EVEN THE MAN IN THE MOON IS CRYING

You wanna see something really sad? Just tune in the world newscast this evening. No doubt it will be filled with stories about senseless murders, terrorists, drugs, random shootings and the like. you know I could go on with many more examples but I won't subject you to that. This beautiful planet we call home is just so awesome in every way but many of us as humans, seem to try our best to ruin it for others. When are people going to fully realize that war is not the answer? Hiding our heads in shame is not the answer. Pretending it isn't happening is not the answer. Neither is politics, governments, cults, terrorism, or anything of a negative nature. What it is going to take is for each one of us to start treating others with kindness, respect, and love. And that is just a start. I firmly believe that we must as adults teach our children the way of love and peace for all. If we continue to teach them the ways of racism, greed, and the like we are all doomed. It has to begin with the children. We must teach them as soon as they are old enough to understand. I feel we are born into this world to love each other. It is only when we turn away from love and respect for others to a life lived in greed, hate, and prejudice, that we truly are lost. The children are the ones who will have to shoulder this responsibility to finally put an end to all the craziness we see going on all around us. The way we often treat each other is such a dirty rotten shame that I swear, I think even the man in the moon is crying. My hope is that each of you will do your very best to teach our children the right way to love others. And that will start us all on the road to real freedom. Remember to be good to yourself and even better to others if you possibly can. Right now, if you will, do something nice for someone, and become an instant part of our healing process for the entire planet. I leave all of you with thoughts of love, peace, joy, and oneness!

HELP

For some strange reason every time I open my blog it shows that I am from Winchester Virgina. Before it always showed the correct address of Paducah Ky. Even when I go to other blogs that track the traffic it says visitor from Winchester Va. Have I been taken over from a spammer? Can I chang e it back to the correct form? Can't seem to get blogger to reply to any questions so I am relying on some help from my fellow bloggers. Any help wil be greatly appreciated. THANKS

A FLOCK OF GULLS

My home town is often called River City. Our main street which runs through downtown is Broadway. And the street runs directly to the conjunction of the Ohio and the Tennessee rivers.  Drivers and pedestrians alike come to the river every day. It has a boat ramp for the fishermen and skiers and is also used to host musical events on a stage which is erected close to the rivers bank. This is really a quaint place to either sit or walk by and take in the sights. The river is usually full of barges hauling goods down the river and pleasure boats and fishing boats can be seen often. I take time to either drive down to the river front or take a walk and sit on one of the benches any chance I have. It is a very beautiful place to visit. Over the years I came to find out that in the winter when the weather is cold the riverfront is oft times filled with river gulls. These beautiful birds have learned to come when the weather is cold and they find many people there who take time to scatter bread crumbs for them to feast on. One day as I stopped my truck I noticed all the gulls which were sitting in groups. As soon as I pulled up and stopped they all looked at me as if to say "Well, you got anything for us?" Then as I rolled down my windows they immediately flocked to where I was sitting. They are so accustomed to seeing people feed them from their car that they assumed I was going to do the same. However, since I didn't have any thing to share with them they quickly left my truck and went back to their own groups.  As I continued to watch all at once they all took off and headed for the same direction. I turned and saw that a car had pulled up a bit farther down the drive and had begun to scatter pieces of bread. They quickly became a swarm, fighting at times violently, as they tired to get their share of the food. As the pieces fell to the ground they all pushed shoved and prodded others out of the way. As I watched the man in the car got out and stood on the riverfront. He held out a entire piece of bread and held it aloft to see if any of the gulls would take it directly from his hand. Most would fly almost right up to the bread, hover for a few seconds, and then dart off with no reward. But I finally did see one gull who evidently was a little braver, fly right up to the man's hand and take the piece of bread and flew away. As he left I noticed several of the other gulls who had been afraid to do what the brave gull did. They started chasing him and trying to take the bread away from him. Finally the piece of bread fell from his mouth and landed on the parking lot. As that happened the other gulls quickly started fighting over the crumbs. I then saw the brave one fly back to the gentleman standing and holding another slice of bread. Once again he took it directly from the man's hand and flew away. This time none of the other gulls chased him as he flew away. They were all too busy fighting for the crumbs and did not know he had made off with another hunk of bread. After seeing this I began to think about how the actions of the gulls were so similar to our own human family. We can get so accustomed to looking for our good in one place that we continue to be content instead of looking for new places to find our "bread". And like the gulls who continued to fight with each over the crumbs below, they failed to look further up to find even a greater good. Those gulls who were afraid to take a chance and grab the bread form the man's hand were content to settle for a few crumbs while much bigger things were possible if only they dared to face their fears. The brave gull who got the greatest reward did so by risking his fate to try something different. And those who chased and made him drop the first piece were akin to those humans who instead of flying higher and taking chances seem to be content trying to take from others who are braver. How often do we fight each other for material gain? Why are some of us brave enough to try different avenues to receive our rewards while others had rather try and take it from those who earned it? I wish I knew that answer. I think it is a shame that so many of us are willing to settle for crumbs while we could be going after much bigger rewards. And those who prey on those who have succeeded on no better than the gulls scraping just to get by. The gulls know no better but we as humans should know the difference between right and wrong. I wish all of us would at this moment could take a quick lesson from that one brave gull I saw who was not afraid to soar higher and take a chance. This human family should be striving to find ways to help all of us attain peace, love, and abundance. If we continue to keep fighting over the crumbs eventually we will all lose. My hope for you this moment is that you decide to fly a little higher and live a life that is truly rewarding. I bless you all.

