Quirky World

http://www.automart.com/vehicledetail/adid-65414663/1996/saturn/sc2/grove-city/oh looks just like the one I have. Traded in my 1995 Chevy Blazer, paid a couple hundred and the new car was all mine. *dances and celebrates*

Current Mood: cheerful

Current Mood: cheerful

Ask me a question about anything--chess, computers, real life, music, vegetables, etc--and I will answer you and then ask YOU a question. The whole process could be repeated if anyone wants to keep it up. If this works, by the end we could know each other so well we're sick of each other and have to quit one another for a while.

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Hum of two computers

*crosses fingers for success*

Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: The hum of the computer

"I know. I know that I shall never again meet anything or anybody who will inspire me with passion. You know, it's quite a job starting to love somebody. You have to have energy, generosity, blindness. There is even a moment, in the very beginning, when you have to jump across a precipice: if you think about it you don't do it. I know I'll never jump again."

Current Mood: lethargic

PrincessChess took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Wants to make a favorable impression and be reward..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

Current Mood: hot

they had tons of tech problems at the marina tonight. Too tired to wait for someone to fix them for good. And I'm just plain tired. And it's bed time. And I'll write more another time. Maybe wednesday or thursday. Someone pinch me tuesday night so I remember to wear green wednesday. Or there will me turning black and blue and not green. What a pretty picture. Anyway enough blabing. Maybe my pixies will cheer me up.

Your washed out cupcake.

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Neil Diamond

I was feeling good for most of the day but that just went to pieces. Nobody loves me no more. :( Time to go flirt with the musicians at the Marina to cheer me up. I'll report back in a couple hours.

sayanora

Your local cupcake.

Current Mood: gloomy
Current Music: Neil Diamond

Hmm it's been a while. Haven't had nothing but same ole same ole so have refrained from boring my adoring fans.. fans maybe?.. curious public?.. peeping toms? Let me know when I hit on it.

Friday wasn't too bad. The system was down at work so we'll have a lot of keying to do this coming week but I don't mind that. Half of our section either didn't come in or left early cause there wasn't much to do. In celebration of (even though we never really need a reason) of it being Friday and payday, we ordered Chinese for lunch. Then we got an hour early off. Payday or no payday was still broke and no place to go.

Monday I skipped again going to the Marina for open mic. Makes like 2 or 3 weeks since I've been. I need to go see if Robert has grown his hair out yet. He was looking too eerily like my brother.

Tuesday and Thursday I went to two chess clubs. Kinda sorta volunteered myself to do rated stuff at the Tuesday club. I don't mind doing it but I know later I'll kick myself for the obligation of time. LOL But it's what I wanted cause I need it to get a foot in the door so to speak.

Saturday got dragged, okay so I wanted the free Ragazzis, around to first parents then Ragazzis and then Mary's parents for my brother and her brother's birthday parties. They have a huge family and that wasn't even all their family.

Today Mary worked til 12 and Jeff and parents went to Wilmington. Yea! And I was actually up at 8:30am for the 2nd day in a row. Amazing. Took a nice bath, though the damn water, which is was damned then it might have stayed warmer longer. Then cleaned and did laundry. Didn't quite get around to any thinking and devising. Eventually went to taco bells for dinner which just got back from a little bit ago. *sigh* I'm getting fat from all the eating I do. Parents scale had me at 130 pounds! And you can see the tummy bulge quite well now. They finally noticed it at work after me telling them time and again that I was starting to get fat. At first they were saying the weight looked good on me. I doubt they will anymore. :) Hehe.

Anyway that's the surface stuff. I suppose I'm still wary at making all my mind gush public. I'm sure that'll change.

*curtsy*

Til next time,
Your bumbling cupcake.

Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: Neil Diamond - Courtin' Disaster

SIMPLE QUESTIONS:
1.What time is it? 7:05pm
2.What is your birthday? Aug. 24
3.Do you have a job? yes
4.If yes, where? MCCS Camp Lejeuene
5.If no to #5, Where do you wanna work? I want to work at home (home being a castle)
6.Do you have a car? Yes
7.What kinda car do you have/want? 1995 Chevy Blazer, Jeep Cherokee Laredo

FAVORITE QUESTIONS:
8.Movie: Well until I think of what it truly is -- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
9.Song: Jefferson Starship - Sara
10.Band / Singer: .Neil Diamond
11.TV Show: Right now it's Joan of Arcadia
12.TV Channel: Fox
13.Actor: Elijah Wood
14.Actress: Jodie Foster
15.Comic: Peanuts
16.Magazine: Don't have one
17.Food: Spaghetti/Salad
18.Snack: It varies
19.Drink: Pepsi
20.CD-ROM Game: Gazillionaire
21.Board Game: Chess
22.Card Game: Spades or Gin or Rummy
23.Number: 24
24.Cartoon: Simpsons
25.Disney Character: Don't have one
26.Hair Color: Jet Black or Dirty Blonde
27.Time of the day: dusk when its warm outside
28.Day of the week: Monday


LOVE LIFE ETC:
29.Do you plan on having children: Don't know
30.Do you want to get married: Possibly
31.How old do you wanna be when you have your first child: At least 25
32.How old do you wanna be when your married: At least 25
33.Would you have kids before marriage? No
34.What would you name the boy? Don't know
35.What would you name the girl? Josephine.. or maybe not -- too many names to choose from right now

EITHER-OR (PICK WHICH ONE YOU PREFER)
38.Music/TV: Music
39.Guys/Girls: Guys
40.Green/Blue: Blue
41.Pink/Purple: Purple
42.Sleep/StayUp: Stay Up
43.Summer/Winter: Summer
44.Spring/Fall: Fall
45.Night/Day: Night
46.Cold/Warm: Warm
47.Fast/Slow: Slow
48.New/Old: Old
49.Dark/Light: Light
50.Sparkle/Shine: Shine
51.Peach/Plum: Plum
52.Apple/Orange: Apple
53.Laundry/Dishes: Dishes
54..Christina/Britney: Neither but Christina
55.Limp Bizkit/KoRn: Tough, Limp Bizkit
56.Rock/Rap: Rock
57.Pop/R&B: Pop

WHAT DO YOU THINK? (PUT WHAT FIRST COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU SEE THE FOLLOWING WORDS:)
58.Glass: breakable
59.Shake: dance
60.Club: drinking
61.Sing: Bob
62.Loud: relatives
63.Garcia: jerry
64.Hair: red
65.Ching: Chang
66.Money: Bills
67.Work: Bills
68.Play: Bills
69.4002: 42, the answer to everything
70.Betty: Boop
71.Sara: Me
72.Dog: Charlie
73.Brain: IQ
74.Nick: Friend
75.Frank: lust
76.AM: morning
77.FM: radio
78.PM: evening
79.Morning: cockadoodle doo
80.Ball: Bat

WHAT DO YOU THINK (WRITE WHAT YOU THINK OF THE FOLLOWING)
81.Eminem: Don't care for him
82.Rap: Don't care for it
83.Teenagers: I used to be one
84.Smoking: Don't like it won't do it
85.Death: Doesn't exist
86.Life: is what it's all about
87.Drinking: was fun for a little while
88.Bomb Threats: School is outta here

LAST FEW (Pointless) QUESTIONS:
92.Are you glad it's almost done? Kinda
93.Are you bored? Not really
94.What kinda mood are you in right now? In a decent mood
95.Did you have a good day today? Eh, it was the usual
96.What are you doing tomorrow: more of the same
97.What did you do today?: work, borrowed some money at a 30% fee, god I'm stupid and desperate

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS 2 U:
98.Who sent this to you? I sent it to me
99.What do you think of this person: She's an okay sort
100.Who do you think will be the first person to fill this out & send it back to you?: Already happened, they filled it out before I did :)

