Words For The Day

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
John Quincy Adams

May those whose hell it is to hate and hurt be turned into lovers bringing flowers.
Shantideva, 8th century Buddhist teacher

In the end we will conserve only what we love.
We will love only what we understand.
We will understand only what we are taught.
Baba Dioum, Senegalese conservationist (b. 1937)

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.
Audrey Hepburn

All good things are wild, and free.
Henry David Thoreau

Every breath we draw is a gift of God's love; every moment of existence is a grace.
Thomas Merton
Thoughts in Solitude

Life is an opportunity given to satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul.
Hazrat Inayat Khan
Bowl of Saki

Although all men share a common destiny, each individual also has to work out his personal salvation for himself.
We can help each other find the meaning of life, but in the last analysis, each is responsible for finding himself.
Thomas Merton

Dare to be empty.
Dare to let go.
Dare to believe.
Elisabeth L.

Fundamental Problem Of The Spiritual Life

The basic and most fundamental problem of the spiritual life is this acceptance of our hidden and dark self, with which we tend to identify all the evil that is in us.
We must learn by discernment to separate the evil growth of our actions from the good ground of the soul.
And we must prepare that ground so that a new life can grow up from it within us, beyond our knowledge and beyond our conscious control.
The sacred attitude is, then, one of reverence, awe and silence before the mystery that begins to take place within us when we become aware of our innermost self.
In silence, hope, expectation, and unknowing, the man of faith abandons himself to the divine will: not as an arbitrary and magic power whose decrees must be spelled out from cryptic ciphers, but as to the stream of reality and life itself.
The sacred attitude is, then, one of deep and fundamental respect for the real in whatever new form it may present itself.
Thomas Merton, The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation

Plow, Sow, Reap

The reformer comes to plow the ground;
the prophet comes to sow the seed;
and the priest comes to reap the harvest.

Hazrat Inayat Khan, Bowl of Saki

There is the time of plowing,
there is the time of sowing and
there is the time of reaping the harvest.
It is not all done at the same time.

Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan

The Evolution of Personal Character

Watch your thoughts;
They become your words.

Watch your words;
They become your actions.

Watch your actions;
They become your habits.

Watch your habits;
They become your character.

Watch your character;
It becomes your destiny.

Do Not Fear God

Do not fear God, but consciously regard His pleasure and displeasure.

Hazrat Inayat Khan,
Bowl of Saki

Displaced: The Unexpected Fallout From The Cold War

"Displaced: The Unexpected Fallout From The Cold War," is a new documentary produced by filmmaker Mark Albertin of Augusta's Scrapbook Video Productions. The film will debut during a free screening, which is open to the public and is to be held March 20, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Etherredge Center at the University of South Carolina Aiken Campus, Aiken, SC.

Around 6,000 residents of Ellenton, Dunbarton and other hamlets in South Carolina were forced to leave for "the bomb plant," as the Savannah River Site was known was in its embryonic phase. Over a three-year period, Albertin has interviewed dozens of ejected Ellentonians in an effort to catalogue the stories of these aging individuals and what he describes as "their heroic act of patriotism" so it would not be lost to time.

The project has been sponsored by the SRS Heritage Foundation through grants from Fluor Daniel and a grant from Aiken County. For more information and snippets of interviews from the film go to www.displaced.us.
Aiken Standard: http://www.aikenstandard.com/Local/0223Displaced

Born Again American

BORN AGAIN AMERICAN
By Keith Carradine       

Just a workin’ man without a job
It got shipped off to China via Washington, D.C.
And I know I’m nothin’ special, there are plenty more like me
Just the same
I thought I knew the rules of the game

I stood up for this country that I love
I came back from the desert to a wife and kids to feed
I’m not sayin’ Uncle Sam should give me what I need
My offer stands
I’ll pull my weight you give me half a chance

I went up to a congressman and said to him “you know
Our government is letting people down”
He said he’d need a lot of help to buck the status-quo
I said there was a bunch of us around

