Thomas Berry - lifting our spirits about the future...

The basic mood of the future might well be one of confidence in the continuing revelation that takes place in and through the Earth. If the dynamics of the Universe from the beginning shaped the course of the heavens, lighted the sun, and formed the Earth, if this same dynamism brought forth the continents and the seas and atmosphere, if it awakened life in the primordial cell and then brought into being the unnumbered variety of living beings, and finally brought us into being and guided us safely through the turbulent centuries, there is reason to believe that this same guiding process is precisely what has awakened in us our present understanding of ourselves and our relation to this stupendous process. Sensitized to such guidance from the very structure and functioning of the Universe, we can have confidence in the future that awaits the human venture.

-- "The New Story" The Dream of the Earth

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BEAUTIFUL: Bob Barker donates $1M for animal rights professor

Bob Barker donates $1M for animal rights professor
Link to full article below

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Former television game show host Bob Barker, who ended episodes of "The Price is Right" by asking viewers to spay and neuter their pets, donated $1 million to Drury University to establish a professorship on animal rights that he hopes will lead to a full undergraduate degree program.

Barker, who graduated from the small liberal arts school in 1947 with a degree in economics, said Tuesday that he hopes the school will eventually be able to offer a program of studies that would train them to be animal rights activists and to respect animals.

"I think some students would become full-fledged animal rights activists," Barker said. "Some will become lawyers and doctors who will always be interested in animal rights. And some will have more respect for animals."

The new professorship went to Patricia McEachern, a professor of French who will work full time to develop what Barker and McEachern said would be the nation's first undergraduate program in animal rights.

To read the full article: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iCkUOXDco08DHyq7jjGKdRg3x7rwD9BK6E8O0

Star Speaks About Mauna Kea's Sacredness

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Greatest Gift that you can Give those you Love

© 2009 Peace Through Kindness * Text by Lalita
Send this as an ecard: http://www.ourbelovedearth.com/…s/ily.html

PLEASE CHOOSE THIS FOR YOURSELF

AS THE PRESENT CARETAKERS OF THIS SANCTUARY, WE DESIRE TO KEEP THE LARGER PARCELS OF THE PROPERTY UNDEVELOPED. IT IS A REFUGE FOR WILDLIFE, AND FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTY OF A PRISTINE WILDERNESS, WHERE ONE CAN TRULY COMMUNE WITH GOD THROUGH NATURE.
-Norman Paulsen, p.473, The Christ Consciousness

PLEASE CHOOSE TO FILL YOUR YARD WITH LIFE - ORGANIC (NO CHEMICALS, EVER) - TREES, PLANTS, SHRUBS, FLOWERS THAT DRAW IN BEES & BUTTERFLIES, FRUITS, VEGETABLES, NUTS, SEEDS.
FEED THE BIRDS ORGANIC BIRDSEED -
PUT IN A BAT HOUSE -
RAISE HONEYBEES -
MAKE YOUR YARD A SANCTUARY FOR LIFE, NOT A CHEMICAL- AND MOWER-MAINTAINED STRIPPED-SOIL WASTELAND THAT WILL NOT BEAR LIFE WITHOUT THE USE OF CHEMICAL ADDITIVES.
THE ANIMALS ARE DYING AND THEY NEED YOUR HELP.
-Heather Havey

Listen to Love: You deserve happiness and peace.

© 2009 Peace Through Kindness * text by Heather Havey

http://www.peacethroughkindness.com/

This is Beautiful, Touching

Wendell Berry, from "Recollected Essays"

We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong.
We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and to learn what is good for it.
We must learn to cooperate in its processes, and to yield to its limits. But even more important, we must learn to acknowledge that the creation is full of mystery: we will never clearly understand it. We must abandon arrogance and stand in awe.
We must recover the sense of the majesty of the creation, and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it.
Wendell Berry, Recollected Essays

Winter Bird Feeding

Winter Bird Feeding
by Willi Evans Galloway

http://www.organicgardening.com/featureprint/1,7759,s1-65-69-1297,00.html
http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-65-69-1297,00.html?trafficsource=OGNews_2009_01_07

Many gardeners don't put out feeders because they're afraid that birds will rely on them and lose their natural ability to forage. But research from the University of Wisconsin shows that winter-survival rates are higher when birds have both feeder and native food options and that birds retain the ability to forage if feeders are removed. "Feeders reduce the amount of time it takes to find food," says Stephen Kress, an ornithologist and coauthor of the Audubon North American Birdfeeder Guide. "And the average meal size is certainly larger than tiny weed seeds or wintering insects dug out of tree bark." Feeders are especially important in late winter, when other food is in short supply, and during periods of heavy snow or extreme cold.

