January 27, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Act As If

Photo by Barbara Mattio

“You’ve got to get up every morning with a smile on your face, And show the world all the love in your heart .Then people gonna treat you better. You’re gonna find, yes, you will. That you’re beautiful as you feel.” —–Carole King

Boat launch near Cleveland. Photo by Barbara Mattio

Act as if.” There’s magic in behaving the way we want to be, even though we don’t yet feel it. The behavior seems to lead the way. The attitude, the mental state follows.

Many days we we may not get up with love in our hearts for our family, our friends, our co-workers. We may, in fact, want them to show their love for us first.

If we reach out, give love unconditionally, focus on another’s needs, love will return tenfold.And the act of loving them will lift our own spirits. We will know love; we feel love for ourselves and the many other persons close to us. The principle is so simple, if we meet life with love, with a smile, we’ll find love and something to smile about.

Evening stroll

January 27, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Praise for The Divine

The color of flowers

The Wild Rose of Praise

Those unable to grieve,
or to speak their love,
or to be grateful, those
who can’t remember God
as the source of everything.

Might be described as vacant wind,
or a cold anvil, or a group
of frightened old people.

Say the Name. Moisten your tongue
with praise, and be the spring ground,
waking. Let your mouth be given
its gold-yellow stamen like the wild rose’s.

As you fill with wisdom,
and your heart with love, there’s no more thirst.

There is only an unselfish patience
waiting on the door-sill, a silence
which doesn’t listen to advise
From people passing in the street.”
—Sanai

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.” —-Rumi

January 27, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Thank you, Summer4Soul, for nominating me for my 5th star on the Blog of the Year Award!

Many Blessings to you!

Barbara

January 27, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

A serious problem

January 26, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Children and Guns Part 2

I wonder how this works

Child’s letter to President Obama about guns.

Guns instead of toys

No guns sign

Faces of the children at Sandy Hook School murdered by one lone kid.

An organization that attempts to protect children from guns.

Which sign would make you feel safe?

Gun stats

So, the theory I am hearing over and over is that a gun is needed in the home for protection. Our society has degenerated to being more hate and violence than love and compassion. And especially when you have children you want to protect them. We lose children to accidents in the home every year. Accidental poisoning, dog bites, bullying, molestation, and abuse.

I believe that most people who have a gun say they are “for protection.” I understand the need to try and keep the violence away. In a home with children, the gun or guns are locked up in a closet or in a drawer in the nightstand. Heaven help us there are none loaded and under a pillow. Some people have multiple guns in the home. Some are revolvers and some are assault guns. I am not sure what they are expecting to arrive at their home.

Real life scenario: you are asleep and hear a noise and quietly get up. You hear another small noise and you unlock your gun and load it. In the dark, you tiptoe down a hallway and you can barely make out an outline. Someone is in the house! You shoot. There is a thud and the person’s body falls to the floor and you flip on the lights and see you have shot your husband in the shoulder. But at least he isn’t dead. He was away on business and got home before he was expected and didn’t want to bother you. Now the police are arriving and an ambulance and you are trying to explain to the kids and the police.

Here is another one. You and your husband are in bed watching tv. All is quiet in the house, suddenly you hear the sound of glass breaking. Well, maybe that is what it is. Fear grips you and your husband gets the guns and loads it. He hears a creak and goes down the stairs. You hear yelling and a gun fire. You are terrified but call 911. It turns out that a kid broke into your home. You find yourself looking at your husband who has just shot and killed a sixteen year old who was looking for money for beer. Did he commit a crime? He sure did. Did he deserve to be dead? He sure didn’t. Even though you might live in a state where the husband wouldn’t be prosecuted you both have to live with the fact that you killed another human being. Yes, we have the right to protect what is ours. Is it more important than a life? More important than a child created to walk this earth and has Divine energy within him or her?

There have always been people who have been the scum of the earth. There always will be.We will never end all of the hatred and violence. Do we ignore it?” I think not. I think we have a well regulated militia (police) who are paid to protect us. How about if we took all of the money spent on the purchase and use of guns and ammo and distributed it to cities to hire more police or pay them what they should be earning?

Again, looking to keep the conversation going. I want to hear from everyone. This is one of the most difficult questions we face right now as a country.

January 25, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Children and Guns Part 1

Children at play with guns

: Not my idea of “toys”

I remember apple fights and no guns of any kind

A gun collector gives his family Christmas

: Was this the way Jesus taught humans to deal with life?

