Category: Inspiration

Very interesting perspective!

We don’t know who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office
Our 14-year-old dog Abbey died last month.
The day after she passed away my 4-year-old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.
She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her.
I told her that I thought we could so, and she dictated these words:
Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog?
She died yesterday and is with you in heaven.
I miss her very much.
I ‘m happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.
I hope you will play with her.
She likes to swim and play with balls.
I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog.
I really miss her.
Love, Meredith
We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey & Meredith , addressed it to God/Heaven.
We put our return address on it.
Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office.
A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet.
I told her that I thought He had.
Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, ‘To Meredith’ in an unfamiliar hand.
Meredith opened it.
Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ‘When a Pet Dies.’
Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope.
On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:
Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help and I recognized her right away.
Abbey isn’t sick anymore.
Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart.
Abbey loved being your dog.
Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in so I’m sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by.
Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me.
What a wonderful mother you have.
I picked her especially for you.
I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much.
By the way, I’m easy to find.
I am wherever there is love.
Love,
God

We need to spread the word of the more environmentally enlightened cultures, like the native Americans and Australian Aboriginals, that nature needs to be preserved and protected rather than exploited and destroyed.

Of all the African tribes still alive today, the Himba tribe is one of the few that counts the birth date of the children not from the day they are born nor conceived but the day the mother decides to have the child.
When a Himba woman decides to have a child, she goes off and sits under a tree, by herself, and she listens until she can hear the song of the child who wants to come. And after she’s heard the song of this child, she comes back to the man who will be the child’s father, and teaches him the song. When they make love to physically conceive the child, they sing the song of the child as a way of inviting the child.
When she becomes pregnant, the mother teaches that child’s song to the midwives and the old women of the village, so that when the child is born, the old women and the people gather around him/her and sing the child’s song to welcome him/her. As the child grows up, the other villagers are taught the child’s song. If the child falls, or gets hurt, someone picks him/her up and sings to him/her his/her song. Or maybe when the child does something wonderful, or goes through the rites of puberty, then as a way of honoring this person, the people of the village sing his or her song.
In the Himba tribe there is one other occasion when the “child song” is sang to the Himba tribesperson. If a Himba tribesman or tribeswoman commits a crime or something that is against the Himba social norms, the villagers call him or her into the center of the village and the community forms a circle around him/her. Then they sing his/her birth song to him/her.
The Himba views correction not as a punishment, but as love and remembrance of identity. For when you recognise your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.
In marriage, the songs are sung, together. And finally, when the Himba tribesman/tribeswoman is lying in his/her bed, ready to die, all the villagers that know his or her song come and sing – for the last time that person’s song.

Every politician should have the feet held to the fire of accountability on this one! Fracking, mining farmlands for coal, allowing depleted uranium munitions to be used during war games, clear cut fellling of old growth forests and littering our upper atmosphere with satellite junk are all crimes against the environment and treason to the people.

How indeed?

1. Never shake a man’s hand sitting down.
2. Don’t enter a pool by the stairs.
3. The man at the BBQ Grill is the closest thing to a king.
4. In a negotiation, never make the first offer.
5. Request the late check-out.
6. When entrusted with a secret, keep it.
7. Hold your heroes to a higher standard.
8. Return a borrowed car with a full tank of gas.
9. Play with passion or not at all…
10. When shaking hands, grip firmly and look them in the eye.
11. Don’t let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be.
12. If you need music on the beach, you’re missing the point.
13. Carry two handkerchiefs. The one in your back pocket is for you. The one in your breast pocket is for her.
14. You marry the girl, you marry her family.
15. Be like a duck. Remain calm on the surface and paddle like crazy underneath.
16. Experience the serenity of traveling alone.
17. Never be afraid to ask out the best looking girl in the room.
18. Never turn down a breath mint.
19. A sport coat is worth 1000 words.
20. Try writing your own eulogy. Never stop revising.
21. Thank a veteran. Then make it up to him.
22. Eat lunch with the new kid.
23. After writing an angry email, read it carefully. Then delete it.
24. Ask your mom to play. She won’t let you win.
25. Manners maketh the man.
26. Give credit. Take the blame.
27. Stand up to Bullies. Protect those bullied.
28. Write down your dreams.
29. Always protect your siblings (and teammates).
30. Be confident and humble at the same time.
31. Call and visit your parents often. They miss you.

An educator writes: For the last 30 years surveys have been handed out at the beginning of all my seminars. So, I have a good idea what issues parents have been struggling with. One of these is Disrespect for Parents.
https://jokereederarticles.wordpress.com/2018/03/01/disrespect/

When the Carmina Burana baritone soloist collapses, Patrick steps up to save the day with a great performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T2Qc0cn9-c

The common denominator of tyranny and authoritarianism is a demand to agree with authority. Accompanying that is an insistence that you do not look and observe for yourself. The reason for this is that if you looked for yourself you might see the truth rather than the authoritarian line you are being force fed.
Unfortunately these days the education system is the ne plus ultra of authoritarianism in demanding that you not only do not inspect for yourself but that you are forced to learn what is dictated in the fashion dictated, regardless of whether or not that is your best learning style.
This is the opposite of freedom and is a very unfriendly was to lead people. And as an Australian there are two things on which I am keen, freedom and friendliness!
Many’s the stellar sales person I have met who could not easily assimilate the written word but who could listen and recall better than those who could read well.
I went to a workshop last night where the speaker encouraged us to take three areas of our lives (health, relationships and work) and asked us to look closely at what was actually there, not what we were hoping or wished was there or thought we wanted others to know was there or, or or… …but what was ACTUALLY there!
He then asked us to really duplicate that, understand it, and answer the question, “What would happen if you did nothing about that?” asking us to extrapolate into the future the natural consequences of inaction.
And then, “What would you need to do to improve that scenario?”
So, my message to you this week is to, just for a week, take note of your life. Really stop and look at each area of your life, personal health, hobbies and interests, family, friends, social groups, work, the area you live in and see what is really there.
Ask yourself, “If I do nothing to alter this scene, will it head where I want it to go?”
If the answer is, “No”, then ask, “What would I need to do to alter it?”
Remember those who fail to plan are planning to fail.