God whispered....and she listened...

Sometimes God's voice is very loud....like the lightening...then it is quiet...sometimes even silent. But when He speaks...he is love...and then He cradles me...sometimes He whispers...and I listen.

We all have moments of doubt, but if we are silent in our thoughts, and allow HIm in...his whispers are heard...and He cradles us....in love, and knowledge. In that love, we are never quite alone.

I have thought at times I was terribly alone...then He comes...to visit...just a soft inner voice, to let me know...even in the dark...I am not alone.

So when I think I have been forgotten, He comes...and He reminds me that I am just one of His many creations...and so...I remember to go silent...and listen...to the His whispers...The Father in Heaven...my hope...my love...and he cradles me...

He cradles us all...

Love, the Lass



"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Hoping that all those I love...have found it...and will enter the narrow gate.

I hate goodbyes...yet this one is the way....to say it

If you must say goodbye...say it this way.

Love,
The Lass

The Trojan Horse...in American Eduation

Dr. Samuel Blumenfield is an brilliant man. I read his book...and found his position on both the history and the direction of our schools to be compelling and relevant.

So every once in a while I look for his work...and I found it today.

Pearls of wisdom from a man you all should read. You may disagree, or it may make you think...which would be wonderful.

The latest from Sam:

Illiterate for life
Posted: April 04, 2008
1:00 am Eastern

© 2008

Jay Leno, in his amusing Jay Walking adventures, interviews young Americans whose appalling ignorance of history, geography and other areas of basic knowledge has become the subject of great hilarity. Many of them couldn't tell you who was buried in Grant's tomb.

But now we learn from across the pond that young Brits have been so dumbed-down that 23 percent of them believe that Winston Churchill was a mythical figure, and 58 percent believe that Sherlock Holmes was a real person.

According to the Boston Herald (Feb. 6, 2008), 77 percent of these clucks readily admit that they don't read history books, and three out of five never watch historical programs on television. Of course, the reason why they don't read history books is because they are functionally illiterate.

In fact, a new book, "The Great Reading Disaster," has just recently been published in England exposing the fact that young Brits are taught to read with the dyslexia-producing Whole Language method, which has also become the present ruin of American education.

(Column continues below)

The authors, Mona McNee and Alice Coleman, write: "Forcing children to read whole words by the look-say method is like telling young piano learners to play a piece in the correct tempo, without being taught the individual notes or the significance of their stave positions. … It is cruel to inflict such frustration on children, and the cruelty is not restricted to childhood. It is even more cruel and humiliating when it leaves people illiterate for life."

Even Margaret Thatcher couldn't get the educators to change their ways, though she appointed a Committee of Inquiry to investigate the teaching of reading in the schools. Apparently, the progressives were clever enough to pay lip service to phonics, ridiculing their advocates, but meanwhile continuing to support the whole-word method.

We've experienced the same situation here in the U.S. where No Child Left Behind was supposed to change the way reading is taught in American schools. In fact, a special billion-dollar reading initiative was passed by Congress to get phonics back into the schools. But the educators charged the government with a bias in reading instruction, which was discriminatory against whole-language educators. And from what I have been told by teachers in the field, whole language is still the dominant way reading is taught in American schools.

The two British authors write: "It took 40 years to produce the first 6 million adult illiterates but only another 10 to increase the total to 9 million. The annual rate has doubled."

And the reason why nothing will change despite the alarm sounded by this new book is because of the tight control the progressives have over the entire British education system. According to the Sunday Telegraph of June 27, 1993, the controlling cabal is called the All Souls Group, which holds its "clandestine thrice-yearly meetings" in an oak-paneled room at Oxford University.

No minutes are kept of the meetings, and no papers or public statements ever emerge. The discussions over evening sherry or dinner are protected by Chatham House Rules, which dictate proceedings are off the record. Chatham House is the British equivalent of our Council on Foreign Relations. Membership is by invitation and the criteria are shrouded in mystery.

Does such a secret education establishment exist in the United States? It does. It is called the Cleveland Conference and was organized in 1915 by professor Charles Judd, head of the University of Chicago School of Education, where William Scott Gray concocted the Dick and Jane look-say, whole-word, reading program. In his book, "Managers of Virtue," David Tyack writes:

[Judd] had a vision that both the structure of the schools and the curriculum needed radical revision but that change would take place "in the haphazard fashion that has characterized our school history unless some group gets together and undertakes, in a cooperative way, to coordinate reforms."

