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 |   Drop by drop the snow pack dies, watering the arid lands below. |
    Other Blogs and Journals containing the continuing writing adventures of Prosperous Snow celebrating   "The Snowflake Chronicles"  "More Snow Melt" "Writing in Snow" "Welcome to My Life" "Memories of Snow" "Dreams of Snow " Poet999's Thoughts about Writing and Other Stuff http://poet999writingthoughts.blogspot.com/ Poet999 - A Butterfly Emerges From Her Cocoon http://poet999.blogspot.com/ |
| 5 Nur 164 B.E. – Saturday, June 09, 2007 A friend sent the following item to me, I’m not sure how clever, resourceful, original, inventive, creative, nifty, inspired, or imaginative it is, but it did make me smile. The first word that came to mind when reading it was ingenious. AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES LOL 1. If you are choking on an ice cube simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat. Presto! The blockage will instantly remove itself. 2. Avoid cutting yourself slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold while you chop. 3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink. 4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer. 5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button. 6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you will be afraid to cough. 7. You only need two tools in life - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape. 8. Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know them. Daily Thought: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS |
| 4 Nur 164 B.E. – Friday, June 08, 2007 I’m not sure that very many people are happy. At least when you see them on the street hey don’t look happy. I’m not talking about smiling because a person can smile and still be unhappy. I’m referring to the look in an individual’s eyes when he or she is having a good time. Many things in this world that can make us unhappy, if we let them, the trick is not to let them. A person has to have faith and a vision of the future, a vision that explains present day events in a way that makes sense. A vision that reveals the future changed because of a fundament change in humanity itself. Humans are dual natured creatures; we have a body, which is part of the material creation and a soul that survives the death and decomposition of the body. The duality or our natures affect our happiness. Animals (cats or dogs) are happy when we feed, shelter and stroke them. Humans don’t work that way though. True food, shelter and a little stroking makes our bodies happy, but it takes more than this to make the entire human (both body and soul) happy. In order to make the entire human being happy, we must consider both the body and the soul. The intriguing thing is, that what makes the body happy doesn’t always make the soul happy. Therefore, balance is required; unfortunately, we don’t always strive for balance. Instead, we strive to develop or pursue the things that make the body happy to the detriment of the soul. We often times don’t consider that at a given point in time, the body will die, but the soul lives on. The soul passes into the next life clothed in the spiritual attributes developed on the material plane. Because of not developing these attributes, we are unhappy. It only takes a few changes in our lives to make us happy and to change our view of the future. If we extend a helping hand to someone, we are developing the spiritual attribute of generosity. While we may not see its effect on our souls in this world, we will see it in the next. Of course, there is much more to happiness then just developing spiritual attributes. It is up to the individual to investigate for him or herself and find out what is necessary for happiness. |
| 3 Nur 164 B.E. – Thursday, June 07, 2007 Today is Thankful Thursday for my yahoo journaling group. My normal response today’s journal prompt is to make an entry in my Gratitude Journal and post it to the group. However, today I want to post something a slightly different. Therefore, despite the fact that I’m using time allotted to something else, I decided to check out the spiritual newsletter and see if I could get some ideas for a poem or something. I don’t have to post the response to the Thankful Thursday prompt until latter to night. I am going to make a gratitude journal entry, it’s just that I don’t think I’m going to post it until Share an Entry Sunday. The news letter topic is Answers to Prayers, which gave some very interesting things to look for when contemplating the answer to a prayer. What is involved in an answer to a prayer? There are physical elements, emotional elements, and comprehension; the three elements that occur when my prayers are answered. The fourth element in receiving answers to prayers is faith. An individual has to believe that an answer is possible, before he or she can see the answer. Now I have my main topic for today’s Thankful Thursday response – Answers to Prayers or perhaps How God Answers My Prayers. I think God answers everyone prayers, it’s just that sometimes we don’t have the faith to see the answer because that answer comes in an unexpected way or a way we don’t want to accept. The newsletter feature several interesting pieces on prayer. One of those was an article about centering prayer: "Centered in His Arms" [ASR] by