If you are not mindful you will inhabit someone else's dream.
A mindless boy can set his life aside and when he is a man forget where he had set it and spend an awful time searching every which way to find it, for if he doesn't search for it he will regret it, and if he doesn't find it he will hate himself for it.
I am made in the image of God, not your image of God.
Pastoral Quotes
Watching in Hope
That is the kind of hope that Jesus Christ offers to us - a hope that no matter our circumstances we see beyond those circumstances.
We see beyond what the world would tell us is hopeless and we find hope for ourselves.
We see beyond the politics of our world and we see a Christ who is still on the throne, a Christ who is still embodied in us, a Christ who still shows us the light of the world that illuminates a pathway when we believe there is no way forward.
That is the hope that we engender. That is the hope that is embodied in us. That is the hope that the world is looking for.
That is a cool thing shared.
Out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing there is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Art is evidence humans live on earth. Don't pity the person handed a lousy play guided by a piteous director. The performance belongs to the actor on stage.
Welcome to gen-u enriching values, Episode 4, curated by your host Neville DeAngelou, a dynamic exploration and implementation of FIVE practical virtues that fortify as well as enhance personal and communal health, wealth and happiness, each actuated toward wholeness of being.
competence: the ability to do something successfully or efficiently. skill, prowess, expertise, proficiency, expertise, abillity, savvy, know-how, mastery
wuf-wuf - wuf-wuf.
Along our remarkable journey of life and learning we relishactionable discoveries, particularly those that uplift and inspire the "best" from all of us, promote harmony, expand opportunities, exemplify beauty, and reveal wonder, in other words, whatever advances our practice of genuine love through all of its fertile dimensions!
Intention matters. Outcome is a big deal. Action (or non-action) is all of the "fun" in between. Temperance (virtue), that is, productive abundance, progressive balance, tapped overflow, a wellspring of joy, is action's superforce. One should pause to breathe that in. If the bell-ring of temperance conjures frigidity, mediocrity, timidiity, a sloth, a snail, a domestic sheep, the patron saint of sleep to anyone, then that person has been had; he's been lied to; she's been hoodwinked; he's been bamboozled, castrated, declawed, shoved aside; the wool has been pulled over their eyes, and the coolaid is ready. It is time to rethink the whole matter. Take a deep breath. I have found this practical virtue (temperance) to be no leash, no kill-joy, rather it is a superforce. The thrust in a young eagle's wings is an apropos metaphor for the soul of this virtue. Freedom. You'll see. Temperance is a booster rocket supercharged with divine intelligence. It is alive. It is an active infuser. It delivers pragmatism to prudence, flexibility to fortitude, and to justice, mercy. You'll see. If I am but permitted, for edification purposes only, to anthropomorphize temperance, then Temperance is longevity's lubricator, our internal clock's secret engineer, an atomic tap-tap-tap guiding the virtuous in lockstep with the rhythms of our universe. Temperance is a collaborator. Yes. Temperance is a counselor. M-hm. Temperance is a pretty cool professor - one of the finest instructors of the folly of it all. M-hm. Breathe. So, what did you find? Do share. Quite likely some may not be ready for such an awesome revelation. Patience is required. Letting go is a must. New training is in the offing. Who-ah. Temperance does not come running; he has to be won - in the arena - through the fire. There, where dream and reality colide in brilliant combat its power goes to the victor. Oh, yes. Freedom's wings.Well-being. That's the prize. You'll see.
ah, the sweet pleasure of an exhausting day knowing
- you accomplished being & doing the best you could -
Super Power infusion
Unstoppable! That's who we are intended to be. Inspiring. Heroic. Awesome people. It is revitalizing meeting folks like these.
This, however, was my first time seeing someone climbing onto a balance beam. So fragile she seemed. And gorgeous. Barely dressed. No one warned me I was in for an unforgettable experience.
They should have. I was sitting right there.
The entire circus, up till then, had the perfect rhythm and pitch to keep my boyish curiousity peeked, my heart jolly, and my dream rising. But neither devil nor angel climbed upon my shoulder to whisper a warning. I haven't forgiven them since. Maybe today I'll acquire the nerve and strength or wisdom to do just that. I deserve as much. After all, this was a long time ago and I've grown muscles in the interim.
Well. Sort of.
She stood perfectly balanced on that whisker of a beam and turned into the perfect shape of a Y with a bubble butt. That was impressive enough. She should have stopped right there and then, but she didn't. She twirled, and my jaw dropped. Then she twirled again. My jaw was still hanging. Then she hurried down the beam, like an acrobat, then she flipped heels over head, and then she did that again, and I was on the edge of screaming, "Stop her, why is she trying to break her neck? Is she suicidal?" Then she did some other stupid move and before I could call for the medics she was up in the air and off the beam standing like a Y (I suppose with that very shinny bubble-butt she came with), but my knuckles were a pretzel stunned not knowing what just happened there.
No one else seemed to care; the tent erupted in cheers.
My blood had all but clotted cold. And I was never interested ever to watch another balance beam routine ever-ever again . . . until this week . . . when an angel gave me a glimpse of the awesomeness of temperance. It is brilliant.
An olympic balance beam routine is the perfect epitome of temperance.
Really.
You'll see.
I know, these days when people talk about temperance their primary interest is moderation, sobriety, abstinence (huh?), self-restraint, and they were probably heading down the right road, but veered off somewhere along the way, and got lost beyond the regions of virtue. And that's okay. They probably weren't interested in virtue in the first place. They probably have some other agenda. And that's okay.
