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  • Do you believe the sentence handed down to Bradley Manning was appropriate? If so, why? If not, Why?

  • My Dream Isn’t Taking Off, Do I Give Up?

    “I am in need of some advice, hope and guidance.  I have read all of the books in the Conversations with God series which are truly remarkable. The trouble I have is I have hit the proverbial rock bottom in every part of my life, except my beautiful wife and daughter. I decided to leave my job after 19 years in a large company where I had worked my way up to the top because my boss was not the man I thought he was and had become greedy, money and power driven. This was at the expense of employees, clients and staff’s families. I decided that I had to make a change and moved out with the support of my wife and family.  Shortly after I wrote a book geared towards helping others and gave public talks to empower people to live their true nature and find their own passion and purpose.  The challenge is 6 months later it is not taking the way I expected and I am running out of money to pay the bills and support my family. I feel like I have failed my family and myself. I am feeling despondent and lost and I don’t know how not to be at this point. Please help as I truly wish to make a difference in the world with people, and the last thing I want to do is give up on my dream. ”

    Edward, Vancouver 

    Hi Edward,

    First of all, I’d like to applaud you for your integrity in making the choice to leave a toxic work environment, and choosing to listen to and act on your own truth in that situation.  I’d also like to commend you for taking the opportunity to hone in on your purpose and boldly take it to the world – a very courageous act, and I get that you are very good at what you do.

    I also get that it’s scary to take such a risk, especially when you’re not seeing the results you’d like as quickly and you’ve got a family depending on you.  And it’s hard when you feel lost, confused, and unsure of what to do next.  With that said, I have some thoughts for you, some directions to point you in.

    When we find ourselves in a place of deep worry, fear, anxiety, doubt, etc., it is impossible to find/create a viable solution from that place – in other words, you can’t solve a problem from inside the problem.  In order to access the answers that are inside you, or from God, for that matter, you need to raise your vibration a bit, get connected and in alignment again, which means stepping away from the worry.  Worry is like praying for what you don’t want, and although it’s certainly understandable why we as humans do it, it is completely unnecessary in that it serves no purpose.  So, what I would suggest regarding this and before you make any major decisions, is to take some steps to get quiet, reconnected to that place inside of yourself that knows.  That place inside of you that wrote your wonderful book.  What that looks like depends on you, but a few suggestions are meditation, practicing daily gratitudes, and journaling.  Another hugely impactful practice that in my opinion is vastly under-utilized is making room for play, fun and enjoyment every day. Often times those of us who venture out on our own, whose priority is to serve others, forget to implement this part on a consistent basis and experience burnout, which leads to worry, fear and anxiety taking the lead.  And that isn’t good for anyone.

    However you decide to do it, connecting within is something that is vital to do regularly, as in every day. Because the fact that you show up for yourself in this way each and every day provides the space for you to go within and connect to the truth of your being, and has the added benefit of making you less “shakeable” to external circumstances and allowing you to stay clear on your path more often than not.

    The other thing I want to point you to is in regards to the story you are telling about yourself and your life.  I sense that you still have some strong feelings about what happened with your former boss, that there may be some unfinished business there that could be holding you back.  What can you do to release that story, the story of your horrible boss doing unspeakable things within his company, to you and to your fellow employees?  The story of you as the victim and he as the villain?  That’s not to say that it isn’t all true, or to discount the pain and struggle you experienced within this context.  It’s to point to the fact that it may be time to tell a new story, a new truth, one where there are no victims or villains, and where you are truly in control of your experience.  As you probably already know but may have temporarily forgotten amidst the intense circumstances of the past months and maybe even years, our thoughts and words are creative, and as long as we keep having the same thoughts and using the same words about the experience we are not happy with, they’ll keep coming.  Here’s a wonderful exercise I learned from another CWG Coach to help you do this:

    ~ Write a letter to your boss, one you will never send, expressing everything you feel without censoring it or holding back, because it will never be sent.  Write a second draft, where you can do some “editing”, choosing the language and sentiments that accurately convey how you’d like to feel about the whole thing.  This second letter is the opportunity to heal the issues and move on.