magdaleine  . This is an interesting concept, one I’m somewhat familiar with, but not from a Christian background. All the prayers reveal by the Bab, Baha’u’llah and written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha center my focus on the presence of God. When praying I’m expected to clear my mind of anything except the presence of God. If a thought comes into my mind that isn’t spiritual or God centered I’m supposed to let it pass through without dwelling or focusing on it. So now I’ve gotten my title and my theme for the Thankful Thursday post, all I have to do is write it.Attitude of Prayer Prayer and supplication are two wings whereby man soars toward the heavenly mansion of the True One. However, verbal repetition of prayer does not suffice. One must live in a perennial attitude of prayer. When man is spiritually free his mind becomes the altar and his heart the sanctuary of prayer. Then the meaning of the verse "He will lift up from before his eyes the veil" will become fulfilled in man. (Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 438) Answered Prayers Introduction to Thankful Thursday Entry I decided to do something a little different for my Thankful Thursday entry. The reason for this is my Mother’s recovery. I took my mother into the ER at about 7:30 PM on March 12, 2007 doubled over in pain. She finally got a bed in the ER at 4:00 AM on March 13. On March 19, her birthday, she had surgery to resection a bawl. Mom finally returned home at the beginning of May. She is using a wheel chair, but is learning to use a walker. Therefore, I decided to write about answer prayers and how it feels when you the prayer is answered. |
| 2 Nur 164 B.E. – Wednesday, June 06, 2007 The Spirit breathing through the Holy Scriptures is food for all who hunger Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 56 There are two types of food to feed the human race. One feeds the body and the other the spirit. Food for the spirit comes from the sacred scriptures of all religions. We consume spiritual food through reading the scriptures and meditating on them. From Writing My Spiritual Journey – 1 Nur 164 B.E. (my off line journal) The Holy Spirit is food for all humanity. It’s through the sacred scriptures of every religion that this food is received. This is why when I read the scripture of other religions I can feel the echoes of the Holy Spirit flowing through the scriptures. This is why when I read the scriptures revealed by The Bab and Baha’u’llah, I can feel the Holy Spirit speaking directly to my soul. I can also feel the presence of the Holy Spirit when I read the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.    Speaking of food, I went to Star Bucks on Monday night. I didn’t intend to go there when we left home, but I had to pay my internet provider for another month and their brick and mortar office is on the way to the Baha’i Center. What with gas prices being what they are, (I paid about 3.11 per gallon Monday morning when I got gas) I make as few extra trips as possible. Anyway, the feast started at 7:30 pm and the provider’s office closes at 6:00 pm. I started out at a little after 5:00 pm, (OK, so I don’t know how to coordinate time slots). I paid my provider and then went to the center. I would have stayed at the center and waited if Mom hadn’t had to go to the bathroom. There is a Star Bucks on Rainbow, we went to the Star Bucks, Mom used the bathroom and then we order one of the cold ice tea drinks. It was regular ice tea with passion something or other; a fruity tea drink. I suspect things are looking up, it’s been over a year since I went to a Star Bucks. The next thing to do is to get a prime rib somewhere or go to the Red Lobster for some fish. Prime Rib Cooked to medium perfection Raw horseradish spread across the top Baked potato with sour cream and butter My cholesterol level goes up at least three points Just thinking about this heavenly treat Why is it That the things I desire most in life I either can’t afford Or it isn’t good for me I suppose if I could afford it everyday I either wouldn’t want it Or I would die of clogged arteries That being the case It’s probably just as well That poverty doesn’t test my will power To resist the thick slab of beef That haunts my dreams Why is it That what I want most Floats just beyond my reach Beckoning to me Teasing me Seducing me Like a lover caressing my mind and soul With sweet nothings Whispered in my ear OK, so maybe it’s time for me to find a way to have a prime rib. When I start writing poems about food, it’s a good sign that I need to go out and get that food item. |
