Small Acorns

FEAR

2012-01-26T13:17:00.005Z

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I listened to a great discussion last night on Fear. Were we born with it, where does it come from, and do we have it? What are we afraid of.

I thought a lot of my fear inside me had gone, but have noticed that fear is always there lurking somewhere inside. Hiding. And when it rears its ugly ahead it can be very debilitating.

There is an intelligence behind fear. It knows what has you worried. It uses the past and it also uses the future. And it also uses people in a most untimely way to convey some sort of horror story. It tries to tell you what the outcome of a situation will be, and it uses past disappointments to re-enforce it.

Fear does not have any light in it, which is why you desperately need light to shine upon it.

Noticing fear inside you can be frightening in itself. It creates a physical pain which compunds upon the problem. Sometimes speaking it out with someone you trust lessens its impact. Sitting alone with it, you notice the struggle for supremacy between good and bad. In me it has a very claustophobic impact in that it makes you want to run away. It is like suffocating. This sometimes comes by way of thoughts - but this is not the answer.

Praying - Being still, gives you more light - a substances which, when you crave for it, comes to the rescue...

I noticed the last few months I had been a little slip shod in my prayer time. It had become a bit of a ritual, rather than a desire for love and more light..

Optimistic thoughts which people give themselves may keep them going for a while, but it is light and prayer which is the only genuine answer.

Be Still and Know.

Bond Info - Jesse's BOND

2011-09-23T05:30:00.000+01:00

Bond Info - Jesse's BOND

Letting Life Happen

2011-06-18T08:26:00.000+01:00

Luther Van Dross-Dance With My Father Again

2011-06-17T07:29:00.000+01:00

Media: The Spreading of False Ideologies into our Culture

2011-06-12T10:36:00.000+01:00

Media: The Spreading of False Ideologies into our Culture

One Solitary Life

2011-05-06T19:34:00.000+01:00

Sunny Days

2011-04-23T09:54:00.011+01:00

It was a beautiful sunny day here in England Good Friday. The day when we are meant to remember the sacrifice that Christ made for us, and to celebrate and wonder on the third day of resurrection. It is always a special time of year, in my opinion, much more thought provoking than Christmas.

I kept away from the bank holiday crowds. People tend to go ever so slightly mad, when the sun shines, and they get a day off work. Instead, I visted a small, typically quintessintial english village, called Kinver, nestled and tucked away in the british countryside, not far away from the hustle and bustle of where I live.

Perched on the precipice of Kinver edge, in the grounds of St Peter's church, high above the landscape, I sat and looked down on the village, and village life.

From a distance, and from the bench where I sat, it was an idyllic day. I imagined life had not changed in a 100 years or more. Cosetted and protected in the sanctuary of the church grounds, I saw you could kid yourself, that all was well in the world, because all was well from the tower from where you surveyed life. Life is very much like that. We sometimes look through rose tinted glasses, in a setting of our own imagination.

A sense of patriotism was also stirring in the village below. Next Friday would be another holiday. Time to celebrate the royal wedding. Hoorah Hoorah. Big Screens were being erected in every pub across the country. Even churches would be celebrating the big day!

Yet, as I sat there in my bubble of bliss, you could see that something was wrong. Image reflects one thing, but reality reflects another. Why cant people see this. Why dont they.

I thought of America. A country that I loved. How long would I hear the same repeated mantra. That America was a defender, a shining star, a god given country. Who God would continue to bless.

I thought of England. The place of my birth. Down in the village of Kinver people were drowning in drink, debt, cigarrettes, promiscuity, and sin. The ;icture was nowhere near as pretty as it seemed. In fact, at times, close up, it was disgustingly dark and disturbing.

Prior to the climb to Kinver Edge, I had taken lunch in an old traditional pub, aptly called The Dick Whittington. Another ancient building. Built in 1310. It still stood. Its image belying its modern interior. Here, I overhead two men talking. They were laughing at christianity. As they shovelled, food at an enormous rate down their throats, and swigged back copious amount of beer, one of the men joked that christians were brainwashed and dillusional. Thankfully, people were seeing the light and taking no notice of such nonsense. The bible was a made up story.

A sense of sadness washed over me as I thought about the walk that Christ made on that day all those years ago. That beauty in comparison to the ugliness I was watching and listening to, made me silently pray.

Very soon I knew I would have to leave my view of idyllic bliss. At least however, I could hang on to how things should and could be. I also had a sense of peace, that all was well. The church bells of St Peter's struck 1. Not only was there solemnity in the silence that followed but great hope. On the third day, he would rise again, in accordance with the scriptures. How long would my fellow countryman continue to look the other way, and not hear the toll of those bells.

The darkness that fell on the day that He was crucified will soon, I believe engulf the whole earth. I long for its ugliness to be crucified...but am happy for the message he has given.

For Real or Acting

2011-04-17T08:21:00.001+01:00

Coming up to easter, I came across this clip, and thought it was worth posting again, mainly to listen to what the actor James Caviezel says about how he felt playing the role of Christ, in The Passion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwEbu4VC9bU

Listening to him, you see, that you have to go through the same things yourself as Christ did in order to become like him and identify with him. Its not enough to just know about him. Becoming like him, is a Way. Our crosses are in no way as heavy as the one he carried, but you can identify with him in your own circumstances, and see that he bears the weight that would crush us if we did not know him.

In the interview James Caviezel states that some of his fellow actors were 'indifferent', like all people in society. Listening to the interview again I was really struck by some of the things he saw hanging from his cross, how he dealt with it, and more importantly how he lives his life today. So many actors, just act.

Dave Daubenmire -- Secular Pharisees

2011-04-14T09:03:00.000+01:00

Dave Daubenmire -- Secular Pharisees

''Luca era gay'' by Povia & Monia Russo (with English subtitles) Offici...

2011-04-10T07:46:00.000+01:00

Time to Stay - or Walk Away

2011-03-25T09:04:00.002Z

There are times to walk away, but times to stay and overcome rather than run away from our problems.

Walking Away - INTO THE WILD

2011-03-25T09:04:00.000Z

Mick

2011-03-25T07:26:00.002Z

I've lived on my road for over 20 years. But its the kind of road where you dont really know your neighbours, except for those who immediately live next door.

When we first moved in I do however remember Mick and his wife and children. They lived a couple of doors up, and sometimes I'd notice him. He had red hair, a large alsation dog, and was the kind of man you walked around, and avoided wherever possible.

Not long after, his wife and children disappeared, and it was not long after that I noticed him sleeping one night in his car, with his huge alsation.

Over 20 years, he's become quite a local character. He lost his home. Everything. We know he's slept rough in disused garages, and sometimes I've seen him lying in a road drunk.

If you saw Mick walking towards you, you would casually cross over. But over all these years he has made me smile with his vatious modes of transport. An old pushbike, a Shire Horse, and once I saw him racing down the hill on an old motorbike, donning a crashhat from the sixties, and a pair of googles.

His conversations are fascinating, yet very frightening. He talks of angels and of demons. Once when he told me he was interested in Tarot cards, I told him he should leave them alone, and visit church. Imagine my horror, when the local priest I once worked for told me he had gone to lock up the church late one night, and there was Mick standing at the pulpit reading the bible from the lecturn. His large alsation dog stretched out across the altar. It certainly gave the vicar a fright! Who put that idea into his head!

The following week I saw him in the congregation. I was sat up in the balcony. From here I saw him trying to shake hands and warmly kiss some of the very well heeled ladies. They were all smart, and there was Mick, smelling terrible, and really rough. I should'mt have smiled. But it was funny seeing them avoid him. There was a sadness about it. He was looking for truth.

From there, we have both dumped church. Mick goes in and out of hospital. I know when he's been in because he is so drugged up, he's detached. He recognises you, but there is no sparkle.

Well, this week, racing down the hill, in a little car, there came Mick. Seeing me he scretched to a halt and wound the window down. Again, he told me about angels and demons. He also told me about the devil. When he was a child, and his father beat him up when he came home drunk, he would sit on his own, and the devil would come to him and tell him he would be his father and look after him.

He told me about immortality. How he had died twice, and come back from the dead, and the angels who had spoken with him. Just for a few moments, although he sounded crazy, he was actually very real, and not confused at all. He told me the people in the hospital were very cruel. Why was the world so cruel? We had an interesting conversation.

As I walked away I thought about how confusion and resentment destroys people.

Mick is basically a good person, although he has a terrible temper. Someone, something keeps him going. His depiction of hell and of demons gives me no doubt he has been there and met them. He is considered delusional by the people who treat him.

People in my area have got used to Mick. He tries to fit in but he doesnt.

How many of us have been so confused at seeing the truth, and yet the majority of the world tells you otherwise. It can be a painful place to be.

null

2011-03-24T06:43:00.000Z

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An Irish Blessing

2011-03-12T09:22:00.000Z

Inner Healing and Visualization

2011-03-11T07:52:00.004Z

Theres a very big trend in visualization these days. From the samll new age practice to large corporate industries; experts designed and qualified to relieve stress, and master stress management, are being drafted in to instruct people how to cope with the pressures of life. On the surface, all looks good. The imagination can be used to cover up all kinds of hurt. But what do you do when you can't go to that peaceful place conjured up in the mind? Will your assailant, the one who causes grief, wait whilst your visit your sanctuary. The place you go where no-one can hurt you. Do you really have to wait until you get home, away from the world, and shut your front door. Instructors who use visualization, are encouraging you into denial. They sometimes do not see that visualization is escapism.

