Happy Thursday, dear friends. Today, I heard a whisper on the icy-cold wind. It is time to start feeding the birds and squirrels again.
I do not feed them all year long. I live in a space of love that is a wild tangle of indigenous plants. They provide a wealth of forage for all the wild critters that exist in my cozy little world.
I know that all these creatures are divinely cared for by an abundant universe, and I choose to foster their natural foraging behavior. A few years ago, I saw the lazy squirrels, that were hanging around the school dumpster, picking through left over lunch trash. They were obese, and not acting like natural squirrels at all. In fact, they reminded me of hoodlums hanging out in a dark alley. They had even taken on bad behaviors, like chewing holes in the trash cans of neighboring homes, looking for easy food, even though there were ample acorns scattered on the ground.
We are lucky to live a distance away from the school, and squirrel populations are quite territorial. My squirrels and birds live naturally. They forage for their food, and many migratory birds return year after year, to winter here.
My space of love has enough food to get most of the way through the winter, but if it is excessively cold or snowy, I always supplement. Today I went out to get the mail, and a number of squirrels and birds were sitting near the spot where I generally share food with them. I knew it was time, and so I will pick up a bag of seed to supplement their diet tomorrow.
It made me think about those we love in our lives. We wish for them to learn their own lessons, and stand on their own two feet. We know, deep down, that they are divine sovereign beings and they are just as evolved as we are. We are able to observe people who are constantly rescued from their own troubles, and how they tend to repeat them over and over. As a mother of two independent daughters, my wish for them is to discover their own path. It is certainly a balancing act between when to lovingly act and when to stand back and observe.
Sometimes, our loved ones really need our help, and sometimes they need to go their own way and discover the path for themselves. As we move into the higher energies, I hope to be blessed with enough intuition and discernment to know when it is best to offer assistance and when it is best to simply hold the space for them. Quietly intending for the love and courage they need, on their divinely perfect unfolding path.
Today we focus on a number of unfolding stories related to human and gay rights. We branch out from there.
Denver pastor refuses to hold funeral for gay woman and protests ensue.
As more folks realize the joy of truly being themselves and supporting others with compassion, those who refuse to honor differences will stand out like sore thumbs. While in the past, those confronted by this type of discriminatory behavior might have suffered in silence, people are deciding to take stands against this old-energy behavior in a very public way.
Vanessa Collier passed away, and her family set up a funeral for her, at New Hope Ministries in Lakewood, CO. The family sent Pastor Ray Chavez, the memorial video to be played at the service, a week in advance. Hundreds of mourners came to the service and participated in the open-casket viewing. When the memorial began, the pastor said that all pictures of Vanessa with her wife and family must be removed. Vanessa was a lesbian, and the pastor said that this could not be presented in the church. When the group protested, the pastor stopped the service.
Mourners carried the casket and memorial display, across the street to a mortuary who held the service for them. The next day, protestors flocked to the church to demonstrate against the discriminatory actions of the pastor. The family also expressed a desire for an apology from the pastor for his humiliating actions.
The church was founded by Chavez, in 1981, as a place where “…those bound by drugs, alcohol, gangs and violence can find an ‘Ounce of Hope.’ ” Obviously, the pastor did not believe that hope extends to those with different sexual preferences. This story has spread to the national and international news wires, and hopefully will help restrictive religious leaders understand that compassion and acceptance should be delivered equally to all beings on earth.
Pastor chides Ellen Degeneres and Hollywood for having a “gay agenda.”
Pastor, Larry Tomczak, published an article entitled, “Are You Aware of the Avalanche of Gay Programming Assaulting Your Home?” It ran in The Christian Post, and specifically targeted talk-show host Ellen Degeneres as promoting a “lesbian agenda” to the American public.
Ellen responded to the pastor in her typically comical fashion. She said her only agenda, is to help everyone to be true to themselves and follow their own path. The audience, heartily applauded her response.
Religious leaders, who are continuing to spout discriminatory messages are going to find that their audience is expanding, but not in the way they expected. Social media and alternative news outlets continue to share messages from fundamental mouthpieces to show the stark contrast in compassion and values.
The hypocrisy of using discrimination and judgement in the name of a religion supposedly built on the teachings of Jesus Sananda, who only promoted love and acceptance, is becoming more and more obvious to all beings. As we move into the higher light, I feel that these types of statements will become increasingly rare, as those making them will be overwhelmed by the negative responses they receive from an awakened, unified and compassionate population.
Ellen DeGeneres Shut Down An Anti-Gay Pastor In The Most Amazing Way by Rachael Zarrell for BuzzFeed
Positive trends in human rights around the world.
While it might not seem positive that discrimination or human-rights violations make the news, it actually allows individuals to reflect on the situation and make more compassionate choices.
The energy of 2014, supported a number of changes in human rights, around the world. Populations, en masse, stood up for what is inherently right. All lives matter, and those of many races were willing to take a stand for that divine principle. Our earth matters, and many countries are making choices to reflect the fact that our earth mother has her own rights. Women and children’s lives and their divine sanctity matters, and many beings have come out to take a stand against gender violence and the hidden rape-culture that is intertwined in the dark shadow of old world societies.
This article details 10 human rights trends that built up amazing steam in 2014, as people around the world stood up to be counted and said, enough is enough. They want equality. They want safety. They want a healthy environment. They want countries to deal with each other in transparency and equality. They are willing to come out and publicly demonstrate for these compassionate beliefs. They are also flowing the positive energy that is helping these archaic beliefs to crumble, and these beliefs must go in order to create a world that works for everyone.
10 Ways Human Rights and Democracy Won in 2014 by Sarah Van Gelder for Yes Magazine
Moving on…
Creating a generation of solutionaries through education.
Zoe Weil, is a compassionate educator. She teaches students about using their inner beliefs, compassion, and empathy whenever they make decisions in their lives.
This inspiring TEDx Talk shares Weil’s fundamental practices in compassionate education. She then blew my mind about creating a generation of “solutionaries” that could completely change the face of the earth.
As the mother of two young women, poised at the edge of adulthood, a great amount of their learning about compassion and unity came from our conversations at home. The foundations of empathy and compassion do not fit into an educational system that “teaches to the test” and prepares students to get into college or the workforce.
Freedom of thinking is further curtailed as Common Core values, in the US, seek to teach to the lowest common denominator from a very young age. Those who deviate from the core curriculum, or use other methods to discover correct answers, are harshly discouraged from their learning path. A person, like my husband, who was a math whiz and could simply figure out answer in his head, would receive a failing grade in a Common Core classroom.
Weil believes we need to promote free-thinkers. We need to support children’s imaginations. We need to show children how every decision they make in life, has far reaching effects on the community of this world and the planet as a whole. We then need to give kids the tools they need and support their inner strength, to tackle old problems with new and improved solutions. At the end of this video, I couldn’t stop applauding!
TEDxDirigo – Zoe Weil – The World Becomes What You Teach on YouTube
And finally….
Divine codes, secretly hidden in nature.
Many of us are aware of sacred geometry and divine equations. We tend to apply those principles to the ethereal world. The truth is, most of nature is based on sacred geometry. The sacred is literally born into form, using these divine equations.
This short video, shares some of the secret codes that are hidden in nature. It inspired me to look at the miraculous unfolding, within the mundane, that is generally taken for granted. Nature is truly divine!
Secret Codes hidden in nature by Earth Unplugged on YouTube
That’s the news for today. Have a special day. I hope to see you back here tomorrow for more news.
Be Well. Be Joy. Be Love!
Alex