Interesting read in Evan Mehlenbacher's blog post today.
Spiritview: Branding disease
Monday, October 25, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Unbelievable!
Download
This is so prescious....had to share! Click on the link, turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy this wonderful adventure! Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I have.
This is so prescious....had to share! Click on the link, turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy this wonderful adventure! Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I have.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
I'm moving
I have been working on a new website, http://www.barbarabudan.com/ Yes, it's a work in progress with much room to grow, but now I am moving this blog over to that location. I hope you'll continue to check into the Up, Up and Away postings that will now be posted at this new location. As I continue to create and add what hopefully will be other interesting items as the website grows, I hope that you will share your comments and suggestions. Thank you!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
that's funny, we just happened a few seconds ago
I love this article. I've copied in its entirety in order to give full credit to Alexander Green for his writing. This is not the first time I've used Mr. Green in my blog and probably not the last. I love his Spiritual Wealth column with its diversity of ideas. Please add your comments.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Coming Of Age In the Milky Way by Alexander Green
Dear Reader,
Isaac Asimov once noted that the phrase that generally heralds new discoveries in science is not "Eureka!" but rather "That's funny..."This was certainly the case in 1967. Two radio engineers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, were working on satellite communications for Bell Laboratories when they were troubled by a persistent background noise - an unfocused, unrelenting hiss that made their experimental work impossible.No matter what they did, they couldn't get rid of it. Worse, it was coming from every point in the sky, day and night, through every season. It was some time before the two men realized they had stumbled on the edge of the visible universe, 90 billion trillion miles away. They were "seeing" the first photons - the most ancient light in the universe - though time and distance had converted them to microwaves, just as astrophysicist George Gamow had predicted two decades earlier.Inadvertently, Penzias and Wilson had made one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time.
Since time immemorial, human beings have gazed up at the night sky and wondered about our cosmic origins. We puzzled. We theorized. We created myths and stories. But we couldn't know because we didn't have the tools. Now we do.Today cosmological theories are tested - and either accepted or rejected - based on observations from powerful ground-based telescopes, containing vast mirrors, housed in observatories the size of giant warehouses, and planted on remote mountaintops. Scientists also use spectroscopes, satellites, radio telescopes, supercomputers, particle accelerators, and one rather spectacular space telescope (see surrounding photos) named after the pioneering astronomer who got the ball rolling.
In 1929, Edwin Hubble discovered that the distant fuzzy patches in his telescope at the Mount Wilson Observatory were actually other galaxies, each composed of billions of stars. Even more astonishing, these galaxies are rapidly moving away from us - and each other.This eventually led to Hubble's Law: If the galaxies are receding then:Tomorrow they will be farther from us.
But yesterday they were closer to us.
And last year they were closer still.
At some point in the past, everything was piled together and squeezed into a tiny volume.Seven decades of observation and experimentation reveal that the universe kicked off with a titanic explosion approximately 13.7 billion years ago. That's an awfully tough thing to conceptualize and cosmologists have struggled to find ways to describe it in simple language. Three popular attempts are:The Big Bang was the explosion of space, not an explosion in space.
The Big Bang happened everywhere, not at one point in space.
Space is in the universe rather than the universe being in space.The time period is hard to wrap your mind around too, so astronomer Carl Sagan devised an ingenious illustration. He called it his "Cosmic Calendar." And it not only enlightens, but provides an object lesson in humility. Here's how it works ...Imagine that the 13.7 billion-year history of the universe is compressed into one calendar year. The Big Bang occurred in the very first second of January 1 and the current moment is the last second of the last minute of December 31. Using this compressed timescale, each month equals a little over one and quarter billion years. Each day represents 40 million years. Each second covers 500 years of history.The Milky Way coalesces in March. The sun and planets form in August. The first life - single celled - show up in September, the first multi-cellular organisms in November. The first vertebrates appear on December 17. Dinosaurs show up on Christmas Eve. (And become extinct on December 29.) Modern humans finally appear at 11:54 p.m. on December 31. And all of recorded history occupies the last ten seconds of the last minute of the last day of the year. The pyramids were built nine seconds ago. The Roman Empire fell three seconds ago. Columbus discovered America one second ago.Talk about putting things in perspective...
