"Word"

Years ago A number of good people took classes with me using email. A popular class was called "Word."  You may be old enough to remember the "It Pays to Increase Your Word Power" feature in the magazine Readers Digest. "Word" was a just a bit like that feature. "Word" was about definition, meaning, mind, understanding, power, and the like.

The sixty or so students interested in "Word" were of a variety of backgrounds and ages. Ages ranged from the early twenties to the  late seventies with a couple of outliers.

'Love' was a popular word among nearly all of  students. Those email lessons were not love letters, but they were sent with the aim of respectfully nurturing their readers.

Recently while thinning my archives I looked at a transcript of a "Word" lesson that was largely my response to  student responses to an earlier 'love' "Word."

I had been please by enthusiastic student response. Nearly every response mentioned feelings, but nit one mentioned emotions! There was a wide variety of takes on those feelings and their relevance. Most students agreed that there were two or more kinds of love. Words used often were: I, ego, personal, help, action, and sex. No one mentioned drugs or rock and roll. Neither did anyone mention dominance, submission, nurturence, lust, fear, God, mother, child, wife, husband, or country! Go figure. They did mention pleasure and pleasant, but not joy. I remember that nearly every one noted kinds of love without being specific, Some mentioned parts of love with out being specifying any one part. No one mentioned Christ, Jesus or the Bible. All this may say more about student attitude toward email and me than anything else.

I mention these happenings with the thought that I may post on words in the future. 'Agape' may be among those words. Any other suggestions.

Imperfect Affirmations

~ I am ready, willing, and able to learn to refocus now.
~ I am ready, willing, and able to learn to be this season. 
~ I am ready, will, and able to let myself be in the right place now.
~ I am ready, willing and able to learn to honor my parents appropriately now.
~ I am ready to love appropriately now.
~ I am ready, willing and able to learn to expect friendship now.
~ I am ready and willing to practice seeing true sanity here and now.
~ I am ready and willing to practice experiencing true abundance here and now.
~ I propose to expect the best right now.
~ I propose to let the best come to me right here.
~ I propose to approach the best right here.
~ I am ready, willing and able to learn to note and area of my discomfort now.
~ I expect to be very honest with myself now.
~ My preconscious gives me more useful vision now.
~ I am ready and willing to learn to inquire a bit more deeply now.
~ I am ready, willing and able to to learn to let myself be honored this season.
~ I am ready, willing, and able to let myself be celebrated this here and now.

Carriers of Freedom

They knew troubadours and love, death and slavery.

700,000 years ago they had already learned lessons of freedom and beauty in what is now southern France.

Free Greeks from what is now Turkey had settled on that Mediterranean shore by about 600 BC. By 300 BC those free Greeks had met free Irish on their 'emerald island.'

From that same land freedom was carried to North and South America. People of what is now Uruguay and southern Brazil benefited. European freedom embraced Gaucho freedom. Giuseppe Garibaldi helped.

If you sit quietly in rooms below the grasshopper in Boston, it is likely that a spirit will stir you. I believe that what will stir you has a direct connection with the spirit that stirred others 700,000 years ago, 800,000 years ago, 900,000 years ago and farther back than I can imagine.

I takes stories, conversation and action to keep whole that spirit of beauty, love, and freedom.

Beginning from words in this post you can begin to appreciate your connection to Persian, Phoenician, and Arab and others. You may see how a well made thread is stitched through the lives of Adam and Adams as it is stitched through yours. It is a living thread of freedom, beauty, and love.

The Second Longest River: Guess its Name

The reality of water in the US seems to have begun to save the land from careless exploitation. This next to the longest river in the US, for too long, seemed unable to slack the thirst of its exploiters. Now there seems to be growing awareness of the limits and preciousness of the waters of this river. Some lovers of the "Land of Enchantment" are thanking the gods for the awareness that is slowing the march of exploitation.

Far up this long river one can find certain villages. A wise man on the way up toward those villages may keep his eyes open for the 'asequias' for the old mother ditches. They are well made and of time tested design; tested in old world and new. They were loved and cared for. Those 'irrigation canals were tended with love close to reverence and they watered beautiful, well tended gardens and orchards. Let me name some of these villages: Truchas, Cundiyo, Arroyo Seco, Hondo, Rio Sarco, Ojo Sarco, Cordova, Canjilon, El Valle, Llano, Rodarte, Tierra Amarilla. Some of these were founded as early as the 1500s others as late as the 1800s. Las Trampas, one of those little towns was there when George Washington was born, and it is not the oldest.