    And finally, don’t give up on your dream, your purpose.  We need people like you in this world.  And although 6 months may seem like a long time when you’ve got so much pressure to succeed, it is too short of a period of time to give up.  Your priority as a light-worker, as someone who is clearly here to serve and assist others on their life journeys, is to maintain your inner being, your alignment, your connection to All That Is.  It is in the focusing on your “being” first and allowing the “doing” to follow that the key lies.  The rest will come, and in the meantime there are many ways to access/create income now; get into alignment first and I’m willing to bet some ideas will pop up for you.

    I’ll leave you with this: remember that before every break-through, occurs a break-down.  That is, a breaking down of old systems, beliefs, and patterns that no longer serve us, so that they may be re-built to support the next highest version of the grandest vision you ever held about Who You Really Are.  The light is coming, Edward.

     

    (Nova Wightman is a CWG Life Coach, as well as the owner and operator of Go Within Life Coaching, www.gowithincoaching.com, specializing in helping individuals blend their spirituality with their humanity in a way that makes life more enjoyable, easy, and fulfilling.  She can be reached at Nova@theglobalconversation.com. )

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to: Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

  • It’s not what you eat, it’s what’s eating you.

    I haven’t talked much about food here on this blog because — well — I don’t consider my food consumption to be anything to brag about.  I do not eat perfect by any stretch of anyone’s imagination.  I also feel terribly uncomfortable discussing what is “good” and what is “bad” in regards to diet.  But I do want to speak about how and why we eat what we eat, as well as what is going on behind the scenes, which could be extremely helpful to those who are seeking better health and more happiness.

    When I was younger and still in my active addiction, I began having indigestion problems.  I know, hard to believe that a person drinking himself into oblivion every day would have an upset stomach every now and then, but I digress.  My heartburn was pretty severe, and I was convinced to go see a doctor to have it looked at.  His words were very simple and have stuck with me to this day:  “Kevin, it’s not what you eat, it is what is eating you.”

    At that time in my life, I didn’t think about what I ate or why I was even eating.  The only thoughts I  had were “I’m hungry” and “what is available?”  The truth be told, it has only been a few years that I have placed much consideration into what my diet was and how it could be affecting my health.  The results of my looking into the connection between food I was eating and my health could not be denied.

    My diet prior to this awareness is quite startling when it is seen in black and white.  In the morning, I would have a huge cup of coffee, sweetened with the “pink stuff” (Sweet ‘n Low), and diluted with half-and-half. I followed the coffee up with two everything bagels.  Mind you, this was an everyday meal of mine for 20-plus years!  There were random variations from this breakfast,  but not much.

    Lunch was either a whole sub sandwich or fast food, preferably from Mcdonald’s as I had found that Burger King didn’t sit well in my stomach (go figure!)  Either of the choices would have included a large Diet Coke and chips or fries (large, please!)

    Now, somewhere between lunch and dinner would be a mandatory stop and a 7-Eleven for a Super Big Gulp of Diet Coke and 1 or maybe 2 packages of Twinkies or the equivalent Hostess-type snack.   Dinner would typically be a meat and potatoes variety meal with the occasional substitution of fish or pasta.  Most days a nice big bowl of ice cream would conclude this daily battering of my body.

    Please note that water was not part of any of the above meal plans.

    You would think with a diet like that I was most likely obese.  Think again.  I was about 20 pounds overweight, but I carried it fairly well.  You see, I was really active.  My job was physically demanding.  I live in a hot tropical climate so I would burn a lot of calories. This kept my weight pretty consistent.

    What didn’t stay consistent was my health.  In 2007, I started to have trouble with tingling fingers on my right hand.  I lived with it for a while, and then my left hand started to go numb as well.  I started seeing a specialist, who would give me steroid shots.  These worked at first for a few months.  Then I would slowly start losing the feeling again.  The diagnosis was carpal tunnel syndrome.  I dealt with this the best I could for a few years, and the doctor finally told me that the only thing to do moving forward would be surgery.  I didn’t elect that option as I was worried that I may lose the function of my hands.  I was a trim carpenter, and without the use of my hands, would find myself out of a job.  So I decided to just live with it.

