In these financially difficult times, when everyone seems to be worried about making ends meet,  I found this blog by Catherine Austin Fitts pertinent.  Solari Blog

The bottom line is that if Americans really knew the Bible, and, God forbid, put its teachings into practice, both conservatives and liberals might be unsettled.

Call it “No Believer Left Behind.”

David Gibson has written a very insightful article regarding the contemporary American fashion of quoting Bible verses to back up one’s argument, while avoiding passages and contexts that go against or modify that argument.  It’s well worth your time, for the Bible is too often turned into a weapon rather than a plowshare.  Politics Daily

Kaiser Permanente, Inc.

is offering free Body, Mind, Spirit widgets (little computer-operated games that help us stay healthy).  Go here to download them and keep updated on their latest widgets.  The widget to help keep the brain active and the Yoga

widget are very helpful.

http://www.kpwidgets.org/index.html

My little grey Beardie/Beardie mix, Flopsy, one of many rescue animals that have been part of my life.

The easiest, sweetest dog I’ve ever had.

Wisdom for Our Days

In these very troubled times, we must be centered.

We center by integrating the various aspects of our thoughts, beliefs, and actions.

We avoid extremes. This process is facilitated by meditation, prayer, and reading insightful books. All of us need good guides—reliable therapists, coaches, teachers, healers, ministers, and friends.

We must own our Shadows so they do not own us. We can, and m ust, remain positive without being unrealistic about the evils that beset

us on every side.

Times of trouble test us. We rise to the occasion and become better people because we pass the tests that life presents to us.

We move toward wholeness. If we consistently avoid, and fail, our tests, we degenerate into something less than human, deformed, less than what we have been intended to be.

I offer various services—some of which may not seem closely related at first.

Yet on deeper inspection we realize they are. They are part of a life and intelligence that is creative and expansive, valuing good relationships among all things—human, animal, plant. My teaching background is related to my writing, just as my counseling and coaching are part of who I am and what I hold important. My life, like my work, is holistic.

I garden because gardening teaches us vital lessons about our existence.

We do not reach wholeness alone. We reach it in partnership with fellow journeyers, through sustained and cooperative efforts even with species that do not at first seem very sympathetic.