The imagination and visualization, equals denial. We must learn to deal with situations in the moment, in reality, not in the mind, or by our own efforts of bullying, out-shouting, out-smarting, or intimidating another.

Stress is usually caused my our own reactions to life. Our wrong reactions. Things not being how we want them to be. Situations unwanted, people unwanted. And our inability to handle them correctly. Many people do not like confrontation. But, if you can speak up from a quiet place, where you have not taken offense (an objective state)it means you do not bottle things up inside.

Every bad situation is an 'opportunity', and one we shouldn't run away from.

Patience and peace, are a gift. One we must be still and wait for whilst seeing there is something wrong in us...

Inner Healing and Visualization

2011-03-11T07:52:00.000Z

Inner Healing and Visualization

Paul Proctor - Today’s ‘Christianity’ – Nothing More Than Feelings

2011-03-05T22:01:00.000Z

Paul Proctor - Today’s ‘Christianity’ – Nothing More Than Feelings

2011-02-02T13:50:00.000Z

Paul Proctor - Today’s ‘Christianity’ – Nothing More Than Feelings

Victory as Christian health worker restored to work and offered a better job after intervention by the Christian Legal Centre

2011-01-27T07:49:00.000Z

Victory as Christian health worker restored to work and offered a better job after intervention by the Christian Legal Centre

Marsha West -- Is Hollywood on a mission to sexualize young girls?

2011-01-16T09:26:00.000Z

Marsha West -- Is Hollywood on a mission to sexualize young girls?

Merry Christmas…without the 'X' (OneNewsNow.com)

2010-12-22T07:13:00.000Z

Merry Christmas…without the 'X' (OneNewsNow.com)

Sixpence None The Richer (ft. Dan Haseltine) - Silent Night [Official Mu...

2010-12-20T07:15:00.000Z

Kelleigh Nelson -- Forgiveness

2010-12-04T10:28:00.000Z

Kelleigh Nelson -- Forgiveness

Evelyn - Angel Rays

2010-11-05T07:03:00.000Z

Quotes

2010-11-02T23:11:00.003Z

By H E Manning
Let your will be one with His will, and be glad to be disposed of by Him. He will order all things for you. What can cross your will, when it is one with His will, on which all cration hangs, round which all things revolve? Keep your hearts clear of evil thoughts; for as evil choices estrange the will from His will, so evil thoughts cloud the soul and hide Him from us. Whatever sets us in opposition to Him makes our will an intolerable torment. So long as we will one thing and He another, we go on piercing ourselves through and through with a perpetual wound; and His will advances moving on in sanctity and majesty, crusing ours into the dust..

By J R Miller
How can you live sweetly amid the vexatious things, the irritating things, the multitude of little worries and frets, which lie all along your way, and which you cannot evade? You cannot at present change your surroundings. Whatever kind of life you are to live, must be lived amid precisely the experiences in which you are now moving. Here you must win your victories or suffer your defeats. No restlessness or discontent can change your lot. Others may have circumstances surrounding them, but here are yours. You had better make up your mind to accept what you cannot alter. You can live a beuatiful life in the midst of present circumstances.

Those Old Westerns

2010-10-28T15:32:00.000+01:00

Those Old Westerns

Devvy Kidd -- In Memory of Joan Veon

2010-10-20T08:46:00.000+01:00

Devvy Kidd -- In Memory of Joan Veon

Ronan Keating, Yusuf - Father And Son

2010-10-19T13:47:00.000+01:00

Village of Hope

2010-10-14T13:35:00.004+01:00

With so much negative and fearful news directed at us on a daily basis, is it any wonder that people lose optimism and hope. The world is never short of wonder; but it is so very short of wonderment.

We seem to have lost our sense of the miraculous, in favour of the horrific, and very real trajedies of human life. The media is adept at reporting just how bad things are. They are simply not that interested in reporting the good.

Therefore, it is always so uplifting to hear of human survival stories.

The rescue of the 33 miners trapped underground in Chile, is one such story that fascinated me, and a story which has touched many people, around the world, about just how much the human spirit can withstand and survive. The experience and the relief in sharing the rescue of these men,albeit from across the world, was very uplifting. The story received a great deal of attention.

Watching some of the men emerge from their tomb, from darkness to light, reminded me of the stories of ressurection, from death to re-newed life. One man reported, that it was the devil who spoke to him in that place, but his faith in God that kept him alive and encouraged him to survive and remain hopeful.

The sheer relief and the reunions were the best scenes on TV I has seen for such a long time.

They made me think of the lives we live in darkness away from our creator. The realisation we are trapped, and the hope of being saved.

The story will however be manipulted in some way. The attention of this rescue has captured the world, and the dark side of goodness will use it at its will. Numerologists are already focused on the symbolism of the number 33, and attaching a more sinister agenda to the story rather than a natural accidental occurance.

Whatever the deal. I loved the simple facts, that some men fell on their kness and thanked God for their rescue.

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust.
(Psalm 40:1-4)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11543473

Frosty Wooldridge -- How we Trashed an Entire Continent in 150 Years

2010-09-27T07:29:00.000+01:00

Frosty Wooldridge -- How we Trashed an Entire Continent in 150 Years

Back from the Dead

2010-09-20T20:48:00.005+01:00

This is a very sweet story below of a little baby boy who came back from the dead after 2 hours. A little miracle.

Australia: Mother's Cuddle Brings Baby "Back to Life" -- Signs of the Times News

2010-09-20T20:40:00.000+01:00

Australia: Mother's Cuddle Brings Baby "Back to Life" -- Signs of the Times News: "http://www.sott.net/articles/show/214318-Australia-Mother-s-Cuddle-Brings-Baby-Back-to-Life-"

2010-09-12T09:49:00.005+01:00

I dont really know 'who' bought the twin towers down. There has been so much speculation about this event. What it did signify was the loss of freedom, not just to americans, but to everyone around the world.
When many americans wanted to flee America, after this event, I wanted to go there. The event triggered the fast tracking of a dark agenda, but over the years has equally highlighted the movement to expose such manipulation. When dark things happen, there is always an opportunity for great light to counteract it. I like this photograph, for the spirit it represents.

I Love This Family

2010-09-09T13:48:00.003+01:00

I love this family featured in 60 minutes - Living Proof. Their persistence to not bend and to stand up for their father, is just so touching. Intersting insights on the positive effect of Vitamin C.

Living Proof? - 60 Minutes - Video - 3 News

2010-09-09T07:51:00.000+01:00

Living Proof? - 60 Minutes - Video - 3 News

Visit to Alrewas National Memorial Aboreteum

2010-09-07T20:41:00.012+01:00

Visit with Sue to Alrewas....

The armed forces memorial has the engravings of 15,000 names of service men and women who have died through war and terrorism since the 2nd world war. There are bare walls ready to take the names of a further 15,000

A Better Land
Some of the sculptures were very poignant. There is a soldier looking through an open door, as though entering into a different world. If you look through you catch a glimpse of a distant green field.

The Hurt
There is a scupture of a nurse tending an injured soldier who has fallen. A mother and child in total despair for their husband and father who is being carried from the battlefield. Whilst this is happening, there is a sculptor engraving another name.

The Story Teller
In the chapel there is a beautiful wooden sculpture of Christ. It is entitled the story teller. He is talking to 12 children. One of them is not listening. The child is busy investigating something else.

Freedom
There were two wooden crosses in the chapel to represent the two thieves on the cross. One had a pair of handcuffs hanging from them that were open, to depict he had been forgiven. The other had a pair of handcuffs on that were locked, indicated the thief had not repented.

Volunteers
The volunteers who work there are dedicated and reverent. They are a mixture of very young and old

Peace
It would be difficult to say it is a beautiful place, because it is such a sad place. But, for anyone visiting, it is a very peaceful and thoughtful place, most especially for those who have friends and family commerated there.

Madness
When we drove away, it was not long before we found ourselves in another world from the place of stillness and reverence we had visited.

We Will Remember Them
I cannot say how I felt after visiting this place of stillness, and then observing this mad crazy world we live in, they were both identical in many similar ways, but it was most surely a day of thinking about sacrifice, the importance of freedom, and those who dedicate their lives in protecting us. It was sad to see some young soldiers visiting there as well to take part in a service.

The Arboretum is situated in the centre of England on Croxall Road, Alrewas in Staffordshire. It is easy to reach from any part of the country and is close to all the Midlands motorways.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA2mky_eP_M

RAP

2010-09-06T19:21:00.006+01:00

I do like some of the things David Icke has to say, and like this interview on the video below, (with the exception of his swearing) for the sensability of the young girl he is speaking to. What an insightful conversation.

David Icke talks Blueprint rap

2010-09-06T19:20:00.000+01:00

Jonathan Emord -- The Character Assassins

2010-09-06T07:13:00.000+01:00

Jonathan Emord -- The Character Assassins

FDNY - Tribute To Firefighters of 11th September

2010-09-04T21:23:00.000+01:00

The Armed Man, A Mass for Peace, Benedictus

2010-08-30T20:01:00.000+01:00

Never give up - No Arms, No Legs No Worries - Nick Vujicic

2010-08-21T10:48:00.000+01:00

Nick Vujicic- A LIFE without limbs.

2010-08-21T09:31:00.011+01:00

I first heard of Nick Vujicic a few years ago, quite by accident, from a friend, and really liked his attitude and ability to encourage others overcome their disabilities and anger. He is an australian man, and the story of him growing up is very interesting. His despair of his limitations, and the prison of the body he found himself in, made him want to take his own life.

