April 17, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Here in the Light

let your hope rise to the heavens.

We are facing a dark time in the world. It is not the first time and it won’t be the last time either. Each of us must decide how we are going to face the darkness and work through the pain and hopelessness.

Since the dawn of time there have been those who will take what they want without a care to the effect on other people. Greed and jealously twist the human heart and life becomes less valuable.

We can choose that path or we can choose to walk in the light. We can choose the light. we can work to keep hope alive. We can reach out to others, families and survivors.

I must keep my heart strong and loving. I must look up. My prayer is that if I do, I will do all I can to stand tall there, as tall as 5 foot 2 inches can stand. I will use every ounce of courage to light my candle.

I will forgive and I will love all of the children of the universe while tears slide down my face. Yes, tears because my heart is broken andI know it will be again. So I suggest we all work towards compassion, kindness, loving each other as sisters and brothers. Because we are all children of the universe. Life is bigger than each individual act. We need the big picture.

We need to remember that we are all equally part of the family of man.
And women. We can only survive if we work together to stop the darkness.

gathering of the flowers

Let us all work together to bring beauty into the darkness and never give up or lose hope.

April 16, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

The Trial by Existence

” Even the bravest that are slain

Shall not dissemble their surprise

On waking to find valor reign,

Even as on earth, in paradise;

And where they sought without the sword

Wide fields of asphodel fore’er.

To find that the uttmost reward

Of daring should be still to dare.

The light of heaven falls whole and white

and is not shattered into dyes,

The light for ever is morning light;

The hills are verdured pasture-wise;

The angel hosts with freshness go,

And seek with laughter what to brave;—

And binding all is the hushed snow

Of the far-distant breaking wave.

And from a cliff-top is proclaimed

The gathering of the souls for birth,

The trial of existence named,

The obscuration upon earth.

And the slant spirits trooping by

In streams and cross-and counter-streams

Can but give ear to that sweet cry For its suggestion of what dreams!”

—-Robert Frost

” He [Robert Frost] has bequeathed his nation a body of imperishable verse from which Americans will forever gain joy and understanding.” —-John F. Kennedy

I believe there is an abundance of love and hope in this world. Bring it with you on your journey.

Celtic woman

April 16, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Faith of the heart

Let the words wash over your heart and soul.

Sue Vincent's Daily Echo

Amongst all the beautiful comments and good wishes for the coming launch, a friend sent me this. As usual, because of the sentiment behind it, I ended up tissue in hand.

Of course, the lyrics have meaning for me on many levels, from the adventure now beginning, to seeing my son and his little Faith taking their own path towards a future together, having themselves faced so many trials. Yet they move forwards, hand in hand, in love and with a laughing grace that warms my heart.

Yesterday, after the eviction of the flying mammoth and the spider, I sat on my son’s bed and, as it is wont to do, the conversation turned from the lunacy we share in laughter to more serious thoughts. We spoke of the nature of love and what it means for each of us. I will not go into detail. Suffice it to…

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April 16, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

I Heard a Slight Rustle Within the Silence

It is the middle of the night and I awoke thinking about the horror and devastation of today. My heart is breaking over the continued violence. Then as I was sitting, I heard a small sound in the quiet of the night, the black black night. I knew it to be the sound of angel wings moving as the angels moved to provide love, comfort and strength to all those involved.

My heart felt uplifted and I knew that here is hope, love, compassion and kindness in this world. Each of us are a symbol of them.

We are thinking of you.
Prayers continue to rise up to the heavens. Blessings to all.

April 15, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Terrorism

Boston Marathon
27,000 participants

My heart has been rendered in two. Two bombs went off at the Boston Marathon Finishline and at the JFK Library. Tears are slowly coursing down my face. We need to send prayers, positive energy and loving support to the deceased, the injured, the families and the viewers.

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

We must meet all acts of violence with an increase of peace, kindness, love, and compassion. Is it easy? No way. But if we meet violence with violence there will only be an increase in violence. We are being tested and our humanity put to the test.

” O Thou, the Cause and Effect of the whole universe, the Source from whence we have come and the Goal towards which all are bound: receive this soul who is coming to Thee into Thy parental arms. May Thy forgiving Glance heal these people. Lift them from the denseness of the earth, surround them with the light of Thine own Spirit. Raise them up to Heaven, which is their true dwelling place. We pray Thee grant them with the blessing of Thy most exalted Presence. May their lives upon earth become as a dream to his waking soul, and let their thirsting eyes behold the glorious Vision of Thy Sunshine. Amen

Come Together in Love

” Death takes away the weariness of life; and the soul begins life anew.
Death is the night after which the day begins.
It is death which dies, not life.
The life everlasting is hidden in the heart of death.” —Hazrat Inayat Khan

A Prayer for Each of Us

“Help me to serve Thy cause.
O Spirit of Guidance, throw thy Divine LIght on my Path.
Open my heart, that thy spirit it may reflect.
My life is changing and taking a better turn on my journey.
My mind is still, Lord, with all people and with all conditions of the body.
May your Divine Inspiration fill my life, guide my thoughts and emotions.
Help my mind be your Divine Temple.”
Amen

One World, One love, One life now and always.

