Roots of Spirituality

Spirituality is one of those words that's easy to say but very difficult to define. What does it mean to you? Do you think you're spiritual? Does spirituality mean simply that you think there's Something beyond the mundane world where we live? Especially at this time of year when we're seeing beautiful pictures of autumn colors and quiet river scenes that give an uplift to what is today a very dreary crime-infested world, we urge you to get past the scenes of horror and to realize that beauty and spirituality still exist in nature? Can you get a similar uplifting spirituality from a book? --especially a book published in a time completely different from the world of today? No, we ourselves do not get any spiritual thoughts from the black books so beloved of millions of Abrahamic devotees. Does the idea of the wonderful interconnection of all people through the medium of electronics give a feeling of spiritual uplift, or a feeling of dreary resignation about the humanity of the world where we live and the future of that world? Surely spirituality is something beyond negativity. The chief place where we Frosts feel spiritual is at times like those when we see the moon over pine trees in the New River Gorge where we live. Perhaps there's a slight mist in the air. It is quiet, and all we can hear is the water going on its eternal course toward the sea, as part of the eternal cycle, to be returned to us as rain. So what turns us on to those feelings of wonder that we all sometimes get, at moments that are very difficult to preplan? I know that many can get an uplifting spiritual feeling when they listen to music, or when they see a group of ballerinas dancing in their perfect grace, and through many other moments. How then do we bring spirituality into our life? To start with, we must believe that we can find it. And it seems to us that the best place to look for it is in nature. Consider the sight of newborn deer in our local state park; as we mentioned, the sight of the moon, the sound of the water in the river. Be quietly contemplative, and you will open yourself to the wonders of the spiritual side of your being. Spirituality cannot be taught. Above all, it cannot be forced down your throat by some self-appointed spiritual leader who insists that his (or her) way is the only one acceptable. Bring your spirituality into balance with your mundane world by continually looking at nature's wonders. Breathe slowly. Find something to be grateful for. Be where you are. Blessed be G & Y

Make love not war

ake Love not War The title of this blog is an old familiar bit of the nineteen-sixties with their marches in this or that cause, yet it's still worth coming to understand what it really means. The Abrahamic religions have set up a scenario which encourages hate but discourages deep friendships and any sense of adventure, using joyless rules confining any sexual activity to one pair of monogamous adult human couples of two genders, alone in the conventional bedroom, in missionary position, with the blinds drawn. Such sex is all well and good ... but ... remember that old thought? If it harm none, do what you will. How can people become real committed friends? You might say the common interests they share create a friendship, though probably only at a shallow level. Nobody gets harmed much. When a committed couple has a loving relationship, their brains actually change. What are called the mirroring centers become stronger and understanding between the individuals increases, so that they will do such things as finish each other's sentences and will have common interests. What if we were to follow the Tantric path and enjoy relationships with several people, and what if nobody got hurt? Obviously these deep relationships would preclude arguments and fights--that is, once the initial phase of artificial, culturally-inflicted jealousy is past. Take a step back and reflect. Such jealousy is cultural only: it's taught to us as an absolute given, not as a cultural option, never subjected to a rethink. Nobody ever says, "Hey! Wait a minute!" Because of assumptions taught to everyone who lives at the mercy of Abrahamic religions, we are not allowed to develop such deep, long-lasting relationships. Thus when a man or a woman sees another person that they'd like to be friends with, they're forbidden--culturally, mind you--to extend that friendship into the bedroom. In fact when they have such thoughts they dutifully feel guilty. If they do (as the common parlance has it) stray, it can have disastrous effects on family relations, and in fact on job situations. If we were honest enough to recognize that we're quite often attracted to someone apart from our recognized partner, then things would be entirely different. Most of the time the extracurricular friendship will not cause a permanent rift in a family relationship. (This assumes that both partners are playing by the same set of rules: that any research, let's say, is not one-sided.) The cost of separation and the loss of relationships with children are far too high for most sensible people to extend the situation into a long-term arrangement. Yes, this new partner may be exciting and attractive for several months, and of course it's especially exciting if one is straying and trying to avoid detection. Just like a new car, though, the novelty wears off and pretty soon the new relationship palls. But now boats are burned, and going back is not a possibility. Well, we're here to tell you--and we are both in our 80s--that permission to stray and honesty about having a new friend can be very rewarding; and if it's honest and aboveboard, it need not cause a disastrous disruption of lives. Think of it without its cultural labels. Who is harmed? And again: If it harm none ... We two have never been totally, officially monogamous, and we've been happily, productively together for almost fifty (50) years. We remind you one more time of a fact that you're forbidden to know: Sex is good for you.

Why Bomb Clinics

Why Bomb Women's Clinics? Some possible causes can be imputed to the woman-haters: 1. Male monotheistic jujus are impotent to carry out their own vicious woman-hating crusade. 2. Male monotheistic jujus aren't moving fast enough themselves to suit the bombers' perception of the holy thundered diktats. 3. The bombers hate and fear and envy women: women's power; their innate, unconscious,instinctive altruism; the high regard in which family members and others thus hold them. The bombers want the high regard without the nuisance of earning it. 4. The bombers feel themselves losing the millennia's worth of iron control they've held over women through brute strength. 5. The bombers' testosterone is running low. 6. Male bombers will never find themselves knocked up with nowhere to turn, so they don't have to care. Tra-la. 7. Female bombers have bought into the alpha-male attitude, signing on because it saves the trouble of thinking. And misery loves company. 8. The bombers can't keep their noses out of my crotch. 9. The bombers care nothing for this ravaged planet and the despoliation wrought on it by human activity, most especially the promiscuous reproduction of low-grade human beings. Witness the self-appointed mouthpieces of the jujus and the thunderings of said mouthpieces thundering despite all evidence to the contrary, "If you want to get to heaven, you'll never entertain the idea of contraception." (Can you say, "Quality, not quantity", guys ?) 10. If male persons want to be confident they will never be responsible for an unwanted pregnancy and never prompt any woman to want an abortion, they need only make an appointment at the nearest veterinarian's office for a half-hour procedure ensuring that they themselves will no longer be able to cause any further pregnancy. Yvonne