Once I got over crying when I first saw him, and feeling ashamed at my own petty grumblings, I realized he wasnt looking for sympathy, or comparison, or saying his problem is worse than yours. He was saying everyone has a purpose and can overcome anything. He is a great example of how the human spirit can triumph over things, if they let go of resentment, and can find peace. He promotes Thankfullness.

Born with no arms and legs, Nick now gets on with life, and travels the world, often putting himself in extremely vulnerable situations. He's an evangelist speaker, but not 'too' over the top. He has great conviction, believable because of his story. He tells the girls and boys on the video that God loves them as they are, which I think is wrong, but I do see what he means on a 'physical' level.

After a while, you dont see a person with no arms and legs, you see a man. He speaks heart to heart, and bypasses the limitations of human frailty, right to the point on what matters in life, in his own unique way. You become more interested in what he has to say rather than he has no arms or legs.

I believe God could give him arms and legs if he wanted to, but yet, he has maybe been 'healed' in another way.

He has no problem standing up.

You realize most able bodied people dont have as much life in them, and are not as 'free' as Nick Vujicic. This is maybe what some of our tears are about, and the shame we dont carry our own burdens with this much grace.!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1196755/The-astonishing-story-man-born-arms-legs--world-famous-swimmer-surfer-footballer.html

Activist Post: Ten Reasons to Become Self-Sufficient and Ten Ways to Get There

2010-08-20T17:28:00.000+01:00

Activist Post: Ten Reasons to Become Self-Sufficient and Ten Ways to Get There

Learn To Be Still

2010-08-18T07:38:00.004+01:00

The video below was recently posted on the Be Still and Know Forum Board. I thought it was lovely.

the Eagles-Learn to be Still (lyrics)

2010-08-18T07:21:00.000+01:00

The Death of Ciommon Sense

2010-08-17T07:01:00.001+01:00

An Obituary printed in the London Times - Interesting and sadly, rather true.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend,
Common Sense, who has been with us for many years.

No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.

Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents,

Truth and Trust, by his wife,

Discretion, by his daughter,

Responsibility, and by his son,

Reason. ?

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;

I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

The Weak acting Strong

2010-08-15T08:34:00.005+01:00

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Its terribly disappointing that the president of America has given his support to the proposed building of a mosque at ground zero. Not only did his actions and words show lack of understanding, but they displayed weakness. Just where have all the strong men gone.

Authority tends to loose its power, when you see where its coming from, and rather than look like strong leadership, it instead looks like a petulant child demanding and stating its own way. I would hope even the most liberal would see how wrong he is on this.

I do hope the world gets behind the families of 9/11 to support them. The mosque could be built at an entirely different location. It would be a peaceful and loving thing to do, and would gain a little more respect, rather than the anger that it will incite.

But wait a minute. Isn't this what this whole issue is about?

Injustice and Betrayal, and yes Phobia, are most certainly the handtools of a manipulator.

God Bless the families of 9/11 at this time.

Unaware.

2010-08-12T06:03:00.003+01:00

I passed a lady by the other day who was having a small brain seizure. She was outside my place of work, and looking a little out of place. She worked around the other side of the building from me, and I didnt usually see her early morning.

She just stood there gazing into the distance. Perfectly alright, just a little bit like she was 'anxiously' looking out for somebody.
I spoke to her, and said 'hello', and she looked right through me, with no response. I told myself she was just pre-occupied. I carried on, along with others, all hurridly getting into work.
Only later, when an ambulance arrived, did I realize she had needed help.
Her husband and daughter came by my office to accompany her to the hospital.

There was so much in this little incident for me to see. A sense of guilt I had passed her by. My own unawareness, and the very still voice outshadowed by the purpose of getting to where I was going. I knew her better. Why didnt I stop?

In many ways it was such a subtle incident. A trauma that no-one was noticing, taking place.

I thought about it on a bigger scale. How unaware people carry on with their lives, not wanting to see what is happening.

I thought about her slightly fearful stare, and the 'reality' of what was happening inside her mind.

Later, someone told me she would not have seen or heard me at all. But she did recover, later that day!

Calm As A Cucumber

2010-08-11T07:05:00.002+01:00

I love the way this labourer calmly moves his foot when he drops one of the bricks, in the vdeo below. He has a great sense of balance. No Health & Safety Rules here.

Calm as a Cucumber - The Brickie from Bangladesh!

2010-08-10T19:29:00.004+01:00

Time To Be Offended.?

2010-08-06T20:22:00.024+01:00

Paul Martin. www.freedigitalphotos.net

There comes a time when you have to have had enough of taking it on the chin and turning the other cheek. It is decidedly unhealthy to permit assault.

I dont think being offended is necessarily a crime in some instances. Nor is it always unspiritual, reactive, or racist. There has to be a time when you say enough is enough, draw a line, and say a catagoric NO to any more offense. It is not being prideful, to strongly object to others saying and doing what they wish with you.

Compromising, or going along to get along, is sometimes a weak option. You dont lie down to let a rapist rape you.

The proposed plans for the building of a mosque near to ground zero, is one such time when people have a right to feel hurt and maybe righteously angry, for this building to even be considered. The proposed plans show a certain insensitivity, to what happened in the immediate vicinity on that fateful terrible day of September 11, that no-one will ever forget.

America, is primarily founded on christian principles, and is a christian country, which has permitted others of different faiths to exercise its freedom to worship there, in whichever style it chooses. In this respect, it is one of the most tolerant and freedom loving countries on the earth, offering many people, many opportunities. It can never be called intolerant.

All faiths, and all peoples, should therefore 'respect' that freedom they have been granted. It should not displace its host.

Whilst peaceful islamic adherents may not have actually been the cause of that terrible event, and equally feel repelled at its horror, it is this far, ingrained into history, and in the mind of most people, that islamic terrorists were responsible fo the death of almost 3,000 people.

Therefore, in the interests of what 'real' peace and understanding is, it is the american people and the families of those left behind, who lost loved ones, on Sept 11, who should be listened to at this crucial time and respected.

Creating division between religions, and allowing gross injustice, leads to wars. Antagonistic plans are sometimes permitted not by the innocent, but by people within our own countries, who know how to use people to intesify anger, and create a sense of betrayal and injustice. The planning of this building comes over as being very dis-respectful. It does not honour the memory of those who innocently died. It would be a catalyst for further injustice and hatred using the memory of one of the most catastrophic events ever recorded on american soil.

We should always respect the memory of those who died on Sept 11th and to those who died trying to save lives on that day. Indifference, is not an option. Just when is enough, enough.

To stand tall, and look the world, and the agenda behind these plans, right in the eye, will also take some calm nerve.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gieR_gNwrCUCH2jR03xjTCoEp4qgD9HC9S7G0

Misleading abortion advertisements | Christian News on Christian Today

2010-08-06T19:57:00.000+01:00

Misleading abortion advertisements | Christian News on Christian Today

Mighty Mallet of Baking Soda

2010-08-04T22:07:00.000+01:00

Mighty Mallet of Baking Soda

♪ Smile - Charlie Chaplin

2010-07-30T06:59:00.000+01:00

The Perfection of Design

2010-07-26T06:45:00.004+01:00

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/dan

Is this design? or is it chance? Why should it be the number three instead of any other number? No one can tell. We can only observe the wondrous working of supernatural laws, and admire the perfection of design.

In the case of the BEE, it is the number three which pervades its phenomena—
o In three days the egg of the queen is hatched.
o It is fed for nine days (3x3).
o It reaches maturity in 15 days (5x3).
o The worker grub reaches maturity in 21 days (7x3).
o And is at work three days after leaving its cell.
o The drone matures in 24 days (8x3).
o The bee is composed of three sections,— head and two stomachs.
o The two eyes are made up of about 3,000 small eyes, each
having six sides (2x3).
o Underneath the body are six (2x3) wax scales with which the comb is made.
o It has six (2x3) legs. Each leg is composed of three sections.
o The foot is formed of three triangular sections.
o The antennae consist of nine (3x3) sections.
o The sting has nine (3x3) barbs on each side.

Interesting & Thoughtful Quotes

2010-07-26T06:07:00.008+01:00

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. --Anonymous

Arthur Schopenhauer:
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."

There is no way to receive real love if you will not let go of the look-alike, convinced you already hold the genuine article.

Real love (pure strength) never knocks people around, verbally, mentally, physically or spiritually. This is the power of genuine love. It can be yours the day you set your unwavering sights on it. E.M.

Anonymous....
Good cannot compromise with evil. When it does, it loses its “goodness.”

Conformity is the jailor of freedom, and the enemy of growth. John F Kennedy

1 Corinthians 15:54

Teddy Roosevelt said “To educate a man in mind, and not in morals, is to educate a menace to society.”

So, when this...mortal has put on immortality then it shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory"

Nick Cannon - Can I Live?

2010-07-25T20:33:00.000+01:00

Immortality and Longevity

2010-07-24T08:39:00.017+01:00

Image: Prozac1/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is really difficult to grasp the concept of immortal and eternal life, other than to believe that it exists in a place called heaven.

We live daily amidst so much disease and death. We watch people die, never to see them return.

Our comfort therefore, lies in the invisible realm of heaven, where immortality and eternal life does exist, where we go to one day,if we are fortunate, when we leave this physical existence. This realm. This is how most of us see things. For, even amongst the most sterile and healthy conditions, people die well before they are even 100, and some die very young indeed.

