L'aura del Campo

What faith are you compatible with? Memories. Cherokee

L'aura del campo

DEATH of WINTER: 4 'Ala (5 March) 65º and sunny.

'é a lua, é a lua, na quintana dos mortos'
♣ Federico García Lorca ♣

What faith are you compatible with?

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html?WT.mc_id=NL44

My results:

1. Reform Judaism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (97%)
3. Liberal Quakers (93%)
4. Neo-Pagan (90%)
5. Bahá'í Faith (89%)
6. Mahayana Buddhism (86%)
7. New Age (85%)
8. Sikhism (84%)
9. Hinduism (77%)
10. New Thought (76%)
11. Taoism (74%)
12. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (73%)
13. Scientology (71%)
14. Orthodox Judaism (69%)
15. Jainism (68%)
16. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (61%)
17. Theravada Buddhism (61%)
18. Islam (60%)
19. Orthodox Quaker (60%)
20. Secular Humanism (52%)
21. Seventh Day Adventist (32%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (31%)
23. Nontheist (29%)
24. Eastern Orthodox (25%)
25. Roman Catholic (25%)
26. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (19%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (3%)

Now, personally, I was a tad confused by some of the questions. Most are there to tease out the my-we-are-so-different sects of Christianity (as if that were the most important aspect of religion). But ... the results were sufficiently amusing.

People ask me all the time if I am Jewish. I'm not. My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents weren't neither. But there sits Reform Judaism on top! I have to tell Hilda. She'll give out a hoot.

I've met many Sikhs, Pagans, Quakers, Unitarians and Buddhists that I got along with quite well. I just thought everyone I met was a 'nice' person and since I feel that common spirituality is more important than dogmatic religious differences that was no surprise. Now I find out it may be that we share much more in common as well.

As a Bahá'í, some of the questions were simply non-applicable or of little meaning. The language was tilted towards Christian-speak.

Now at the bottom: Conservative Catholics have probably given me the most grief over the years simply because I grew up in a Catholic town (75%). There were more to be friend or foe! Fortunately, I've had the pleasure of meeting many nuns, priests and others who were exemplary human beings. Some were at the forefront of inter-religious understanding where I lived.

The conservative Protestant Christians I fear the most. They seem to be the largest group least tolerant of other spiritual leanings and religious moralities, seeking to impose their personal concept of "kingdom come" on others. Fortunately, this attitude does not apply to all. There are many here at WDC who I call friend.

In general with Christians, I 'get' the LOVE part, but the hair-splitting dogma sets my head spinning and the self-righteous pomposity and self-imposed ignorance of some folks annoys me to no end.

Postcard from the Black Hole

O Holy Vortex,

Once, past the edge of seeming nothingness, I felt your pull. Lost, no light guided my way along those paths of loneliness. Mere lines of energy at the corners of perception tugged my strings and I responded to the memory of melodies once known before I was banished to that darksome place.

Now, having passed through the echoes of stars, like a comet drawn to the sun, I blaze on the edge of being and non-being. On the other side of a blink, you draw me nigh, O Vortex, and on the cusp of the Absolute, I wait for your wink.

[163.592]

Prayer

If you are feeling down this is a really nice prayer:

O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life.

O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.

~ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

The link: http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/c/BP/bp-127.html

Me, my friends and my family

Spoke to my mother about music. She reminesced about the tunes 'Love's Own Sweet Song' and 'Springtime in the Rockies'.

She told me of the bells of Saint Boniface and the school bell when she was in grade school. Mentioned how she had walked her brother Bobby to his first class but he ran off and wouldn't go into the building! That would have to be around 1930.

She remembered Old Man Kelley, the janitor, who was replaced by his son when he died. She lamented about how the old school complete with its grand staircase would've been beautiful if preserved.

Spoke to Liz when she came down from the bells about her flourish at the end of the alma-mater 'Crimson and Blue'. I noticed! She also played Pachelbel's 'Canon in D', except on the bells it is 'Canon in B'. It doesn't work well on the bells I told her. Purcell's 'Trumpet Tune' does though.

In speaking with folks back East this past week I noticed something peculiar. They speak with an accent. Guess I'm really getting used to Kansas! Still wish I were in Oklahoma.

IMAGES and RAMBLINGS

Downtown and along Mississippi:

A breeze cutting through the warmth, the scuttering of a red plastic cup, the silence of a brown Bud Light bottle, the snap-crackle of a car easing out of its parking spot, the music of youth, the bird chirps of hope; tips of the tulips, the spreading sheath of the hyacinth exposing tight buds, yellow crocuses in bloom, yellow spears of the daffodils turning green.

At this time of year the first crocuses are star-like snow-crocuses that hug the ground. The big globular ones, especially the variegated lavender and white, come later. Soon, I hope.

WATT'S GNU!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070304/ts_alt_afp/usnativevotecherokee_07030412373...

It is sad that the Cherokee Nation isn't strong enough to include the descendants of former slaves among its nation. This is even sadder since many have Cherokee blood. And ironic since the 'holy' Dawes Rolls may have included people who weren't even Cherokee by blood. But their offspring are part of the nation.

Is racism a factor here? I think so. Been a problem for years. The Cherokee I know are very dear people, but they have blind spots too.

There is one very frightening danger to this vote. It is based on the premise that a majority of people can disenfranchise a minority population. The Freedmen have been a part of the Cherokee for as long as their contact with Europeans. To me, it smacks of a violation of international law. Similar to an expulsion of Jews or Gypsies (Romany) for example.

And could this possibly have something to do about greed? Yep. Possibly. At one time it may have been shameful to admit to Native American blood; although, the Cherokee probably suffer less than most in this regard. Still, add money and benefits and every little piggy wants their place at the trough.

The weather is warming. Still cold back East. 21º at my mom's, with 25 mph winds it feels like 4º. They'll have single digits tonight.

READING

Finished Ruth Rendell's A Judgement in Stone; started a romance by Betty Neels, The End of the Rainbow.

There is a poetry reading today for Tod Marshall who wrote Dare Say among other works. Must go.

BLOGVILLE

Have questions about dialysis? Go to Carolina Blue 's entry "Invalid Entry" .

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 Kåre Enga
~ until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
And I let the fish go. ~ Elizabeth Bishop, The Fish