As an amateur astronomer, I know many are skeptical of Big Bang cosmology. And that's a good thing in one sense. Our knowledge only grows through continual, methodical doubting. Few of us doubt our own conclusions, however, so science rewards and honors those men and women who correct their colleagues' inaccurate conclusions. Only those theories supported by evidence and experimentation - and able to withstand the most rigorous attacks by opponents - ultimately survive.The Big Bang model has lasted more than 70 years - and the evidence keeps mounting. (For an excellent overview, I recommend Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe by particle physicist Simon Singh, the best and most readable book I've found on the subject.)Yet some reject the theory on religious grounds. Most Western faiths have made their peace with it, however. The scientific account of our origins has already been accepted by reformed Judaism, the Roman Catholic Church, and most mainstream Protestant denominations. And there is still plenty here for the theologically inclined to chew on. What caused the Big Bang? Why are the physical constants just right to allow galaxies, planets and, ultimately, conscious life? Where do the physical laws come from? If they aren't of divine providence, how can they be explained? Why is nature shadowed by a mathematical reality? In short, why do theoretical physics work?Even the most materialist scientists have to have faith in the rational intelligibility of the universe. Otherwise what's the point of the scientific enterprise?As Carl Sagan wrote in "The Demon-Haunted World," "Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual."
After many thousands of years, we are privileged to be part of the first generation to have a rational, coherent and elegant explanation of the origin of everything we see in the night sky. Surely this is one of the grandest achievements of the human intellect and spirit. Explanations of our origins strike a deep chord in most of us. We've always had an intense need to feel connected to something larger than ourselves. Now we know that we are - and in the most profound way. Our cosmic history also generates a deep sense of reverence while deflating our conceits. We live on a beautiful planet, bountiful with life. But it is also a cosmic speck, orbiting a humdrum star in the far suburbs of a common galaxy, afloat in a vast ocean of nearly empty space, in a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.
Yet we should feel some pride and astonishment, too. It took less than an hour to make the atoms, a few hundred million years to make the stars and planets, but more than ten billion years to make human beings.As physicist Paul Davies writes in "The Goldilocks Enigma," "Somehow the universe has engineered, not just its own awareness, but also its own comprehension. Mindless, blundering atoms have conspired to make not just life, but understanding. The evolving cosmos has spawned beings who are able not merely to watch the show, but to unravel the plot." In short, we are living relics of ancient history, intimately tied to the cosmos, composed of wandering stardust. We are the way the universe thinks about itself.Astronomers, physicists and cosmologists often rhapsodize about the scale, the majesty, the harmony and elegance of the universe. Yet, in truth, they are only discovering what the poets have known all along:We shall not cease from explorationAnd the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we startedAnd know the place for the first time... -
T.S. Eliott
Alex
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Coming Of Age In the Milky Way by Alexander Green
Dear Reader,
Isaac Asimov once noted that the phrase that generally heralds new discoveries in science is not "Eureka!" but rather "That's funny..."This was certainly the case in 1967. Two radio engineers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, were working on satellite communications for Bell Laboratories when they were troubled by a persistent background noise - an unfocused, unrelenting hiss that made their experimental work impossible.No matter what they did, they couldn't get rid of it. Worse, it was coming from every point in the sky, day and night, through every season. It was some time before the two men realized they had stumbled on the edge of the visible universe, 90 billion trillion miles away. They were "seeing" the first photons - the most ancient light in the universe - though time and distance had converted them to microwaves, just as astrophysicist George Gamow had predicted two decades earlier.Inadvertently, Penzias and Wilson had made one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time.
Since time immemorial, human beings have gazed up at the night sky and wondered about our cosmic origins. We puzzled. We theorized. We created myths and stories. But we couldn't know because we didn't have the tools. Now we do.Today cosmological theories are tested - and either accepted or rejected - based on observations from powerful ground-based telescopes, containing vast mirrors, housed in observatories the size of giant warehouses, and planted on remote mountaintops. Scientists also use spectroscopes, satellites, radio telescopes, supercomputers, particle accelerators, and one rather spectacular space telescope (see surrounding photos) named after the pioneering astronomer who got the ball rolling.
