Sunday

 “Take time first to be holy. Don’t let a day go by without meditation and prayer for some definite purpose, and not for self, but that self may be the channel of help to someone else. For in helping others is the greater way to help self.” 

(Edgar Cayce reading 3624-1)

“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” ― William Shakespeare

I usually say the aim of life is to be happy. Our existence is based on hope. Our life is rooted in the opportunity to be happy, not necessarily wealthy, but happy within our own minds. If we only indulge in sensory pleasure, we’ll be little different from animals. In fact, we have this marvellous brain and intelligence; we must learn to use it.

Dalai Lama

The intellect is a beautiful servant but a terrible master. Intellect is the power tool of our separateness. The intuitive, compassionate heart is the doorway to our unity.

Walking In The Dharma

Once we have a firm practice of compassion our state of mind becomes stronger which leads to inner peace, giving rise to self-confidence, which reduces fear. This makes for constructive members of the community. Self-centredness on the other hand leads to distance, suspicion, mistrust and loneliness, with unhappiness as the result.

Dalai Lama

“Generosity is the Virtue that Produces Peace.”

~ Buddhism

I am not this hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within.

Rumi

 The pleasure of hating, like a poisonous mineral, eats into the heart of religion, and turns it to rankling spleen and bigotry; it makes patriotism an excuse for carrying fire, pestilence, and famine into other lands: it leaves to virtue nothing but the spirit of censoriousness, and a narrow, jealous, inquisitorial watchfulness over the actions and motives of others. 

William Hazlitt - 1823

• We need to strengthen such inner values as contentment, patience and tolerance, as well as compassion for others. Keeping in mind that it is expressions of affection rather than money and power that attract real friends, compassion is the key to ensuring our own well-being.    
• Dalai Lama  

 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (NIV) ( Matthew 6:34 )

Saturday Surprise

Balloon Festival - Timelapse And here is the Costa Concordia Published on Sep 24, 2013 A time lapse of the Costa Concordia parbuckling, September 16, 2013. A detailed photo tour of the event can be found here ....

Found for Friday by John...

 An old man in Mississippi is sitting on his front porch watching the sun rise. He sees the neighbor's kid walk by carrying something big under his arm.

"Hey boy, whatcha got there?"

"Roll of chicken wire."

“What you gonna do with that?"

"Gonna catch me some chickens."

"You damn fool! You can't catch chickens with chicken wire!"

The boy just laughs and keeps walking. That evening at sunset, the boy comes walking by, dragging behind him the chicken wire with about 30 chickens caught in it.

 The next morning, the old man is out watching the sun rise and he sees the boy walk by carrying something in his hand.

"Hey boy, whatcha got there?"

"Roll of duct tape."

"What you gonna do with that?"

"Gonna catch me some ducks." "

 You damn fool! You can't catch ducks with duct tape!"
The boy just laughs and keeps walking.That night around sunset the boy walks by, trailing behind him the unrolled roll of duct tape with about 35 ducks caught in it.

 The next morning, the old man sees the boy walking by carrying what looks like a long reed with something fuzzy on the end.

''Hey boy, whatcha got there?"

"It's a pussy willow."

"Wait up kid...I'll get my hat."

 DOLLY PARTON AND ELIZABETH II AT THE PEARLY GATES

It happens that Dolly Parton and Queen Elizabeth die on the same evening and meet each other at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter regrets to inform them that he has almost reached his daily quota, and in fact there is only room to let one of the two in.

 Dolly thinks a minute, unbuttons her blouse, sheds her brassiere, and says to Peter, "These breasts are God's most perfect creation of human breasts in the entire history of the world. If I get in, He can look at them every day and see that it is indeed Very Good."

 The Queen says nothing, but instead reaches into her omnipresent pocketbook, takes out a small bottle of mouthwash, rinses her mouth, spits it into the commode, pulls the handle, and smiles at the saint.

Peter sadly turns to Dolly and says, "I'm most truly sorry, Miss Parton, but I have to let her in. You must know that a royal flush beats a pair any day."

