"This is as good as it gets."

Baxter Black is a Cowboy Poets and this video is his "cowboy" way of saying "thanks" for everything.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is truly an unique American holiday.  Each year we celebrate this special day by feasting and visiting with friends and family.  But most of all, Thanksgiving is the one day of the year when we should reflect on the good life we have in this marvelous land and give thanks for all we have and all we have become.

We know every year that more Americans travel on the long Thanksgiving weekend than at any other time of year.  But they aren't going away; they're going home.  And this is only fitting.

Thanksgiving began with a voyage of brave and noble people seeking a free life.

Although there are so many myths about the original Thanksgiving, we can be sure of some thing.  We can be sure that the Pilgrims did not celebrate Thanksgiving after completing their voyage.  They certainly gave thanks for the successfully crossing a tempestuous ocean.  But the first real Thanksgiving didn't come until a year later.

That first Thanksgiving was celebrated by a tiny band of survivors who thanked God for allowing them to live through the previous year of travails during which half their company perished, while the survivors scavenged for food and fought that long winter's perilous, numbing cold.

As we sit down to our Thanksgiving dinner this year with family and friends, let's remember those indomitable men and women who persevered, who refused to give up.  Who gave no thought of returning to England on the Mayflower and abandoning their little colony.

Their little colony became the cornerstone of a great Nation.

Let us give thanks for the spirit those inspiring pioneers planted in this land, and for all the bounty we share today.  Let this Thanksgiving remind us of our debt to a heroic past and our duty to build for the generations to come.

Let us also remember the men and women in uniform today serving around the world and offer thanks to them and their families for their sacrifice.

About a half a century ago, two song writers, Robert Allen and Al Stillman, wrote about the year-end holiday.  Although they lumped Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's together, many of us believe their song describes perfectly the family holiday Thanksgiving has become.  They wrote:

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly face
For the holidays, you can't beat Home, sweet home

I met a man who lives in Tennessee
And he was headin' for Pennsylvania
And some home made pumpkin pie
From Pennsylvania folks a travelin' down
To Dixie's sunny shore
From Atlantic to Pacific, gee
The traffic is terrific

Oh there's no place like home for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how far away you roam
If you want to be happy in a million ways
For the holidays, you can't beat home, sweet home

 

I hope that you will be happy in a million ways and that you'll be home for the holidays – in your memories and prayers if nothing else.

I wish all of you a safe and happy Thanksgiving

Within

God is within you; you are His instrument, and
through you He expresses Himself to the external world.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

 

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

In reality God is within man; man is the instrument of God and through him God experiences the external world. Prayer is the way of conveying the God within to the God without; and thought, speech and gesture make the prayer complete.

The words 'within oneself' might confuse some people. They might think 'within oneself' means inside one's body; but that is because man is ignorant of himself. Man has a very poor idea of himself, and this keeps him in ignorance of his real self. If man only knew how large, how wide, how deep, how high is his being, he would think, act, and feel differently; but with all his width, depth, and height, if man is not conscious of them he is as small as he thinks himself to be. The essence of milk is butter, the essence of the flower is honey, the essence of grapes is wine, and the essence of life is wisdom.

For the secret of all knowledge that one acquires in the world, whether worldly knowledge or spiritual knowledge, is the knowledge of the self. For instance, music is played outside, but where is it realized? It is realized within. A good word or a bad word is spoken outside, but where is it realized? It is realized within. Then where is the realization of this whole manifestation, all this creation that stands before us in all its aspects? Its realization is within. And at the same time the error of man always continues. Instead of finding it within he always wants to find it without. It is just like a man who wants to see the moon and looks for it on the ground. And if a man sought for thousands of years for the moon by looking on the earth, he will never see it. He will have to lift up his head and look at the sky. And so with the man who is in search of the mystery of life outside; he will never find it. For the mystery of life is to be found within.

 

God Has A Positive Answer

 

You Say	God Says	Bible Verses
You say: 'It's impossible.'	God says:   All things are possible.	Luke 18:27
You say: 'I'm too tired.'	God says:   I will give you rest.	Matthew 11:28-30
You say:   'Nobody really loves me.'	God says:   I love you.	John 3:1   6 & John 3:34
You say: 'I can't go on.'	God says: My grace is sufficient.	II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15
You say: 'I can't figure things out’.'	God says:   I will direct your steps.	Proverbs 3:5-   6
You say: 'I can't do it.'	God says:   You can do all things.	Philippians 4:13
You say:   'I'm not able.'	God says:   I am able.	II Corinthians 9:8
You say: 'It's not worth it.'	God says:   It will be worth it.	Roman 8:28
You say:  'I can't forgive myself'.'	God says:  I Forgive you.	I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1
You say:   'I can't manage.'	God says:   I will supply all your needs.	Philippians 4:19
You say:   'I'm afraid.'	God says:  I have not given you a spirit of fear.	II Timothy 1:7
You say:  'I'm always worried and frustrated.'	God says:   Cast all your cares on ME.	I Peter 5:7
You say:   'I'm not smart enough.'	God says:   I give you wisdom.	I Corinthians 1:30
You say:   'I feel all alone.'	God says:   I will never leave you or forsake you.	Hebrews 13:5

 

God determines who walks into your life . . . . it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.'