But yesterday they were closer to us.
And last year they were closer still.
At some point in the past, everything was piled together and squeezed into a tiny volume.Seven decades of observation and experimentation reveal that the universe kicked off with a titanic explosion approximately 13.7 billion years ago. That's an awfully tough thing to conceptualize and cosmologists have struggled to find ways to describe it in simple language. Three popular attempts are:The Big Bang was the explosion of space, not an explosion in space.
The Big Bang happened everywhere, not at one point in space.
Space is in the universe rather than the universe being in space.The time period is hard to wrap your mind around too, so astronomer Carl Sagan devised an ingenious illustration. He called it his "Cosmic Calendar." And it not only enlightens, but provides an object lesson in humility. Here's how it works ...Imagine that the 13.7 billion-year history of the universe is compressed into one calendar year. The Big Bang occurred in the very first second of January 1 and the current moment is the last second of the last minute of December 31. Using this compressed timescale, each month equals a little over one and quarter billion years. Each day represents 40 million years. Each second covers 500 years of history.The Milky Way coalesces in March. The sun and planets form in August. The first life - single celled - show up in September, the first multi-cellular organisms in November. The first vertebrates appear on December 17. Dinosaurs show up on Christmas Eve. (And become extinct on December 29.) Modern humans finally appear at 11:54 p.m. on December 31. And all of recorded history occupies the last ten seconds of the last minute of the last day of the year. The pyramids were built nine seconds ago. The Roman Empire fell three seconds ago. Columbus discovered America one second ago.Talk about putting things in perspective...
After many thousands of years, we are privileged to be part of the first generation to have a rational, coherent and elegant explanation of the origin of everything we see in the night sky. Surely this is one of the grandest achievements of the human intellect and spirit. Explanations of our origins strike a deep chord in most of us. We've always had an intense need to feel connected to something larger than ourselves. Now we know that we are - and in the most profound way. Our cosmic history also generates a deep sense of reverence while deflating our conceits. We live on a beautiful planet, bountiful with life. But it is also a cosmic speck, orbiting a humdrum star in the far suburbs of a common galaxy, afloat in a vast ocean of nearly empty space, in a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.
Yet we should feel some pride and astonishment, too. It took less than an hour to make the atoms, a few hundred million years to make the stars and planets, but more than ten billion years to make human beings.As physicist Paul Davies writes in "The Goldilocks Enigma," "Somehow the universe has engineered, not just its own awareness, but also its own comprehension. Mindless, blundering atoms have conspired to make not just life, but understanding. The evolving cosmos has spawned beings who are able not merely to watch the show, but to unravel the plot." In short, we are living relics of ancient history, intimately tied to the cosmos, composed of wandering stardust. We are the way the universe thinks about itself.Astronomers, physicists and cosmologists often rhapsodize about the scale, the majesty, the harmony and elegance of the universe. Yet, in truth, they are only discovering what the poets have known all along:We shall not cease from explorationAnd the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we startedAnd know the place for the first time... -
T.S. Eliott
Alex
Monday, February 8, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
View from the beach
I'm grateful to have this picture as my wallpaper as my view on my laptop. Seeing this picture is what's prompting me to write. I sat at my desk today watching this view on the computer, and I wanted to feel that warmth of sunshine again especially after our many days of rain.
Looking at the picture, I know that this is the place where I put to rest the last of Bill's ashes. Right there I sat on one of those rocks where the beach, rock and water all come together. I realized that no one knows this nor was anyone there with me. As I very much wanted this place to be known and remembered by all those who ever loved Bill, I'm including this picture with today's blog.