| 1 Nur 164 B.E. – Tuesday, June 05, 2007 Mom and I went to the Feast of Nur last night. We took her wheel chair and she sit through feast in it. Everyone said how great it was to see her. Now you might ask what does this have to do with exercises. A great deal because Mom wants to go to the next Feast walking without the wheel chair or walker. If we do all her exercise the way they are supposed to be done, then I think she will probably go without the wheel chair. Besides walking down the hall three times a day, Mom has three different exercises to do each three times a day. There are the sitting down exercise, the standing up exercises and the laying down exercises. I’m not sure how long each group takes, but I’ll know soon. I’m going to time the exercises and see how long it takes her to do them each day. When we came home from The Feast last night, I got Mom into the house using her walking. Normally when I take her in and out of the house, I do it in the wheel chair, but last night I couldn’t get myself to use the wheel chair to bring her into the house. It was a combination of being just too tired to get it, with her in it, through the door and a feeling I shouldn’t attempt that maneuver as tired as I was. It worked better getting her into the house that way. Today when her therapist came, he put her new shoes on her. He didn’t have any trouble doing it, so I shouldn’t either. She is going to be wearing her shoes everyday, even when we go out to the Doctor or whatever. It’s a lot easier getting her into and out of both the house and car using a walker. I’ll take the wheel chair with us, but as soon as she can use the walker safely, then the wheel chair goes. I’ve got burses all over my arms putting that wheel chair in and taking it out of the trunk. When the people brought it, they told me it would fit in the backseat of the car when folded. I’ve never been able to get it into the backseat, I’ve always had to put it in the trunk. The leg rest that attach to it, I can put in the backseat, but not the wheel chair itself. Last night before coming home, I stopped at Food for Less to get a filter for the air-conditioned and trash bags. I ended up, also, getting a package for frozen leg quarters. They are in the fridge now, I’m going to cut each quarter apart and then put them into baggies. I don’t know how many there were, but they should last us the rest of the week. I’ll sure be glad when Mom can use the walker instead of the wheel chair. It’s difficult and time consuming to take her in anywhere, what with having to put on and take off the leg rests every time we get in or out of the car. Then there is putting the wheel chair in and out of the trunk, besides Mom’s uncomfortable setting in it. The exercises should help to get her using the walker more. In addition, her feet have been swelling and the exercises should help that. Tomorrow I have to take her to Quest Diagnostics; she needs to have another blood test. |
| 17 ‘Azamat 164 B.E. – Saturday, June 2, 2007 Washing dishes has never been one of my favorite chores, all though I was beginning to rethink this. Lately laundry has become the big issue. I was beginning to think that I’d much rather do dishes than laundry. Laundry has become a never-ending nightmare, until now. The garbage disposal doesn’t work. I turned in a work order and plumber replaced the garbage disposal. The problem is it still doesn’t work. Last week I had to bail out the dishwasher, the reason is the garbage disposal didn’t work. Since the garbage disposal still doesn’t work and I have no desire to bail out the dishwasher again, I’m doing dishes the old fashion way. The only problem here is that I don’t have a dish pan. So I’m using a large, actually an extra-large Tupperware container. The idea behind this is so I can empty the dishwater down the toilet stool instead of the sink  . I’m not taking any chance of getting the kitchen sink backed up before I get the garbage disposal fixed. The problem with the disposal is no power. A switch under the sink needs fixing, so I have to wait until a work order is accepted and they send an electrician. I tried turning in a work order, but it wasn’t accepted because of the recent work. So now I have to wait until Monday to call and find out if they are going to fix the switch or not.I can’t wait for Monday to do the dishes.  Every plate, microwave container, coffee cup and piece of silver (I don’t know why knives, forks and spoons are called silver ware or piece of silver, mine certainly are not made of silver) is dirty. I can’t fix another meal, I can’t have a bowl of ice cream, I can’t have a cup of coffee until I do the dishes. And even worse, the Tupperware glass (it’s plastic not glass, but it’s called a glass – go figure) I’m drinking out of I’ve been drinking out of for the past week.Then there is the problem of dishtowels  , I don’t have a dishtowel in the house. Let’s face it, I usually use a dishwasher and I don’t need dishtowels to dry the dishes. So how do I handle this situation, I put the plastic thingy to hold dishes in the sink, rinse the dishes and let them air dry, which extends the time it takes to do the dishes, but it gives me time to do other things. OK, so I’m completely unprepared to do dishes by hand.At sixty years of age, I have decided that there are certain technological items I can’t live without (except in an emergency) that is a garbage disposal, dishwasher, cloths washer, cloths dryer, a computer and an indoor working toilet (I’ll explain this in a later entry or maybe I all ready mentioned it in my other blog, in which case I’ll go into details in a later entry). I suppose I should go and check the dishes drying in the sink. I’ve still got a lot to do, although now I can at least have a bowl of ice cream and a cup of coffee. I’ve got to wash one of the microwave casseroles because tomorrow I’m going to fix a canned pork and macaroni casserole. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that there is anything you can’t cook in a microwave. Because it isn’t true, you can cook anything including a Thanksgiving Turkey. True if it is a large turkey you have to cut it into parts before cooking it, but you can cook it (browning it is a completely different subject and by the way unnecessary). |