138.What time is it now?: 7:32
139.How long has it been since you started?: 27 minutes (had to make and eat dinner)
140:Why is pickle juice green?: Because it likes that color
141: What do you wish was your name?: It's fine the way it is
142: What song reflects you the best?: Jefferson Starship - Sara; Neil Diamond - Shilo
143: What thing always makes your day when it happens / when you see it? A Rainbow
144: If you could change one of your qualities, what would it be? Wouldn't be so wishy washy and would follow through
145: What feature of yours do you love? Hate? My hair and my hair
146: If you had a picture / art be your symbol, which one would you choose? Anything of Thomas Kincades
147: What is a major turn on? Eyes with depth and intelligence behind them
148: What's one thing that goes on in the world that makes you want to scream? Letting people walk over me, especially in matters of money

Current Mood: mellow

I don't want much.. I'm not asking for the world or my dreams to come true or to find my soul mate or the answer to my prayers. I don't want anything big or fancy to glitzy or glamorous. I just want that one true friend. The one you can call in the middle of the night to talk about a disasterous date. Or you can be weird or stupid and take for granted and they'll forgive even if they don't always like you. The one who'll call you out when you're about to make a giant mistake but they'll support you to take the straight and narrow even as they refuse to make it easier or fix it for you. I want the fights and the good times. The roller coaster rides of friendship with all its joys and tears.

Even more then that, I want to be that friend. I want to be that forever cherished friend who 20 years from now will be the friend that's their at the children's graduations. I want to be that shoulder that gets leaned on. I want to be the one who hears the treasured confidences. The one who has proven trustworthy and steadfast.

*laughs at herself* Bah, I'm crying.. means time to go have a really good cry and get rid of all this emotional excess that's been building this week. Night and sweet dreams. :)

*curtsy*

Sincerely,
Your Bumbling Cupcake

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: sink water

Rant # 1 - Stupid cord that is sensitive to kicking and subsquently cutting power to the computer and turning it off. Which is why this is rant try # 2.

Rant # 2 - (Was originally rant # 1) That they don't have the option to list more then one mood. As for being depressed, I am also blue, upset, frazzle, frustrated, tense, and hell I just want a hug and a good cry.

Rant # 3 - Roommates who get pissed off at the wording of a rent letter. Brother's gf read in the letter that they want to do a 'quarterly inspection.' And cause we've been here 8 months she gets pissed off cause it's not 'quarterly' and she can't find it in the least. They go to my parents and I read the lease. I find the clause that allows inspections at reasonable hours. They're not home yet to share this with.

Rant # 4 - Not enough money to pay rent so I have to get an advance on a future paycheck which will cost money and subsequently leave me short to pay other stuff. I could ask parents then they'd just ask why. Not to mention I owe them so much already with the rent deposit and the $500 car fix and whatnot. *sigh* I hate being an adult sometimes. But oddly enough not enough to want to give it up for being a teenager again.

Bright notes # 1 - I'm gonna try going back to college for accounting and business administration in the fall at the local community college. Maybe I can get enough loans to cover that and defer my previous hugh college bill for an even longer time. And afterwards I'll still be young enough to list and defer even longer. Do I get an award for procrastination yet?

Bright notes # 2 - Trying to get a second job or a first job that pays more. Cheer me on that one.

Subsequent rant - BN 1 & 2 will prevent me from moving elsewhere for another 2 years. I suppose I ought to learn to make friends around here and forget about my parents and how many people know me around here.

Bright notes # 3 - Got 2 of the 5 books read by Chaim Potok that I bought. Go me. Did I gain any insight into the Jewish religion? Not because it wasn't there to find.

Subsequent rant - Darn memory for letting me forget to return my library books to the base library.

Whine # 1 - My head hurts, my neck hurts, my ego and self-esteem are low (at least for the moment until I can have a good cry), and why aren't there any rich guys around to fall in love with cause I wanna travel and for some reason I can't follow through on good ideas to make money for myself. Woe is I.

Positive note to leave on - Um, I suppose I still have a roof over my head for now and I do have good friends even if they live 2 hours and many more hours away.

*hugs to all*

*curtsy*

Sara

Current Mood: depressed
Current Music: silence

SIMPLE QUESTIONS:
1.What time is it?
2.What is your birthday?
3.Do you have a job?
4.If yes, where?
5.If no to #5, Where do you wanna work?
6.Do you have a car?
7.What kinda car do you have/want?