It is easy enough to follow the machinations of the progressives by simply reading the annual reports of the National Society for the Study of Education, founded in 1901. This is the gathering place of the educational elite, and their annual reports can be found in any university library.

For American parents, the only way to free themselves from the stranglehold of the progressive elite is to remove their children from the government schools and either educate them at home or place them in a private school based on traditional principles and teaching methods. As for the Brits, we hope that the new book awakens enough of them to break the hold of the All Souls Group. But don't hold your breath.


Another good read is Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt’s new book, “The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America,”

Now here is your assignment...read these two books and get back with me...


Love,
The Lass

Falun Gong

What is is Falun Gong?



Ok...so what is the Chinese government so afraid of?



What man fears...he destroys.

I need to speak to my young Chinese friend about this...I suppose that we all need to understand what we do not understand...and we need to be aware...so tonight, I am asking my friends...to join me in the question...Tragically, religious persecution still continues...good people cannot be silent.

Love,
The Lass

contemplating a move...

I can't say that I am a great one for moving, having lived in Alaska most of my adult life. However, the idea of staying in a place that doesn't fit me, also is something that I don't want to continue. So...an opportunity has come up...and that got me to act on it. Hopefully I will get the transfer, and move to an area...much more to my liking...

Now, if any of my friends, has any influence...please contact the powers that be. Well it can't hurt...now can it?

Here is to moving...making a move...and moving on...

Oh...and of course there is this...



I won't let the darkness in...what a journey it has been...

Where I'll be tomorrow...I can only guess!!!

Oh what a journey it has been...so join me in my little move...if the fates be kind...and Joe..let's me go...

Love,
The Lass

he's coming back...and I can't wait....who? Well Indie that is who

Yeah...he is coming back...and I can't wait.

Indiana Jones, and I am certainly a fan...but what of the crystal skulls?

Skulls are humanity's foremost symbol of death, and a powerful icon in the visual vocabularies of cultures all over the globe. Thirteen crystal skulls of apparently ancient origin have been found in parts of Mexico, Central America and South America, comprising one of the most fascinating subjects of 20th Century archeology.

These skulls, found near the ancient ruins of Mayan and Aztec civilizations (with some evidence linking the skulls with past civilization in Peru) are a mystery as profound as the Pyramids of Egypt, the Nazca Lines of Peru, or Stonehenge. Some of the skulls are believed to be between 5,000 and 36,000 years old.

Many indigenous people speak of their remarkable magical and healing properties, but nobody really knows where they came from or what they were used for.
Were they left behind after the destruction of a previous world, such as Atlantis? Are they simply ingenious modern fakes or can they really enable us to see deeply into the past and predict the future?

Much research is currently being done on the skulls. However, their origin is still a baffling mystery. They seem to defy logic. Everything that is known about lapidary work indicates that the skulls should have been shattered fractured, or fallen apart when carved.

so...fantasy...fact or mystery. I love a mystery. And the skulls are the stuff of myth. And so, the movie will explore a little of the myth...a little of the history...and we will become crystal skull fanatics...or at least the marketers of the movie would like that.

Me? Well I will of course explore the mystery. And simply enjoy the question...why did human beings decide to make the bloody things? And what is the connection? And what does it really mean? And what are the odds that they are independent acts of random artists? And....? Well you know me...there is an and...and an and...and well, I love a mystery.

oh...and here is Indie...God...I cannot wait for the adventure...are you ready for another ride? I am ...haha



oh...one more thing, from the other side...a little science does change the view...

Contrary to the belief held by many New Age devotees, something that will doubtless be enhanced by this summer's movie, none of the skulls appears to be ancient. Research by Dr Jane Walsh, of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, has shown that not only were modern tools used to shape them, but also many extant specimens can be traced back to the same Victorian fraudster.

Reporting on her 16 years of research in the American journal Archaeology, Walsh notes that “not a single crystal skull in a museum collection comes from a documented excavation, and they have little stylistic or technical relation with any genuine pre-Columbian depictions of skulls, which are an important motif in Mesoamerican iconography”.