Feeders can harbor disease, and improper placement may expose birds to predators and other hazards. Prevent these drawbacks by choosing plastic, steel, or glass feeders, which are easy to clean and don't harbor molds and fungus. Clean your feeders at least twice a year by soaking them in a 10 percent bleach solution for three minutes, scrubbing them with a brush, and rinsing with clean water. Keep seed in dry, sealed containers and put out only enough seed to last several hours (or days, if dry weather is expected).

Protect birds from crashing into windows by stretching netting several inches in front of the glass. Also, wild birds aren't as skilled at evading cats as Tweety Bird is, so placing feeders near shelter (hedges, trees, and gardens) is especially important. Cats kill several hundred million (yep, you read that correctly) birds each year. Properly placed bird feeders may deter predation, since they allow birds to spend less time feeding and more time looking out for predators, notes Kress.

Native Americans view all life as sacred.

© 2009 Peace Through Kindness * text Lily
May your life be filled with joy...
http://www.peacethroughkindness.com/

Rec Reading: The Longest Struggle (re Animal Rights)

"10 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget" by Heather Havey, M.A.

"10 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget" by Heather Havey, M.A.

1. Grow your own organic food. Seeds are very affordable. Simply takes a bit of prep, water, sunlight, and TLC. The joy of harvesting food that you grew yourself is priceless, will bring you great joy, and can change your life. Watching these plants grow can bring you peace, gratitude, and awe. Feeding yourself, friends, and loved ones will also bring you great joy.

2. Buy organic from local farmers. Food that has been shipped around the country or world is more expensive than food grown in your own town. Also, by supporting local organic farmers, you are supporting a healthier world (no poisons), and you are not supporting the destructive corporatization of the bigger farms. Huge companies typically care about profit and growth; consideration of your health is an afterthought, if a thought at all.

3. Buy seasonal produce. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains that are in season, are cheaper to buy.

4. Drink more water. People spend a LOT of money on sodas, alcohol, coffee, tea, and so on. Drink more water. Also, do not buy bottled water. Drink water purified from your own faucet or well. Also, you can easily grow camomile, peppermint, lavender, and other herbs to make your own tea with.

5. Buy bulk. You will save money by not buying quantities of foods with no need for packaging materials.

6. Prepare your own food rather than eating our or buying prepackaged meals. This always saves money. Also, typically your own homemade meals will be significantly healthier than any canned, jarred, packaged, processed, altered, or restaurant foods (though some restaurants can be very healthy).

7. Be a grazer. Rather than prepare elaborate and expensive meals, eat simply. Make a simple salad. Eat a cucumber, sliced. Eat a piece of fruit. Make a simple fruit salad. Make a simple soup. If you have fruit trees in your yard, you can eat those fruits for a snack. Be a grazer, of natural foods.

8. Eat less: when you feel hungry, sometimes all you need is a big glass of water. Americans eat far too much food!!! Eat smaller quantities of more nutritious food.

9. Organize potluck dinners or picnics with friends...and enjoy them out in nature.

10. If you see a particular sale on an item, eat that for the day or week.

Heather Havey, M.A., is a naturalist, veganic farmer, and author. She teaches yoga/meditation as well as organic farming techniques. She supports the "food not lawns" philosophy of filling your life with natural organic beauty, wildlife, and nature - rather than overly-manicured, poison-filled "lawns." To reach her: www.peacethroughkindness.com

Click here to read more articles by Heather Havey.
Click here to see books published by Heather Havey.

Sacred Life, or Commodity?

"In the most general terms, there are but two world views. One can take the view that life is sacred or that life is a commodity. A sacred view of life gives birth to feelings of duty, protection, and love. It emphasizes values of joy, beauty, happiness, and caring and sets up an internal constraint against the exploitation of other individuals, groups, or species. Our word sacred comes from the Latin sacer from the root seen also in sanus, sane. A sacred view of life, then, is a sane view of life. A commodity view is interested in profit, domination, and control. It seeks to "gain the world" and subjugate it to the will of man (and only "the fittest" men at that). At the core of the commodity view of life are two seeds: individual self-interest economics and man against nature technology. Planet Earth is choking on these seeds.



L.G. Boldt