One would think that with all the technology and the research we have today, answers would exist on how to sustain life.

We can however, believe that 'longevity' does exist in our world today for some people. This is not beyond our current thinking. Outside the west, it is reported and recorded that Li Chuen Yuen was born in May 1677 and died in 1933, aged 256, and elsewhere around the world people are living to the 120 - 130 mark. Evidence of this physically exists in documents.

But, to go further; in the bible, it is recorded Methuselah was 969 years old, and Enoch 365 years old, when he 'disappeared'. A question that comes to me is was this down to healthy eating, smoke free zones, a santized environment, or something other than environmental factors and chance? Do we believe people lived to be those ages? I think they did. So whats changed today, to make human beings just have three scores years and ten afforded to them?

Was the lesson of the rise of Lazarus, from a tomb where he had lay, decomposing for some time, whilst his spirit was in heaven, a sign of Gods power, or/and a sign of immortality, that like Christ, some people can overcome death, and live right now? I dont know.

It is such an interesting thought though to take into account, whilst living our life today.

I think Charlie Veitch in the video below said an interesting thing. Live each day like its your first, and not your last. I like that. It removes attachment to the past. A subtle shift in consciousness also evolves around this concept. That life does not end.

To me, this also means be born new, and let the past go. Start each day afresh.

I definately know our lives, and the quality of our lives are determined by how much anger and resentment we have let go. How clear, how clean, is our 'connection' to the Creator today. And how much do we love Truth. Immortality and Eternal Life, is therefore a spiritual answer

Interesting thoughts, the answers to which I dont fully know. There are things that I thought were true once, which have turned out to be lies, and lies have turned out to be true. There are also many things too big and wonderful for me to fully grasp, for my mind has been programmed to see things a certain way. But I am greatly encouraged by the words in Revelation, which do indeed indicate the death itself will one day not occur.

Revelation 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Revelation 21:3-5 (in Context) Revelation 21 (Whole Chapter)

Why I make the videos - by charlie

2010-07-20T06:44:00.000+01:00

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

2010-07-13T07:03:00.000+01:00

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight | Video on TED.com

2010-07-11T15:38:00.000+01:00

Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight | Video on TED.com

Andrea Ross - Moon River

2010-07-06T06:20:00.002+01:00

Popular Music Is The Babylon System

2010-07-05T06:40:00.000+01:00

Popular Music Is The Babylon System

Oil Skimmers - Needed Elsewhere?

2010-07-04T10:55:00.000+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN6ylteqK1Q

Repatriation of Service personnel - The Royal British Legion

2010-07-04T07:32:00.000+01:00

Repatriation of Service personnel - The Royal British Legion

Twlight

2010-07-02T09:29:00.008+01:00

I've never watched the Twilight movies, so quite obviously there will be some who will say why ciritcise it when you haven't watched it.

But I think I've seen a little to know that I dont have to put my hand in a fire to know I'll get burnt by it.

The read up on Twilight says enough to know why people, 'women' and young girls, in particular are attracted to the film. I've highlighted the subtle 'mind alterating' messages which will affect some and de-sensitize them to reality.

Many will say it is just a film and that people can distinguish between reality and fiction. However, many are drawn to want to be different, and normalizing and romanticising stories between vampires and mortals, brings some acceptance to living a danagerous life.

Many young people in particular, stand outside the crowd. They see the ugliness and hypocrisy of the world and want to escape from it into a love affair. They want to belong and be involved in a love affair that is 'different' to the norm. people romanticize 'anything' The story is much like The Phantom of the Opera, where Christina is drawn to the unwanted and unloved in response to another voice that is calling her to a more wholesome love affair.

Do vampires exist? In many senses, YES. Is it also of any relevance, or is it just hype, that it is reported that the actor Robert Pattinson who plays Edward the vampire is related to the original Vlad the Impaler (Dracula), and also connected to the Royal Family?

People take energy from each other all the time, and feed on that energy to stay alive. They live on the energy we give them.......

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1099212/plotsummary

Bella Swan has always been a little bit different. Never one to run with the crowd, Bella never cared about fitting in with the trendy, plastic girls at her Phoenix, Arizona high school. When her mother remarried and Bella chooses to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she didn't expect much of anything to change. But things do change when she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen. For Edward is nothing like any boy she's ever met. He's nothing like anyone she's ever met, period. He's intelligent and witty, and he seems to see straight into her soul. In no time at all, they are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance - unorthodox because Edward really isn't like the other boys. He can run faster than a mountain lion. He can stop a moving car with his bare hands. Oh, and he hasn't aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he's immortal. That's right - vampire. But he doesn't have fangs - that's just in the movies. And he doesn't drink human blood, though Edward and his family are unique among vampires in that lifestyle choice. To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. Somehow or other, they will have to manage their unmanageable love. But when unexpected visitors come to town and realize that there is a human among them Edward must fight to save Bella? A modern, visual, and visceral Romeo and Juliet story of the ultimate forbidden love affair - between vampire and mortal.

Charlie from The Love Police is Arrested.

2010-06-26T08:34:00.008+01:00

I really love Charlie. He's a man with guts. He's doing nothing wrong other than alerting people and getting them to wake up to the madness going on in our world. This he does legally, and very pleasantly, I might add. He's not venement, just slightly puzzled I think why we cannot see the abuse of our freedoms being taken away from us.
He unfortunately got arrested in Toronto. His crime was using his megaphone, and not giving his name.
He understands that the police have a job to be done, but similarly he is also exposing laws which are being abused against ordinary people. So his demeanour is always very calm and pleasant, never aggresive or antagonistic. He does however use sattire and irony in 'the right way'

The police do not have a right to demand someones name unless they are arresting them for a criminal offence. In which case they then do tell offenders that they have 'a right to remain silent' Puzzling!

The police seem to be using the law of the 'Terrorism Act 2000' a lot to demand that they can stop and search people, and although our police have an awful lot to deal with, it seems though that the time when you were considered innocent unless proven to be guilty have been turned upside down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZNmNp280KY&feature=related

http://pressfortruth.ca/news_dtls.php?rid=126&catid=5

For every evil act, there are people around who look the other way, or do not intervene in some way. To remain neutral, is actually to side with the evil-doers. This is why the mistaken belief that peace and love alone can save this world is wrong; that way of thinking is precisely the kind of docile and lazy one-sided thinking that evil men LOVE the masses to believe, for it means they stand aside as the agenda is pushed through. Quote from Charlie Veitch

The Meaning of Austerity

2010-06-23T07:44:00.000+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUmQbf1AyA8

Official Opening - Headley Court

2010-06-22T19:15:00.007+01:00

It is really nice to know that recognition and specialist rehabilitation is being given to injured servicemen who are coming back from war injured and maimed. Headley Court has been built on funds raised from the public who have really got behind supporting Help for Heroes, and its founders.

Just ordinary people helping ordinary men and women doing their job.

Extract from the speech pf Prince William on opening of Headley Court .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v2A-IkV18s

“Very occasionally – perhaps once or twice in a generation – something or someone pops up to change the entire landscape. Help 4 Heroes, under the magnificent and brilliantly quirky leadership of the mad cartoonist, Bryn, and his equally inspirational wife, Emma, is one such phenomenon. What it has achieved here at Headley Court is, in truth, but the tip of the iceberg. Help for Heroes has galvanised the entire British people. Always supportive of its men and women in uniform, this Country has been elevated by Help for Heroes to a state of realisation and proactive support for our military that has made me, personally, very, very proud to be British, and a member of our Armed Forces.”

------

The message from H4H website.

The message is simple: H4H does not seek to criticise or be political, we simply want to help and to do so by asking everyone to do their bit to raise money. Once that money is raised, we go to the experts in the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force for guidance as to how best to spend it. It is our intention to spend all we raise on the practical, direct support of those wounded in the service of our country since 9/11.

------

My own view is that we should help our servicemen. But how much longer must we see them bought home in coffins each week, or maimed for life. If this war is about defending our country, it makes sense of sacrifice, and courage. If there is another agenda. Shame on those sending our troops. The support for H4H from the ordinary britsh man and women on the streets of Britain is what makes Britain decent, and testifies that the spirit of goodness still reigns. Its times when I see the ordinary men and women doing whats right, that I know true decency has not been extinguished.

Happy Fathers Day

2010-06-20T05:39:00.009+01:00

I never fully appreciated my husband until he wasn't around, and I'm not quite sure my children did to., until they were older. But one things for sure, the absence of a father leaves one great big gap in someone's life, and can have devasting effects on children growing up in homes with a single parent.

Women tend to make a bit more fuss on these special 'Mothers' Day events, in my mind, and it seems that only recently, has a bit more attention been paid to the Dads.

I'm not quite sure if its a commercial thing to make more money, or a social awareness, but men are becoming more recognised, and rightly so. The consequences of young men getting into trouble, comitting suicide, having drug and drink problems, is much higher in single parent homes, particularly when the father is not around. People are becoming more aware of that reality, now the damage is done.

We all seem to know what the perfect father would be like, and although many of us grow up with or without one, we have fathers who of course sometimes fall short of what that ideal would be like. Many have a secret contempt for their fathers.

Nonetheless, although I didnt appreciate my father when I was a child, I can apperciate him now. Although he is gone.

I think the nicest thing I remember, although I hated it then, was my father standing on the doorstep looking at his watch, when I was late home. It makes me smile to think of it now.