FAVORITE QUESTIONS:
8.Movie:
9.Song:
10.Band / Singer: .
11.TV Show:
12.TV Channel:
13.Actor:
14.Actress:
15.Comic:
16.Magazine:
17.Food:
18.Snack:
19.Drink:
20.CD-ROM Game:
21.Board Game:
22.Card Game:
23.Number:
24.Cartoon:
25.Disney Character:
26.Hair Color:
27.Time of the day:
28.Day of the week:


LOVE LIFE ETC:
29.Do you plan on having children:
30.Do you want to get married:
31.How old do you wanna be when you have your first child:
32.How old do you wanna be when your married:
33.Would you have kids before marriage?
34.What would you name the boy?
35.What would you name the girl?

EITHER-OR (PICK WHICH ONE YOU PREFER)
38.Music/TV:
39.Guys/Girls:
40.Green/Blue:
41.Pink/Purple:
42.Sleep/StayUp:
43.Summer/Winter:
44.Spring/Fall:
45.Night/Day:
46.Cold/Warm:
47.Fast/Slow:
48.New/Old:
49.Dark/Light:
50.Sparkle/Shine:
51.Peach/Plum:
52.Apple/Orange:
53.Laundry/Dishes:
54..Christina/Britney:
55.Limp Bizkit/KoRn:
56.Rock/Rap:
57.Pop/R&B:

WHAT DO YOU THINK? (PUT WHAT FIRST COMES TO MIND WHEN YOU SEE THE FOLLOWING WORDS:)
58.Glass:
59.Shake:
60.Club:
61.Sing:
62.Loud:
63.Garcia:
64.Hair:
65.Ching:
66.Money:
67.Work:
68.Play:
69.4002:
70.Betty:
71.Sara:
72.Dog:
73.Brain:
74.Nick:
75.Frank:
76.AM:
77.FM:
78.PM:
79.Morning:
80.Ball:

WHAT DO YOU THINK (WRITE WHAT YOU THINK OF THE FOLLOWING)
81.Eminem:
82.Rap:
83.Teenagers:
84.Smoking:
85.Death:
86.Life:
87.Drinking:
88.Bomb Threats:

LAST FEW (Pointless) QUESTIONS:
92.Are you glad it's almost done?
93.Are you bored?
94.What kinda mood are you in right now?
95.Did you have a good day today?
96.What are you doing tomorrow:
97.What did you do today?:

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS 2 U:
98.Who sent this to you?
99.What do you think of this person:
100.Who do you think will be the first person to fill this out & send it back to you?:

138.What time is it now?:
139.How long has it been since you started?:
140:Why is pickle juice green?:
141: What do you wish was your name?:
142: What song reflects you the best?:
143: What thing always makes your day when it happens / when you see it?
144: If you could change one of your qualities, what would it be?
145: What feature of yours do you love? Hate?
146: If you had a picture / art be your symbol, which one would you choose?
147: What is a major turn on?
148: What's one thing that goes on in the world that makes you want to scream?

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Video Games

http://www.archetypal.com/links.htm#artists

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Silence

"C-THIS Note Of The Month "

May 1st 2002

"Creativity is the great mystery at the center of Western culture. We preach order, science, logic and reason. But none of the great accomplishments of science, logic and reason was actually achieved in a scientific, logical, reasonable manner. Every single one must, instead, be attributed to the strange, obscure and definitively irrational process of creative inspiration. Logic and reason are indispensible in the working out ideas, once they have arisen -- but the actual conception of bold, original ideas is something else entirely. "

From Complexity to Creativity By: Ben Goertzel


From http://www.cthisspace.com/intro.html

Current Mood: discontent
Current Music: Silence

But this is a copy and paste of a conversation where there was much copying and pasting by me. ROFL