I can hear the music coming from a beachfront karoke bar that drifted up to where I sat on the rock by the water's edge. I can see the moon-lit sky reflected in the warm waters. I can hear the soft waves on the shore and feel the gentle and balmy breezes softly caress. This is where I sprinkled my few remaining ashes of Bill, into those warm, clear soft blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. I had left ashes in several other the various places I've visited this past year. Some of his ashes have been spread and/or are blowing in the wind in Sedona, AZ, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and now too, the Caribbean Sea....all warm places. He'd like that.
We had our family gathering in Charleston, SC, just this past weekend as we finally celebrated our Christmas in January together, as well as coming for a gathering to greet and celebrate the newest member of the Budan family, one-week-old baby Michael Frederick Budan, Jr., pictured here with his very proud papa, Mike.
The kids mentioned that they still had some of Bill's ashes and were planning to have those added to a special edition of fireworks made up especially so that we can shoot them in the air this 4th of July. Yes, Bill will like that too.
Isn't it interesting what they can do these days, and isn't it especially surprising that I have children to find out about and plan these things? I am grateful.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Squirrels, Patterns and Christmas Tree
My thoughts turn to patterns of the vines, patterns of the branches all weaving together, strengthening each other as they intertwine, moving up, connecting and holding those three pine trees together. I imagine how I would take a picture of this tangled scene of pine trees and wisteria vines in order to capture the beauty of it all. I see myself as I lie down on the ground with camera facing upwards towards the sky. I center all the vines, branches, and trunk to fit in the camera lense. I see the wonderful patterns...delightful views of patterns.
I then think of the magical views I remember seeing while lying beneath brightly lit and decorated, tall, beautiful and fragrant Frazier fir trees from Christmases past. What a magnificent perspective it is looking up through and into the sparkle and reflections of the multi-colored mini-lights on the shiney ornaments up through the branches circling the trunk with more intricate patterns... lights, branches and pine needles.... all coming together creating a sense within of inexpressible awe for the beauty and feeling the magical enchantment of it all.
I didn't put up a Christmas tree this year...the first time in my entire life I haven't had a fresh Christmas tree lighting up my living room with a sparkle of joy for those few weeks at Christmas time and that always spoke to me of love, joy, sharing, and beauty. I understand why I didn't put up a tree this year after returning from a two-week vacation in Florida during the first two weeks of December. I knew that I wasn't willing to jump into the rush and press of playing catch-up cramming multitudes of activities into my days after enjoying a unique and very special times of quiet reflections that I was able to share with a dear friend on this unique vacation. I found this picture of the palm tree that awakened a love for and affinity with palm trees and that I so strongly felt while in Florida. I love discovering how this picture captivates me looking up through the branches from this perspective. Beautiful isn't it?
That trip to Florida helped me move through this Christmas season in a new way. It was important for me to move away from expectations to recreate the magic of Christmases past as my family now looks so different from years past. The hustle and bustle of the season have gone but the love and memories remain.
That's what patterns of Christmas trees, branches of palm trees, vines of wysteria all represent to me. This was my first Christmas in 15 years without my dog Missy sleeping under the Christmas tree. Oh how she loved to lie under the Christmas tree! Just looking at her one felt her contentment and peace with sleeping under the decorated tree. Included in this memory with Missy, I see the fire burning in the fireplace, Bill sitting at his desk, mother sitting in her favorite chair, Christmas carols playing. Beautiful memories.
Yes, I will put up a Christmas tree again and again, asking for help when I need it, but definitely I intend to have more Christmas trees in my life. These memories don't feel the same as mind chatter. This was a healing trip for me, beginning with watching the squirrels, pine trees, vines, palm trees, branches, Christmas trees all dance together in lovely patterns of thought. That is what's so alluring and inviting to see all this with new perspectives, from below looking up rather than straight on. Exciting and beautiful intricate patterns, designs, colors, highlights. And if you've never layed beneath a Christmas tree, looking up through the decorated branches, try it. I highly recommend it. I can't wait until next Christmas to do that once again---but wait, I can close my eyes and I'm there, right now.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Psalm 55 angel
This has travelled around the internet before. I am deeply touched each time I read it. I'm not certain when this took place, but since the message is timeless.
