Changed By Life

by James Kelderhouse.

Trees, creeks, gardens, lakes, and bluffs, all touched by the sky

are the special places I frequented often when I was a child,

with a sense of wonder and appreciation of the secret and sacred life

they contained, when I existed with, and was wrapped in

the winds of our shared collective mind.

I was curious about the many lives and families within these places

and was in awe of them before I was old enough

to know or question my own being,

before I was able to understand,

that the whole living community was susceptible

to the touch of my hands and large mind.

I observed, touched, and was a part of these sacred places

and other living things as a child and learned

that they could be hurt by me reaching and touching the sky.

They were as close to me as the air we all breathe,

as close as my Grandparents who taught me

to respect every being and its place.

After high school, the sacredness of these places

and the simple life my Grandparents showed me,

slowly slipped away without me noticing,

my senses began to fade,

I was shamed and forced to ride

the modern economy of over consumption, consumerism,

and maximum use of fossil energy called progress,

polluting the air and sky in order to drive and survive in modern times.

I long to return to this sacred place.

How to love and respect Mother Earth by James Kelderhouse:

Although it is important to recycle plastics, travel less, buy organic food, and use alternative energy, it is not enough to restore the clean air necessary for ecological, environmental, and human health. Only a closer relationship to earth and a respect for all of earths living beings will begin to restore physical, mental, and spiritual health to our shared world.  So encourage children in this relationship first.  Second participate and share in helping them develop it. Third, redevelop your own and show them your respect for nature.  Fourth, start a project together that considers, gives back, and restores natures’ right to coexist. Fifth, reclaim a simple life touched by the sky and in so doing your strained relationship with the earth will begin to heal and your children will observe your change and be inspired to be the next generation of change.

Our modern transportation system and long distance electric grid uses too much energy produced by burning fossil fuels, much of it lost or wasted in the transportation of food or electric power over long distances.  The surplus emissions produced by trucks carrying food long distances or coal plants supplying electricity from  far away can be reduced by producing your own or buying locally produced food from small farms.  Only a closer relationship to earth and a respect for all of earths living beings will begin to restore physical, mental, and spiritual health to our shared world.  Our modern system dependent upon maximum energy production from fossil fuels pollutes and extracts a heavy toll on the air, soil, water and all life through the drilling, mining, burning and exhaust of fossil fuels, including nuclear fuel, nuclear disaster and radiation exposure.  Fuel spills, toxic chemicals and products produced from the byproducts of oil production including chemical fertilizers and pesticides also contaminate earths’ air and water.  Children do not have to be told this, but shown natures’ way.

How to love and respect Mother Earth by Sandi McArthur:  

Think before you buy and make every decision a conscious decision.

Ask, where did this food or other product come from? How far did it travel? How was it grown, raised or produced? Does it contain harmful chemicals, GMO’s etc.? And, by whom under what conditions was it raised or grown?

When we take the time to really think through our purchases and decide we don’t want to support agriculture or production methods that harm the earth or its peoples or animals, we are making a huge statement about our commitment to honoring Mother Earth and showing our respect by how we spend our dollars and what we choose to support. Along with Conscious Decisions the concepts of Reducing, Reusing, Recycling and Refusing resonate with me and help me with my goal of living more simply and enjoying more intensely my time on this beautiful planet. – Sandi McArthur

“How would you encourage us to love and respect Mother Earth?”

Changed By Life

 by James Kelderhouse

Trees, creeks, gardens, lakes, and bluffs, all touched by the sky are the special places I frequented often when I was a child, with a sense of wonder and appreciation of the secret and sacred life they contained, when I existed with, and was wrapped in the winds of our shared collective mind.  I was curious about the many lives and families within these places and was in awe of them before I was old enough to know or question my own being, before I was able to understand, that the whole living community was susceptible to the touch of my hands and large mind.  I observed, touched, and was a part of these sacred places and other living things as a child and learned that they could be hurt by me reaching and touching the sky.  They were as close to me as the air we all breathe, as close as my Grandparents who taught me to respect every being and its place.  After high school, the sacredness of these places and the simple life my Grandparents showed me, slowly slipped away without me noticing, my senses began to fade, I was shamed and forced to ride the modern economy of over consumption, consumerism, and maximum use of fossil energy called progress that dirties the air and sky in order to drive and survive in modern times.  I long to return to this sacred place.

