My wife is like a map to treasure
Because of her I go to new places
And with a little digging
Discover Joy.
Her children rise up and make her happy; her husband praises her:
"Many women have excelled, but you excell them all!"
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
What perfect is
"I don't like to use the word 'perfect' because everyone thinks it means 'happy' when really it means 'the way things are supposed to be.' "
~ my daughter ~
~ my daughter ~
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Reed's Leader Speech
This is my leader speech. Advice on being a leader. I feel qualified to write this because I am a leader. It is my belief that the only requirement to be a leader is to declare yourself one. Whether you are a good or effective leader; that's not so easy. This advice can help. At least, it works for me. But caution: if you are going to be a leader, you must not follow this advice.
Gender, age, social status, job title or wealth does not constrain, limit or define leadership. Because leadership is defined by individual and expressed by identity Me; I am not man: I am human. Formed in the image of God as I believe in Him and, because I can not understand the totality of God, I must worship the image of what I do understand. Thus my first tenant of leadership is followership. Following something that is bigger than me and bigger still than what I understand. I follow. I strive. I learn. It makes me a better leader.
And I am a leader: a human spirit formed in the image of God. I am accountable as the owner of myself and my identity which is made of God, family and community.
So Do You Want To Be a Leader?
I said earlier that you must not follow this advice. It's true. If you do, you fail as a leader. As a leader you have to adopt this deliberately, with decision and intent, modify it as you think best and apply it where and when you choose to apply it. In other words, don't follow this advice: lead it.
Lead Yourself:
To be a leader you must lead yourself, and do so deliberately. This is true whether or not you lead others because they may or may not follow. Whether or not you have a leadership position, or title, or job description because that doesn't make you a leader. A leader leads only themselves. If followers exist; they can only exist because they choose to follow. A leader respects and expects that their followers are leading themselves; even if they are not a leader or even if they are. If you don't treat your followers as leaders then you will find yourself trying to lead more than yourself. Lead many and you will fragment. Lead yourself and let others follow by choice and you will unite.
Be Worthy of A Vision You Choose:
To decide to be a leader that leads yourself you must be worthy of a vision that you select. You must select a vision with assurance and deliberately. You must believe in it and only modify it when you can do so deliberately; preferably rarely. Because while your understanding and leadership must grow, adapt and change; it can not do so if you are following a vision that wobbles. Your vision must be more important than you but it cannot be you. You must look to God, family or community and choose one. You must look deeper and choose something within the one that is worthy. This is your first leadership decision. Because you must choose or your course is random. You can't choose all or your leadership will spin in circles. Choose wisely.
Choose a Vision That Makes a Better Spiritual World:
To be a leader that leads yourself and is worthy of your vision you must choose a vision that makes a different, and better, spiritual world. The spiritual world is everything the physical world is not. The physical world is the world of time, space and substance. It can be observed, measured, predicted, controlled and repeated. It follows rules of math. The spiritual world, the world your leadership navigates and changes, is not constrained by these. The spiritual world is will and fatigue; drive and despondence; desire and apathy; love and hate; success and disappointment; thoughts, concepts, feelings and a host of other things... none of which can be measured, predicted, controlled, or repeated on demand. Math is useless in the spiritual world (if you give your Love, do you really think you have less than what you started with?) What's different about your changed world and how it is better are decisions you must make, understand, own and believe in. Your vision may have physical consequences, some good - some bad, but if your vision can be measured it will not have the strength to withstand reality.
Be Prepared to See It Through:
To decide to be a leader that leads yourself and is worthy of the vision you believe in to make a better spiritual world you must be prepared to see it through. You will have to lead through doubt, pity, uncertainty, blindness, selfishness, poverty of spirit and criticism. You will have to lead even when beset by confidence, riches and success: those are the graver danger. You will be lonely, misunderstood, unliked, defeated and unrewarded. Indeed, you will also be popular, understood, liked, victorious and revered. All of these things will happen; at random and by design. You must be indifferent Your identity and vision must be strong enough to withstand what comes your way; the worst, the best and the indifference.
Be Humble:
To decide to be a leader that leads yourself and is worthy of the vision you believe in to make a better spiritual world and who is prepared to see it through you must be humble. You will make mistakes: own them. Expect to be wrong, admit you are wrong, understand why you are wrong, forgive yourself, change course if need be and continue to steer for your vision. Don't utter excuses but always look for reasons. Learn. Do not lead other peoples vision but respect it and them. Follow. Exercise integrity at all costs; even if it is a roadblock to your vision: it will be... you cannot steer by a star in a ship that is sinking.