CMerli(*)(CA): PrincessChess(*): there was an article in our paper Sunday, I can't find a copy of it anywhere on the net, so I'll just quote a line or two near the end of it "Jews and Christians cannot watch 'The Passion' with the same eyes, but we can watch it with the same heart. We can watch it with the love of the same God who bestows different gifts upon different people but the same hope to all humanity.''
PrincessChess(*): ''The beginning of the way back is for all of us to remember and understand that the death of Jesus was not a murder but a gift.''
PrincessChess(*): If his death was just the torturous murder of an innocent teacher, the central question of the Passion is indeed, "Who killed Jesus?"
PrincessChess(*): But if Christ's death was a gift to save the world from sin, the central question of the Passion is, "Who gave us this gift?"
CMerli(*)(CA): The real question is why did he need to die and did it really provide any redemption
CMerli(*)(CA): It just does not make much sense that god has to kill something to provide redemption for his people.
CMerli(*)(CA): Apparently being omnipotent is not what it used to be.
notshirov: I heard the pope hated the movie
PrincessChess(*): 'The Christian story has anti-Jewish elements at its core because it cannot comprehend how the people who knew Jesus best, and among whom Jesus was born and raised, rejected him as Messiah despite evidence of his resurrection and the messianic promise of their faith.
CMerli(*)(CA): That would be nicely explained if he was not really the Messiah
CMerli(*)(CA): Just an ordinary man claiming divinity. Like Dsavid Koresch.
PrincessChess(*): 'We are very concerned about the numbing power of the violence depicted in "The Passion." The ocean of blood may make it difficult for audiences to emerge from this cinematic ordeal filled with Christian love rather then sharp, vengeful hatreds. A movie that forces us to witness hours of torture and only 15 seconds of resurrection is in danger of transforming Christ's blessed gift into nothing but a crude and mangling murder.''
PrincessChess(*): I wish I could find the whole article so I could stop typing, lol
vmamigonyan: which very well would be true had it actually happened
CMerli(*)(CA): this is from a christian reviewer?
notshirov: yes, the pope
PrincessChess(*): by Rabbi Marc Gellman and the Rev. Thomas hartman
CMerli(*)(CA): Ah
PrincessChess(*): Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Thomas Hartman, both of New York, co-author "The God Squad," a nationally syndicated newspaper column, and host a TV program also called "The God Squad."
luckykaa: People forget that christianity wasn't always sweet melodies in tall churches, it was just as dirty and bloody as everything else in that era. Christian love is a modern concept.
PrincessChess(*): http://www.newsday.com/features/columnists/ny-godsquad,0,2898836.columnist?coll=ny-features-columnists is their Q&A column
PrincessChess(*): long copy and paste coming
PrincessChess(*): Q. I am Jewish but have received very little Jewish education. Basically, I know Jesus was a Jew as were his early followers.
PrincessChess(*): Why did this small group of Jews believe Jesus was the Messiah, while the great majority of Jews denied his messianic claim? And what are we supposed to be looking for in the Messiah anyway?
PrincessChess(*): A. The heart of the Christian claim that Jesus was the Messiah rests on the belief that Jesus was resurrected from the dead after three days. The evidence that Jesus' resurrection was a fact, Christians affirm, is the many eyewitnesses described in the Gospels, including the apostles and others who saw the empty tomb and whose testimony was recorded in what became the Christian Scriptures.
PrincessChess(*): On the other side are those who say that because the evidence of Jesus' resurrection comes only from his followers and from accounts recorded in the Christian Scriptures, Jesus' resurrection cannot be trusted to be an objective historical account, any more than the Exodus from Egypt (which is the central event establishing Judaism) can be trusted to be an objective historical account. This is the heart of the dispute.
PrincessChess(*): Other issues also arose over time on these two branches of the same tree. Jewish teachings about the Messiah require that the Messiah gather all Jews to Israel, defeat all evil in the world and resurrect all dead people to new and everlasting life.
PrincessChess(*): Jesus did not accomplish these tasks, and this is seen as proof by most Jews that he was not the Messiah promised by God.
PrincessChess(*): The Christian response is to acknowledge that Jesus did not complete his messianic tasks but to assert that he will do so during his second coming. Paul and most of the disciples thought Jesus would return very soon and end all disputes over his messianic authenticity.
PrincessChess(*): That did not happen. But with 2,000 years of faith and waiting, this is our view: Although it does matter a great deal if one believes or does not believe Jesus is the Messiah, when the Messiah comes to us for the first time, or for the second time, it will be such a glorious gift of love and will bring about such a radical transformation of all human existence that whether called Jesus -- or some other name -- on that day at least, it will not matter in the face of such glorious redemption.
CMerli(*)(CA): 2000 years of people dying in wait for this. I wonder how long before they begin to realize the wait is in vain.
vmamigonyan: the bottom line is, god isn't real
vmamigonyan: and if jesus existed he was just a man
notshirov: just a man?
vmamigonyan: yeah, none of the divinity stuff
luckykaa: or a woman :-)
PrincessChess(*): Q. Help me understand why God is sometimes referred to as him or he, which makes me think God is male. I thought God was the creator and ruler of the universe, the light that shines within all, not some old guy with a beard sitting on a cloud. I've talked to God all my life and never, ever thought of God as either male or female. We know Jesus was a man, but does that make God a man? Do you think this emphasis on a male God arose because men wrote the Bible? - C., via e-mail
CMerli(*)(CA): Onewould think that in a society likethe Roman empire with such a legacy of recorded accounts, that at least one person would have mentioned the fantasic miracles this guy was performing.
PrincessChess(*): 'On the other side are those who say that because the evidence of Jesus' resurrection comes only from his followers and from accounts recorded in the Christian Scriptures, Jesus' resurrection cannot be trusted to be an objective historical account' It'd still be open to debate because the nonbelievers wouldn't trust the accounts of the believers
notshirov: would have what?
CMerli(*)(CA): But even other believers?
CMerli(*)(CA): Nothing till 100 years after the guy is dead
PrincessChess(*): I'm just being the whatever its called, I haven't even gotten halfway through the old testament and due to the some of the fiction novels I've been reading I think I know more about the Jewish account of things more then I do of the Christian account
CMerli(*)(CA): I see god and I guarantee I am going to make a few notes
luckykaa: devil's advocate? :-)
PrincessChess(*): yeah lucky :)
luckykaa: kinda apropos
luckykaa: :-)
PrincessChess(*): If I was to place my faith in anything written by man I'd be more apt to studying this rather then most organized religions -- http://www.acim.org/about_acim_section/what_it_says.html