Although it is important to recycle plastics, travel less, buy organic food, and use alternative energy, it is not enough to restore the clean air necessary for ecological, environmental, and human health. Only a closer relationship to earth and a respect for all of earths living beings will begin to restore physical, mental, and spiritual health to our shared world.  So encourage children in this relationship first.  Second participate and share in helping them develop it. Third, redevelop your own and show them your respect for nature.  Fourth, start a project together that considers, gives back, and restores natures right to coexist  .Fifth, reclaim a simple life touched by the sky and in so doing your strained relationship with the earth will begin to heal and your children will observe your change and be inspired to be the next generation of change.

Our modern transportation system and long distance electric grid uses too much energy produced by burning fossil fuels, much of it lost or wasted in the transportation of food or electric power over long distances.  The surplus emissions produced by trucks carrying food long distances or coal plants supplying electricity from  far away can be reduced by producing your own or buying locally produced food from small farms.  Only a closer relationship to earth and a respect for all of earths living beings will begin to restore physical, mental, and spiritual health to our shared world.  Our modern system dependent upon maximum energy production from fossil fuels pollutes and extracts a heavy toll on the air, soil, water and all life through the drilling, mining, burning and exhaust of fossil fuels, including nuclear fuel, nuclear disaster and radiation exposure.  Fuel spills, toxic chemicals and products produced from the byproducts of oil production including chemical fertilizers and pesticides also contaminate earths’ air and water.  Children do not have to be told this, but shown natures’ way.

James Kelderhouse

How to love and respect Mother Earth by Sandi McArthur:  

Think before you buy and make every decision a conscious decision.

Ask, where did this food or other product come from? How far did it travel? How was it grown, raised or produced? Does it contain harmful chemicals, GMO’s etc.? And, by whom under what conditions was it raised or grown?

When we take the time to really think through our purchases and decide we don’t want to support agriculture or production methods that harm the earth or its peoples or animals, we are making a huge statement about our commitment to honoring Mother Earth and showing our respect by how we spend our dollars and what we choose to support. Along with Conscious Decisions the concepts of Reducing, Reusing, Recycling and Refusing resonate with me and help me with my goal of living more simply and enjoying more intensely my time on this beautiful planet. – Sandi McArthur

Short of not drinking water, which is not an option, what can we do?

1. Never put anything (drugs, cleaners etc) down the drain or toilet that might harm frogs, turtles, otters, muskrats and fish for whom the water is their home. This will keep us safer too. If you don’t want to swim in it, neither do they. Septic systems can filter biological human waste but no system filters out drugs and hormones.

2. Try natural ways of healing. Get to the core of the issue. Live a healthy, preventative lifestyle with meditation, yoga, therapy, prayer, healthy eating and exercise. It’s never too late to start.

If you have suffered a loss, take time to grieve. The anti-depressants the doctors so quickly prescribe only mask symptoms, they do not cure. In fact, every time I hear that someone went on a rampage and shot at innocent villagers or school children, I ask myself, “Were they on anti-depressants? If so, they might not even remember the violent incident. Do you want that kind of  drug in your system or in your water?

3. Sign petitions to end this silent Holocaust.

Frankly, it’s one thing to destroy all human life but to destroy the well being of the water which sustains not only us but all other life as well? That is a sin from which I don’t think we will recover if we continue as is. All I can say is “My God, my God, what are we doing to our blessed planet?” And for what? Quick fixes and corporate greed? How many millions of dollars is the destruction of our planet worth?

http://io9.com/5584563/antidepressants-in-the-water-are-making-shrimp-suicidal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8M6MRqirKk

in Our Drinking Water?

www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/…/drugs-in-our-drinking-water

Antidepressant drugs found in drinking water; pharmaceuticals have …

www.naturalnews.com/001891.html

AP: Drugs found in drinking water - USATODAY.com

www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-10-drugs-tap-water_N.htm

Tons of Released Drugs Taint U.S. Water - US News and World Report

www.usnews.com › Science

GMO’s contain pesticides and the use of GMO’s and RoundUp,  both created by Monsanto, have polluted our water, caused birth defects in children, illness in adults and death to beneficial insects and animals. GMO’s are unsafe and should not even be in our food chain. Nor should we be feeding GMO corn to wildlife such as birds, chip monks and squirrels.