Not for me though. I somersaulted back onto virtue's main road - trust me it's wide enough - and took a hurried trip to the ancients amongst whom the concepts and values of virtue were being worked in those ancient crucibles. I have uncovered quite a few fascinating things. Those dudes and dudettes were seeking balance, as in homeostasis. Homeostasis observed throughout our universe - so readily taken for granted - is truly something of wonder and awe. We'll be dead without it. Actually, we would hardly come into the fullness of being. We are already barely just a flash in the pan when you come to think of it really. Oh, but what a flash! My gosh, what a flash!
The value of temperance is more gainfully understood within the arena it first emerged - abundance - a state of plenty - a space of more than enough - where we may more readily observe the reckless tragedies of abuse of a good thing. This was not a case of finding a balance between hunger and gluttony, thence to hang around in the center. NO. This was always about guarding against the destruction incurred by gluttony (say) and the likes of it, say greed, say anger - excesses that lead to imbalance - imbalance of body or mind or heart or soul or community - destruction of universal harmony. That is the context of the birth of this virtue. Temperance. It has pragmatic values. It was never about lack, or having so little you are less likely to sin in your recklessness. On the contrary! This was never about abstinence in the absolute. On the contrary. It is a practical value. It is neither for nor against. To call upon a more modern parable, this is about thriving in the goldilocks zone, about creating goldilocks zones, about expanding goldilocks zones, within which health, wealth and well-being thrive. That's what temperance (as a virtue) is actually about.
When a gymnast goes flying acrobatically into the air she or he is delighting us with the sheer wonder of balance. Temperance is about balance - productive balance. When the eagle goes soaring into the blue we are able to observe, if we choose, the sheer wonder of balance. When flocks of birds by their formation create free zones of easy travel we are privileged to a demonstration of the practicality, the efficiency, the effectivenes of cooperative balance. These are all acts. There is no non-action involved. There is no doing as 'little as you ought' involved. There is no mere endeavoring to 'use as little' that is involved. In the wide zone where temperance is a virtue the essence of all activities is the pursuit and realization of utmost efficiency and eftectiveness and progression and sustainmaint of well being. Being comes by doing. Doing comes from being. Waste not want not. Improve competence. Improved competence increases confidence. Increased confidence enhances our performance on our biggest stage - life - wholeness of being; health, wealth and happiness.
Methinks I have come upon something enorrmous - so big - my heart is overflowing - and my mind recognizes it to be far the better to allow freed minds, each of its own will and conscience to seek out their portion ot the vastness of this essential virtue - temperance.
instructive - experiencing breakthroughs
Life: it is a dance. It gets better with practice; its music is in your heart and in your soul and in your blood and in your bones. Life; it is a dance. It get’s better with practice. You have a partner – your spirit. You can have a party if you like, but choose smartly who you invite, for life – your life – is a dance. It get’s better with practice, unless you stop the music, or so crowd your dance floor there is no space to move or be moved within in it. Yes, life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice.
Masterpiece
a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship.
tour de force
Love: what is it in the crisis of deep wronging. "The prince, at all her rejections, grew in his want and fell ever more deeply in love with the beauty, so he secluded himself. He scoured the ancients for the right answer. He penned poem after poem and searched his soul again and again. The more he searched, the more he wanted her. The more he wanted her, the more he penned. The depth of his desire was unparalleled, such that the sight of every other woman was as sand tossed into his eyes." (Flight Of The Fused Monkeys)
Come, let us all be friends for once,
Let us make life easy on us,
Let us be lovers and loved ones,
The earth shall be left to no one.
“Life is found in the dance between what you desire most and what you fear most.”
Tony Robins
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son!
- Rudyard Kipling
Practical Wisdom
prudence
temperance
justice
fortitude
Smile. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Learn. Be awesome. You are powerful beyond measure. You are not alone. You can do all things. I am you. You are me. We are one. Keep Sharing.
What Do You Want To Do?
Who is holding you back?
Reality: There is a thing called phantom pain. For example, a person may feel pain in a leg even though that person doesn't have that leg anymore. To that person this pain is real. Persons may be carrying around phantom burdens that have been long gone - removed - but they are still fetching the load. It is advisable to get a new reality. Unburden the load. Take off the bridle and blinders and look around for a moment or two. Look again. Take new stock. See.
Practice: Believe. Get good advice. Surround yourself with authentic people for whom you are an authentic benefit and who would benefit you. Decide. Take action. God is not holding you back from being the best you could be, but if you believe God is holding you back then God is holding you back. Just hang in there.
Breathe.
We are accompanied.
Balance - Focus - Rhythm
The Journey - Your Voice Illuminated - Our Global Digital Radio Show & Podcast. We stop at exotic places, meet fascinating folks with intriguing stories and novel solutions to some of life's tricky problems. We play a few games too, and track remarkable characters of three classics: ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) SBL Series: 2:26 AM, The Gathering (Matchbox Mystery) and Flight Of The Fused Monkeys (5-Star Series). Life is beautiful and full of surprises. Breathe! Along our journey of life and learning we challenge ourselves toward the reaches of our highest ideals: to be our best, do our utmost, achieve our finest, wherever necessary and practicable redesigning the contours of possibility, reshaping human capability. Join our posse. We are changing the game! We welcome your perspective. Enjoy top dramatic, inspirational, mystery, scifi, and true stories. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Learn with us. Get your FREE AUDIO of 'Sven: The High Achiever's Journey'. You'll be glad you did. Share the experience.
ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) 