It's too long for facebook, so I decided to copy to my blog.
'Friends are God's way of taking care of us.'
This was written by a Metro Denver Hospice Physician:
I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on
Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely
managed to coast, cursing, into a gas station, glad only that I would not be
blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow
truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a
woman walking out of the quickie mart building, and it looked like she
slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I got out to see if she was
okay.When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than
that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with
dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I
picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.
At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the
ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car
seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95.
I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying
'I don't want my kids to see me crying! ,' so we stood on the other side of
the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that
things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, 'And you were praying?'
That made her back away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a
crazy person and said, 'He heard you, and He sent me.'
I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she
could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling, walked to the
next door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates
for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car,
who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little.
She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City . Her boyfriend left
2 months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she
wouldn't have money to pay rent Jan. 1, and finally, in desperation, had
called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about 5 years. They
lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on
her feet there.
So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they
were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live
there.I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for
safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said, 'So, are you
like an angel or something?'
This definitely made me cry. I said, 'Sweetie, at this time of year angels
are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people.'
It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course,
you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home
with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect
the mechanic won't find anything wrong.
Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter
of their wings...
Psalms 55:22 ' Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He
shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.'
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Reclaiming Your Life From Clutter and Spiritual Wealth Ripples
I was cleaning and organizing my desk once....again (where do all those piles come from?) when I came across an old email that I enjoyed enough to print out to keep for future reference (ah-ah, that's where those piles come from!). It was an article written by Alexander Green entitled, "How to Reclaim Your Life", where he discusses simple strategies for decluttering. I found it refreshing. I would love decluttering using his method.
His simple method of decluttering came about when he and his family moved from Florida to Virginia. They simply left everything behind in Florida and moved into a completely furnished home in Charlottesville, VA, where their new home was furnished with everything.....right down to the bath towels and wine glasses. All they had to do was pack a few suitcases. What they quickly discovered was that they fell in love with their new neighborhood and home. As they realized they were staying, they also realized that all that stuff they left back in Florida - the drawers, closets, cabinets, and storage bins overflowing with stuff they'd accumulated - they didn't miss it, not any of it. How liberating is that?
I love this method of simple decluttering and found it extremely helpful to keep in mind as I worked through my year plus of decluttering exercises here in my own home (and that continue today). Green mentions that according to Peter Walsh, the organization expert for Clean Sweep, a series on TLC, that we, as a nation, are overwhelmed with "stuff". There's been a 75% increase in just a dozen years of storage facilities in this country, just so we can store all our "stuff". It is said that our homes are a metaphor for our lives--- representing who we are, what we value. Is that true? Have you heard that we're not to keep anything that is not beautiful, functional or that we simply can't live without it (I had to add that third one fo myself....so hard letting some things go)? Green offers other compelling reasons for decluttering in his June 26 column in "Spiritual Wealth". I recommend reading it. I liked his style of writing and bought his book, "The Secret of Shelter Island", a collection of other upbeat and helpful articles. I recommend reading that too.
This leads me to the ripples of Spiritual Wealth used in the title for this blog entry. A while ago I read another article of Green's adventures of visiting different caverns in Virginia. I loved that article. I loved the idea of those caverns, and after looking them up after reading Green's article, I planned a visit to them. And yes, those are the same caverns I wrote about in another blog adventure with grandson Jack. Ripples. I wouldn't have taken that adventure had not been reading about decluttering. Ripples. Caverns. Family. Love. Connections. Adventures. All ripples. I bump into this email from my piles of stuff and have another blog. All the while my decluttering continues. Ripples.
Who knows what ripples lay ahead....a new house, already organized?
His simple method of decluttering came about when he and his family moved from Florida to Virginia. They simply left everything behind in Florida and moved into a completely furnished home in Charlottesville, VA, where their new home was furnished with everything.....right down to the bath towels and wine glasses. All they had to do was pack a few suitcases. What they quickly discovered was that they fell in love with their new neighborhood and home. As they realized they were staying, they also realized that all that stuff they left back in Florida - the drawers, closets, cabinets, and storage bins overflowing with stuff they'd accumulated - they didn't miss it, not any of it. How liberating is that?
