A wise goal for each of us.

The Lord Be Praised

“The lips of the one I love are my perpetual pleasures:
The Lord be praised, for my heart’s desire is attained.

O Fate, cherish my darling close to your breast:
Present now the golden wine-cup, now the rubies of those lips.

They talk scandal about us, and say we are drunks–
The silly old men, the elders lost in their error.

But we have done penance on the pious man’s behalf,
And ask God’s pardon for what the religious do.

O my dear, how can I speak of being apart from you?
The eyes know a hundred tears, and the soul has a hundred sighs.

I’d not have even an infidel suffer the torment your beauty has caused
To the cypress which envies your body, and the moon that’s outshone by your face.

Desire for you lips has stolen from Hafiz’ thought
His evening lectionary, and reciting the Book at dawn.
——Hafiz, translated from Persian by Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubbs

Spiritual energy

The Mirage

One day in the desert a bedouin
Looked up and saw a mirage shimmering
Ahead. Not water, but the splendor of
A dazzling girl.

In the thirsty, burning desert
among dry thorns, under a shadowless sun
He tried to reach her but instead
Of that marvelous love he found death.

In his immaterial, immortal sleep
He still saw the splendor of that girl
Shimmering ahead, an eternal mirage.
And in his endless dream he began to walk looking for her.”
—-Avedik Issahakian, translated from the Armenian by Diana Der Hovanessian

The journey is peace and we must meet every act of violence with peace and loving forgiveness

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The beauty of poetry is that the words and images are never out of style. They can be thousands of years old and still have meaning and messages for the present time.

I may have mentioned my nine grandchildren before. From now on I will call them the grands. I have 3 elder grands, the twins, the baby grands and the monkey. He is the only one who lives in town and so I get to see him more often. I had him yesterday. A day filled with laughter and tag and a ball stuck in a tree and Star Wars. A day for us both to cherish.  My oldest grand is graduating Thursday, so I will be going for the festivities. I am so proud of him. His campus has been in lockdown several times in the last two years. No one has been hurt but the closeness of danger and evil is frightening. This is a part of my feelings about guns and the people who shoot others with them.

Children are so precious and people always say that they are strong and will get over anything that happens in childhood. In reality, we allow them to be scarred emotionally and mentally far too often. Some with therapy will work through it and lead a productive life. Some grow up with trust issues, or become rapists or serial killers. Some are batterers and pedophiles. We need to do a better job of protecting the children and encouraging them to fly and be all they can be and come back to the roost whenever they really need to.

Years ago, I found this poem and got it on little tee shirts for the grands that I had at that time. So, in honor of every child on our globe trying to grow up in a world we have filled with anger, hatred, danger, and stress; I give these words to them and to those people who are raising them or their parents.

A goal to ending violence, hatred and war

Reblogged from Adventures and Musings of a Hedgewitch:

Reblogged from okieprogressive:

Reblogged from The ObamaCrat.Com™:

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By Jueseppi B.

The biggest banks in the country—the ones that wrecked our economy and cost millions of Americans their jobs—pay next to nothing on the debt they owe the government, while students pay nine times as much. That isn't right.

That's why I've introduced the Bank on Students Loan Fairness Act to let students take advantage of the same low rates offered to banks for one year while…

Read more… 347 more words

This award is dedicated to special readers, and I am touched that TersiaBurger would think of me for it.  I humbly accept this honor, with much gratitude

1. Display the logo on your page.
2. Finish the sentence: A great reader is…
A great reader is…a person who takes the time to read what I have posted, and to comment, and who is willing to look at the various points of view that I and my readers present with an open mind.  A great reader is a person who is willing to look at all aspects of the message, the beautiful, the spiritual, the artistic and the unpleasant realities that are sometimes there.  A great reader is a person who is kind enough to keep coming back.

3. Nominate 14 readers I appreciate.

1. Juiseppi B
2. Papazilla
3. Crowing Crone Joss
4. CravesAdventure
5. Carol Carlisle
6. Petchary
7. CapricornRising
8. Siggiofmaine
9. Pujakins
10. Izaakmak
11. Ganesh
12. Shianwrites
13. Clanmother
14. Alex Jones
15. Alastair
16. Lightbearer
17. godtisx

4. Inform the readers with either comments or pingbacks.

Reblogged from The Fifth Column:

Mediaite

2012 electoral polling star, the New York Times’s Nate Silver, who was lauded for being right on all things 2012 election, is back crunching the numbers, this time on the IRS political targeting scandal, specifically firing back at WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan’s claim that the Obama IRS went after wealthy Republican individuals in addition to Tea Party groups i…

Read more… 392 more words

Let the creativity flow

There have been many spiritual teachers who have advocated the path of peace. In this path people walk without regard to race, religion or ethnicity.I believe that these people are very enlightened souls who carry the responsibility of lighting the path of peace for others to follow. It takes a special heart and an open, accepting soul to do all that is required for peace.

Let your light shine on the path of peace

It is not how much we do that is important; it is the love that enables us to walk on the path of peace. Peace is part of our journey if we accept it. It is one of the choices we make on our journey through this world. The smallest action done with love takes us further down the path of peace.

The beginning of the path of peace is within ourselves, in contemplation and prayer. Silent prayer within your own home where no one is watching you is the most sincere. Then what you are performing is not for the people to witness, but for yourself and God/Goddess. Many spiritual people recommend beginning and ending the day with prayer. Whereever your journey takes you, the desire for peace comes from the Divinity within.

Fear is an emotion which can destroy peace or prevent it from taking root in people. Fear of being humiliated, of being despised,  of being rebuked, of being forgotten or wronged and the fear of being ridiculed can destroy a person as they walk upon their journey.  There are curves and turns in the road, and not being able to see around the next bend can cause fear. We are all capable of good and evil. No one is all good or all evil .Divinity is always stronger than the evil in the world.

Look into a baby’s eyes if you want to see Divinity. It is all that they know. They learn to hate and hurt and to destroy only as they grow. So your heart being filled with Divinity and daily choosing paths that will allow you to walk in peace is the way to begin this journey. Once you have begun, life will carry you along until you are a shining light for others.

Be the light, be the inspiration, be the reason someone is living in a state of well-being.

Sunset over water. Photograph taken and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2013

A photo of some of my irises, which are my favorite flower.Photograph copyrighted 2013

When life gets hard or you hear or read something disturbing, then balance with what is beautiful to you. Whether you work in a non-profit or an office, you need to create beauty around you to keep your heart and soul from being weighed down by the under side of life.

It is possible to not look away, to even reach out a helping hand by creating a beauty that touches your heart and fills it with love for others. It is easy to love our friends and family, but to walk among the homeless, the hungry, those who have lived through tradgedies takes forming a balanced life.

My garden photograph copyrighted 2013

I have my ways to create balance, you will need to experiment and find what touches you and heals you. Because we must constantly heal ourselves if we are to change our world for the better. Music is another wonderful way to find balance. Meditation and breathing are also good ways to heal your heart and soul.

I have found affirmations to be invaluable. I recommend Louise Hay’s books. I love to listen to them as I go through my day when life has been difficult. And reading poetry aloud is, for me soothing. We each can find our own ways.

“The call of the griefless is from a frozen heart, the call of the grieving one is from rapture.”
” He ( God ) is the merciful and bountiful Lord; both existence and non-existence are in love with Him.” –Rumi

I found these quotes in a book a friend brought back after being in Turkey. It is hard to love those who suffer. People don’t want to get too close yet the close proximity is the only way to make a difference in someone’s life. Why are we here? Perhaps because our strength and love and creativity enables us to make the world a better place.

The forsythia blooming. Photograph copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2013