I’m a Born Again American, conceived in Liberty
My Bible and the Bill of Rights, my creed’s equality
I’m a Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream from sea to shining sea

My brother’s welding chassis at the plant 
He’s earning what our granddad did in 1948
While CEOs count bonuses behind the castle gates
How can they see
When all they care about’s the do re mi

It’s getting where there’s nowhere left to turn
Not since the crash of twenty-nine have things been so unfair
So many of our citizens are living in despair
The time has come
To reaffirm that hope’s not just for some

The promise of America’s surrendering to greed
The rule is just look out for number one
But brace yourself ‘cause some of us have sown a different seed
A harvest of the spirit has begun

I’m a Born Again American conceived in liberty
My Bible and The Bill Of Rights
My creed’s equality
A Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream from sea to shining sea

It’s clear my country’s soul is on the line
She’s hungering for something that she lost along the way
The principle the framers called upon us to obey
That in this land
The people’s will must have the upper hand

I felt the calling once before and took a sacred vow
And faithful to that vow I have remained
I hear the calling once again, my country needs me now
And to her cause I have been re-ordained

I’m a Born Again American conceived in liberty
My Bible and the Bill Of Rights, all people living free 
A Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream 
From sea to shining sea
And everyone who shares the dream
From sea to shining sea
A M E R I C A

 

Check this out and turn up the volume: 

http://www.bornagainamerican.org/

 

 

The Shack

Just finished the book and could not put it done.  I recommend this book for anyone struggling with a God of their understanding.  I found my higher power in the pages of this book.  I can relate to the Great Sadness, or in my case the Great Darkness.

Book:  The Shack by William P. Young

Softback:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0964729237/ref=s9_sdps_c2_s1_p14_t1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=11GKA1N3CJ3SH9Z0H57J&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383371&pf_rd_i=507846 

 

Hardback:

http://www.amazon.com/Shack-Special-Hardcover-William-Young/dp/0964729245/ref=ed_oe_h

Say When It's Time To Begin

Are you hiding behind a mask of firsts?   

Is there always something that keeps you from beginning?   

Take off the mask.   

Start the project.   

Stop making excuses.   

Eliminate them. 

Learn to say when it's time to begin.
 

God, please help me eliminate excuses from my life.   

Show me how full my life can be when I pursue my dreams.  Amen.  

Expectations

Higher Power, help me stop expecting so much from myself. 

I set unrealistic standards, and when they are not met, unhappiness follows. 

Help me be true to myself and only expect what I am capable of doing. As I grow in recovery and do my assignments every day, I am able to do more. 

Your will provides realistic goals. Your will provides what I need to succeed.  Amen.
 

The 12 Step Prayer Book Volume 2 

by Bill P. and Lisa D. 

  

Good Is Good Enough

May I not set my sights unrealistically high, expect too much.

May I look backwards long enough to see that my self-set, impossible goals were the trappings of my addiction; too often I ended up halfway there, confronted by my own failure.

Those "foiled-again," "I've-failed-again" feelings became monumental excuses to give in to my compulsion, which blanketed my miseries.

May I avoid that sick old pattern.

May I be realistic.  Amen.

Words

Do all you can with what you have, in the time you have, in the place you are. 

Nkosi Johnson -- Twelve-year-old Zulu boy, living with AIDS 

 

Catastrophe is the essence of the spiritual path, a series of breakdowns allowing us to discover the threads that weave all of life into a whole cloth. 

 Joan Halifax -- Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death 

 

The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what to hope for.

And the most you can do is live inside that hope. 

Barbara Kingsolver 

 

Do your best and then relax.

Let things go on in a natural way, rather than force them. 

Paramahansa Yogananda 

 

You don't get to choose how you're going to die.

Or when.

You can decide how you're going to live now. 

Joan Baez 

 

Whatever your life's pursuit -- art, poetry, sculpture, music, whatever your occupation may be -- you can be as spiritual as clergy, always living a life of praise. 

Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan  --  Bowl of Saki 

 

Each minute of life should be a divine quest. 