Book Review

I have a friend who has written an important book.  Bob Davis' book The Mason's Words should be required reading for every Mason. Every Masonic Leader should read it and ponder it and see what it means for our Fraternity.

I have read many Masonic Books but I have never found one which ties the history of the ritual and the story of Freemasonry together so beautifully.

 Freemasonry as we practice it in the United States evolved from the Scottish Freemasons through the English to the Masons of the early Colonial times who brought it with them when they colonized the country.  In England it was William Preston who brought the teachings together unifying them into a ritualistic system of teaching and philosophy.  Davis takes us through these steps so that we can see how the ritual was developed.  He then shows how it spread in the United States through the Provincial Grand Lodge System and how, after the Revolutionary War, it was reconstituted as a Grand Lodge System with each state developing its own methods and rituals.

Codified in our country by Thomas Smith Webb, the "Father" of Freemasonry in this country; Webb and those he taught were responsible for spreading a uniform teaching. Men taught by Webb who were in turn teachers of "roving Ritualists" who travelled the country spreading the Mason's Words. It was unified to a degree by the Baltimore Convention into the fraternal system as we practice it today.

Davis, who is the Registrar of the Guthrie Oklahoma Scottish Rite is a 33rd degree mason who holds the rank of Grand Cross. His Masonic experience places him in the highest ranks of our fraternity and yet, when you meet him you see a true exemplar of the fraternity that "meets upon the level."  He has a deep and abiding love for our society and understands it purpose for existing in the modern world. He sees the problems which it faces and the discerning reader will be able to see pathways which need to be taken to strengthen and improve our fraternity.

Davis has spoken of Freemasonry as "a rite of manhood that connects young males to the collective masculine soul; to the spirit of being a man; and to the community of men. It is the traditional organizational venue for male role modeling and male to male communication."  (Understanding Manhood in America: Freemasonry's Enduring Path to the Mature Masculine - Robert G. Davis).

He suggests that our system has become "one-dimensional" with too much emphasis on memorizing words and says that "Perhaps it is time to recreate in our own time the indispensable intellectual component of Masonic dialogue which enabled the completion of Masonic philosophy by the end of the eighteenth century."

There is much in this book to be learned about our history and our ritual and our direction for the future.  Robert Davis has written an important Masonic Book which will open pathways of learning and thought for anyone interested in Freemasonry.  I salute him with a Toast!

Just Because

They are wonderful.  A "superpod" of dolphins in the Straits of Georgia.  Do watch Fullscreen for the best effect. And here is a superpod of skateboarders which is not being stopped by the Keystone Kops. 

I got another chair yesterday.  Brandon went down to Des Moines and picked it up for me.  The technician from Redekers came out and looked at the Lazy-boy and took it in to be fixed.  I will now have two recliners.  I think I will put the old one in the bedroom with a lamp so I can sit in there and read and not be bothered by TV, etc.  Then if I get my office cleaned up I will be in good shape.  I was amazed at the piles of "stuff" around my chair.  That is going to change...(yeah right).  Actually as I get rid of some things to do it will be easier.

I was elected as Vice President of the Eastern Star Home Board so that is one more year after this to serve on the Board.  I have been on it for 8 years now.  You can only serve for 10 years.  I have enjoyed it very much but sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't be IN the home rather than ON the Home Board.  (Grin) -

I see where Chris Christie was bullying a teacher the other day.

You can read the article about the incident here.

Christie is a bully and bullies need to be called out. He may have presented an affable character when he appeared on Letterman but he is certainly not that way on a regular basis. This type of behavior is more characteristic of him than any other and no matter how sympathetic I may be about his weight problems when you attack a teacher and call them "you people" you have lost me.  I hope this picture does lose him the presidential nomination as suggested by AmericaBlog.  

Just to close on a more positive note this is the view from my Aunt's Cabin on Leech Lake. One of my favorite places in the world.

And this is her birthday gift from her son and daughter-in-law. 

Thursday will be her 91st anniversary of her birth.  I am so very grateful to have had her as an Aunt and a friend.

Around Ames

I took a drive around town on Sunday and took some pictures of the trees.  They are probably past their prime but still worth a look,