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+ updated at 11:53am EST on Thursday, January 17, 2013

 

+

If you could get rid
of yourself just once,
The secret of secrets
Would open to you.
The face of the unknown,
Hidden beyond the universe
Would appear on the
Mirror of your perception.
-- Rumi

 

I found that quote at http://www.allspirit.co.uk/sufism.html

 

+ Urgent > Deadline Monday: Fight the largest coal export terminal in the United States

Dear Friend,

As climate change wreaks havoc across the globe and scientists issue dire warnings of a 9-15 degree increase in temperatures this century, the coal industry wants to ship more than a hundred million tons of dirty coal to Asia each year and make the problem much worse.

Peabody Coal and SSA Marine are moving forward with plans to build the largest coal export terminal in the country in Washington -- the Gateway Pacific Terminal. This is one of the most important fights against coal in the country right now, because if we lose, it will seriously undermine much of the progress we've made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the amount of dirty coal burned in the United States.

The Army Corps of Engineers is accepting public comments on the outrageous Gateway Pacific Terminal proposal to determine which environmental impacts of the project it should study.

Whether or not the Gateway Pacific Terminal is allowed to move forward could be determined by which factors the Corps includes in its impact statement. A full accounting of Gateway Pacific's impact on global greenhouse gas emissions would be devastating for the project, so our public comments are crucial.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/gpt_coal_exports/?r_by=53456-10635-Cesx_Mx&rc=paste2

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+ updated at 4:04pm ESDT on Monday, April 11, 2011

+ The New York Times offers "Religion Does Its Worst" by Roger Cohen. Excerpt: "I see why lots of people turn to religion — fear of death, ordering principle in a mysterious universe, refuge from pain, even revelation. But surely it’s meaningless without mercy and forgiveness, and surely its very antithesis must be hatred and murder. At least that’s how it appears to a nonbeliever." Read it all. 

I put this link on my Facebook nwall with the following thought:

This is a Must Read because the Extremists in both Christianity and Islam must be exposed and challenged and changed. Other Religions too.

+ Must work on tax returns now!

+ Still delighted by the Red Sox victory last night: 4-0 over the Yankees at Fenway with Josh Beckett at the top of his game.  Maybe the Sox are beginning to recover from their terrible start.  They are 2-7 now.

+ TruthOut offers "Why the Right-Wing Bullies Will Hold The Nation Hostage Again and Again" by Robert Reich.

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+ updated at 12:01pm ESDT on Monday, September 20, 2010.

+ There is now a new way of being Good News Ambassadors. The New Church for the New Age.  Something like the old church 4 the old age but really quite different. It is not restricted by worn out dogma and worn out buildings and worn out rituals. It is wide open to finding truth and meaning in all kinds of places.  The Abundancetrek Connections Galore page offers links to all kinds of places where people are discovering and sharing truth and meaning in all kinds of ways. 

+ Americans must make a much better effort to understand and appreciate Muslims.  Here is  a story of an effort being made by an American Muslim to reach out to those who are acting out of ignorance, fear and suspicion.

A PASSAGE FROM THE QU'RAN

O you who have attained to faith!
Stand firmly in your devotion to God,
bearing witness to the truth in complete fairness;
and never let hatred of anyone
lead you to make the mistake of deviating from justice.
Be just: this is the closest to being God-conscious.
And remain conscious of God:
truly, God is well-aware of all that you do.
[Surah al-Ma'idah 5:8]

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+ updated at 5:21pm EST, Tuesday, January 19, 2010, another anniversary of my day of birth.

+ Democracy Now! offers “Haiti is Shaken to the Core”: Amy Goodman Reports from Port-au-Prince.  Excerpt: "And what we did yesterday is what few journalists have done: we left Port-au-Prince, and we went along the coast to Carrefour and to Léogâne. This is the epicenter. This is where the United Nations issued its statement, saying they acknowledge 90 percent of the buildings were down, that thousands of people were dead. But, they said, unless they could ensure security, they would not be providing aid there. Now, this is tremendously frightening. As we passed through the epicenter, a young man hailed down our car, and he said, 'Please, we see some helicopters overhead, but they don’t stop here. We have no aid. We have no food.'"

+ The thaw which began last week continues.  Most of the snow which fell in early January has now disappeared along much of the Erie Canal.

+ Sufi Wisdom:

My Sufi master once said: If you put the world between you and God, the world becomes a spiritual obstacle; if you use the world to remember God, the world becomes your spiritual friend. — Robert Frager in The Wisdom of Islam

"To Practice This Thought: See the world around you as evidence of God's presence." This is The Spiritual Practice of the Day at Spirituality and Practice.