| 15 ‘Azamat 164 B.E. – Thursday, May 31, 2007 Clonnie stood in the shadow of the giant trees watching as object descended into the clearing. She had never seen anything like it before. It was sphere shaped before landing in the clearing, but once it touched down then its shape transformed. On the ground, it took on the form of a 5-foot high, 6-foot square golden alter. She studied the object as symbols flowed across its smooth surface. Finally, the symbols stopped flowing. The ones on the surface Clonnie watched merged into a bird with fiery ruby wings and a sapphire beak. Music, like nothing Clonnie had ever heard, emanated from the object. It beckoned her, called her out of the forest. Stepping into the clearing, Clonnie’s pale lavender skin glistened in the noonday sun. Her limbs moved in rhythm with the music. Her gold flaked eyes stared straight ahead, entranced by the visions in her mind. Stopping beside the object, she reached out her hand and touched it. An electric shock flowed through her body, causing her 7-foot tall body to fall face down across the object. The day passed slowly, as she lay unconscious dreaming of walking naked in the cold hydrogen of interstellar space. While she lay, sensors within the object examined her. Took samples of her DNA, measured her brain waves, and other physical attributes. Then, as the sun set in the west, the object, drew Clonnie into itself and rose from the ground, taking on the shape of a sphere again left the planet. How long Clonnie slept in the object before it reached the next star system is unknown. The sphere ship landed in a forest clearing of the fourth planet. Here the ship went through the same actions it had taken on Clonnie’s planet, but this time, instead of a woman coming out of the forest, a naked man, slightly taller then Clonnie and, with pale emerald skin came out of the forest. The ship examined the man in the same way it did Clonnie and at sunset drew him into itself. Again, the ship left the solar system, but instead of going to the next star system the ship left the galaxy. It moved through normal space until the edge of a spiral arm of the next galaxy came into view. On the rim of this spiral arm hung a yellow star with one planet and the debris of several others orbiting it. Descending into the bombed out ruins of a city, the ship landed in the center of the only spot of green on planet. The ship landed on a hill in the center of a walled garden. Dissolving into the soil, the ship left its cargo lying naked under the noonday sun. Clonnie was the first to awake. Sitting up she looked around her and then stroked the shoulder of the man still sleeping on the ground. He awoke at her touch and sit up. Getting up, Clonnie motioned to him to rise off the ground. Then taking his hand, she led him down the hill, toward a grove of fruit trees. Once inside the grove of trees, Clonnie put her arms around him and give him a long passionate kiss. “Clonnie,” she said pointing to herself before lying on the ground. “Lhon,” he replied, as he lay down beside her and took her into his arms, returning the kiss she had given him earlier. |
| 14 ‘Azamat 164 B.E. – Wednesday, May 30, 2007 between 4:30 am and 7:30 am PDT I’ve been sleeping on the love seat since Mom came home. It’s too short for me and my knee, specifically my right knee, gives me problems. Last night I decided that the couch may be better, since it is bigger and I can stretch out on it. I was wrong! The couch is too soft and my back hurts when I sleep on it, so it’s back to the love seat tonight. I’m a bit depressed this morning. I can’t seem to see the light for the darkness. I don’t know if I’m depressed because of sleeping on the couch and my back hurting or because my upgrade is about up and the money to renew it isn’t here yet or what. Actually I could be depressed because I could have a job working the polls next Tuesday if I had someone to sit with Mom. There are many things in my life that I could be depressed about right now. This is getting to be a very negative entry. It could be that I’ve … I’m getting even more depressed composing this entry. So I think I’ll stop now, go say some prayers and make some coffee. I’m in a better mood now. I said my prayer, took my meds (I didn’t take the meds yesterday) and eat breakfast (a donut and coffee). I was going to delete the one of the above paragraphs, but decided against it. One of my writing bad habits is deleting before the final draft. This is a blog entry so, I consider it a first draft. I’ve decided against sleeping on the love seat tonight. I’m going to make my bed and sleep in it for a change. Mom has a crystal bell that she can ring if she needs me during the night. I think both my back and my knee would feel better if I slept on a real mattress and not a couch or love seat. It’s interesting that my back only started bothering me when I slept on the couch. For the past month, I’ve been moving Mom from bed to wheel chair or from bed to potty chair without any problems with my back.    