How can this change?

1. Buy organic, free range and local.

2. Challenge grocery stores that carry unlabeled GMO food. Challenge feed stores that carry cracked corn for wild and domestic birds.

3. NEVER use pesticides and non organic fertilizers on your lawn or garden. Never use Round UP. Will you sell the well being of the planet for one green lawn?

4. Sign the on line petitions you will find in websites like Organic Consumers Association

Be kind but be bold. If we don’t speak out, there may not be an earth worth living on.

Below is a valuable shoppers guide to help you buy safe and links to articles and videos about GMO’s and RoundUp.

EWG’s 2011 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce (makes a great print out)  http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/

Top 10 Facts YOU Should Know About Monsanto

bestmeal.info/monsanto/facts.shtml

http://bestmeal.info/food/environment.shtml

RoundUp foods are corn, soy, alfalfa, canola, and cottonseed oil… if it’s in a box or a can = you can bet it’s GMO.

Article below discusses Round UP Ready GE Alfalfa:

http://naturalsociety.com/did-monsanto-plant-gmos-before-usda-approval/

Report Finds ‘Natural’ Products Loaded with GMOs, Pesticides …

naturalsociety.com/report-finds-natural-cereal-products-loaded-with-…

Oct 12, 2011 – … supposedly ‘natural’ cereal products contain GMOs and pesticides, even … Corn Flakes contained more than 50% genetically modified corn.

http://naturalsociety.com/wendy%E2%80%99s-natural-cut-fries-aren%E2%80%99t-so-natural/

Wildlife & Pesticides - Corn

ipm.ncsu.edu/wildlife/corn_wildlife.html

Pesticides used in corn production may harm wildlife living in or around corn fields

Honeybee Deaths Linked to Corn Insecticides - ABC News

abcnews.go.com/blogs/…/honeybee-deaths-linked-to-corn-insecticide…

Mar 15, 2012 – New research shows a link between an increase in the death of bees and insecticides, specifically the chemicals used to coat corn seeds.

What’s On My Food :: Pesticides on Tomato Paste

www.whatsonmyfood.org/food.jsp?food=TP

Tomatoes: Ketchup & Beyond

www.bestnaturalfoods.com/newsletter/tomatoes.html

Cooking tomatoes to produce paste, tomato juice, ketchup, sauce, and salsa makes… The Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce (see below) ranks pesticide …

EWG’s 2011 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/

Facts on Pesticides

www.earthjustice.org/pesticides

Learn about the impacts of
pesticides on your health

Take Action! Tell the E.P.A.:

Ban Monsanto’s RoundUp (Glyphosate)! Experts Say It’s Worse than DDT!

Ban Dow’s 2,4-D! Why Does the EPA Still Allow Dioxin-Tainted Pesticides?

Save the Bees! Ban Bayer’s Insecticide Imidacloprid!

Ban Monsanto’s GMO Insecticide-Producing Crops! Join 22 Scientists Who Ask the EPA to Act With “Urgency”

http://iwillknowmyfood.com/#learn

Jon is a leader in the field of Mindfulness Meditation for stress reduction and wellness.  He is internationally known for his work as a scientist, writer, and meditation teacher engaged in bringing mindfulness into the mainstream of medicine and society. He is Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he was founding executive director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society, and founder (in 1979) and former director of its world-renowned Stress Reduction Clinic.

Let Jon’s 10, 15, 20 or 30 minute sitting or lying down Mindfulness Meditation CD’s guide and accompany you in your meditation practice. These are a wonderful tool which I use when doing meditation workshops.