The first crystal skulls made their appearance in the early 1860s: they are small, usually not more than one and a half inches high, and the first to be documented seems to be the one in the British Museum, with others appearing in Paris and Mexico City over the next decade or so. This “first generation” of skulls is drilled from top to bottom, and may have been made from genuine pre-Hispanic crystal beads, which are known from archaeological contexts in Mexico; some may have been made as a memento mori, carved for the European market, with no intention to deceive.

You see...sometimes a worm is just a worm. Maybe we just need to believe the worm is a mythical creature...who will wiggle it's way into our collective subconscious... as for me, well I love the myth. But need the science to keep me grounded.

What say you?

Love,
The Lass

the world as I see it...one of my friends is very smart...

But of course I knew that.

The name of my blog..."The world as I see it"...has something to do with a man named Einstein...yes indeed. And one of my wonderful friends called me and said..."you little vixen...haha" Well of course I am a little vixen. And this little vixen wanted to see how long it would take for one of my ne'er do well friends to find the conncetion...only almost a year. You are all forgiven. haha

and here is the rest of the story...


The World as I see it...by Albert Einstein 1931

If you read this essay then you will understand why I chose this...and look close...

"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...

"I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty to me. The trite objects of human efforts -- possessions, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible.

"My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude..."
"My political ideal is democracy. Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and reverence from my fellow-beings, through no fault, and no merit, of my own. The cause of this may well be the desire, unattainable for many, to understand the few ideas to which I have with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle. I am quite aware that for any organization to reach its goals, one man must do the thinking and directing and generally bear the responsibility. But the led must not be coerced, they must be able to choose their leader. In my opinion, an autocratic system of coercion soon degenerates; force attracts men of low morality... The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.

"This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor... This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man... I am satisfied with the mystery of life's eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence -- as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."


I rather think that had Albert and I met in life...we would have sat on a rock on a riverside. Shared our thoughts...and watched the river flow by...because you know, Albert knew what I know. Time is a relative thing.

Thanks to my good friend for making the connection...and to that end I leave breadcrumbs for you all to follow. Some do, and some...well you simply must join me and Albert in the mystery. And that my friends, is something that I wanted to share. I will keep sharing...as long as you keep reading.

Love,
The Lass

sensus fidelium

Literally the "sense of the faithful." Just as the Spirit infallibly guides the magisterium so that it doesn't propose teachings that would lead the whole Church into error, so there is a flip side to the infallibility coin: The faithful, as a whole, have an instinct or "sense" about when a teaching is—or is not—in harmony with the true faith.

But that is not the only thing it means...read on.

sensus fidelium

What is this sense we have of faith...where does this instinct come from? I think it comes from a source...not found in the material world...but in the soul...where the spirit of God...speaks...and if the soul is quiet...we listen.

I am concerned about this thing called spirituality. I am concerned because it is now mixed with Pop Culture...icons of the material world are now confused with the Tarot card reading...and tea leaves...are now the staple. Tolle and his ilk have millions jumping off cliffs into the abyss of nothingness...but together they fall...into this grave of minds gone mad on some elixir to fix what ails them.

Why is this happening? Because a generation of narcissists came together at this point in history...and it is their legacy that their children are now experiencing.

You see narcissistic people hold no regard for anything or anyone...but are in constant need of supply...like parasites feeding off of the life of others...never quite satisfied with the meal...hunting for new sources of "me fixes"...they have become legion...and they find each other in the electronic pond of the internet.

And so...slowly I look to Thoreau, and his pond...and I understand why he finally said...enough...enough of humanity...or lack of it.

So Oprah and her kind can have it...this little world of narcissism where a woman's picture will be on the cover...month after month...an image only she can love...with admiring lemmings to kneel at the alter...of a new prophet...for a new age...

But, you see there is one thing these people cannot do...that is, they cannot enter where they are not invited...like little vampires of myth...they stand outside the door waiting for you to invite them in....Don't...let them pass...and remember...they will be back...to feed...and like the vampire of myth...will attempt to "turn" you...so don't invite them in...

Join me instead at another pond...one that is affirming...one that includes sensus fidelium...a sense of the faith...and if you are there...nothing can disturb your peace...and nothing can disturb your faith.

Love,
The Lass

Oh...Zach...you have a voice....and what a voice

you simply must see this...and enjoy it...as it is the language of love...a language that transcends all things...culture, language and borders...Like I say...I love bridges...and Zach..you have built one with love...heart and soul...good to know you are here to inspire us.



And to all the Zach's...you are loved.