Paramahansa Yoganand 

 

www.gratefulness.org 

 

Gunbus 410

Yeh, I had a hard time believing 410 cubes, too.......

 

The Gunbus 410 cubic inch V-Twin motorcycle is complete.

The monster engine placed in a motorcycle frame of comparable size looked impossible and many who saw the photos were skeptical of the bike ever being finished, but I guess Clemens F. Leonhardt is one of those persistent guys who ignores the naysayers and keeps at his work.

The fuel-injected, 45 degree 6728 cc/410 cubic inch V-Twin runs through a 3 speed transmission with reverse and actually looks pretty good in its finished state. In fact, everything looks good!

It puts out 523 foot pounds of torque.

Seat height is 31.5 inches and overall length is 136 inches.

It is a little heavy at 1433 pounds so high speed corner carving might be an issue and there aren' t any photos of the big bike on the road, so I guess we ' ll have to wait for the road test , that is if someone can actually road test this monster.

This is actually going to go into limited series production and a sidecar will be available as well, which might help with balance when waiting at a light.

I don ' t even want to think about a driveway tip over.

 

http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2008/07/09/gunbus-410-cubic-inch-v-twin-motorcycle-completed/

 

Everything Is Amazing, And, No One Is Happy

This is so true and really funny.  

I have no idea who this guy is (maybe I am totally out of the loop) but he did make me think about how easy we all have it.

 http://barefootmeg.multiply.com/video/item/56

Irrationality

If you think you are an alcoholic, chances are you are.

N U T S = Not Using The Steps.

10 Commandments – Southern Style

Some people have trouble with all those 'shall's'  and 'shall not's' in the Ten commandments.

Folks just aren't used to  talking in those terms.  

So, in middle Tennessee they translated the 'King James' into' Jackson County ' language..... no joke, (posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Gainesboro , TN )

(1)  Just one God.

(2)  Put nothin' before God.

(3)  Watch yer mouth.

(4)  Git yourself to Sunday meetin'.

(5)  Honor yer Ma & Pa.

(6)  No killin'.

(7)  No foolin' around with  another fellow's gal.

8)  Don't take what ain't yers.

(9)  No tellin'  tales or gossipin'.

(10)  Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's  stuff.

Now  that's plain an' simple.

Y'all have a nice  day.

Cowboy Rules

Rules of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Beavercreek Orygun and the rest of the Wild West are as follows:

(1)  Pull your pants up. You look like an idiot.

(2)  Turn your cap right, your head ain't crooked.

(3)  Let's get this straight: it's called a 'gravel road.' I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how  slow you drive, you're gonna get dust on your Lexus.   Drive it or get out of the way.

(4)  They are cattle. That's why they smell like cattle. They smell like money to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-80 & I-90 go east and west, I-25 & I-15 goes north and south.   Pick one and go.

(5)  So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 Combines that are driven only 3 weeks a year.

(6)  Every person in the Wild West waves. It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.

(7)  If that cell phone rings while a bunch of geese/pheasants/ducks/doves are comin' in during the hunts, we WILL shoot it outa your hand. You better  hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.

(8)  Yeah. We eat trout, salmon, deer and elk. You want sushi and caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.

(9)  The 'Opener' refers to the first day of deer season. It's religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.

(10)  We open doors for women. That's applied to all  women, regardless of age.

(11)  No, there's no 'vegetarian special' on the menu.  Order steak, or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham and turkey.

(12)  When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads. We use three spices:  salt, pepper, and ketchup! Oh, yeah . . We don't care  what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat . . IT  AIN'T REAL CHILI!!

(13)  You bring 'Coke' into my house, it better be brown, wet and served over ice. You bring 'Mary Jane' into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a  truck, and have long hair.

(14)  College and High School Football is as important here  as the Giants, the Yankees, the Mets, the Lakers and the Knicks, and a dang site more fun to watch.

(15)  Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards - it spooks the fish.

(16)  Turn down that blasted car stereo! That thumpity-thump crap ain't music, anyway. We don't want to hear it anymore than we want to see your boxers! Refer back to #1!