Similarly, my late husband always waited up for me, if I had to go out at night. It very much felt like he was looking out for me. It was something I missed for many years after.

Women and children, if they are sensible, like that protectiveness, and it is a different strength and protectiveness to what mothers give, which is sometimes too suffocating, and very needy.

So Happy Father Days to anyone reading. And thank you to my late father and husband, and most importantly God, my heavenly father. For always waiting on the doorstep for my late return.

http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin595.htm

A great article above by Chuck Baldwin about Masculinity

and a link to

Michael Glatze. http://michaelglatze.blogspot.com/ A man with an awful lot of courage.

His article addressed to Christians on Love, highlights us not leaning on our own understanding about what Love is, and the power that God (the father) has in fighting sin. So very uplifting and inspiring.

Good News

2010-06-19T16:31:00.003+01:00

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127883891

Women who are seeking to get an abortion in Louisiana, will now be required to have an unltrasound, under a new bill that received its final legislative passage this week.

This is really good news, and may save the life of many babies, and also the mental well-being of many women in the future. Some, who, after having had an abortion, spend years with regert over the wrong decision they have made. Rarely do we hear of the trauma, or the ill health, they experience.

Ultrasounds, and photographs of the baby in the womb, before going through with an abortion, may bring a touch of reality to some women, dispelling the myth that an unborn baby is a mere embryo, even at a few weeks old.

Everyone deserves a chance to live

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AqPRcF7ZC0

I'm Having Trouble Keeping Up with all the Things I'm Supposed to be Afraid Of

2010-06-19T08:41:00.004+01:00

Well, each week I read more and more. To the point I have to walk away at times and just be still and focused. Bad news has a tendancy to swamp you if your not carefful, and no wonder there is a generation growing up dependant on drugs and drink to kill the horror of the world they are living in. The message above says it all for many. I'm Having Trouble....

The Lieberman Bill

2010-06-17T15:27:00.001+01:00

http://www.prisonplanet.com/new-bill-gives-obama-kill-switch-to-shut-down-the-internet.html

A False Sense of Righteousness

2010-06-13T07:57:00.018+01:00

At last 'special relationships' between the USA and the UK are on the brink of being fully exposed. And at last I've got the message. Some Americans no longer have to 'pretend' they like the british any more. In light of the oil spill polluting the beautiful ocean in the gulf of Mexico, some americans can now show their disdain and contempt quite openly. Either that, or they can continue to ignore us. And they usually do. ( Both say the same thing).

Obama has to walk somewhere in the middle now. He omited to mention that BP is 39% owned by Americans, and has made himself look a fool and hypocrite.

He has stated he is going to kick some a... Like he means it! His 48 hour deadline is 'funny' in comparison to his own time delay in even acknowledging this disaster on the coast of his own country. But most don't see that. All is forgotten now. Here comes the cavalry in a Problem, Reaction, Solution, scenario, which has been cleverly devised, much like every other catastrophe, to kid the american people and the world, and bring them together, or else divide them.

Pumped up in fake pride, fake patriotism, and fake accusation, Obama, and those who look up to him, can puff themselves up, whilst knocking others down. They can tell themselves they are still great, without really looking at themselves, and the part they play, and have played in the past, in shaping a polluted world. It is a clever tactic in creating wars, and building a false sense of pride in oneself, in a new order, in a country that is rapidly changing, from the true building blocks of what freedom and patriotism are, to the counterfeit one.

In my mind America is a beautiful country, built on the foundations of what true freedom is all about. The ancestors of many people who live there came over on boats from all different parts of the world to get there. Today, some of that spirit still remains in the genuine authentic person. In the people. Many however, have a very false sense of what freedom and genuine strength is. They think living there makes them brave and free!

May God Bless us all when we wake up to the depth of the lies we falsly believe in....perpetrated by fake politicians, fake religions, leaders, and fake beliefs, in all our countries. I think if we could really see clearly, we would be shocked by who is genuine, and who is false.

I suppose the test is our freedom of mind. How free are we in the place we live, not geographically, but inside ourselves, in our minds. Shame on us all when we fail to look at this.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

America's hands are far from clean when it comes to environmental disasters, as the list of examples here shows. Whenever U.S. firms have caused death and mayhem around the world, the response from their executives has been to call their lawyers and to deny any liability. And Washington's priority has usually been to protect its citizens and, especially, its shareholders at all costs. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1285731/GULF-OIL-SPILL-When-disaster-strikes-US-NEVER-blame.html#ixzz0qkunZvsq

http://www.newswithviews.com/Ryter/jon320.htm

Quotes

2010-06-12T09:19:00.002+01:00

He looked to the creature - instead of the Creator

Why look there - Would you look to the North Pole to gather fruits ripened in the sun?

Fear Not before superior numbers, shrink not from difficulties or impossibilities, flinch not at wounds or death, smile with the two-edged sword of the spirit, and the slain will lie in heaps. The battle is the lords, and he will deliver his enemies into our hands.

We shall not grow weary of waiting upon God if we remember how long and how graciously He once waited for us.

No where has God ever said - Seek me in vain.

The God of peace gives perfect peace to those whose hearts are stayed upon Him. Charles Spurgeon.

Empty Nests

2010-06-12T06:01:00.004+01:00

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The house is empty now. Early mornings, waking up to a new stillness, a new battle exists. The beauty in stillness, battling the echoes of memories.

Empty bedrooms, where once children laughed, fought and cried, are neat, fresh and tidy. No more strewn clothes across the floor, and gone is the anger, of picking them all up.

Just my sound, and just my breath. No-one to look at, just myself.

Looking out the window the trees sway in a cool early morning breeze. They have stood there all this time, and never moved. Birds have made nests in them, and then flown away to pastures new. Its a strange feeling. And thats what it is.

The past has to go, and each day is new.

Being alone, and now living alone, is a whole new ball game. It happens to many when they are old and grey and some sit in corners and reminise about the past. More often than not this is where they stay.

So each day a small battle takes place. Who will get in first. Memories of how things were, how they could and should have been. Or a new life, of letting go, not delving into or wondering what will happen next. Just being.

Cars start to drive past the house. The children next door, wake up. Their footsteps and laughter can be heard. Its quite a lovely sound. Birds start singing, flying to and fro, the biggest tree outside the window. One sits on the windowsill and peeps in. Its a beautiful morning, and its going to be a beautiful new day, if I make the right choice.

Dont Give Up

2010-06-07T07:11:00.007+01:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOYFBe_Forw

There are just so many scenes in this short film, that hold a great deal of meaning.

In particular, a real eye opener to me is the lack of faith, 'doubt' which is highlighted, that even then, during the time of christ's ministry, healing, and the raising of the dead, were somehow shocking and unbelievable events. Even when they saw it with their own eyes.

It makes me think of the lies we are told. How our transference of believing in a God, to whom nothing is impossible, has changed over thousands of years.

We look to so many people for answers, without looking inside. After a while they just cannot satisfy the real answers and explanations that you long for...

There is a great scene in this film when Mary Magdelen, drops everything she is doing. When the world in which she exists vanishes in the presence of someone who she knows has her answers... And there is Peter, who somehow knows he has to leave a life he is used to, a simple life, to follow a more difficult one.

There are so many times during the day when I see the lies and uselessness of the world we live in. Like two worlds. One trying to displace the real one. Who do you ever talk to this about, and who really longs to know the truth...

Abortion advertisements on TV: the pro-life lobby must now be allowed to broadcast the grim realities

2010-05-30T08:45:00.000+01:00

Abortion advertisements on TV: the pro-life lobby must now be allowed to broadcast the grim realities

Three Faces Of One Mask

2010-05-09T07:59:00.004+01:00

In 37 years, having never cast a vote, I am often admonished on my apathy, and reminded of the sacrifices that women like Emily Pankhurst made in giving women like me a privalage that I'm wasting.

Not that I ever knew Emily Pankhurst, but getting to know Brown, Cameron and Clegg, the ones we are asked to vote for, is equally difficult.

Politics are confusing. And so are most politicians. Matters created, contrived and solved by men and women who it has been shown have no moral character, who say one thing, and do something else, are difficult people to trust and support. They have a knack of complicating problems, rather than looking for simple and moral answers. And just when you think you see one good side of the same face, out pops the bad side. Exactly which mask are they hiding behind. And what is their true agenda? I doubt anyone really sees the true person beyond that presented.

So, I've observed politics, rather than trying to understand all the complexities of it. And where possible I've tried to act and speak out against those things which I know are corruptable and wrong. Support is hard to find. Very few politicans today are on the same page. They want to take support, but rarely do they want to give it.

The underpining building blocks of 'stability' have been knocked out at their foundations by politicians and the media in the UK. The decay of moral values, the destruction of the family, and the denegration of manhood, and christian values, destroyed and de-valued.

Those who are speaking out about the immoraly and real decay of Great Britain, issues that are swept under the carpet by the three main leaders; are being labelled bigots. They are silenced by the very politicans, law makers, who ask for our vote. In humanistic tones, they fall on both sides of the fence, rather than showing any real strength and tenacity. They rarely do the right thing. Call me irresponsible. I choose not to give them power.

I Am Not a Number!

2010-04-24T08:20:00.004+01:00

I have always been a de-clutterer. I have never held much sentimental value to objects, but there has always been one or two little things I have hesitated with in throwing out. One was a jacket that belonged to my late husband, which I kept for years, and the other, which I still do have, is the little name tag bands they put on new born babies, with their name and date of birth and weight. For some reason, that first little introduction into the world, with their name in writing, holds value. I keep them amongst hand made cards, and school soverniers that my children all bought home.