Father, God, bless all my friends in whatever it is that you know they may need this day!

And may their lives be full of your peace, prosperity and power as they seek to have a closer relationship with you.  Amen.

 

The Purpose Of Life

Service is the rent we pay for
the privilege of living on this earth.

It is the very purpose of life, and
not something you do in your spare time.

 

Shirley Chisholm

 

Understanding Is A Gift Of God

Wisdom is not in words, it is in understanding.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

 

What a great thing is understanding!
It is priceless.
No man can give greater pleasure to his fellow man than by understanding him.

What can one wish for more in life than understanding?
Understanding gives one harmony in the home with those near and dear to one and peace outside the home with so many different natures and characters.
If one lacks understanding, one is poor in spite of all that one possesses of the goods of this world; it is understanding which gives a person riches.
... A life without such understanding is like a dark room which contains everything you wish -- it is all there, but there is no light.

If there is no understanding between two persons, words are of no use.
They may talk and talk, and discuss and discuss, and it will only go from bad to worse, for argument will never end.
As it is said in the Vadan, 'Why? Is an animal with a thousand tails. At every bite you give it, it drops one of its curved tails and raises another.'
Can argument bring about understanding?
Never.
Argument only increases argument, and so one can go on till two persons turn their back upon one another.
Understanding is a gift of God, understanding is a soul's unfoldment, and understanding is the greatest fortune one can have in life.

 

 

Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

Gratitude & Letting Go

Gratitude is larger than life.

One day, a friend called me on the phone.
He was going through a difficult time and wondering if and when things would ever turn around and improve.
I knew he was in a lot of pain, I didn't know then that he was considering suicide.

"If you could give a person only one thing to help them," he said, "what would it be?"

I thought carefully about his question, and then I replied, "It's not one thing, it's two: gratitude and letting go."
Gratitude for everything, not just the things we consider good or a blessing.
And letting go of everything we can't change.

A few years have passed since that day my friend called me on the phone.
His life has turned around. His financial problems have sorted themselves out.
His career has shifted.
The two very large problems he was facing at that time have both sorted themselves out.

Someone once asked the artist Georgia O'Keeffe why her paintings magnified the size of small objects - the petals on a flower - making them appear larger than life, and reduced the size of large objects - like mountains - making them smaller than life. 
"Everyone sees the big things," she said. "But these smaller things are so beautiful and people might not notice them if I didn't emphasize them."

That's the way it is with gratitude and letting go.
It's easy to see the problems in our lives.
They're like mountains. But sometimes we overlook the smaller things; we don't notice how truly beautiful they are.

God, teach me to use gratitude and letting go to reduce the size of my problems.

More Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie

 

Seeking & Running Away From Silence

 

When speech is controlled, the eyes speak;
the glance says what words can never say.

Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan

 

What is silence? Silence is something which we consciously or unconsciously are seeking every moment of our life. We are seeking for silence and running away from it, both at the same time. Where is the word of God heard? In silence. The seers, the saints, the sages, the prophets and masters, they have heard that voice which comes from within by making themselves silent. I do not mean by this that because one will have a silence that he will be spoken to. I mean that he will hear the word which is constantly coming to him once he is silent.

Once the mind has been made still, a person gets in communication with every person one meets. He does not need too many words, when the glance meets he understands. Two persons may talk and discuss their whole life and they will not understand one another; and two persons with still minds look at one another in one moment there is a communication. Where comes the difference between persons? It is by their activity. And when comes agreement? It comes by the stillness of mind.

by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

Learn To Sail

I am not afraid of storms, 

for I am learning how to sail my ship.

Louisa May Alcott

You feel the way you do right now because of 

the thoughts you are thinking at this moment.
David D. Burns

Every recovery from alcoholism began with one sober hour. 

Life Is What You Make It

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0DRk8dFjI

Sometimes life knocks you down.  

You find excuses for your situation.  

You wonder “Why me?”  

Take a moment to view this short video of an incredible man who made a choice.

Happy Birthday USMC!!

Happy Veterans Day

You could hear a pin drop

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building' by George Bush.

He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders.
The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.

You could have heard a pin drop.

 

 

Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American.

During a break one of the French engineers came b a ck into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?'

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly:  'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.

We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?'

You could have heard a pin drop.

 

 

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies.  At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries.

Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then as ked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?'

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, 'Maybe it's because back in '44 the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'

You could have heard a pin drop.

 

 

A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. 

At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on.

"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.

"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."

The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."

"Impossible monsieur.  You Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France !"

The American senior gave the French man a long hard look.

Then h e quietly explained. "Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any darn Frenchmen to show it to."

You could have heard a pin drop.

As America honors our Veterans Day, may I please encourage that everyone review this three minute video, today, in honor of our many fallen Veterans. Some of you may have seen this before, produced in honor of the Canadian Military, but the strong message resonates the same here in the USA, as well as universally.