Current Mood: mellow

A Course in Miracles:
How It Came, What It Is, What It Says

What It Says

Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.

This is how A Course in Miracles begins. It makes a fundamental distinction between the real and the unreal; between knowledge and perception. Knowledge is truth, under one law, the law of love or God. Truth is unalterable, eternal, and unambiguous. It can be unrecognized, but it cannot be changed. It applies to everything that God created, and only what He created is real. It is beyond learning because it is beyond time and process. It has no opposite; no beginning and no end. It merely is.

The world of perception, on the other hand, is the world of time, of change, of beginnings and endings. It is based on interpretation, not on facts. It is the world of birth and death, founded on the belief in scarcity, loss, separation, and death. It is learned rather than given, selective in its perceptual emphases, unstable in its functioning, and inaccurate in its interpretations.

From knowledge and perception respectively, two distinct thought systems arise which are opposite in every respect. In the realm of knowledge no thoughts exist apart from God, because God and His Creation share one Will. The world of perception, however, is made by the belief in opposites and separate wills, in perpetual conflict with each other and with God. What perception sees and hears appears to be real because it permits into awareness only what conforms to the wishes of the perceiver. This leads to a world of illusions, a world which needs constant defense precisely because it is not real.

When you have been caught in the world of perception you are caught in a dream. You cannot escape without help, because everything your senses show merely witnesses to the reality of the dream. God has provided the Answer, the only Way out, the true Helper. It is the function of His Voice, His Holy Spirit, to mediate between the two worlds. He can do this because, while on the one hand He knows the truth, on the other He also recognizes our illusions, but without believing in them. It is the Holy Spirit's goal to help us escape from the dream world by teaching us how to reverse our thinking and unlearn our mistakes. Forgiveness is the Holy Spirit's great learning aid in bringing this thought reversal about. However, the Course has its own definition of what forgiveness really is just as it defines the world in its own way.