THIS WORLD HAS LOST ANOTHER BRIGHT LIGHT

Today I am filled with many emotions. Can one be sad and happy at the same time? I believe so because I'm right there at this moment. One of my older siblings Milton McIntosh made his transition from this earth on January 16th a little after 4 am. This was after succumbing to bone cancer which was diagnosed a little over a year ago. Last night I sat at a funeral home from 1:30pm to about 8:30pm and I watched as the friends and family who loved Milt dearly came to pay their respect. Most of the visitations start at 5pm and last until 8pm. However since my big brother had so many friends the funeral home added those extra 4 hours or so. They knew the crowd would be very large and man, were they ever right! The line of folks never slowed down and at 8pm the director had to have my sister-in-law and my 2 nephews walk down and greet them. Because if they didn't do that it would have made it impossible for everyone to be acknowledged. I was in amazement as the good folks just kept coming. I have no idea how many there were but I do know some of them stood in line for over 2 hours just to share their love with those of us grieving. Today I watched in amazement at some of those same folks coming for the services. The funeral parlor was filled. The procession to the cemetery sure was a long one. My brother Milt's last ride as a human being was a testament to the kind of man he was. He never met a stranger and he was one of the most loving, kind, and caring man I have ever known. In all my lifetime I never had a cross word with him for any reason. That is not to say that we always agreed on everything. But being 13 years younger than Milt I always looked up to him as a brother, a husband, a father, grandfather, and a friend. He was most definitely a good man by anyone's standards. He was a kind, compassionate, giving, and caring man. I can honestly say that this man, my blood brother, was the kind of person this world needs. I sure don't claim to know what happens to any of us when we leave this old world, but I will say this. If there are more places to be, more wisdom to be gleamed, and more love to be shared in some other state of consciousness, then my big brother will be there still sharing his love with all. I sure love you Milt and I will miss you very much but you will always live in my heart the same way you do in many others. Yes, today I am sad but at the same time filled with joy. I truly believe that he is now in a much better place and that his soul is free from that worn out physical body. Soaring freely in a pure state of consciousness where love and joy abound. Rest in peace big brother. I love you, I miss you, and I hope to one day see you again.

HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU KID

One of life's most precious gifts is seeing a child smile. Except in cases where one is born with some kind of mal wiring in the brain, I firmly believe that we are born into this world to love. To give love, to accept love, and to be an embodiment of love. The hate, the prejudice, the greed, etc are all things that children learn from the adults of the world. We will never end the hate and prejudice unless we all begin to teach our children the way of love. When I look into a child's eyes I see a blank canvas just waiting to be colored with love, peace, and oneness. In today's world it is such a shame to watch adults hand down those old worn out beliefs of hate and prejudice. And as a child, the young mind is influenced mostly by the adults around them. As I see it, children are already pure and chaste, that is until they learn by watching and listening to adults and then begin to lose sight of who and what they are. We are all children of the Universe even when we fail to recognize it. Some of the things we do to each other is appalling to say the least. And this world will not change until we begin to teach our children the way of pure unconditional love. In my personal experience, I have noticed that the little children are the ones who are willing to look me in the face while those around me at times just act as if I didn't exist. I am not talking about friends and family per se but those folks I see at the store, at the movies, on the street etc. It's almost as if they are afraid to say hi or to even just smile as I walk by. There are many folks who do look at me and speak if only to say something like "How ya doing today/" But alas, there are still so many who just pass by with no regard to anyone but themselves. I don't mean to be judging or condemning them as I realize that fear of others is running rampant on this planet. And for good reason! We don't even feel safe in our homes at times. We see the stupidity of people gunning down innocent folks at our schools, our shopping malls and wherever else they decide to strike. There are times that I feel like giving up on my dreams of a world filled with love and only love. And at those times when I'm feeling down, I can always count on some child I have never seen nor probably never will again, just smile at me while I'm waiting in line somewhere or walking down the street. And those little faces beaming with unconditional love and acceptance of our Oneness save me from my sadness. I think I know what the wise man meant when he said to be saved we must become a child again. The innocence of children is a great gift that I think we all take for granted .My hope and my prayer is that all of us will begin today to look upon the world and see it as we once did when we were children! Let us begin to put an end to teaching our little ones the way of hate and prejudice and instead begin to teach them unconditional love. Our future depends on the children today so let us teach them the best way to live. And that way, as I see it, is the way of giving love, accepting love, and being love. I leave all of you with thoughts of pure love, pure joy, and pure peace. Not for some but for all. Go in love and if you can do something nice for someone wait not another moment to do it! We can change this world so let's begin today!

WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Ok, a brand new year is now upon us. I am excited to think about all the really good things that will happen to me personally, but more importantly the positive changes we will see as a family of human beings. Believe me when I say that I am well aware also of the "bad" stuff that will no doubt occur. As I listen to the world news I am appalled at some of the crazy things people are doing not only to themselves but also to others. As a human family I am ashamed at times to even admit that I am a part of all this. Every so often, (at least several times each day) I have to just stop and take a look at what I am thinking. I am not the smartest person ( by a long shot) but I can see that what I am thinking about is generally what I will see. And it is very hard to see all the good in this world when the press insists of making big news out of any event involving stupid actions people are committing against each other. But I know, that for things to change for the better, we all must begin to change our thinking patterns. If all we think about is war, violence of any kind, inhumanity, hate, prejudice, and on down the line, then I am afraid that we will continue to see the same results. So being the dreamer that I am I will try my very best to keep a close watch on all my thoughts. I know I cannot "save" this world, or anyone in it. But if I manage to see love when the opposite seems to be, if I can think good of all my brothers and sisters, if I can dream of a world where we all walk straight, proud and peaceful, if I can see solutions when others see problems, if I can strive to become the very best human I can possibly be then at least the little corner where I am will be loving, peaceful, and joyous. As I said I know I cannot save the world but I can watch my thoughts and I can treat everyone with love and respect. I know I will need help in doing this and that is why I would like all my friends and fellow bloggers to join me in my quest for helping make this world a little nicer. If you will only take a moment right now to examine the thoughts that you carry around with you and if by chance some of the negative ones are still there, try your best to replace them with positive ones. One man alone in search of enlightenment is great, but when he has company in doing this it becomes awesome! Be good to yourselves and even better to others. We can make a change. Keep the faith and believe! I will leave you now by sharing a couple of quotes. The first comes from Kahlil Gibran who has stated: "Thoughts have a higher dwelling place than the visible world." And finally from the Science of Mind textbook comes this nugget. When we have arrived at sufficient understanding, our thoughts will take us where we wish to be. My love goes out to each of you and all those you care about. Be safe, have fun, watch those thoughts, and above all else enjoy each sacred moment!