Be Yourself:
To decide to be a leader that leads yourself and is worthy of the vision you believe in to make a better spiritual world and who is prepared to see it through with humility you must be yourself. If you see traits in others that you would like to emulate by all means do so. If you see traits in yourself that you would like to eliminate then by all means do so. But do so deliberately. Decide to own a different you that grows from your leadership and grows toward your vision. Work toward it genuinely. To "fake it" is to be a hollow shell, a mannequin... a dummy.
And Finally...
To decide to be a leader that leads yourself and is worthy of the vision you believe in to make a better spiritual world and who is prepared to see it through with humility as yourself: You must not follow this advice.
Gender, age, social status, job title or wealth does not constrain, limit or define leadership. Because leadership is defined by individual and expressed by identity Me; I am not man: I am human. Formed in the image of God as I believe in Him and, because I can not understand the totality of God, I must worship the image of what I do understand. Thus my first tenant of leadership is followership. Following something that is bigger than me and bigger still than what I understand. I follow. I strive. I learn. It makes me a better leader.
And I am a leader: a human spirit formed in the image of God. I am accountable as the owner of myself and my identity which is made of God, family and community.
So Do You Want To Be a Leader?
I said earlier that you must not follow this advice. It's true. If you do, you fail as a leader. As a leader you have to adopt this deliberately, with decision and intent, modify it as you think best and apply it where and when you choose to apply it. In other words, don't follow this advice: lead it.
Lead Yourself:
To be a leader you must lead yourself, and do so deliberately. This is true whether or not you lead others because they may or may not follow. Whether or not you have a leadership position, or title, or job description because that doesn't make you a leader. A leader leads only themselves. If followers exist; they can only exist because they choose to follow. A leader respects and expects that their followers are leading themselves; even if they are not a leader or even if they are. If you don't treat your followers as leaders then you will find yourself trying to lead more than yourself. Lead many and you will fragment. Lead yourself and let others follow by choice and you will unite.
Be Worthy of A Vision You Choose:
To decide to be a leader that leads yourself you must be worthy of a vision that you select. You must select a vision with assurance and deliberately. You must believe in it and only modify it when you can do so deliberately; preferably rarely. Because while your understanding and leadership must grow, adapt and change; it can not do so if you are following a vision that wobbles. Your vision must be more important than you but it cannot be you. You must look to God, family or community and choose one. You must look deeper and choose something within the one that is worthy. This is your first leadership decision. Because you must choose or your course is random. You can't choose all or your leadership will spin in circles. Choose wisely.
Choose a Vision That Makes a Better Spiritual World:
To be a leader that leads yourself and is worthy of your vision you must choose a vision that makes a different, and better, spiritual world. The spiritual world is everything the physical world is not. The physical world is the world of time, space and substance. It can be observed, measured, predicted, controlled and repeated. It follows rules of math. The spiritual world, the world your leadership navigates and changes, is not constrained by these. The spiritual world is will and fatigue; drive and despondence; desire and apathy; love and hate; success and disappointment; thoughts, concepts, feelings and a host of other things... none of which can be measured, predicted, controlled, or repeated on demand. Math is useless in the spiritual world (if you give your Love, do you really think you have less than what you started with?) What's different about your changed world and how it is better are decisions you must make, understand, own and believe in. Your vision may have physical consequences, some good - some bad, but if your vision can be measured it will not have the strength to withstand reality.
Be Prepared to See It Through:
To decide to be a leader that leads yourself and is worthy of the vision you believe in to make a better spiritual world you must be prepared to see it through. You will have to lead through doubt, pity, uncertainty, blindness, selfishness, poverty of spirit and criticism. You will have to lead even when beset by confidence, riches and success: those are the graver danger. You will be lonely, misunderstood, unliked, defeated and unrewarded. Indeed, you will also be popular, understood, liked, victorious and revered. All of these things will happen; at random and by design. You must be indifferent Your identity and vision must be strong enough to withstand what comes your way; the worst, the best and the indifference.
Be Humble:
To decide to be a leader that leads yourself and is worthy of the vision you believe in to make a better spiritual world and who is prepared to see it through you must be humble. You will make mistakes: own them. Expect to be wrong, admit you are wrong, understand why you are wrong, forgive yourself, change course if need be and continue to steer for your vision. Don't utter excuses but always look for reasons. Learn. Do not lead other peoples vision but respect it and them. Follow. Exercise integrity at all costs; even if it is a roadblock to your vision: it will be... you cannot steer by a star in a ship that is sinking.