The world we see merely reflects our own internal frame of referencethe dominant ideas, wishes and emotions in our minds. "Projection makes perception" (Text, p. 445). We look inside first, decide the kind of world we want to see and then project that world outside, making it the truth as we see it. We make it true by our interpretations of what it is we are seeing. If we are using perception to justify our own mistakesour anger, our impulses to attack, our lack of love in whatever form it may takewe will see a world of evil, destruction, malice, envy and despair. All this we must learn to forgive, not because we are being "good" and "charitable," but because what we are seeing is not true. We have distorted the world by our twisted defenses, and are therefore seeing what is not there. As we learn to recognize our perceptual errors, we also learn to look past them or "forgive." At the same time we are forgiving ourselves, looking past our distorted self-concepts to the Self That God created in us and as us.

Sin is defined as "lack of love" (Text, p. 11). Since love is all there is, sin in the sight of the Holy Spirit is a mistake to be corrected, rather than an evil to be punished. Our sense of inadequacy, weakness, and incompletion comes from the strong investment in the "scarcity principle" that governs the whole world of illusions. From that point of view, we seek in others what we feel is wanting in ourselves. We "love" another in order to get something ourselves. That, in fact, is what passes for love in the dream world. There can be no greater mistake than that, for love is incapable of asking for anything.

Only minds can really join, and whom God has joined no man can put asunder (Text, p. 356). It is, however, only at the level of Christ Mind that true union is possible, and has, in fact, never been lost. The "little I" seeks to enhance itself by external approval, external possessions, and external "love." The Self That God created needs nothing. It is forever complete, safe, loved, and loving. It seeks to share rather than to get; to extend rather than project. It has no needs and wants to join with others out of their mutual awareness of abundance.

The special relationships of the world are destructive, selfish, and childishly egocentric. Yet, if given to the Holy Spirit, these relationships can become the holiest things on earththe miracles that point the way to the return to Heaven. The world uses its special relationships as a final weapon of exclusion and a demonstration of separateness. The Holy Spirit transforms them into perfect lessons in forgiveness and in awakening from the dream. Each one is an opportunity to let perceptions be healed and errors corrected. Each one is another chance to forgive oneself by forgiving the other. And each one becomes still another invitation to the Holy Spirit and to the remembrance of God.

Perception is a function of the body, and therefore represents a limit on awareness. Perception sees through the body's eyes and hears through the body's ears. It evokes the limited responses which the body makes. The body appears to be largely self-motivated and independent, yet it actually responds only to the intentions of the mind. If the mind wants to use it for attack in any form, it becomes prey to sickness, age, and decay. If the mind accepts the Holy Spirit's purpose for it instead, it becomes a useful way of communicating with others, invulnerable as long as it is needed, and to be gently laid by when its use is over. Of itself it is neutral, as is everything in the world of perception. Whether it is used for the goals of the ego or the Holy Spirit depends entirely on what the mind wants.

The opposite of seeing through the body's eyes is the vision of Christ, which reflects strength rather than weakness, unity rather than separation, and love rather than fear. The opposite of hearing through the body's ears is communication through the Voice for God, the Holy Spirit, which abides in each of us. His Voice seems distant and difficult to hear because the ego, which speaks for the little, separated self, seems to be much louder. This is actually reversed. The Holy Spirit speaks with unmistakable clarity and overwhelming appeal. No one who does not choose to identify with the body could possibly be deaf to His messages of release and hope, nor could he fail to accept joyously the vision of Christ in glad exchange for his miserable picture of himself.

Christ's vision is the Holy Spirit's gift, God's alternative to the illusion of separation and to the belief in the reality of sin, guilt, and death. It is the one correction for all errors of perception; the reconciliation of the seeming opposites on which this world is based. Its kindly light shows all things from another point of view, reflecting the thought system that arises from knowledge and making return to God not only possible but inevitable. What was regarded as injustices done to one by someone else, now becomes a call for help and for union. Sin, sickness, and attack are seen as misperceptions calling for remedy through gentleness and love. Defenses are laid down because where there is no attack there is no need for them. Our brothers' needs become our own, because they are taking the journey with us as we go to God. Without us they would lose their way. Without them we could never find our own.

