Archive for September, 2010

I’m not an historian. In fact, I’ve never been interested in reading history and yet I do mass quantities of reading whenever I can. So it was very unusual that I recently found myself reading The Real George Washington published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies.

It was even more unusual that I could not put the book down.

It seems the real George Washington was not someone I was ever exposed to throughout my 20 years of public and private education. The real George Washington was a pillar of physical and moral courage since unmatched. It’s almost impossible to briefly reference his remarkable, and sometimes miraculous, accomplishments as they were so numerous. In fact, when the authors tried to do just that after 601 fact-filled pages, it took them 3 pages to just outline them in list form!

However, what has had the most impact upon me, given our current state of political disrepair, was Washington’s disdain and even fear of political parties. The then Federalist and Republican parties were born of the irreconcilable philosophical differences between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Washington did what he could to bring them together but to no avail.

His foresight led him to fear for the destructive influences of political parties and he spoke “in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party… This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension,…is itself a frightful despotism… A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest instead of warming it should consume.”

So here we are now being consumed by the very fire of which he spoke.

While many are hoping the November mid-term elections return control of the House and the Senate to Republican hands so as to place a check upon this President’s agenda, I hold out no such illusion.

It matters not which of these two parties control either the House or the Senate since they have both become so internally corrupted and adversarial for opposition’s sake alone, that the cure is not either but neither.

Perhaps we should be seeking another George Washington… or the equivalent amount of courage and integrity within ourselves… to put forth a solution that does away with both these ailing dinosaurs we call “Republicans” and “Democrats.”

Perhaps it’s time to actually, and finally, live the words:

“One Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Nature provides the best images. Today I was looking at a representation of a molecule and it occurred to me what a wonderful image of humanity one is. Take a look at one, for example.

Noting that I am hardly a scientist, let’s look into the definition and see what wisdom and guidance we can find.

According to Miriam Webster, a molecule is the smallest particle of a substance that retains all the properties of the substance and is composed of two or more atoms. Again, according to Miriam Webster, an atom is the smallest particle of an element that can exist either alone or in combination.

So, looking at the picture, you see many individual atoms which can stand alone… but when connected by strong bonds of electrical energy, make up the building blocks of life. In fact, DNA molecules contain the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. As in the “stuff of life.”

So, if we move from science to spirituality, what does a molecule reveal?

Well, we are like those atoms. Individual, independent and able to exist on our own. However, we are also able to exist in combination, or, spiritually speaking, in co-creation, with another. When we do combine, or co-create, the outcome (molecule) is only as strong as the bonds (trust and compassion) that exist between us.

Don’t you just love Nature?

I have always felt that It holds the answers to all our questions about existence… if only we would open our eyes, minds and above all our hearts.

Want to have a constructive, productive and powerful day?

Check the strength of your bonds with others and, if necessary, shore them up.

While we have known for some time that the country is headed in the wrong direction, we have been unable to uncover what we can do about it. Glenn Beck, long warning of impending difficulties, has most recently suggested prayer in order to enlist Divine intervention and assistance.

While that may seem extreme and a somewhat desperate act unlikely to affect much there is, in fact, historical evidence that to the contrary it is exactly what can save us.

Enter the Book of Esther.

It’s the story of ancient Persia and how one woman’s voice and the prayers of a multitude were all that were needed to rescue a people from the evil intentions of a corrupt and deceitful public official. It was fasting and the prayers of many that summoned Divine intervention and revealed a hidden political agenda for what it was.

The Relevance & The Answer

The people of Pur (hence the holiday of Purim) were facing down entrenched power. So are we. It was fasting and prayer that summoned Divine intervention. It is now our turn. We are at a critical stage in our existence. We are plagued by threats from multiple directions, from without and from within. Our government has become so big as to be unmanageable and our People have come to feel so small as to believe themselves irrelevant.

The Timing

Purim will be observed five months from now on February 28, 2011. Five months may be precious time we cannot afford to waste. However, Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement is observed from sunset Friday, September 17th to sunset Saturday, September 18th…16 days from today. It is a traditional day of fasting and prayer.

I would like to suggest that on Yom Kippur, this most reverent and biblically ordained day, each of us as citizens of this remarkable Nation, regardless of race or religion, fast and pray for the safety of our land and its inhabitants. Further, that we ask for Divine intervention to shine Its Light upon illusion and deceit while guiding us in turning, once and for all, toward the Light of Love and Truth.

Imagine the power and magnitude of that petition!