Be Yourself:
To decide to be a leader that leads yourself and is worthy of the vision you believe in to make a better spiritual world and who is prepared to see it through with humility you must be yourself. If you see traits in others that you would like to emulate by all means do so. If you see traits in yourself that you would like to eliminate then by all means do so. But do so deliberately. Decide to own a different you that grows from your leadership and grows toward your vision. Work toward it genuinely. To "fake it" is to be a hollow shell, a mannequin... a dummy.
And Finally...
To decide to be a leader that leads yourself and is worthy of the vision you believe in to make a better spiritual world and who is prepared to see it through with humility as yourself: You must not follow this advice.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Layers between the believer and God
There are believers in God
And not believers in God
That defines all humanity
There are humans
And not humans
That defines all life
There is life
And not life
That defines all stuff
There is stuff
And not stuff
That defines the universe
There is universe
And not universe
That defines what is
There is
And that defines God
And not believers in God
That defines all humanity
There are humans
And not humans
That defines all life
There is life
And not life
That defines all stuff
There is stuff
And not stuff
That defines the universe
There is universe
And not universe
That defines what is
There is
And that defines God
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Snippets
I am
what I believe
and what I believe
is more important
than what
I am
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
time
it must be a product
of our imagination
invented by souls
that have forgotten
why they were born
Love knows not
the tick of a clock
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why is it
that some people will give greater life
to their denials
than they do
to the pain that they are trying to deny
what I believe
and what I believe
is more important
than what
I am
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
time
it must be a product
of our imagination
invented by souls
that have forgotten
why they were born
Love knows not
the tick of a clock
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why is it
that some people will give greater life
to their denials
than they do
to the pain that they are trying to deny
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Interface
Physical / Spiritual
Same Place / Different Worlds
2-2=0 / Physical Law
Love - Love = More Love / Spiritual Truth
We do inhabit a physical world
But we exist in a spiritual world
Gravity makes the child slip on the ice
a mothers Love will lift the child
Each one of us lives in a unique spiritual world
Though many elements are labeled similarly
we Love, we Hate, we Enjoy, we Despair
but no one of us
can judge the breadth or depth
of another’s soul
Between our individual spiritual space bubbles
is the physical world
when one initiates a spiritual message
towards another
it must travel through a physical space
the spiritual message
must cross the initiators spiritual space bubble
across a physical void
through the recipients bubble
to be independently interpreted
sight, smell, hearing, touch, and smell
are our interfaces to a physical world
our spiritual messages
must be sent by these interfaces
traverse the physical media
and be received by those interfaces
a tear shed in joy
must be seen by another
a whispered “I Love you”
must be heard
it is possible to avoid the middle
to directly connect
spirit to spirit
soul to soul
a bridge can be made
if you dare
but to do so
you must be strong enough
to make yourself defenseless
Same Place / Different Worlds
2-2=0 / Physical Law
Love - Love = More Love / Spiritual Truth
We do inhabit a physical world
But we exist in a spiritual world
Gravity makes the child slip on the ice
a mothers Love will lift the child
Each one of us lives in a unique spiritual world
Though many elements are labeled similarly
we Love, we Hate, we Enjoy, we Despair
but no one of us
can judge the breadth or depth
of another’s soul
Between our individual spiritual space bubbles
is the physical world
when one initiates a spiritual message
towards another
it must travel through a physical space
the spiritual message
must cross the initiators spiritual space bubble
across a physical void
through the recipients bubble
to be independently interpreted
sight, smell, hearing, touch, and smell
are our interfaces to a physical world
our spiritual messages
must be sent by these interfaces
traverse the physical media
and be received by those interfaces
a tear shed in joy
must be seen by another
a whispered “I Love you”
must be heard
it is possible to avoid the middle
to directly connect
spirit to spirit
soul to soul
a bridge can be made
if you dare
but to do so
you must be strong enough
to make yourself defenseless
Monday, May 16, 2011
Serengeti
a boy
walks a Serengeti plain
dust awakens
the flesh of feet
greet the earth of home
small worlds behind him
moistened wonder
potential
sweat from his torso
drips and infuses
the dust of parent earth
the body
tattered
the spirit
whole
he pauses
spirit expands
body traverses the Serengeti
soul spans it
he says thanks
to the sun
acknowledges it’s power
appreciates the sun
it provides freely
the boy knows
the power of the sun
is not energy it contains
but energy it gives
the power is the gift
the power of Love
the boy gratefully accepts
this gift from the sun
gratefulness
acceptance
the gift he gives back