And then some years ago, I spent a short time helping in a maternity ward at a local hospital, and glanced again at those little bands. I wondered about their name, who they would be, and what would happen to them. I was also a little dismayed at the electronic tags that they also attached to new borns. This measure had been put in place to prevent baby snatching. At one point in the distant past someone had walked out with a baby.

Days were often spent therefore responding to these alarms when they would accidently go off. They were clumpy horrid little attachments. I wondered how long it would be before the insertion of the chip would take place. Would it be when parents complained enough, or would it be when they said nothing at all.

Now the first babies to be Bar Coded have been born this week in a hospital in England. At the moment, the bar code is still on the small tiny band. But it holds the name, mothers name, NI number, and blood type. This can all be scanned, thus preventing human error from eligable hand writing The ankle bar code also includes a heel prick blood sample label taken after five weeks, which proud new parents can take home with them in a little red baby book. Isn't that sweet! Bar Code and Blood. A wonderful keepsake.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/child_health/article7105626.ece

I wonder often how long it will be before we all wake up to the reality, that we are all just commodities in this world. That the human race is valued by those who rule it, as just money making machines to feed their bloodthirsty lust. That we are all being designed and co-erced to be traceable and trackable and answerable? Maybe, I'll keep my childrens birth tags. To remind me that once they were born free. They had a name, and were not just a number.

Big Tom - The Movie

2010-04-07T21:42:00.001+01:00

www.bigtommovie.com/

The Death of Modesty - Channel 4

2010-03-15T19:31:00.007Z

In a ploy to remove and kill the beautiful virtue of modesty, Channel 4 is awash with TV programmes aimed at desensitizing its viewers to naked flesh and private body parts.

Using the ploy of instilling 'confidence' and 'educating' the public, programmes such as Embarrassing Bodies and How To Look Good Naked, are just two examples that
go beyond the boundaries of decency. They are not concerned about their viewers.

Encouraging women to strip and strut their stuff on the catwalk, as portrayed in How To Look Good Naked, is not at all empowering or liberating. It is demoralizing and degrading to the female form, and reduces women to mere sex objects.

When and how did society change so much, that it thought it acceptable to pose as a stripper, in front of friends, family and children, and millions of TV viewers. Perverts included.

The women who take part in this show are willingly being used. I am not sure if they see the knock on effect their actions have on the younger generation, when they see mothers and grandmothers acting in this fashion.

What a wonderful act of love it would be if a husband or boyfriend protected their modesty, and ran on stage. Instead we see men applauding their women and smallchildren, innocently wondering why a thong, a basque, and flashes of nudity can create such applause and attention.

The programme Embarrassing Bodies similary also removes, what should only be seen in private. Preferably at a doctors surgery with a screen drawn round.

In the past this programme has also used teenagers to encourage their peers, and the public to become used to 'publicly' flashing their private bits. All done very sensibly of cause with the aid of TV doctors.

In a culture of sexualizing children and the growing increase of child abuse, maybe a return to Modesty and the values of caring for, and respecting our bodies, should be promoted.

Lady GaGa - Sweet or Sour

2010-03-14T11:03:00.005Z

I have a strong dislike towards Celebrity Award Shows. All that patting on the back, and gushing acceptance speeches make me very uncomfortable. You never know if they are acting or being genuine. One thing for sure, fame distorts people. For the most part, I think many celebraties are low lives living the so called 'high life'.

The other week I came across the acceptance speech of Lady Gaga on a musical Brit award. For someone who is considered refreshing, different, innovative, exciting, by her contempories, I could'nt quite believe her child-like voice and so called innocence and shock in receiving an award. When not in stage act mode, she was unable to string a simple sentance together. She acted coy and sweet. Empty Headed. Her stage performance, designed to shock and tease, didnt quite tally. I asked myself was she still acting?

Since then, I have come across some really shocking images of Lady Gaga from her videos. They are very disturbing. I have also read up on the occult symbolism and images used in her videos. Despite reports that she thinks up all of her acts herself, a closer inspection shows she could'nt possibly have the capability to enact the mind altering message she conveys. She is a puppet, I believe, much like a Manchurian Candidate. Switched on one minute. Turned off the next. Her purpose of which is to corrupt and alter the minds of our children. To make it 'fashionable' Her whole act is about mind control, and being absent - minded. Ga Ga.

I came across an excellent website called The Vigilant Citizen amongst a host of others on the subject. There is also an interesting article on there called The Transhumanist and Police State Agenda in Pop Music.http://vigilantcitizen.com/

and an article on the MTV Awards ceremony last year.http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=2191

This article numbers a host of performers who use freemasony rituals in their videos, and also occult symbolism in everything they do.If you have young teenagers in your home, it is worth pointing of these danges to them. Most especially regarding Lady Gaga, for her videos are really dark and very satanic. She is not that empty handed coy little girl.

I dont really know how aware these musicians are, but it is excellent reading to make you think about the whole purpose of these ceremonies, and exactly what they are really being rewarded for........ Nothing is ever as it appears to be.

Book Review: God Calling edited by A.J. Russell

2010-02-09T19:27:00.000Z

Book Review: God Calling edited by A.J. Russell

We Reap What We Sow - Ben Stein

2010-02-09T07:42:00.002Z

This is an article by Ben Stein. He writes about life in America. No different to the life we have here in the UK.

I only hope we find God again before it is too late!!
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejewelled trees, Christmas tress. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are. Christmas Trees.
It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say Merry Christmas to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on the display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a crèche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred years away.
I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we weren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh this is a little different. This is not intended to be a joke: it’s not funny; it’s intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her ‘How could God let something like this happen?’ (regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, ‘I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?
In light of recent events.. terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think It started when Madeline Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt no steal, and love your neighbour as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self esteem. We said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said okay. (Dr Spock’s son committed suicide).
Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t both them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing yet?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit.
If not, then just discard it.. no one will know you did. But if you discard this thought process, don’t sit back and complain about that bad shape the world is in.
My best Regards, Honestly and Respectfully. Ben Stein.

Priorities

2010-02-07T20:08:00.004Z

http://www.ccfon.org/view.php?id=969

It was so nice to come across the attached article about Tim Tenbow. Despite the negative attack on his family. His message speaks much louder.

He is most certainly a young man who has his priorities right. He states that his main priority in life is God, followed by his family, academics, and lastly football.

Is this surprising. Tim Tenbow is a Heisman trophy winner football quarterback for Florida Gators.

Focus on the Family plan to air a pro-life advert during the championship game of the National Football League in America, relating to Tim and his family.

The attack from pro-abortion and homosexual rights groups to stop the advert being aired is a viscious attack. I wondered at first why the later group were so involved. After listening to his interview I believe the attack may not be directly aimed at the pro life message.

The attack is on the priorities that Tim Tenbow speaks about in his life. The first being the Love of God above all else.

If everyone did this. What a better place the world would be.

Glad To Be Alive

2010-01-22T19:09:00.001Z

Of all the stories of survival, I love this story of the little boy called Kiki, who has been buried alive for over a week in Haiti. As they pull him out of his tomb, he outstretches his arms in such jubilation, that it is difficult to not be touched by this miracle

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,1,26617734-954,00.html

Doctors at a makeshift Israeli-run hospital who treated the children are amazed they survived.
"I cannot explain medically or physiologically how it's happened," a medic said. "Maybe it's a miracle. Someone upstairs loves them very much."
Kiki and his sister were trapped in a void, but not crushed. Once in a while, people gave them a little bit of water through a hole.
But with just a tiny bit of water, the heat, and no food, the children were becoming increasingly frail and running out of time. The team, led by NYPD Deputy Inspector Robert Lukatch, was able to locate them and freed them from the rubble Tuesday.

Still Voices and Mass Movements

2010-01-17T11:01:00.006Z

Sitting in a large sunlit building, with groups of people, laughing and singing, she suddenly became aware of a small noise, undetected by others. It beckoned her to turn away from the distraction with a gentle sense of urgency. The door was slightly ajar, and there stood a figure in light which suddenly made the room she sat in apear very dark. Instinctively she knew that if they did not leave, the door would close forever. She would be locked in (trapped) with a group of people oblivious to that glimpse of beauty, who were tied up in their own creation. It was claustorphobic and stiffling, loud and ugly. It reminded her of egyptian tombs. Stacked with gold, and beauty to the minds eye, but no-way out. A steady stream of sand filling all available space. The request, she therefore answered . Alone, and followed.....

It seems to me that everyone likes to belong, and have a sense of belonging. Mankind seems to take courage in large numbers. When others believe with what they see and agree with, they become more bold and driven. They become a family looking out for each other. Even if they are wrong they can get a sense of rightness, within the safety of numbers.

Often at work I come across the phrase. Are you a Team Player. It sends one of those shudders down my spine. I dont particularly want to belong to a team, yet individually I will work my best to serve my conscience. It usually works out for the good. As long as they dont start laying down the law. Teams seem to have a funny habit of becoming dictatorships.

No one wants to be an outsider.

All groups, including religions, seem to possess this spirit. Religions attract the main number because there is a large amount of truth spoken of, which covers up the falsness. Either that or the falseness is coated with sweetness to make it more comfortable. Eventually its laws become a dictatorship. It then becomes harder to stand alone, and listen to the laws of your heart. The still small voice of conscience telling you something. Distractons are usually of an appealing nature.