Knowing the power of culture, of the lasting of the ways of mankind, imagine the combining and stirrings of cultures of 16th century Spain, with that of the calmer cultures of the 16th century Pueblos, with the newer, cultures of Apache and Navajo.
Now imagine and remember the march of England and most of western Europe across the new continent from sea to shining see. Remember that recent history.

Imagine yourself satellite high looking down on the rivers of that land. Though the name of the river of which we speak is not written across that landscape, its reality may come to you.

Will you comment on water, river, reality, enchantment?

It's Good To .......

Welcome faith, light and joy.
It's good to love, pardon, hope, console, and understand.
It's good to love.

Native Thoughts

Some things I've heard that American Indians said:

~ A community that can distinguish itself from the greater society offers greater freedom, more personal fulfillment, and greater survivability.

~ This is my land. I have no other. I am related to this land by birth.

~ Support law and order by supporting the local chapter of the American Civil liberties Union.

~ Action attempted without discussion leads to dissension. Ongoing dialogue leads to harmony and understanding.

~ In this situation whether it is best to fight, coax, or run is probably a question of which is safest.

~ If he is not a friend and has the power to effect my life, that I can firmly grip his Adams apple with one had and his balls with the other comforts me.

~ I purposely show my feelings only to a very good friend, still I may show them to a great enemy.

~ Love is good. However, love may be felt or show for an inferior. A filthy animal may be loved.
Respect may be better than love where justice and equality are important. Reverence is best. I want to feel and demonstrate reverence for myself, my friends, my family, life, and all.

~ Consider well when one should take precedence over another.

~ Your group economy may find a better way to adapt to the economy of the country.

~ In relating to another you must serve that persons desires. If you do otherwise you are doing things to him, not for him.

~ A people should be made of strong individuals, with sound principles of their own choosing.

~ Decide before acting.

~ The function of the community is to protect the individual.

~ I want to be willing to learn from any one.

~ Parents teach their children.

~ Love all living.

~ We are we by speaking our will.

~ An idea may never die of old age.

~ Let's be quiet and listen to our inner urges again.

~ To be consulted and heard, get together.

~ I need no function to justify myself.

~ Trust accumulates.

~ Law is best when it follows the reasoning which comes from talking among ourselves.

~ A weak claim is no claim.

~ Strike for life!

With Love

Moralists of many religions have been a bit like our parents were, -- telling us the 'no, nos.' Jesus was not that way. For example, he understood the Ten commandments more than learn them by rote. He restated them for us as: enthusiasm for life, respect for the dignity of persons, delight in helping others, nurturing and strengthening with love.

If You are a Christian ....

... And you are not considering how to love the people of Alkaida you are not.

Christian Love

Coca production in Colombia has been reduced by loving the people in the area of production.

Cocaine use could be reduced here by loving fellow citizens who are potential or actual cocaine users.

This loving is the kind that the biblical Jesus said any true follower of his would use.

Love in Colombia came in the form of much lacking and much needed roads and schools, as well as the protection of law.

What You Don't Know

What you don't know will hurt you.

What you don't know is hurting you and others this instant.

There is no love in willful ignorance.

You can cooperate to stop the hurt.

"Love in the Time of Cholera"

With "Love in the Time of Cholera," a book of life, death, and love I may be beginning to mention so books I feel are well worth mentioning. "Love ...." might be called a book of manners as well as a good snapshot of Colombian coastal culture of the time. It is a cultured exploration of many of the faces of love. Spanish-English translations are usually well done these days and Edith Grosman has done a particularly good job in this case.
Buy.com has it available for between one cent and a medium price of about $9.
I'm just noting that while my mind is much on the author of this book, I have neglected to mention his name; it's Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Barnes & Noble have this Garcia Marquez work available for between 2 and 12 dollars. $2 seems a cheap price to pay to learn of 'Latin love.'
Borders has it for $15 and their reviewers love it.
Amazon.com has it for between 3 and 10 dollars and over 400 of their reviewers still love it. Most of those reviewers have also had the pleasure of reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

"Ashoka" Said

War is danger to all. All.
Man is best defended with love, kindness, non-violence, and persuasion.

