made with love. It is not difficult to imagine. All that we have to do is love each other, simple right? We live on a magnificent planet. She gives us everything we need. What are we waiting for?

I meant this to be a short blog, to say why I wasn't blogging, and I just have been reminded we have company.

Happy Friday everyone! Celebrate!

Love and Peace, Gregg