    In March of 2011, I developed a new problem.  From what seemed like out of the blue, I couldn’t raise my right arm up and hold it level to the ground.  If I lifted up with my left arm, it would fall right down as soon as I let it go.  I was urged to go to a neurologist to get it checked out, and the resulting diagnosis was three herniated discs in my neck.  I was devastated, afraid, and depressed.

    Just three months earlier my wife had convinced me to go to yoga with her.  Yoga, for me, was love at first try.  I felt at home in the yoga room and went to class no less than 5 times a week.  I was feeling good about myself and my diet had drastically changed from what it was above.

    I was drinking roughly a gallon of water a day and rarely had  diet soda anymore. I was incorporating more salads into my diet and red meats virtually vanished from our meals.  My sweet tooth had gone into remission and I had melted off 35 pounds in those 3 months of yoga.  I continued to use the “pink stuff” in my coffee and didn’t think too much about it.

    The damage from my unhealthy diet was done prior to the herniated discs.  My MRI showed bone degeneration in my C3 thru C5 vertebra.   All was not lost, though, and this was just the beginning of a very cool journey for me.

    The day I was told of my herniated disks, I drove to my yoga studio to let my teacher know I wouldn’t be able to do yoga anymore.  I was an emotional mess and felt my joy and passion were taken from me.  My yoga teacher then told me of this doctor who was literally right across the street and how he had helped her get through a similar issue.  My despair was turned to hope in the blink of an eye!

    This injury turned out to be the biggest turning point in my life since I had become sober.  I began to see the signs that my soul was sending me.  I not only saw them now, I paid attention, I listened, I asked for more signs, and learned to express gratitude for them.

    Within 3 months, I not only had regained full strength and range of motion in my right arm but my hands were also completely healed of the numb, tingly sensation that had plagued me for the last 4 years.  I had eliminated the “pink stuff,” “yellow stuff,” and any other harmful chemicals completely from my diet.  I replaced sweeteners with raw honey or Stevia.  My morning breakfast was a giant serving of fresh fruit smoothies blended right in my own kitchen.  This way I had full control of all the ingredients.

    Health and nutrition for me become synonymous.  I also caught on to one other thing about eating.  When I was conscious about my food choice, I felt really good about myself.  Is it raw or organic?  Does it contain artificial sweeteners?  Does the food I am eating contain words I could never even pronounce?  I have become aware, conscious, and full of intent with my eating.  Be it “good” or “bad,” I am aware.  I make the conscious choice and I remind myself of the consequences.

    I am the last person to judge someone on what they are eating.  I will never do that.  I will be the first person to share everything I have come to know with those who seek the knowledge.  I believe we are what we eat and I no longer feel like I have Twinkies for fingers!  There is a connection between consciously choosing our food and a happy, joyous, and free life.  My body told me for many years in a variety of different ways that what I was putting into it was harming myself.  It took a big scare for me to wake up and listen.

    In our Path to Peace Recovery Retreats we look at nutrition very deeply and examine healthier ways to eat without sacrificing fun and flavor.  As a matter of fact, the food I eat now  and the manner in which I eat is extremely satisfying on all levels.

    You see, I am a recovering addict.  My disease does not know the difference between alcohol, pot, cocaine, heroin, meth, food, sex, power, or victimhood.  The disease of addiction is a brain disease that runs rampant when left unchecked.  The results are always the same:  negative consequences or recovery.  With support, recovery is a path to peace, joy, and freedom like no other.

    In June we kicked off our first in a series of CWG on recovery retreats.  A small group of people all shared a life-changing event.  If you are in recovery and not experiencing great joy and freedom or are still suffering with addictions, please consider giving yourself this experience.   Our next retreat will held in San Jose, California, Sept 19 -22nd, 2013.  On October 24 – 27th, 2013, we will have another retreat in Orlando Florida.  Click here for more information on these life-changing retreats.

