Faith (again)

When I read and commented on  Anthony North  on "Greed" I said I agreed with him about business greed but that I also thought that indiviual people are also greedy.

In my blog on "Faith", I said faith for me is faith in my fellow human beings to do the right thing.

 On personal level of one to one people behave with honor and do the right things.

However, when they get layered by the desire to make a living they will look the other way.  For exmple anyone working for a phone company will give the pitch because that is what they need to do keep their jobs. 

Also in a blog by "K"  (Khaalidah) she explains fasting for "Ramadan" and ties it into "Faith".  I thank her very much for that post because any honest discussion of "Allah" and the Muslim religion is a blessing to those in the Christian world. We all need to learn and understand our fellows human beings.

This week I received my weekly poem from
"POETRY CHAIKHANA".  Sacred Poetry from Around the World


 "A chaikhana is a teahouse along the legendary Silk Road pilgrimage and trading route linking China to the Middle East and Europe. It is a place of rest along the journey, a place to shake off the dust of the road, to sip tea, and to gather together to sing songs of the Divine..."

Poetry Chainhana is a great site. The poets from the past have inspired me on many occasions.  It is like Rumi came to read a special poem just for me.

This week's poem is on fasting enlightens us on the virtues of fasting.  I think "K" may understand "faith" better than most.

Fasting
By Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi
(1207 - 1273)
English version by Coleman Barks

"There's hidden sweetness in the stomach's emptiness.

We are lutes, no more, no less. If the soundbox

is stuffed full of anything, no music.

If the brain and belly are burning clean

with fasting, every moment a new song comes out of the fire.

The fog clears, and new energy makes you

run up the steps in front of you.

Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry.

Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen.

When you're full of food and drink, Satan sits

where your spirit should, an ugly metal statue

in place of the Kaaba. When you fast,

good habits gather like friends who want to help.

Fasting is Solomon's ring. Don't give it

to some illusion and lose your power,

but even if you have, if you've lost all will and control,

they come back when you fast, like soldiers appearing

out of the ground, pennants flying above them.

A table descends to your tents,

Jesus' table.

Expect to see it, when you fast, this table

spread with other food, better than the broth of cabbages."

Faith

Faith is a word with many meanings and connotations.  It means different things to different people.

I like to use the word as it applies to people and my relationship to others.  I say faith is a belief in people.  Faith is trusting in people.  I have faith in my fellow human beings.  I believe that given the opportunity to do a good and honorable thing, all people will do it.  Even those that society has beaten into the ground will rise up and help someone else when needed.

Yes, for me faith is very simple.

Faith is trust in my fellow human beings.

for an additional post of faith and fasting please read my post "Faith Again"

I get a weakly blast in my email from a site called "Zen Habits". When I signed up I thought that Zen would be good for my soul. However, like a lot of other things I sign up for, I very rarely read it. I call it "Zen for my soul". It's not that I do not need it, because I do. I just find every reason in the world to avoid looking into my Zen Soul.


However, today I read a guest writer and his mountain theory.

How to Summit Life’s Everyday Mountain (Scott Dihsmore)

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” ~Confucius

....Last week I sat on top of Mt. Shasta, a 14,179 foot mountain in Northern California. It was my first real summit and I was proud. Getting there took me through two days of snow, ice and below-freezing camping conditions, using crampons, an ice axe, and more layers than I thought I owned.


......I began to realize the lessons required to reach the top and make it back down safely. As it turns out, the most important rules are just as relevant in the snow as they are in conquering our everyday challenges.

When was the last time you reached a mountain summit, whether outdoors or in life?

He is comparing reaching a summit in life to climbing a mountain. I think what caught my eye was the statement about sitting on the mountain top. That brought a part of my own life to memory. I sat on a mountain top once but it wasn't Mt.Shasta. It was a small mountain in the Cedar Breaks area of Southern Utah and it was only a half mile hike from the road. However, I hiked my mountain and let it all hang out. I climbed my mountain in the nude. I sat on my mountain top in the nude. I heard my echo yelling back at me in the nude.

Scott gives the following advice for mountain climbing and life:

Pack light...I certainly did that.

Take one step at a time...you try to take two steps at one time and you'll fall on your butt, nude or not.

Don’t go at it alone...disagree here...not to excited about a lot of people seeing me in the nude.

Listen to the experts...actually I wasn't to interested in hearing about other people hiking in the nude.

Slow down...well duh, you cannot walk fast over sharp rocks with bare feet.

Look back and take in the view...check for Forest Rangers while your at it.

Save some energy for the trip down...now there is some good advice. No one wants to spend the night nude and on top of a mountain. (at least I don't)

Getting to the top is optional...I don't think so...why would I want to walk around a forest in the nude and not claim victory over a dumb mountain.

Getting down is mandatory...double duh...if you cannot get down, don't climb the tree.

Failure is a part of the process...OK, get out of the car, take you clothes off, shiver for a couple seconds, put your clothes back on and wait for a warmer day.

“It is not the mountains we conquer but ourselves.” ~Sir Edmund Hillary

I absolutely agree Sir Hillary.

Running around in the trees and rocks is awesome and to stand nude above a canyon and listen to your echo screaming the call of the wild in the nude is an experience few will ever experience.

Eat your heart out Scott.

half a book

I am half done with three books and one life time.  My goal is to get all the way done with my life time and as for the books...who knows.  It is really great to tell one and all that I am writing a book and when I say I am writing three books they are really impressed.  Now if I were to finish one or two or maybe all three books then I would have to see if anyone would publish them.

That is what creates my problem.  If they are finished and no one will publish them I would have to tell people that they are only half done because to tell the truth would make me look like a bad writer. (which I am)

Therefore my solution is to say my books are only half done but I am working on them.  I think that comes from my grandmother who used to say "half a book is better than none." (whatever that means)

Thank you

Thank you, thank you....wow, I'm..ah..so nervous...I don't know what to say...ah....

This award means a lot to me.  I am ...ah...truly..honored...but..I..don't deserve all of the ah...credit.  I..want to..ah..thank  my..ah..high school instructor for..ah...teaching me the basics of ..oh..I am..so nervous...ah..the basics..of cooking.  Ah..having my ahh..."Egg on Toast"...oh dear...what am...I..trying to..ah..say?..ah..yes......recipe chosen as..ah "diet plate of the year"...is....oh dear..is a great..ah...honor..thank you

Egg on Toast
135 calories

to those that strugled through my acceptance speech..

ah..thank you very much