Zarathsushtra

I drove a Mazda pick-up for a long time. It gave me good service and a lot of pleasure. I loved that little truck. Does that make me a Mazdayasna?
I loved Zorro in the Sunday Matinees. Does that make me a follower of Zoroasterism?
Did the Magi delver their gifts in a Mazda?
Probably not, but it dies get one thinking.

Zarathsustra did much to define what it means to be an Iranian. I am speaking of the being whose name came to us from the Greeks as Zoroaster.

I'd say that Zoroaster was writing and teaching around 600 BC. His words were an early manifestation of morality in monotheistic religion. They are of high importance to most Iranians today. I asked students of mine, a young Iranian couple here for advanced University studies, about Zoroaster. They told me that an important act they carried out before starting their journey here was to recite hymns of Zoroaster and offer prayers to Ahura Mazda as would most Iranians.

I'd guess that Zoroaster came from far eastern Iran, very close to Afghanistan.

Zoroaster interests me because he seems to have taught men a path to freedom of moral choice. He seems to have believed and taught that good deeds generally proceed from good intentions. He suggests to me that a great value in religion is its morality. He suggests that a high value in religion is that it uphold a man in his good thoughts, good words, good deeds. He values man's inward relationship with truth.

He seems to me to consider holy spirit to be intelligent energy focused on truth. The good mind in each man may approach the truth. The good mind may divine and discriminate the false, the less false, the less true, the truer and so approach reality. The Spirit, the Supreme Being, Ahura, is conceived as father of good thought, creator of truth and right. It looks to me that he believed that truth is helpful and beneficial to all who love. Good mind instructs one to love love the truth which leads to wisdom and to that which is best.

The closest one can get to the exact words of Zarathsushtra may be through his Gathas in the Yasna of the Avesta i which the Supreme Being is called Ahura Mazda.

Sraosha was a name for hearkening, for hearing the truth and acting in accord with the truth. It came to be personified as a messenger of God. It seems that in teaching his disciples Zoroastr said that Sraosha came to him with the good mind. He claimed to be bringing them the best of the good mind with the help of God.

I believe that Zoroaster asked his disciples to each be responsible for his own belie and for the truth in his life. He prayed for a good mind based in truth. He asked for action based in order and justice. He prayed for intelligent desire as desire for true perception of reality. He asked us to ponder well over all things, to weigh his words with care and clear thought.

Freedom, Love, and Onward

I am grateful for the freedom to .......
choose
determine
decide
initiate
plan
interpret
reinterpret
love
and more.

Love seems a joyful freedom. What can be found, given, shared while doing love? In loving I have found some:
play
affection
reverence
respect
equality
justice
communication
understanding
nourishment
freedom
joy.

What might one find in reinterpreting?

From Eckhart

"God never gave personal property to anyone." "Treat all things as if they were loaned to you ..."

"If a person were in a rapture as great as St. Paul once experienced and learned that her neighbor were in need of a cup of soup, it would be best to withdraw from the rapture and give that person the soup she needs."

" ... remember the poor."

Humanity in the poorest and most despised human being is just as complete as in the Pope or President.

" .... Humanity is dearer to me than the human being I carry about in myself."

If you would be comforted, comfort one worse of than yourself.

There is love where equality and unity are. Create real equality. Make place for peace and you make place for love. Be busy creating equality and therein find pleasure. "Practice equality in human society." Practice loving, esteeming, and considering yourself so that you may learn to love, esteem, and consider another and all. Nurture your empathy.

Humanity is born in the intimate depths of divine nature. See the nobility in each.

Cope strongly and effectively as you become rooted in love. You may move on and away from honored father and mother to find nourishing ground. Do not fear an other's anger. Feel bad only if an other's anger with you is merited.

A good deed results in justice. A deed of goodness and justice begins a dance of universal joy.

When you find a way which is beautiful, pleasant, joyful, and familiar hold to it and nurture it. The best have told us that the practice of loving justice brings us to that path.

When Will I Know I"m "There?"