Beloved Beauty of the creator reflected in the perfect mirror; divine attributes expressed through the word made flesh. I was going to title this entry Beloved, but that was as far as I go with the poem last night. Then when I woke up this morning (I went to bed very early yesterday), I couldn’t seem to get any farther, with my back hurting and everything. I’m still not sure where the poem is going. I’m sure it’s not finished yet. My back feels a lot better now, it doesn’t hurt at all at the moment.    My mother is doing better. She’s using her walker a little. It’s easier to move her from her bed to the wheel chair or whatever using the walker. Yesterday, we went out in the car. Mom had to go to Catholic Charities to recertify on the senior program. So we left the house around 8:00 am, I stopped at Walgreens to pick up a bottle of meds. The pharmacy wasn’t opened and it’s supposed to open at 8:00 am. We went to Catholic Charities, she recertified, we got her food allotment. It was about 9:00 when we went back to the pharmacy, which still wasn’t opened. Therefore, I went to the water company to pay the bill. It was about 9:30 when we got back to the pharmacy, which was now open and we got her meds. |
| 12 ‘Azamat 164 B.E. – Monday, May 28, 2007 about 12:09 am PDT Memorial Day is for remembering those who have ascended into the next world. I suppose I could use one of the better know euphuisms that refers to physical death, but they don’t express my own view of what happens to the soul after its separation from the body. Death, whether it occurs in times of war or peace, whether it is at the hands of an enemy or a natural result age and cellular degeneration, is something that all humanity shares and experiences. It is something we fear, dread, or look forward to depending on the spiritual and religious beliefs of the individual. My own view of death, of what happens to the soul after it leaves the body has changed drastically since my childhood. I can remember, as a child, helping my Grandma Newland prepare for the annual Memorial Day visits to the graves sites of relatives scattered across Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. We normally didn’t go as far as Missouri, but Oklahoma and Kansas visits were included in the jaunt every year. At the beginning of May, Grandma would begin making crape paper flowers to put on the graves. All the departed relatives, whether they were veterans or not received crape paper flowers on their graves; at some of the cemeteries we encountered military ceremonies, which included taps and the firing of guns. At others, there were no ceremonies, not that there weren’t any graves belonging to veterans. You always knew which graves belonged to veterans because they had little American flags sticking in the ground or placed on the headstone. I remember Grandpa pointing out the gravesites of the World War I veterans. I met a WWI veteran, Uncle Roy, my Grandfather’s brother. I don’t remember Roy speaking of the war. Although I never asked him about it, I wish I had now. Those trips across Oklahoma and Kansas had a lot to do with my concept of death at the time. Then I accepted, without question, that during the resurrection those bodies would raise from their graves and stand before the Throne of God, waiting the final judgment, waiting to be told whether they were to go to heaven or hell. In my minds eye, I could even see those bodies rising from the grave and walking toward God’s golden throne. However, my view of physical death, of what happens to the soul afterwards has changed, changed drastically. Now I believe that upon separation from the body, the soul will evaluate the choices made during its so journey on the material plane. The soul will know immediately whether it’s in heaven or hell, but these are states of being not places. Heaven is nearness to God, while Hell is distance from the creator. What we take into the next world are the divine attributes our souls develop in this physical life. If the soul hasn’t developed spiritual attributes than the soul will be crippled, so to speak, in the spiritual world. God gives us plenty of opportunities to develop spiritual attributes before we ascend into the next world. We can choose to walk the spiritual path and develop those attributes, or we can choose the material road and focus upon the things that satisfy the body and the ego. Our individual choices affect the way our souls enter into the next world, affect whether we enter clothed in the divine attributes with wings to carry us through all the worlds of paradise or naked and helpless, unable to fly, unable to walk through paradise on our own. On the bright side, we can pray for those who have ascended into the next world. Pray for God to forgive them their sins. Pray for the advancement of their souls. Therefore, on this Memorial Day as we listen to taps or visit the graves of veterans and/or of family, we need to say a prayer for the departed. Prayer for the Departed "O my God! O Thou forgiver of sins, bestower of gifts, dispeller of afflictions! "Verily, I beseech Thee to forgive the sins of such as have abandoned the physical garment and have ascended to the spiritual world. "O my Lord! Purify them from trespasses, dispel their sorrows, and change their darkness into light. Cause them to enter the garden of happiness, cleanse them with the most pure water, and grant them to behold Thy splendors on the loftiest mount." 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Compilations, Baha'i Prayers, p. 43 |
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