April 15, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Why Are Children Becoming More Violent?

very inspirational

April 14, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

My Sunday Afternoon Present

The beautiful world

The Rival

“If the moon smiled, she would resemble you.
You leave the same impression
Of something beautiful, but annihilating.
Both of you are great light borrows.
Her O-mouth grieves at the world; your sis unaffected,

And your first gift is making stone out of everything.
I wake to a mausoleum, you have here,
Ticking your fingers on the table, looking for cigarettes.
Spiteful as a woman , but not so nervous,
And dying to say something unanswerable.

The moon, too, abases her subjects,
But in the daytime she is ridiculous.

Portrait of Sylvia Plath

Your dissatifactions, on the other hand,
Arrive through,the mailslot with loving regularity,
White and blank, expansive as carbon monoxide.

NO day is safe from news of you,
Walking about in Africa maybe, but thinking of me.
–—-Sylvia Plath, writer and feminist

Tucked in a knoll in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Photograph copyright by Barbara Mattio 2013

My orchid is in bloom!
Photograph copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2013

April 13, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

The Way of the World

Cleveland skyland from Huntington Beach, west of the city.Photograph cpoyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2013

Cleveland skyline from Huntington Beach, west of the city. Frozen Lake Erie. Photograph copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2013

We are at a place in history where we have stood before. War, the worst of our mean, selfish, evil behaviour as human beings. Big countries start wars, small countries, a well aimed bullet ending the life of a king. Cultures will start wars. Religions start wars. Spirituality is different from religion, because spirituality is inclusive, not exclusive or demeaning to others who think differently, as many religions can be. Jihad is an excuse. The People of the Book love and follow the same God. Allah, Adonai, Christ – if you look at what they asked of the people of their world, it is similar. It is not supposed to take lives; lives that carry the exact same spark of Divinity. Now the people may suffer again under a new war and one that we may not survive.

We all feel the strong negative energy whirling around the world. We make sanctimonious noises about how good our country is, how right we are. Elsewhere, there is disease, famine, starvation, fear, Here, there is disease, fear, hunger, judgemental thinking, people say one thing and mean another. Trust is hard to find. People look at others and actually see a reflection of their inner selves. Mass shooting, mass stabbings, the ability to look away from the hungry child who can’t stay awake in school. We continue to look at children suffering as unfortunate. If we can, we look away or treat them like refuse which needs to be taken to the dump.

Love in the World

Every country in the world is experiencing pain, hunger, greed, oppression, in justice, hypocrisy, bullying, violence against women, racism and homophobia. It becomes a litany of woe. A list of the negativity people must live with.

What do we do? We are all on a journey and it is dark all around. We can’t see our feet through the whirling black negative energy. The answer is positive thoughts, positive actions. You can call them mitzvos of random acts of kindness. Or simply doing good. The name means nothing, the action is what produces the magic. The we find the source of some evil double the positive energy that will counteract the dark energies.

I have spoken with several masters who feel that the more positive energy we send in the world, the harder the darkness will fight. So we add more. Surround yourself and the troubled parts of the world with white light. Pray for leaders to have wisdom and the courage to act upon the wisdom.

” The bitter tear that flows into the sea

Dissolves into liquid unity

And in the sunlight rises up anew

To fall again as rain–sweet alchemy.

The seen of belief unfurls in faith , branches

out in experience, blossoms in realization, and bears fruit in service.

The goal of the journeyer is the Beloved.

The goal of the Beloved is the journey.”

—Pir Zia Inayat Khan

Babies are not born thinking others are different.

April 11, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Regime propaganda as news in North Korea

I listen to this man and I hear Hitler. He is insane and narcissistic. Even China is trying to get him to stop before he destroys the world.

April 11, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

The Dalhai Lama and his wise and love filled words.

The Dalai Lama and his wise and love filled words.

Ghazal of Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Thanks be to God, the very world that birthed us
now is bathed by wondrous Nature
in a rapture of her glorious light:
the splendor of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, now revealed.
And humankind, highest of creatures, endowed with Intellect’s might
so that all the beasts, wing’d and hoof’d
are place under his command
And Adam’s veins are filled
with Art, Science, Faith:
he knows the sciences are clear
–but music is the weightiest
as a surging ocean
outweights the very world through which it flows.

If he whose heart’s been moved
by the science of Music’s world effect
Were offered the pleasure of emperorship,
he’s certainly ignoring it
–for Man is not alone in his delight
at that sweet sound
since even animals have sacrificed themselves for it.

More stubborn than a donkey,
he who holds that Music’s “impure”;
Ignorant of beaty,
how clain acquaintance with the Lord?

Creator!

The ocean surges!
Permit my skiff to reach the shore
-King!
I beg what kindness thou canst afford.”

—-Hazrat Inayat Khan, founder of Chisti Sufi Order