    (Kevin McCormack, C.A.d ,is a certified addictions professional. He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, life coach, and interventionist specializing in individual and family recovery and also co-facilitates spiritual recovery retreats for the CWG foundation with JR Westen. You can visit his website here for more information at  To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com)

  • DIVINITY IS MANIFESTING ITSELF
    IN, AS, AND THROUGH ALL OF LIFE

    Even just a cursory exploration of this website reveals the extent to which sadness and suffering inhabit the human experience. It is impossible to be alive on this planet without encountering both. The question is not whether you will encounter it, the question is, how much of it will you encounter?

    Behind that lurks another, more important question. When you do encounter sadness and suffering, how will you deal with it? What tools will you have. More to the point: What tools do you have? I mean, as human beings what tools are we given?  And by whom?

    I believe there is something larger than myself, something larger than all of humanity, something larger, even, than the entire universe. I call this something “God.”

    I believe that God exists and that God is the Supreme Intelligence behind and in everything. When I say “in” everything, I mean to assert that the Thing that I call Divinity is manifesting Itself in, as, and through all of Life. It is the underlying aspect, the foundational energy, of all that exists, in any and every form.

    Using human language (which I understand is very limited), I call this energy the Divine Essence. It is That Which Is, manifesting in a million-billion-trillion ways that ultimately form everything in existence, both physical and non-physical, visible and invisible. It is part and parcel of All That Is, and nothing that Is can be in any way other than, or separate from, It.

    FOCUS: The Nature of God and Life/an exploration of critical importance in our time
    PART III of an ONGOING SERIES

    I believe this Divine Essence has intelligence — indeed, is Intelligence in its Purest Form — and that the degree to which this Intelligence manifests Itself is related to the level of Consciousness evidenced or present in any Life Form.

    Further, I believe that Consciousness is expandable when it is Aware of Itself. That is, when a Life Form expresses the quality of Self-Consciousness, it is said to be Aware of Itself, and is thus labeled, in our language, a Sentient Being.

    I believe that Sentient Beings are the Ultimate Expression of Divine Essence, and that the Pure Intelligence of God is accessible to all Sentient Beings. Indeed, I believe it is the purpose and underlying intention of all Sentient Beings to fully express Divine Essence.

    I define Divinity as The Sum Total of All Essential Energy.  Using the limited language that is available to me, I describe this Essential Energy as Pure Intelligence and Perfect Love.

    I see this Essential Energy as the Totality of All That Is, and in my understanding it is from this Totality that All That Is emerges and expresses.

    This is another way of saying that it is in God that we live and breathe and have our Being.

    If any of this is true, then why is does sadness and suffering exist? What form of Pure Intelligence or Perfect Love would will for Itself this kind of experience — and why? And what kind of tools does Life provide for its various Expressions in the moments of their encountering this experience?

    To answer this question we must inquire into the nature of sadness and suffering itself. And we will do that, precisely, in our next entry here.

  • But I’m just little ol’ me

    The situations facing Humanity today seem daunting.  So much so that they can feel pretty overwhelming on an individual level.  Some days I experience the certainty of my role in effecting positive change.  But some days I find myself questioning my ability to make much of a difference, much less a significant change, in the world in which I live.   I have even been tempted in certain moments to believe that my perceived “lack of ability’ means I should just leave the “heavy lifting” to someone sitting in a more powerful or influential position.

    Have you experienced this sense of powerlessness?  Does your heart and soul yearn to be part of the solution, yet your mind doesn’t know where to even begin?

    The good news is that we are all powerful.   We all have the ability to create change.  We all are in a unique position to influence the way life is lived on our planet.  And the even better news is it doesn’t require financial abundance or a large team of brilliant philosophers nodding in agreement with you.  It doesn’t require a captive audience or a best-selling book.  And you don’t even have to be a spiritual master.

    It simply begins with your next choice.  It starts with a decision to choose in accordance and in alignment with your beliefs.  It unravels from the expenditure of your energy into actions that support and foster the type of world you wish to live in.

