Daily Archives: October 19, 2014

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The Heart of Mother Earth


At the heart of the landscape of Mother Earth, there is a feeling of belonging. Belonging is the basic truth of our existence. We belong here. Life belongs here. At the heart of gratefulness we also find an expression of belonging. When we say “Thank you” we really are saying “We belong together.” Many people don’t want to be connected or interdependent. Many of us don’t want to be obliged.

 

In a healthy society that is exactly what we seek: mutual obligations. Everyone is obliged to everyone and everything else, we all belong together, we are of each other. In this awareness we are freed from self’preoccupation—and only then, emptied of self, can we be filled with thanks.

 

” Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise—then you will discover the fullness of your life.”   —Brother David Steindl-Rast

 

Within this human impulse to gratitude flows the vast cycles of universal reciprocity—for everything that is taken, something has to be given in return. You can’t merely breath in, or only breath out. Death would find you. Life is not giving or taking, but it is giving and taking.

 

Universal Belonging

 

We give away our thanks to the earth

which gives us our home.

We give away our thanks to the rivers and lakes

which give away their water.

We give away our thanks to the trees

which give away fruit and nuts…

 

All beings on earth, the trees, the animals, the wind

and the rivers give away to one another

so all is in balance…

—Dolores La Chapelle

 

 

I will sing of the well-founded Earth,

Mother of all, eldest of all beings.

She feeds all creatures that are in the world,

all that go upon the goodly land,

all that are in the paths of the seas,

and all that fly,

all these are fed of her store.

 

Hail Earth, mother of the gods,

freely bestow upon me for this my song

that cheers the heart!

—Homeris Hymns XXX, adapted by Elizabeth Roberts

 

 

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Awakening

in a moment of peace

I give thanks

to the source of all peace

 

as I set forth

into the day

the birds sing

with new voices

and I listen

with new ears

and give thanks.

 

You can see forever

when the vision is clear

in this moment

each moment

I give thanks.
—Harriet Kofalk

Morning Salutation

Morning Salutation

 

Smokey Mountains. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2010

Smokey Mountains. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2010

 

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Hello, and Welcome to My Blog

I’m the IdealisticRebel (you can call me Barbara)

Those of you who have visited the site before will notice that things look a bit different. I’ve made some changes to make it easier for people to find the content they are looking for here — basically, the blogposts that I wrote and the blogposts that I repost, because the author has something to say that I find interesting or important.

If you’re new here, then again, Welcome! You can see on my header that I post about Women’s Issues, Creativity and Spirituality and Peace.

What does that mean? It means that I post to raise awareness on Domestic Violence, the War on Women, Women’s Rights and other issues that affect women in the United States, and around the world.

I post to promote Peace and Kindness and Beauty and the notion that we are All One People.

I post to encourage people to be Creative — to nurture the Creative Spark within themselves, even in the face of the opposition or misunderstanding of those closest to us. I share the methods I have found that have helped me to be more creative, and I try to highlight the difficulties that the Creative people in the world face when opening up their hearts and souls to allow their art to flow through whatever medium they work in, so that we can all share our experiences and know that we are, none of us, alone.

I post to remind people that, whatever path you are on, we are a children of the Divine. Whatever you call that Divine, whatever method you use to connect to it, Divinity is in all of us and all religions share a commonality of basic decency, humanity and Divinity. I also try to remind everyone that the extremists of any religion, do not speak for all the people of the religion and that we, as human beings, need to treat people as people, not as stereotypes.

I try to remind people that ALL people are equal, regardless of gender, race, religion or spiritual path (or lack thereof), sexual orientation or identity, nationality, creed,  color, economic status or any of the other arbitrary and political attributes we use to stereotype other human beings.  There are differences in all of us that make us individuals, but basically, we are all Stardust and deserving of love and consideration from and for each other.

Whether your are a new visitor, a repeat visitor, or one of my friends and followers, you are all welcome here.

You can find my posts by clicking on the “The IdealisticRebel Says..” button on the menu on the left. You can find posts I’ve reblogged by clicking on “Rebel Recommends”.

Previous posts, which include both my blogs and things I’ve reblogged, are under the heading “Archived”.

I am also a member of the wonderful group Artists4Peace. If you would like to see the articles which I have contributed to this site, click the Artists4Peace label in the menu. To go to the Artists4Peace site itself, click the Artists4Peace icon in the sidebar.

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