Is this the reason, we are asked to stand apart. The family of genuine believers spread far and wide, in all corners of the earth?

Ukraine's Got Talent

2010-01-10T13:40:00.001Z

This video shows the winner of "Ukraine's Got Talent", Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II.

Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch. The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about $130,000.00

She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated. It is replaced by a woman's face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman's face appears. She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.

This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house. In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine , resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

Kseniya Simonova says: "I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me. The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And there's surely no bigger compliment."

Please take time out to see this amazing piece of art. click on the link below - http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=vOhf3OvRXKg

The Ex Gay Story in the Music Pop World

2009-11-21T10:08:00.007Z

http://www.narth.com/docs/popmusic.html

No one can tell another person who they are at their core.

Yet, every day we accept sticky labels pinned on us by mankind.

We grow up being moulded by society, by families, by friends, by lack of love. The world and our emotions control us, and makes us do strange things. Not many people wonder who they really are. They think they already know. They do not see they are puppets. That no one is living their own life.

I love the above story. It is Giuseppe Povia's story. (Luca) If he is trying to influence people, than he is doing nothing more than everyone else out there. And shouldn't he be free to sing his story. Why do people want to shut him up. Could it be the truth is painful to those who want to keep us trapped? Could it be his story of freedom offends.

What a terrible death sentance mankind imposes on another when it tell them there is no other way of being. Where people claim to fight for their right of choice, real choice is denied to some, who also have another side to a story.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=42379

Can I Live

2009-11-21T09:56:00.001Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AqPRcF7ZC0

Silent Night

2009-11-14T08:45:00.008Z

Driving through the wet and crowded streets of Birmingham recently, I realized how stillness amidt chaos, both outwardly, and most especially inwardly, was so vitally important. The importance of being objective to what we see outside ourseleves, and inside ourselves. For nothing is real.

From my area of relative calm, being thrust into the madness of city life, was quite a sudden transition. It was a world I had not visited for a long time. Country lanes had became streets, streets became inhabited roads, roads became motorways. And as we drove into the city, energy and motion threw itself about. As cars edged themselves for prime position, honking horns, and cutting people up; people ran across roads, ran for buses, ran for taxis. Pushing and pulling. All with somewhere to go, but no where to go.

The concert I had been invited to, was something and somewhere I would not normally visit, but I went. And so, sitting in a queue of traffic, I looked over at a blind girl silently making her way through the crowds. She seemed to be walking against an army who were descending on her from the opposite direction. How ironic that the singer we were about to see was also blind. I wondered about their worlds. Were they the same or were they different.

The city was alive with buzz and excitement, and as we walked through the city square we looked up at the lights in the trees. They created a blue soft glow over the fountains, removing the harshness of the concrete. Despite its beauty, I noticed that inside the buildings all around were people working. They reminded me of worker bees in a honeycomb, all in their own particular section, all doing their own small task. Another world.

The concert arena was large and tall. Rows upon rows of red seats. We were like little sardines all squashed in a tin. What would have once caused panic inside, calmness remained. There was a warmth otuside, but it sort of stayed there.

And so, for a few short hours in total silence I listened. Observing not to be drawn into this other world. For this world of music was very beautiful, it would have been easy to have been carried away by that beauty, fancying myself as part of the beauty created. There were touching moments of grace, and of humility, when this man, standing absolutely still, with his arms at his side, smiled as though it had suddenly found a place his audience could not go. Something I noticed about him was he did not seem to gesture or move at how music could have led him, unlike other people who sing. He stood there, quite vulnerable, yet very solid, and it seemed like something else spoke. Was it my imagination, or did he strive inwardly as well, for the same world I have glanced upon. I think so.

I wondered about his blindness. He could not drive a car, he could not see the beauty of nature. It could be frightening. Did his joy come from the music, or did his music and voice originate from a place of stillness inside.

His singing of silent night had a simple quality about it. I looked at the faces of people, and some had tears. Was it emotion, or was it shame.

As we left the arena, and as we drove home away from the scene that night, I wondered about the beauty that had been created, and the silence and stillness about the whole event, for there had been a stillness there.

We have glances of beauty, but how wonderful to permanently live in a place of inward stillness and wonder, not created or designed by the world, but of God.

I thought of the many who would go home, enjoying that night, but looking for the next outward experience. Walking in darkness, looking at lights in trees. Lights. And the blind girl, where was she now. What was the difference. People see, but do not see.

Looking inwardly, being still, and not controlled by the outside, is not easy. Standing still, and being focused on someone higher, who we cannot physically see is not easy.

Going into my home, I sat and prayed. It was silent and still. The bright lights of the city had gone completely. The sense of wonderment remained, glimpses of light not seen by human eyes, but areas of darkness to sit silently in, where questions remained unresolved were still there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyGYsKeJIH0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBSiEnUf_qI&feature=related

Remembrance Sunday

2009-11-08T10:09:00.003Z

http://www.thenma.org.uk/content/How-the-names-are-recorded-1405.shtml

Yesterday a friend and I visited Alrewas National Memorial Arboreteun, here in the UK

The Armed Forces Memorial has the engravings of 15,000 names of service men and women who have died through war and terrorism since the 2nd world war. There are bare walls ready to take the names of a further 16,000

Some of the sculptures were very poignant. There is a solidier looking through an open door, as though entering into a different world. If you look through you catch a glimpse of a distant green field. A nurse tending an injured soldier who has fallen. A mother and child in total despair for their husband and father who is being carried from the battlefield. Whilst this is happening, there is a scultor engraving another name.

On the 11th Day of the 11th month, at the 11th hour, the monument is so built, that a shaft of light comes through a fine division in the monument wall, and focuses on the central stone wreath engraved there.

In the chapel there is a beautiful wooden sculpture of Christ. It is entitled The Story Teller. He is talking to 12 children. One of them is not listening. The child is busy investigating something else.

There were two wooden crosses in the chapel to represent the two thieves on the cross. One had a pair of handcuffs hanging from them that were open, to depict he had been forgiven. The other had a pair of handcuffs on that were locked, indicated the thief had not repented.

The volunteers who work there are dedicated and reverent. They are a mixture of very young and old. It would be difficult to say it is a beautiful place, because it is such a sad place. But, for anyone visiting, it is a very peaceful and thoughtful place, most especially for those who have friends and family commorated there.

When we drove away, it was not long before we found ourselves in another world from the place of stillness and reverence we had visited.I cannot say how I felt looking from this place of stillness inside, observing this mad crazy world we live in, they were both identical in many similar ways, but it was most surely a day of thinking about sacrifice, and the importance of focusing on God continually, to raise above the horrors of this world.

The services that will take place here in the UK today, will be remembering all soliders who have lost their lives. Some of it is a little unreal. There are people, who take part, who steal an essence of nobleness and dignity from the rememberance service. They are like the thief with the locked handcuff. But there are many veterans and servicemen today who genuinely do care for the fallen and their families worldwide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKNoUW5Y-8o

Let There Be Light

2009-10-27T08:17:00.007Z

FreeDigitialPhotos.net

Just as we need good healthy, non toxic food to keep our bodies healthy, so we need natural daylight, and good clean fresh air to oxidise our blood.

The importance of daylight, in particular the warmth of the suns rays, has a healing effect not only on our bodies, but for many, on their minds.

Natural light itself is often taken for granted. But how would we feel if a dawn never arrived?

Few of us can live in darkness. We need light to show us the way. The wise know the interior answer to this problem.

But outwardly, we need the light of electricity and candles when darkness falls.

The energy conscious and those who proclaim to love the earth, extol the virtues of saving energy. Energy saving light bulbs have been delivered free to many homes, and this once expensive item, is now being sold for very little.

These lightbulbs however, contain mercury which is being burnt into the atmosphere poisoning the environment we live in, in our homes. The mercury is over 300 times the EPA’s standard accepted safety level. It will poison you and your children.

Here are the instructions from the website

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2008/January/07010803.asp

in how to clean up a broken bulb.

"Vacate the room and ventilate it for at least 15 minutes. Do not use a vacuum cleaner, but clean up using rubber gloves and aim to avoid creating and inhaling airborne dust. Sweep up all particles and glass fragments and place in a plastic bag. Wipe the area with a damp cloth, then add that to the bag and seal it. Mercury is hazardous waste and the bag should not be disposed of in the bin. All local councils have an obligation to make arrangements for the disposal of hazardous household waste"

How many people who now use these light bulbs read the instructions, and do they know of the councils obligations. Currently we have collection boxes for recycled paper and cans, but no such provision for dangerous lightbulbs that can pollute the planet.

Another article on energy saving lightbulbs from a writer in America.

http://www.newswithviews.com/DeWeese/tom149.htm

Alone In the Wild

2009-09-26T08:46:00.007+01:00

FreeDigitialPhotos.net
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJje5T2lNws&NR=1

Ed Wardle's solitary journey to the Yukon Wilderness of Canada, was a fascinating documentary recently aired on Channel 4.

Well prepared in survival skills, Ed's boyhood dream became a reality, when in the summer of 2009, he was left alone, with a few basic supplies, and the desire to live and survive, amidst the beauty and harshness of nature, totally alone.

Using his own camera, Ed filmed himself, building shelter, providing warmth, and hunting and fishing for food.

The skinning and gutting of a porcupine, was an exercise in itself, on what we would have to do, were we faced with the choice of survival, without the convenience of a local supermarket, and money.