    For example…

    Maybe today you will begin using paper bags at the grocery store instead of plastic, a non-negotiable decision to protect the well-being of our planet.

    Or perhaps you will locate the local farmers markets or co-ops in your area and begin purchasing your food from the people who farm organically right in your own backyard, so to speak.

    What if you stopped buying bottled water and began to filter your own?

    Might it be possible that you could do without Starbucks for a day or two and instead give that $5.00 or $10.00 to someone who could really use it?

    Would you be open to initiating more conversations with the people you come across in your day-to-day affairs?  The couple waiting in line behind you at the movie theater, the delivery man in the elevator, the lady ringing up your purchase at the convenience store?

    Are you willing to consider an entirely new way of thinking about why you are even here in the first place, on this planet, right now?  If your ideas about that changed, how might that impact the choices you make in your relationships with other human beings, the animals, the plants, the food you eat, the water you drink, the air you breathe, the land you walk on?

    Are you prepared to try something new, maybe one thing, and take one small step in the direction of the larger global objectives placed before us?

    Yes, some of these are simple ideas.  But, hey, who said changing the world had to be complicated?  Who declared that it has to be all or nothing?   Maybe you have some ideas, thoughts, or opinions you are willing to share right here with the visitors who come to this website, ways in which we can all contribute to the abundance and health of our planet and the well-being of all human beings who share this space we call home.  I urge you to feel free to express them.  After all, we are The Global Conversation.

    I part with the practical and loving words of someone very wise, my own wonderful mother, who once said to me:   “I want to leave the world a nice place for my grandchildren to live in.”

    That is the kind of world I want to live in.

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • EINSTEIN’S CIRCLE OF COMPASSION

    How to balance personal stability
    with the plight of humanity by
    establishing a sense of global empathy.

  • College: Within, Without, and Everywhere In between

    (Note: The message here does not only pertain to just the college atmosphere. It also can be applied to living in the city, or any other seemingly massive community. With such a universal message, knowing how to live within and without in any environment will just keep you even more leveled.)

    Campus life for a majority of college students is just about to get started. In this incredibly thrilling time of our lives, we are exposed to massive changes that occur straight before our eyes, some consciously and other quite subconsciously. However, it seems that one change that we fear the most is the adjustment to the rollercoaster that is campus life.

    Whether we are hitting the campus of 50,000 or the campus of 500, it becomes very easy to be only a single body in the mass. This often can lead to extreme isolation and social deprivation, despite the overwhelming system of support of others.  We may feel as though we are immersed into our resources, but sometimes we feel just as like we still haven’t found our niche or best placement.

    This can especially be seen in the works of Scott F. Fitzgerald in his illustrious novel, The Great Gatsby:

    “I wanted to get out and walk eastward toward the park through the soft twilight, but each time I tried to go I became entangled in some wild, strident argument which pulled me back, as if with ropes, into my chair. Yet high over the city our line of yellow windows must have contributed their share of human secrecy to the casual watcher in the darkening streets… I saw him too, looking up and wondering. I was within and without.”

    Quite often, college will feel like the experience that Nick Carraway, the narrator of The Great Gatsby, in his wild and fascinating variations on life. BUT, F Scott Fitzgerald notes that despite Nick own personal story taking place in the middle of Manhattan, he was still “within and without” in his own story.

    So do we do about this ‘within and without’ business and make sure we have a real connection to whatever student body we wish to be a part of? Simply…

    Be involved.

    When most of us hear this phase, we are transported to a time when involvement simply meant signing up for a new club or trying out a new activity. If someone attempts to join a new organization without having any physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual connection, then they will continue to feel as though they are a part of the shell of the group, and always wonder if they should be somewhere else on campus.  

    However….