I love this method of simple decluttering and found it extremely helpful to keep in mind as I worked through my year plus of decluttering exercises here in my own home (and that continue today). Green mentions that according to Peter Walsh, the organization expert for Clean Sweep, a series on TLC, that we, as a nation, are overwhelmed with "stuff". There's been a 75% increase in just a dozen years of storage facilities in this country, just so we can store all our "stuff". It is said that our homes are a metaphor for our lives--- representing who we are, what we value. Is that true? Have you heard that we're not to keep anything that is not beautiful, functional or that we simply can't live without it (I had to add that third one fo myself....so hard letting some things go)? Green offers other compelling reasons for decluttering in his June 26 column in "Spiritual Wealth". I recommend reading it. I liked his style of writing and bought his book, "The Secret of Shelter Island", a collection of other upbeat and helpful articles. I recommend reading that too.
This leads me to the ripples of Spiritual Wealth used in the title for this blog entry. A while ago I read another article of Green's adventures of visiting different caverns in Virginia. I loved that article. I loved the idea of those caverns, and after looking them up after reading Green's article, I planned a visit to them. And yes, those are the same caverns I wrote about in another blog adventure with grandson Jack. Ripples. I wouldn't have taken that adventure had not been reading about decluttering. Ripples. Caverns. Family. Love. Connections. Adventures. All ripples. I bump into this email from my piles of stuff and have another blog. All the while my decluttering continues. Ripples.
Who knows what ripples lay ahead....a new house, already organized?
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Christmas card and New Year's Resolution
I painted this simple evergreen tree with the intention that it would be my Christmas card this year. I didn't get cards printed. I didn't get cards mailed. This is how my wishes for a very Merry Christmas are going out this year to family and friends.....sending them out through this blog.....belated, but very warm, heart-felt wishes for love, joy, and peace to each of you to fill your hearts, families and homes with blessings of ever-present good.
Another intention of writing a Christmas letter that was going to be sent with this card also didn't happen. I admire those that have the ability to encapsulate a year's events into a few paragraphs. I keep thinking I'll try my hand at it one of these years, but now here we are, another year gone and the only Christmas letter I have written are in thoughts only. Well, and this blog...can this serve as my letter?
New Year's Resolutions have never been a part of my life. Sometimes they're fun to think about what could be done better next time, but most often as I hear how they frequently turn into guilt thoughts, I find myself avoiding making resolutions in the first place.
This year is different. I have found a resolution that I love and that I can renew and keep each and every day for 2010 and beyond.
On New Year's Day, I sat reading a Hargreave's article entitled "New Year". I was sitting in the bright sunlight, looking out towards awe inspiring and magnificent mountains. These inspiring views uplifted me in ways that words cannot do justice. Hargreave's reminder of reviewing the past year with the idea of beginning a new year humanly with promises for future good be replaced by a "day with the Lord" present idea message that spoke to and moved me. This is the day the Lord hath made, be glad, rejoice, give thanks. This is the only day. Mrs. Eddy defines day as "the irradiance of Life; light, the spiritual idea of Truth and Love" (S&H 584)
In the Bible in Isaiah, we read, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Hargreaves asks where we are identifying our own thoughts about ourselves. With the "thee"? Or is it with the "light"? Are we discovering the Life that is God? Are we not to leave behind even the highest human concept of anything and see the unfolding of Mind, Life, God that's revealing itself? Are we not to leave behind all problems, limitations, sad experiences, mistakes, regrets....all records of dreams and part of the "thee" idea and unknown to light? As this "spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought and leads to 'where the young child was', even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes" (S&H 191), wonderful things appear to happen as a result of this dawning. Things appearing that represent clearer views of the wonder that already exists and is ever present to spiritual discernment. This new day, this new year, this new outlook from which all good exists and is reflected right here, right now. This is what I wish to celebrate.
This is my New Year's resolution....in the words of the Psalmist, "Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law" (Ps. 119)
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