Mindfulness Meditation CD’s:  http://www.mindfulnesstapes.com/

Books: He has written numerous book on mindfulness and wellness:  http://www.mindfulnesscds.com/books.html

The following is from the jacket flap of JKZ’s book Arriving at Your Own Door: 108 Lessons in Mindfulness

“To safeguard what precious sanity is available to us on this planet as human beings, we urgently need to learn to rotate in consciousness to a more complete way of seeing and being. How we carry ourselves, each and every one of us, will determine the direction the world takes because, in a very real way, we are the world we inhabit. What we call “the world” is continually being shaped by our participation in everything around us and within us through mindfulness. This is the great work of awareness. Welcome to its threshold — and to the good fortune of arriving at your own door!”

John Ruskan is a leading authority in the development and practice of Emotional Clearing. Ruskan’s work (and mine as well) is based upon present moment awareness – just being with what is, in this moment, feelings and all. Frankly, I think it is one thing we are all here to learn.

John Ruskan’s free  40 min  relaxation CD:

http://www.emclear.com/audio/EC1DeepRelaxation.mp3

Links to Free Articles by John Ruskan on the following topics. Click on a link and choose any other feeling / experience in the left hand menu to read his take on it.

Addiction: http://www.emclear.com/Emotions_addiction.html

Anger: http://www.emclear.com/Emotions_anger.html

Anxiety: http://www.emclear.com/Emotions_anxiety.html

Blame: http://www.emclear.com/Emotions_blame.html

Depression: http://www.emclear.com/Emotions_depression.html

Fear:  http://www.emclear.com/Emotions_fear.html

Worry: http://www.emclear.com/Emotions_worry.html

Emotional Clearing CD’s and downloaded materials $99.00 find in: 

http://emclear.com/training.html

Be sure to also read this material on line – it is very informative.

John’s Book Emotional Clearing is wonderful. I have used it as a text book for Inner Listening Classes

Unconditional love is the greatest gift we can give ourselves and the world.

None of us can expect the world to be a better, more loving place if we do not do the necessary inner healing work to be more loving ourselves. After all, what is outside of us is a mirror of what is inside. Like it or not, the outer world is a mirror of our capacity to love and how much we are motivated by fear.  Just trying to change the fearful behavior of others will not change us or the world for the better.

Fear can become habitual and we don’t even realize it (so be kind to yourself!)

We are not built physically, emotionally or spiritually to run on fear. When we fear, our fight or flights kick in and our digestive system goes on hold causing physical digestive problems, chronic muscle tightness, heart problems, emotional problems, a lack of presence, and reactive, fear based thinking. Fear can cause us to repress our deeper feelings, leading to emotional outbursts, anger, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and general unhappiness. We are not able to be our true, loving selves and honor our soul path when we live in fear.

The energy of fear is sharp, chaotic and fast moving. It is tightly compacted and causes us to become not only emotionally disconnected but physically dysfunctional as the cells in our body are energetically weakened, rather than vibrant.

In contrast, love is a peaceful, calm, loose, flowing, reassuring energy. It connects us to our soul and to the Mystery We Call God, Goddess, Divine Spirit, All That Is….. Love is about being present and not reactive. Love is wise beyond thoughts and love connects us to all life, because love is the core of all life.

It is too much to assume that we can be loving at all times. But we can learn to notice when fear kicks in and be present enough with ourselves to do our healing work, compassionately moving ourselves out of a state of fear and into a state of love and grace.

May the energy of love surround you, fill you and bless you with compassion, serenity and peace.

10. Say to your angels and to God, “Here I am. Please do whatever healing work I need” and release yourself into their loving care.

11. Breathe deeply from your belly during this time. That is your only job. Let your mind relax and focus on your breathing.

12. Let yourself go into a deeper state, perhaps sleep or just before sleep. Trust that they are working energetically with you to release what needs to be released, filling you with love and bring you into healing balance.

13.  When this work feels completed, give thanks, take time to reflect and journal and honor your experience, breathe, than go about your day/night.

(An Inner Listening session may make this exercise easier to do.)