Some of the experts

The end of a family

My blog today was inspired because of a news story I heard on cable. After everything we have been through lately with mass shootings, I feel the need to talk about Domestic Violence. This is a case where a kid was angry at his mother. These are his words. He shot his mother. His nine year old brother entered and the teen picked up the dead mother’s head and showed it to the nine year old and then shot him. He proceeded to also shoot and kill two other younger siblings. He then gathered up his guns and planned on going to the local Walmart and shooting it up.

This type and extent of anger is a mental health issue and it is also a question of the issue of guns in the home. If you look at the images I posted you will find so many children holding and perhaps learning to shoot a gun. Our children can’t spell, do math, or read but parents are making sure they learn how to handle a gun. This seems like a case of mixed up priorities.

If you talk to seasoned soldiers, the ones who have actually killed another human being. I believe it would shake people and kids up. I was a nurse in the day, and it is a significant experience to watch the end of a person’s life. Yes, there are bad people in the world. Do you want or do you want your children to experience taking the life of another human being. To eliminate that bit of Divinity that exists within the worst of criminals. I always wonder what made a person choose to be evil. There are very real reasons and most stem from a childhood where the person didn’t experience love, acceptance, support or ethical teachings.

So we need to continue our conversation about guns. It isn’t a yes or no choice. There are many perspectives. I invite you all to share your feelings and any expertise in the area. I invite all comments. I invite all opinions and perspectives and perhaps we can get people thinking and then discussing with their own family and friends. May each soul that returns to The One be supported and loved as they transition to the next level of existence. Many blessings to all.

January 24, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Romancing the Wind

“It is a beauteous evening, calm and free,

The holy time is quiet as a Nun

Breathless with adoration; the broad sun

Is sinking down in its tranquility;

The gentleness of heaven broods o’er the Sea;

Listen ! the mighty Being is awake,

And doth with his eternal motion make

A sound like thunder—everlastingly.

Dear child! Dear Girl! that walkest with me here.

If thou appear untouched by solemn thought,

Thy nature is not therefore less divine:

Thou liest in Abraham’s bosom all the year;

And worshipp’st at the Temple’s inner shrine,

God being with thee when we know it not. ”

—-It is a Beautiful Evening, Calm and Free

William Wordsworth

I find that on a cold winter day like today, I need to find more beauty in life. There are so many different kinds of beauty. There is music, painting, dancing, reading, watching clouds, admiring the way the waves wash onto the shore. You can watch an eagle swoop over a mountaintop, and just tell a friend they are loved and appreciated. Some days we just need to share a bit of the beauty of creation and of what human beings can create. This video is my gift to all of you, my readers to enjoy. I hope it lifts your spirits as it did mine. Blessings to all.

The rainbows in life.

January 23, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

I have just had a dolphin experience and so this really spoke to me.

bookofshadowsandblessings

View original post

January 23, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Musings on Gratitude and understanding

Understanding promotes peace

We all know that we need to be grateful for our lives. It is easy when everything is going well. When life gets rough, it can be harder. Sometimes it is easy to overlook the blessings because they arrive without fanfare.

I have begun a Gratitude journal. I write down five things every day to be grateful for. I found that some days it was hard. I looked around and saw nothing to be grateful for. Then I realized that the most important things to be grateful for, are the little things. As I broadened my thinking, I realized my life was full of simple gifts and blessings. I had just simply been overlooking them.

I may not always feel loved or understood. I often have health issues and mobility issues .As I began to pull back and see the entire picture of my life, I saw many small blessings that threaded themselves throughout my life. Coming to understand this concept has enriched me and my life. No matter what is happening in life, I can now always see the blessings that fill my life.

Sometimes it is still something for me to work on. What I find though is that the Divine gives us many tiny yet huge blessings to be grateful for.

As I have gone through this experience, I have realized just how rich I am. I saw how much more understanding I can give to others.That brings more understanding from others to me. The ultimate result is peace. Peace in my heart and mind.

It is important to understand how these mental and spiritual exercises adds to the peace in my life and that peace fills me and I can pass it on to the people in my life. They can pass it on to others in their lives. Peace is a daily quest and we need to work on it every day.

Yes, we all know that peace takes action as well as understanding and gratitude. These actions must never be based on hatred and violence. Dialog between all of us and the blogs we write are ways to work toward peace.

I am grateful for all of my readers and the people who have become friends. I am very grateful for you allowing me to experience pieces of your lives. I am grateful for all I have learned from you. I wish many blessings for all my readers around the world.

” We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot force.”
—–Marion Wright Edelman

“You cannot contribute anything to the ideal condition of mind and heart known a Brotherhood (Sisterhood), however much you preach, posture, or agree, unless you live it.”
——-Faith Baldwin