Love,
The Lass

Higher....oh yes indeed

I love this tune...and sometimes i just want to go higher...to a place where blind men see...

join me in enjoying the voice...the sound...that takes me higher...




oh yes indeed...

Let's go there...

Love,
The Lass

God..I love this tune.

Analyzing everything....well sometimes a worm is just a worm.

I think I have spent my entire life analyzing things. Part of my work...part of my education...and partly because my mind just works that way. However, it would seem sometimes...a worm is just a worm. And that analyzing the worm...is of no use...and actually gives no information.

So...am I the only one who does this? No??? you say?...read on:

When it comes to differences between men and women, some are, as the French have always known, highly worthy of celebration. Others, however, are more often a source of confusion and downright misunderstanding between the sexes.

Among the latter, one of the most distinctive is invisible to the eye. Men and women differ dramatically in their approach to negative emotions such as sadness. Specifically, men avoid them, and women don't.

And therein lies a problem, says psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D. Unfortunately, women can get stuck in negative emotions, caught in a downward spiral of hopelessness and immobility. And that, she finds, is a major reason women are twice as likely to develop depression as men are.

Over the past decade, Nolen-Hoeksema, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, has found that women are far more inclined to ruminate about the stressors and disappointments they encounter—and get stuck there. They focus on symptoms of distress and the possible causes and consequences of them, repetitively and passively.

They go over and over their negative thoughts and feelings, examining them, questioning them, kneading them like dough. And like dough, their problems swell in size.

At the very least, such rumination makes life harder. And it damages relationships along the way.

"When there is any pause in our daily activities, many of us are flooded with worries, thoughts and emotions that swirl out of control, sucking our emotions and energy down, down, down. We are suffering from an epidemic of overthinking—caught in torrents of negative thoughts and emotions that overwhelm us and interfere with our functioning and well-being."

We are, in short, experiencing an epidemic of morbid meditation, the Michigan psychologist contends in a new book Women Who Think Too Much: How to Break Free of Overthinking and Reclaim Your Life (Henry Holt).

What is it that women ruminate about? The short answer is, almost everything: their appearance, their families, their career, their health. But most of all they ruminate about their relationships and about their body.

They might begin thinking about a recent conflict with a friend: How could she have said that to me? What does she really mean by that? How should I react?

But such questions just lead to more questions, what Nolen-Hoeksema calls "the yeast effect." Negative thoughts might start out about a specific event or situation but they expand and grow, spreading to more situations and leading to big questions about one's life. And—here's the kicker—they get more negative with time.

Of course, some rumination is natural, even necessary. But people who ruminate a lot amplify negative events. They dredge up more negative memories from the past, are more pessimistic about the present and more fatalistic about the future. That tilts them more towards despair, and renders them less likely to take positive action to either dispel the negativity or resolve underlying problems.

Their ruminations often center on relationships, because relationships are very important to women. Yet the social support that ruminators seek from their intimates often eludes them.

For one thing, they wind up torturing those closest to them with their oversize need for reassurance. Plus, the very hopelessness of ruminators makes them unpleasant to be around. So while they seek out others more, they actually get less of what they want from them.


Oops...that sounds familiar...all too familiar. That is why I have decided...if I have a question...then I am going to ask it. I tend to try to figure it out...and thus become one of those women...haha

Now...let's see. I see a worm...the worm looks distinterested in me...Actually I have no use for the worm...other than bait on a hook. The worm doesn't want to be bait...I don't feel like fishing...well...everything is good with the world. The worm is a worm...not a metaphor...and I am just a person...who doesn't want to ruminate...analyze...and waste my time on foolish speculation.

A friend once said..."see what speculation gets you?" To that I would reply..."yep...and I think that is one road...I don't want to travel down."

I should have had a V-8...stop over thinking...a worm is just a worm...



haha

We are a strange breed don't you think???? Well one thing is sure...I won't be thinking about it....Right...haha




Yep...sometimes a worm is just a worm...and not a metaphor for something else...and sometimes...we just think too much...so what to do now?

Go fishing...

Love,
The Lass

sometimes we try...and then we fail

It would seem that in life all we can do is try....and when we fail...well...we dust ourselves off...and get on with it...looking for a new day...a new way...and I believe that is something...of a success...

To all the failures out there...