Further consideration of the how of this trip may be called for as well as for the why of it.
How includes conditions, right? I have already written a bit about conditions. For example: flights are to be of less than 10 hours; bus trips less than 5; there must be plenty of sleep and rest. Now I add some conditions: good companionship; good conversation; play in water, travel on water.
It's a lot for me to keep in mind. I hope you find some use for this discussion.

What may I say about the why of this trip?
Why? to:

• get out of town


• get out of the house


• get newness and variety I have craved


• experience discovery


• experience exploration


• experience fun and joy


• experience love and compassion


• go where this man has never gone before


• look for a home (?)


• be energized


• urge myself to greater alertness and awareness


• get into pleasant hot water


• go one step beyond the step beyond


• be where the air is pure


• travel on water in sight of the shore


• enjoy a hot mineral water spa


• play in and on the water


• learn a language


• come to better understand a culture other than my own

There are others, but these come directly to mind.

Which of the items above seem most specific to a particular trip or destination? Most of them could be accomplished on any trip. Many can be done at home. The items most useful in selecting a destination are the destination specific. It's beginning to seem easy and simple. Those most destination specific are:

1. travel on water in sight of shore

2. enjoy a hot mineral water spa

3. be where the air is most pure

So, an ideal destination would include one or more of the three enumerated. There are hot water health spas not far from the Danube. I wonder it there is any very clean air along its length.

It seems I do have reasons to travel and some idea of what constitutes an attractive destination.

There are others,but these come immediately to mind

Which of these whys are most specific to a specific trip. Most of the the whys above I could accomplish on any trip. Most of them I can do at home. I'll note the items which seem particular to more specific trips or destinations: travel on or by water where the

In My Opinion

It's a trip.
It's good.
It's not easy to describe.
I'm preparing to "go walkabout."
It's a purification that necessitates purification.
It's about freedom and discovery.
It's about looking for a home.
It's something like "I'm on the road again."
Of course it also means I might stay at home doing at home things.

I'm not sure why I feel a need to define what I have done so often, sometimes three or four times in a year, other times for two or three years at a time.
I want to share "it" with you.
Last year I did it at 70. This year I may do it at 71.
Sounds like life.
This defining and describing is part of a purification process.
Purification includes personal honesty and a step beyond the acceptance of reality.
I want it to include love and generosity.

I'm preparing to leave home.
It's something like " runninging away from home."
It's something like "running off to the circus."

It's being willing to take one step beyond the step beyond.
It's more like stepping than running. It may be vagabonding. It is wandering. It is sauntering, stalking, slouching, leaping and gliding. These days it is often an experimenting of a variety of vessels and vehicles.

I'm calming myself and finding serenity as I prepare for approaching adventure.

Philosophical Relatives

Well bro, you don't have to be my age to understand this, but it might help.

When I was quite young I was pretty sure that I understood "I love you." better than I understood "A bushel and a peck." Then, for a time, I was sure that I understood "A bushel and a peck." better than I understood "I love you." Now, I think that I would benefit from knowing a whole lot more about both.

I may come to consider that "nothing matters very much and most things don't matter at all.

You think about things. You think about change. If everything is changing, what is a thing?
Everything is changing.
Thing is change.
Thing equals change.
Change is thing.
How are things, anyway?
Nice to have a little change.
What is the nature of change? Of thing?
Do questions like this keep you awake? Do the put you to sleep? They may be good for that.

Opinions

Our opinions are wonderously valuable gifts.
I'd love to hear your opinion on any topic. Topics that seem very important to me just now are: blogs, international law, national law, mass media, a particularly good film or video, water retention in the human body, atmosphric air quality, genes, genealogy, love, and more.

Values

What's important about our Constitutions?
Why might it be important to talk about The Bill of Rights?
How might it be useful to discuss our legislative rights?
What good might come from a dialogue concerning our assumptions about the rule of law?
Christian and Classic love includes nurturance and support, doesn't it?
To give nurturance and support we must know enough about the loved to know what nurtures it, must we not?
Do we love our country? What do we know about our country that enables us to give it truly nurturing love?
Do we love our rights?
What do we know about our system of rights?
What do we know about loving our Constitution?
How do we love our country?
How do we love our republic?
How do we love our nation?
What do we love.
What do we actively nurture and support.
Why don't we talk about it??