Forgiveness is unknown in Heaven, where the need for it would be inconceivable. However, in this world, forgiveness is a necessary correction for all the mistakes that we have made. To offer forgiveness is the only way for us to have it, for it reflects the law of Heaven that giving and receiving are the same. Heaven is the natural state of all the Sons of God as He created them. Such is their reality forever. It has not changed because it has been forgotten.

Forgiveness is the means by which we will remember. Through forgiveness the thinking of the world is reversed. The forgiven world becomes the gate of Heaven, because by its mercy we can at last forgive ourselves. Holding no one prisoner to guilt, we become free. Acknowledging Christ in all our brothers, we recognize His Presence in ourselves. Forgetting all our misperceptions, and with nothing from the past to hold us back, we can remember God. Beyond this, learning cannot go. When we are ready, God Himself will take the final step in our return to Him.

Current Mood: quixotic

Rabbi Marc Gellman & Msgr. Thomas Hartman
The God Squad
Love Is In The Sacrifices, Not the Cards

February 14, 2004


Every Valentine's Day, we like to reflect on what we know to be true about love. These are, of course, not all the true things about love, nor even all the true things we know. But they are what we have been taught and what we try to live every day.

Love shows itself best in the little things we do for each other. We too often think of love as showing itself in special moments, but the truth is quite the opposite. Big weddings, fancy gifts and flowers can be signs of love, but to us, love is shown in the small everyday sacrifices we make for those we love.

Staying up all night with a feverish child counts as love for us more than 1,000 orchids. Bringing the one you love a cup of tea that was not asked for counts more than bringing home a diamond ring. Hearing every day how much you are loved counts more than a million cards.

Love takes time to show itself. What we feel on those first dates is passion. Passion is certainly a good thing, but passion is not love. Love is a slow trusting and emptying of ourselves into the other until the boundary between where we end and the beloved begins simply disappears. Love is a slow understanding of what our beloved fears and hopes, thinks and feels.

Love begins as innocence but must grow beyond it. The loving innocence of childhood is not yet sacrificial. The love of children needs to be informed by the duty and sacrifices of adulthood. In this way, the needfulness of children can become the nurturing sacrifice of a parent.

Love is not an idea but rather a relationship, and a relationship lives in that space between you and the one you love. Love is pure spiritual magnetism that cannot be forced or owned or controlled. It is the force that bonds families and faith.

Love inoculates us against the cancer of selfishness, which is the death of the soul. Love brings us out of ourselves and our obsessions about our private needs and self-fulfillment into a world in which we learn that the only way to find ourselves is to lose ourselves in love. Self-emptying is the beginning of self-discovery.

The sacrifices people willingly offer up to those they love would never be offered for any other reason. Love is another word for self-transcendence. Love is the way we let go of a world with us at the center.

Love forgives. Because love is not earned but freely given, we can forgive. Because love sees the whole person and not simply the failures, love can forgive. Because love is there for the long haul and not just for a one-night stand, love can forgive. Because love understands the other, love can forgive. Because love connects us to a loving and forgiving God, love can forgive.

Love does not require us to forget about failures of character or will. Love does not allow us to let others destroy themselves with self-destructive, cruel or illegal behavior but always forgives because love is the place where we are accepted and embraced.

Love is the glue of families. Families do not exist to help us love others. Families exist because we do love others. The love we learn in our families is by far the greatest gift and most important asset we bring to our work in the world.

In the best families, parents give more love than they need to receive, and children need more love than they can give. Children in these families grow up overflowing with love. They slowly discover the reason they were loved that way -- so that someday, they will be able to love their children the same way their parents loved them.

There is a special beauty to old love. People who've been blessed with long marriages, and people who've been blessed to see the children of their children's children, know secrets about love the rest of us can't comprehend.

Old love is not merely deep; it is wise. Old love is patient and knowing. Old love creases our faces with wrinkles made by years of smiling. It creases our souls with the pain of loss, when love given is, in the fullness of time, given back to God. Old love is the closest thing to the way God loves us all.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Current Mood: thoughtful
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"please remember that this is the help channel, reserved for people that have questions regarding our server, and please take all other chocolaty covered nuget discussions to their proper place. thank you nad have a nice evening :-)"

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