    The state of being, which in our case is involvement, is all truly about creating meaningful connections AND profound associations. When this is done, every interaction is appreciated and every gesture is a sign of gratitude. Instead of creating artificial bonds that seem to all but dissolve by the light, strive to make a few deeper ties into your own reality. By removing this synthetic zone of fixation on what we could be doing, we allow ourselves to become fully engrossed in what we are doing. Without worrying about trying to have ‘the best story on campus’ or the ‘most notorious reputation’ we allow ourselves to be involved in much other rewarding activities that don’t question our social status, but rather our spiritual elevation. With such rooting in the self and the soul into everything that is joined or experienced, life itself becomes an even more enjoyable process.

    And THAT is when college becomes the wonderful experience it is cut out to be. It is your choice, to be within and without, or to be completely involved with every part of your being in this fascinating new experience. Your call, your choice, your college dreams are ALWAYS your choice.

    (Lauren is a Feature Editor of The Global Conversation. She lives in Wood Dale, IL, and can be reached at Lauren@TheGlobalConversation.com)

  • Georgia has more questions!

    Dear Therese,

    Georgia here again.  So what about the current state of affairs in this world?  It is obvious, to me at least, that we are being lied to by so many that we have trusted to tell us the truth.

    Take, for example, our weather patterns these days.   Cloud formations that used to be rare are common place now.  There is increasing evidence that the clouds are being chemically created.  This brings us to two points.  Barium and aluminum are being dropped on us something like 5000 times the norm. Just like gmo food, they are using us as guinea pigs to see the side effects.  AND they are using the force of nature to the advantage of big business and government.  I think they are purposely using these things to keep us scared and controlled.  They are not using these things for the “good”.  I think you would think long and hard about the effects of these chemicals if one of your kids was messed up in the head and the other other one couldn’t breathe bc of possibly being those guinea pigs.

    We have the capability to manipulate something as big as the weather and it would be awesome. But now is no time to lay down and volunteer but a time to demand that we have a right to know what is being dumped on us. Because we lay down and take it, we are condoning to the “elites” that humanity has no value.

    How are we to think of these things as spiritual opportunities??

    Georgia

    Wow! Georgia, I like that you are asking these questions!  Putting the everyday reality into a spiritual perspective is sometimes very hard…almost impossible sometimes.  Okay, I’ll give a spiritual explanation and some perspective on these things a shot here.

    My thoughts:  man can do just about anything.  We can create and engineer even human life.  Many think this to be a sin.  Only God’s territory.  As you know, I think we are all “gods”.  (As CWG puts it, individuations of Divinity.)  Engineering life, or engineering clouds, it isn’t about doing these things, but for what purpose they are being done.  This, then, becomes a matter of individual and collective choice.  Do I have a problem with engineered clouds being used to create water in a drought area?  Or to recapture wasted water to refill the aquifers?  No.  Do I have a problem using them to cause destruction to profit big business and control the people?  You betcha.  So, personal and collective awareness is, as usual, the key (opportunity) to changing how we use our power…and that changes as we begin to view humanity as One.  Realizing the butterfly effect is real.  In Christian terms…what you do to the least of my brothers, you do unto me.

    I would also urge you to keep open the possibility that at least some of these cloud/weather changes may be circumstantial, as opposed to insidious.  Be very careful to avoid being sucked into the story of the way things are, and stay as much as possible in observing the facts (as you know them) of what you see.

    Which actually takes me to the esoteric question of “why not”?  If this life is but a continuation of life, and we really, as CWG states, have no life to lose, why not consciously agree to be the guinea pig to further the course of humanity?  Why not volunteer?

    Ahhh, there’s the key!  We are NOT volunteering right now!  But what if we were, for real, given that choice?  Might that not change some things?  Might life look more like an opportunity than it does now?  What if we were told up front that there was going to be a section of this planet used to experiment on long term human effects?

    Older people might volunteer to live in “chem zones” to give their children’s children a better life.  Especially since much of the world is starving due to lack of rain for crops.  We are sacrificing ourselves for far less noble things already.

    Don’t mistake, please, that I think it is okay to be doing what they are doing, in the way they are currently doing things.  Transparency…choice…is the key.

    There is abundant room for changing how we look at life…and that’s exactly what this site is all about!