Watching Ed Wardle, one could not help warming to him and identifying with his childhood dream. But when the plane dropped him off, and then took off into the distance, the sense of isolation was suddenly overpowering. It continued to grow over the coming weeks. Joy turned to darkness.

Living with the constant fear of bears, the slightest movement became magnified. Darkness and nightfall, often saw him catching naps through extreme tiredness, when his heightened awareness succombed. Moments of pure delight, such as the beauty of the landscape, the swimming in the clear lakes, and the warmth and satisfaction of the campfire, were often tinged with great fear. He became tired and weak, through lack of food and sleep. But this was not the killer.

Over time, Ed became aware how much he missed human contact. The pain, played with, and tormented his brain. You could watch thoughts attacking him.

Watching this programme, I thought often, of the simple exercise of prayer. The periods of being still. But most importantly of all, of the objectivity of thoughts. Neither believing or disbelieving good or bad thoughts. Just merely observing them., and dealing with the present moment amid the truth that that presented. I thought of the awareness of our emotions, and how they can use us, and weaken us, when we are not fully aware.

So, there was times I was dissapointed, with a sigh of despair, when I listened to Ed's preparedness in dealing with the mind.

Prior to the trip a psychologist had taught him the benefits of meditation. It was a little light, until I heard that the meditation consisted of him going to a happy place in his mind. An image, An Illusion. He was already in the most beautiful place in the world. Then there was the writing of empowering statements on his arm. In bold black ink he wrote. Be Strong.

It was not long before Ed realized that neither worked. A defining moment, which takes many years to realize for some.

Finaly he decided to pray. The moment he did, he heard his girlfriends voice talking to him as though on a phone. It was so unfortunate that he found this to be his happy place. Yet understandable when you are aware of the pull of the mind to keep us away from the genuine prayer from the heart to God.

And so, it was not long after, Ed sent out his SOS to mankind, and the plane returned to carry him home. In many ways, I thought it was the right thing to do, rather than submit oneself to such mental and physical torture.

In summary, I admired Ed for his exercise and desire in survival. He was prepared to a high degree of self sufficiently and love of natural wilderness, but lacked the one fundamental component.

I likened his journey to Christ's journey of 40 days into the wilderness, but I doubt he made this comparison. He listened to his thoughts and he listened to the tempts. The intensity of the aloneness was something even Christ struggled with.

Terry Waite has described his own solitary confinement in an interesting article concerning the trip Alone in the Wild.

Terry Waite was taken hostage in Lebanon by Islamic Jihad in January 1987 and held captive for nearly five years, four of these in total solitary confinement, before he was released in November 1991.

He quotes:

'Solitude is certainly nothing to be afraid of. I think in fact we do need a degree of solitude and opportunity of having our own space. Having said that, people often say that they require it, but when they get into it they can't bear it. Because you have to equip yourself to grow into solitude, to gain the benefits from it. So first of all there are dangers. Going into solitude in some ways you are taking an interior journey, rather than an exterior journey, because it will encourage you to be introspective. And you discover that along with all human beings that you are a composite mixture of both light and dark. The secret of course is somehow being able to find that degree of inner harmony and balance which you have to grow into.'

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/alone-in-the-wild/articles/terry-waite-on-solitude

I would say further from the above that it takes a long time for darkness to be completely dispelled from that mixture of both light and dark that we are made up of. But ultimately light dispells the darkness.

Being in a middle ground of objectively, and being aware of the battle between darkness and light in the mind is not an easy place to stand in. It becomes a torment if you listen to either. And this is waht happened to Ed Wardle.

Being prepared involves much more than physical sterngth and survivalist skills. To ultimately survive, it appears there needs to be a strong inner connection with the Creator, and a recognition we lack spiritual strength without his help.

Dark Nights

2009-09-20T06:02:00.005+01:00

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The sense of being trapped in someones elses life sometimes overwhelms me. Often I find myself going along with people, to get along. Instead of remaining somewhere in the middle, I make friends with the life I have, rather than observing it. It is during those times that I suddenly wake up with the most awful revelation, that a trap is closing in on me. The struggle in my mind takes off, a sense of claustrophobia washes over me. Dont hate what you see. Will I always be this trapped.

I realize I am fortunate to see what I see. That we all live a compromised life, conditioned by our upbringing and thoughts. The need for salvation and freedom becomes clear to what really constitues salvation. The realization that we are lost can be frightening, yet refreshing. As long as I dont resent.

And then there is the taunt of the ideal of perfection to hang over me. When someone tells me what this ideal is, I realize how short I fall. Here is the problem of someone else's ideal, rather than listening to the voice of God.

During these times all we can do is pray. Not the prayer of pleading or beggings, but the prayer of silence, knowing God is fully aware that we see what he has shown us. Dont run from it, dont fight it. Just Be Still and see through it.

You are peace Dear Lord. From the clamour and the pain of a thousand dissapointments, we turn to you.

The noise, will one day die. We will stand alone in the sunshine of your presence. Even so, please come Lord Jesus to this soul of mine.

Perfect Balance

2009-08-29T08:56:00.009+01:00

Ironbridge, Shropshire
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Sometimes I get a sense of guilt that I dont do more to highlight the injustices of this world.

Besides merely writing about things, the effort to actually get up and do something physically, often passes me by. It is not there inside. I am like a lazy bystander, an observer I suppose to many. Standing on a bridge as a lookout. Yet, there are most certainly times, when I would risk losing everything, for that which I know is true.

Where the world once seemed silent to me on the hypocrisy, the persecution, and the unfairness, that those in power had over us lesser mortals; these days I now see a host of people coming forward to speak up and expose that which is unfair and unjust on a whole range of subjects. There are millions of lies, inflicting themselves upon us. Though refreshing to hear people speak up, and the more the better, there is also a danger I think of becoming part of an identity, which can also act as a distraction to our own personal shortcomings. A sense of being a crusader, and a speaker, and activisit, can also act as a windshield and protector for our own ugly shortcomings, unless we are very careful.

There are many in the public eye, who can say and do the right things. They have the words, and they have the passion. They see. Yet behind closed doors there are many large and smaller lies that are covered. A life the public doesnt see. There is denial.

Often when these heros die, we wonder why. Were they good and genuine in heart, or were they distracted by their very own words and ideals. Thinking they had it, when really they hadn't. Conditioned by what is right, and understanding the words, rather than deeply loving with all their heart, what is right. Who is Who, in this mad crazy world we live in.

We suffer in the same way when we see preachers speak of Gods love. They know it, they speak it passionately. Yet, that small detection of them being caught up in image can be very confusing for searchers of truth. It can lead others astray.

And then there are the religious and contemplatives who have completely removed themselves from all physical existence and concerns of the world to devote themselves entirely to a life of quietness and prayer. Do they love God more?

Am I a hypcrite. Yes, at times. The relief of getting something out and on to paper, and the peace of seeing truth, sometimes distracts me from the little things, whilst I'm talking on the big things. But its those little things that really matter I think.

Times when I spend just 20 minutes in the morning, being still in prayer. And times when I fall into bed without prayer at all. Small instances when I see myself talking of another. Assumptions I sometimes take too much notice of. And times when I laugh at jokes on TV when really I shouldn't. Shortcuts I make when I'm pushed for time. Times when I dont listen to my conscience. Times when I sit and write, whilst being late for work - I can justify my actions when I do that one!!

So there seems to be a very strange pull between wordly affairs and a place of nothingness and stillness. The importance of being active and the importance of being still. How much do we lose about ourselves until we become a really genuine authentic born again person.

Are there many people who could live without an identity at all whilst udergoing a transformation. Die to an indetity, rather than add on to an identity.

There must be times we have to completely come out of the world altogether and not be concerned for what is happening too much, if only for short times. A vanishing. Is there a silent group of people undergoing this change

Surely we must love this place, more than the world. Is it a matter of perfect balance?

Saved Alone

2009-08-23T20:55:00.009+01:00

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There are not many hymns that I like, and I dont sing much, but now and then, quite by accident, I do take note of the words of a hymn that I happen to hear. Some of the old hymns seen to convey a deeper message....

'Saved Alone' are the words sent by telegram to Horatio Spafford from his wife, after the ship she were sailing on from America to Britian, SS Ville du Havre, sank in 1873. On board had also been their four daughters.

Horatio Spafford had not been meant to set sail with his wife and daughters that fateful day. He had been called away at the very last moment.

Prior to the trip Horatio Spafford had lost his business through a fire that had devasted the city of Chicago. And prior to that fire, Horatio and his wife had lost their only son too. The trip to England was meant to be a new start. A short reprieve from their terrible misfortune.

After the survivors were finally landed somewhere at Cardiff, Wales, Spafford's wife had cabled her husband with those two simple words, "Saved alone." Shortly after, Spafford left by ship on his way where his beloved four daughters had drowned, and pen at hand, wrote this most poignant text so significantly descriptive of his own personal grief – "When sorrows like sea billows roll..." The hymn "It is Well with My Soul" was born.

The poignancy of the telegram maybe indicates that we overcome our own personal griefs alone, but only with the help of someone who can save us, which no other man can do for us during such terrible times.

Often I will hear the words All is Well.

If we could bear grief with the same faith, to really know that it is well, we would indeed be free.

His story makes you think about being saved, and faith through terrible trajedies. There are not many people who could overcome such terrible loss. The inspiration to write this hymn at that particular time must have came from somewhere deep inside, where he knew he would have to go to rely upon to survive.

http://christianmusic.suite101.com/article.cfm/hymn_it_is_well_with_my_soul