embraced by power
bathing
rejoicing
it becomes him
he grows
by the rays
this power was the sun
now part of the boy
in every drop of the sweat
given freely
to the earth
the boy is complete
the power of the sun
in the fruits of the field
in the animals of the plain
in the dust of his parent
he has consumed
their energy has become he
what were things of flesh and soil
manifested in him
as spirit
when his flesh stops
spirit will not
he has become
part of the true source
the power
the sun
walks a Serengeti plain
dust awakens
the flesh of feet
greet the earth of home
small worlds behind him
moistened wonder
potential
sweat from his torso
drips and infuses
the dust of parent earth
the body
tattered
the spirit
whole
he pauses
spirit expands
body traverses the Serengeti
soul spans it
he says thanks
to the sun
acknowledges it’s power
appreciates the sun
it provides freely
the boy knows
the power of the sun
is not energy it contains
but energy it gives
the power is the gift
the power of Love
the boy gratefully accepts
this gift from the sun
gratefulness
acceptance
the gift he gives back
embraced by power
bathing
rejoicing
it becomes him
he grows
by the rays
this power was the sun
now part of the boy
in every drop of the sweat
given freely
to the earth
the boy is complete
the power of the sun
in the fruits of the field
in the animals of the plain
in the dust of his parent
he has consumed
their energy has become he
what were things of flesh and soil
manifested in him
as spirit
when his flesh stops
spirit will not
he has become
part of the true source
the power
the sun
Saturday, May 14, 2011
i believe
I realized that although I knew the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed... I had no idea what MY creed was... this is it.
i believe
first and foremost
~ to ~
infinity and lastmost
that
Love
is
all
that matters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i believe in belief
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and i believe in soulmates
that two people
of their own volition
can decide to unify
their individual
and turbulent soulstreams
and as the streams blend
a serene river will emerge
starting at the spiritual nexus
and ending
in a tranquil and moonlit pool
with a breadth
described by experience
and a depth
defined by Love
i believe
that two soulstreams
can become one
and establish
a single souls-glow
that is one
and when the two
are indistinguishable
the soulsglow
is inextinguishable
by time
by space
or by substance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i believe
that i can vaporize clouds
with my mind
move mountains
with my heart
that i can taste a rainbow
and always keep one with me
in my pocket
i believe that i can communicate
with dolphins
and fly
without mechanical assistance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i believe in belief
i believe in Love
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i believe that some things
that are things
are important
rainbows and soapbubbles
marshmallows and jello
sliding boards
clouds
and roses
that no military armor
can ever be
more protective
than a blankie
that no friendship
will be more authentic
than that with a teddy bear
a summer thunderstorm
dry leaves in the fall
a winter snowfall
the first warm day of spring
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i also believe that some things
that are not things
are important
a baby’s first cry
laughter from a child
the first Love of a youth
the warm embrace
from a familiar Loved one
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i believe that all the medical sciences combined
do not have the healing power
of a mother’s kiss
on her child’s boo-boo
no matter how old the child
and all the law and the prophets
cannot impart
the wisdom
of a Loving fathers advice
no matter how old the child
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i believe that when a bad thing transpires
to me or by me
then what i have to do
is change my perspective
from trying to Love me
back to just trying to Love
i believe that
no action, cause, effect, or feeling
can be bad
when it is
viewed, initiated, sensed, or felt
with Love
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i believe in God
that there is a greater image
that i was made from
that i can aspire to
i believe that image
is nothing more than Love
and nothing less than Love
nothing more, nothing less
because
Love
is all that matters
Love is not an it
Love is an is
i am glad for this image
of Love
of God
because now i know
that whosoever believeth
in this image
of Love
of God
shall not perish
i believe in this image
i believe that should i ever stop
worshiping the image
of Love
of God
and instead worship the worshiper
i will be human
and i will be Loved
~ but ~
i will have forgotten
that the worshiper is mortal
the image is eternal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
my belief makes me know
that when Love is enfolded
on itself
it is quenched
as a cold pinprick of light
that fades off
to oblivion
~ but ~
Love unfolded
expands
to engulf and encompass
all that is
and then becomes
all that is
i believe this is good
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love is
all that is
and is
the only is
that matters
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
so i believe,
reed
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Hello World
My first (hopefully only) attempt at a blog. Basically a record of the paths traveled by my one synapse as it moves through the brain. I can't wait to see what comes out! - Reed
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