    One more thought… An unfortunate statement about humankind is that sometimes the masses are so meek and compliant that it takes a “madman” to step out of the box…a person  (or group of persons) who dares to even think something is possible!  Now we sane, but outside the box thinkers, Spiritual thinkers, have (the opportunity) to either keep the madmen in check, show the madmen a better way (who he/she really is) or empower the  masses.  Or at least begin to en-mass allow the sane, outside the box thinkers/doers to not be reviled.  Currently people are afraid of being relegated to the fringe of their families/societies/religion if they don’t stay inside those boxes.  Portrayed as unpatriotic, heretics, crazy and or conspiracists. Make sure to look at your own views of others, and not disempower.

    Georgia, in our search for a better way of living, we do have to be very alert to not falling into yet another power grab agenda masked in altruism.  (Opportunities to Be discerning, careful, vigilant?)  We must be careful of anyone who wants us to be fearful vs merely aware.  I get the feeling that there are many agendas in play here, and many are proclaiming themselves to be the one and only “right” one.  All of which means, to me, that we have to be “cafeteria Catholics” and pick what works from each, and figure out what is truly for the greater good…and create our world consciously from this point forward.  Knowing that what works now most likely won’t entirely work, oh, two thousand years from now!  We must now work the idea of change into our long term thoughts.  The opportunity to create our own agenda…not all agendas are self serving and malevolent.  We can include the thoughts of others and other ways.

    On the subject of religion, and government, it is encouraging to see even  the Pope and Rev. Pat Robertson changing their minds about homosexuality on even a minor level.  The United States has made major attitude and legal changes in this area. This may seem off topic, Georgia, but it is all wrapped up in control…the ultimate control…of sexuality, and specifically the feminine energy….feminine energy and attempts to suppress it. Just look at television commercials geared for girls and toys for them. Absolutely ridiculous that still, in 2013, all the girl toys are make-up, hair playing with dolls, dolls to teach them how to be a mommy, brat dolls that are nothing but materialistic, fashion creating websites, jewelry making, hair extensions and color. Whereas the boys toys are geared around imagination and engineering!! We are “Madison Avenue-ed” into our roles from an early age.  Warriors that are used to protect money and the status quo are called heroes and idolized.  A woman who questions that status quo is a B word or worse…never spiritual, intuitive, peace-maker.  The divine feminine is Mother, but not in the way it is currently portrayed.  These times are giving us, I believe, our opportunity to create balance.

    Georgia, the bottom line of what I am saying is that we do have control.  We have control of how we think and feel about this world we live in.  We can fall into the chaotic energies swirling about, or we can keep the perspective that we are the butterfly that can effect our world.  We can become a conscious part of the collective, and influence that collective.  We are being given many opportunities to choose how change happens.  I believe we, as individuals, through our thoughts and actions, can not help but influence the direction of humanity.

    Rudyard Kipling said it perfectly.  (I know, I know, this post is getting really long, but I think it is an important topic!)

     

    If—

    If you can keep your head when all about you   

        Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

    If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

        But make allowance for their doubting too;   

    If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

        Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

    Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

        And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

     

    If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

        If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

    If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

        And treat those two impostors just the same;   

    If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

        Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

    Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

        And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

     

    If you can make one heap of all your winnings

        And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

    And lose, and start again at your beginnings

        And never breathe a word about your loss;

    If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

        To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

    And so hold on when there is nothing in you

        Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

     

    If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

        Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

    If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

        If all men count with you, but none too much;

    If you can fill the unforgiving minute

        With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

    Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

        And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

     

    (Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of the global website atwww.ChangingChange.net . She may be contacted at:                                                              Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

    An additional resource:  ChangingChange.net offers spiritual assistance from a team of non-professional/volunteer Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less. Nothing on the CCN site should be construed or is intended to take the place of or be in any way similar to professional therapeutic or counseling services.  The site functions with the gracious willing assistance of lay persons without credentials or experience in the helping professions.  What these volunteers possess is an awareness of the theology of Conversations with God.  It is from this context that they offer insight, suggestions, and spiritual support during moments of unbidden, unexpected, or unwelcome change on the journey of life.

