Words from the Heart

It is not often that I watch a film that resonates with my heart and soul, so, when it happens, I want to shout from the highest mountains to let all know. My highest mountain is this blog. Hear me shout! Whaledreamers ! I watched this beautifully crafted documentary last night, becoming overwhelmed with emotion. Kim Kindersley directs this epic about indigenous peoples (in particular an endangered indigenous group from Australia, the Mirning) around the world who gather to share their connections to the whales and dolphins. If you have ever hoped for Peace in the world, connecting all peoples at the very center of our many beliefs, this film is a must see! Julian Lennon, as the producer, continues the legacy of Peacemaker handed down to him by his father. Among the last slides of the film it states, "The people of the world are awakening. We are the ones we have been waiting for...Do something, anything...The Time is Now!" From my highest mountain I shout! Peace! We ...

Thursday many of us around this country will gather with family, friends, friends that feel like family and/or family that we wish were friends. There will undoubtedly be bountiful feasts prepared...some perhaps from our own gardens...most prepared by someone in attendance. Children will run around gleefully playing, football games will be held at many high school fields, some folks will sit together to watch the parade and to see their favorite pro teams battle for THE title, mothers/grandmothers/aunts/sisters will gather in the kitchen to prepare their specialties. Finally, everyone will sit around a table filled with mouth-watering delicacies to eat. Stop! Here is where I make my humble request. It will only take a moment. Before everyone digs into the food, whether there are only two or thirty-two of you gathered, take a moment to reflect on the feast before you. Take a moment to realized how blessed you are. Take a moment to explain to the children that they are privil...

Sitting at the computer, I notice that the dark is descending upon us at only 4 p.m. The darkest days of the year are yet to come. The light of the computer screen is all that is illuminating the space I am in at the moment. I want to get my thoughts down more than I want to turn on the lights. Imagine having brought in the harvest, stocked the larder and gathered your family around the table for a harvest feast. Or, imagine how dark, how alone one might have felt during a time without electricity. It is no wonder that our ancestors, the world round, celebrated Holy Days of Thanks and Light at this time of the year. Thanks for the harvest became the forerunner of our Thanksgiving. While thanksgiving for the "return" of the sun(light), created the first Solstice celebration. From Bodhi Day to Kwanzaa, and from Hanukkah to Christmas, all the celebrations of this season center around the Light. Several years ago, I attended a very beautiful service where the electricity w...

She was a little under eleven years old when Martin shared his dream with her. As with all children, she took it at face value, believing in the possibilities like she believed in pixies in the garden. While she was not the only one he had shared the dream with, somehow, she felt she held a special place in its becoming reality. As a child, she could talk of the dream in realistic terms without the practicality of the adult world raining on her. Then the unthinkable happened, her innocence was stolen by the crimes of adults who lived on fear. Martin’s dream was shattered by a hate so real she stopped sharing it. The dream became a secret she kept locked in her heart, only to be taken out when she felt safe, or most often, alone. Others did not understand the need to make the dream real. The few times she felt brave enough to even mention the possibilities of such a dream she met with ridicule. Childish sentiment, utopian imaginings, illusions of grandeur…all terms given for he...