Take a deep breath...and start all over again.

motivation...tap into their passion

I have been managing people and things for years...and I have often believed that my success came when I tapped into peoples passion. I let them manage themselves. In my current position I have found the greatest satisfaction, not because I earn a lot of money...because I don't. Not because I have a prestigious position, because I don't. But because for the first time in years, I am liberated to allow my management style to flourish...because we are a all striving to make it better. It has been my greatest opportunity...oddly because I have found my strengths...and learned from my weaknesses.

I also have been able to put into practice...Steven Covey's principles...and for his wonderful voice...and thoughts...I am grateful...

So here is a little Covey...



So join me at the community...I am now a member of Steven Covey's community...

Hope to see you there.

Love,
The Lass

running up that hill

Some songs just get to the point like Kate Bush's...running up that hill...

It doesn't hurt me.
You wanna feel how it feels?
You wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me?
You wanna hear about the deal I'm making?
You (be running up that hill)
You and me (be running up that hill)

And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building.
If I only could, oh...

You don't want to hurt me,
But see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware that I'm tearing you asunder.
There is thunder in our hearts, baby.
So much hate for the ones we love?
Tell me, we both matter, don't we?

You, (be running up that hill0
You and me, (be running up that hill)
You and me won't be unhappy.

And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building,
If I only could, oh...

'C'mon, baby, c'mon, c'mon, darling,
Let me steal this moment from you now.
C'mon, angel, c'mon, c'mon, darling,
Let's exchange the experience, oh...'

And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
With no problems..

'If I only could, be running up that hill.'

Bush herself interpreted it as being about two people who are in love and how the power of love is almost too big for them-it leaves them very insecure and in fear of losing each other. She says it's also talking about the fundamental differences between man and woman. However, it is quite easy to see this as a mystical anthem, and it was once described as "a techno-pop hymn". Robert Christgau described the song as in fact being about "a woman's orgasm in 4 minutes 58 seconds", giving yet another twist.

I rather think...Kate's is right...and when I hear the song, I understand it...and yet...Robert's view is a very interesting take...regardless of what you think...this is a great tune...



enjoy...running up that hill

Love,

The lass

life begins with a step...then a leap...then...flight....

Well, I decided...to fly today...and you know...this bird was meant to fly and fly she will...

Oh...and you know time is a relative thing...and it is my time. Why? Because I decided it was....



Indeed...it is my time...and my turn...and you know, every day is a new day!!!

Love,
The Lass

The eyes are the window to the soul...yep...and that is not all...

Mats Larsson has looked at relationship between measures of personality and the 'crypts, pigment dots, and contraction furrows' of the iris.

The idea that personality differences are related to iris characteristics is not new. In 1965, Cattell observed differences in cognitive styles between blue and brown eyed subjects (Cattell, 1965) and since then eye color has been found to be related to a great variety of physiological and behavioral characteristics. Dark eyed people have on average higher scores on extraversion, neuroticism (Gentry et al., 1985), ease of emotional arousal (Markle, 1976) and sociability (Gary and Glover, 1976). However, there are a number of studies that fail to replicate the personality findings, typically because the effect tends to fade after early childhood. For instance, Rubin and Both (1989) found that blue-eyed children in kindergarten and Grade 2 were overrepresented in groups of extremely withdrawn youngsters, whereas no association could be found in Grade 4 or between eye color and extreme sociability in any grade.

According to Larsson's more recent research, a gene called Pax6 is involved in both the development of the eye, and the development of an area of the frontal lobe called the anterior cingulate cortex or ACC.

The ACC is known to be involved in attention and inhibiting automatic responses, and there's plenty of evidence to link it to personality-relevant traits like empathy and self-control.

Larsson found that 'crypts' were significantly associated with five personality characteristics (Feelings, Tender mindedness, Warmth, Trust and Positive Emotions) whereas 'contraction furrows' were associated with Impulsiveness.

I can't say I'm entirely clear what 'crypts' and 'contraction furrows' look like, but there's a description on Wikipedia.

If it comes as a surprise that the same gene could influence both the eye and brain development, it shouldn't... based on what we already know.

The retina, like the brain, is part of the central nervous system, so genes that code for the eye could also be associated with brain development.

Furthermore, the face develops from some of the same cells as the brain during the early stages of embryo growth.