     

     

  • CHANGING THE WAY
    WE DO LIFE ON THE EARTH

  • A path to the new world

    What is the message that we need to transmit to future generations of this planet — so that our children and all children to come are Self-loving beings with fully functional Self-Esteem, and capable of creating a joyful and healthy world for themselves?

    Where are we going? 

    The market economy is the modern GODDESS on Earth. This is the underlying message of this civilization to future generations of this planet. In the name of a “healthy economy,” we devastate the planet which is the home of future generations for millennia to come, and our most precious human qualities like compassion and solidarity, because our economy has to “grow” today.

    Huge debts run the global economy and our homes today. The global credit stock doubled from $57 trillion to $109 trillion in just ten years (from 2000 to 2010). It will need to double again to an incredible $210 trillion by 2020 in order to provide the necessary credit-driven growth. It is debt that governs our world.

    Our world—where one billion people, one-seventh of the total  population, now lives in total poverty—annually spends about $1.5 trillion on military expenditures.  As long as the strongest economies of the world enrich their national budgets with exorbitant earnings from its arms exports, there will be wars. And as long as the so-called “civilized world” silently watches the planet’s poorest countries import the latest “how-to-kill-your-neighbor” techniques, instead to spend money on the newest technology and know-how to make a living and become self-sufficient, there will not be peace and prosperity on Earth.

    The golden age of survival. This is the world of our immature ego. After millions of years of evolution, we still stand on the law of the jungle in which there is no value greater and no ideal cherished more than “survival at any cost.” And the more powerful and richer we are as we survive, the better. But as long as we continue just surviving, instead of really living, we will continue to struggle in fear. And as long as we live in fear, the law of the jungle remains our highest ideal. Debt, poverty, and pain pave the way for future generations—instead of happiness, prosperity, and joy.

    As within, so without. No human being with Self-Esteem will cheat, lie, steal, kill, abuse other forms of life, or otherwise harm another, or be indifferent to his/her environment. The shape of our current personal and global affairs directly reflects the actual state of our individual and collective lack of Self-Esteem. If this were not the case, we would all live in harmony and peace.

    The answer to the problems of our civilization lies primarily in our own approach to ourselves. This is where each of us must begin.

    When I look at our world today, I am still overwhelmed when there is another bomb exploding in a bus or town square, another escalation of war, another aerial bombardment “in the name of democracy”, another pollution disaster, another political or financial corruption scandal, another child murder, another school killing . . . and another . . . another act of destruction happening somewhere on Earth. It is as if the shockwaves of destruction are growing faster and faster, hitting us harder and harder.

    And yet I cannot help noticing that in all the confusion and chaos lies a certain sense of purpose, and with all the economic, political, and civil turmoil taking place in various parts of our planet, I detect an increased awareness, a rise of consciousness, a cleansing process underway, which will lead us to a new world of peace and tranquility.

    It is in these turbulent times that each of us bears full responsibility for the decisions we make everyday—as we choose between love and fear, Self-Esteem and Self-denial, between sheer survival at the expense of all other forms of life on the one side and meaningful and fulfilling life in the interest of all on the other.

    Now is the time to ask the fundamental question: What do I really believe in? Now is the right moment to follow the Spark of Light within and use our spiritual powers to help co-create our New World.

    “Your cure is in you,
    but you do not see;
    Your sickness is from you,
    but you do not feel;
    You allege that you are a small star,
    while you contain the whole cosmos.”

    ~ Sidi Mohammad Al Jamal – Sufi Master

    (Vladimir Bayer lives in Prague where he work as translator/consultant/writer. He is also the author of “From Darkness to Light: A Path to The New World.”)

    (If you would like to contribute an article you have authored to the Guest Column, please submit it to our Managing Editor, Lisa McCormack, for possible publication in this space. Not all submissions can be published, due to the number of submissions and sometimes because of other content considerations, but all are encouraged. Send submissions to Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com. Please label the topic: “Guest Column.”)