This is why disorders that cause learning disabilities are sometimes associated with distinctive facial features (e.g. Down syndrome, Williams syndrome)

Sometimes we use our eyes to communicate...because we know that fact, other times we hide our eyes...so as not to reveal...so what say you?

well silly...just open your eyes...you'll get it eventually.

Love,
The Lass

Oh...and there is this



There must be something to it...

sometimes you just need a little help from your friends...

because of a couple of friends I was able to traverse a river...and found the other side to provide exactly what I needed to make the rest of my journey...completely and unreservedly optimistic...and full of potential.

Yep...with a little help from my friends...I made it to the other side...maybe it took me a lifetime...but then again...I have a lifetime to live out...with love...hope that some crazy guy...will find this extraordinary gal...and well...that will be the beginning of my story...

Take it away Joe...




Love you all.

The Lass

Cat Stevens...and a little wind

When I was a wee Lass I remember listening to Cat Stevens...and it was his voice...the lyrics...and the images...

The wind...



And this one...Father and Son



and this one...my favorite...for many reasons.



So....in the quiet of this evening...I hear Cat Stevens...and I am reminded of a gentle time...and a time of innocence...hope...and listening to Cat...

Love,
The Lass

you can spend a whole life listening...then trip...

I have learned something today...the art of listening. Well...my friends over a lifetime have known the secret..that I knew as well. I used to listen...and thus found conversation...people would talk...I could draw them out...and just listen.

Now...someone observed I no longer do that...and so, I wonder how does one change...to something they are not? I wonder how a lifetime habit could change...

I think it is because...I looked for conversation...a lifetime of listening meant I no longer had a voice...and when I went to voice...I no longer had conversation.

Friends tell you the truth...and the truth is difficult at times. But, it is also very good to hear.

I think that is answers many questions. It also will help me to be a better friend again. Which is important...in the end.

Light, comes through sometimes. And it helps to heal wounds. Will it change anything? No...but it did answer the question.

Listening again...good to do...and something I am more comfortable with.

Love,
The lass

the fish...a priest...and a battle...

There are many allegories in life. Too many. But...there is one that I found in the Quiet Man to be a great one...The big fish...what you may ask is that? Well...my non fisherman friends...here goes.

You see in this little village of Innisfree, Ireland there was a river running through it...and as all good rivers...it was occupied by salmon...not just any salmon...but a historic salmon...the big guy...the one that the local priest sought out...like all good fisherman. He was a patient priest...wanting very little in this life. Oh...maybe to catch a fine fish is for some a grand thing...for this priest, it was a test of wills...his and the fish.

Now the encounters there were many...and the priest and fish would fight for position. The fish...well lets just say...teased the fisherman...and the fisherman...stayed steady...marshelling all the skill that a good fisherman has.

So...this battle raged. The Priest trying to catch the one that should not get away as some prize...There were other fish of course. Other fish would be easily caught...but not this one. Oh no...this was the fish that legions were made of. This was the fish of a lifetime...and no matter what it took...the priest would have this and only this fish...as a show of his mastery...

Now..the truth is...the priest didn't want to consume the fish...he simply wanted to catch the fish...and in truth the fish didn't want to be caught...but playing with the priest was also sport for a fish that wanted to play...so on one eventful day...these two combat veterans were about to meet their moment...

When the priest was met by Mary Kate...with a confession. Now a priest is always a priest, even when he is fishing...and although Mary Kate was indeed in need of confession...the good Father was in need of catching THE FISH. Then at once...the big one took the bate...and was hooked...God in his heaven had delivered the fish...or was it? Did the fish know that Mary Kate would be the source of its rescue? Was the fish so smart as to know that Mary Kate...would provide the priest with a dillema...a moral dilema...Am I a priest or am I a fisherman...

Well...Mary Kate's confession was alarming...and the fish was fighting...and the Priest well, dividing his time between his Godly chore and the Big Fish...lost it...for the fish was free to swim in the river...once again...illuding the Priest...and the Priest was forced to give Mary Kate a piece of his Godly mind...

So it was that in this little village...a fisherman had a near moment...with a fish who also had its near moment...and that is when I knew...that all good relationships are based not on the catch...but in the constant...wonderful pursuit. And why? Because silly...for them to continue to pursue each other...in the constant chase...that all good relationships are based on...

If you don't agree...just see the movie...and if you still don't agree...I suggest you go fishing.

What a couple these two were...



How I love fishing...and the stories that come from that most noble sport.

Love,
The Lass