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Comment by Ron Alexander 18 hours ago

My big part on an off-broadway "play".
Back in the 80's., I sailed into South St. Harbour on my cruise from the South to New England to teach Marine Science Under Sail. This was in May, and in Sept., I would sail back South to teach in the Bahamas. One of my students was a psychologist who lived in the village. She shared a big apartment, which included a stage and room for a small audience. There, she co-directed a therapeutic play called "play-back theater". I happened to be part of an audience (had to be approved by client) that was observing a woman who was having a drama about as puzzling dream. She told us about the dream. She was sitting with her Mother, and they were reviewing their life together in a healing way, when all of a sudden there was a catastrophe, and the dream ended. She picked out members of the audience to play different parts. She picked a woman to play her Mother, and then me to play the "catastrophe". I was directed to intuitively decide what the problem would be. There was a large stage spotlight, and a variety of props to use to create the scene. The woman told me when in the conversation with her Mother - the disturbance would occur - a cue sentence. When she got to that scene, I had figured out what I would do to create the dream-ending occurence.
I threw a black cloth over the spotlight. Everyone froze at my action - a perfect way to create a catastrophe.
My claim to fame on the stage off Broadway - way off!

Comment by John DiStefano on November 26, 2009 at 7:10am

Here's My Synchronicity Story. Hope You Enjoy!


Synchronicities
Paying It Forward --my own story of yesterday -- November 19th, 2009

I know that my own health has lately hindered my ability to honor any commitments that I have made including doctor's appointments themselves. At one point late last week I told the doctor's office receptionist after having missed my second consecutive appointment that I hadn't intentionally done it, and that the underlying reason for doing so was that I was feeling rather ill. After making my third appointment for later that day and heading down the road in a spare car that hadn't been used in at least a month or two, I then ran out of gas only minutes from my home, and had to pull off the road. I then proceeded to call back the doctors office and pleaded for more time as unfortunately I had just experienced some car trouble while traveling down the road to get there. They reluctantly gave me 15 more minutes time, and I then quickly called the auto club (AAA) to get help on the way andbegged for their speediest response as I risked missing an extremely important doctor's appointment . They had arrived in what seemed less than ten minutes and I was off and running again, and surprisingly I was then able to arrive 15 minutes earlier than my originally scheduled appointment. Now you may think that this little story ends right here, however, it simply doesn't.

At the doctors office appointment It was determined that more blood work would be necessary and that I would need to head right over to the lab to get that taken care of. I then sped over to the lab which was located only a few minutes away, and was then informed by the nice phlebotomist there, that I needed to give two rounds of blood samples and that they needed to be taken at least 15 minutes apart, however, the lab itself was to be closing in only 10 minutes and that all the lab work for the day was actually going to be picked up right around that time by a driver too. A seemingly impossible task it was as we quickly set forth getting the first round of blood samples drawn and waiting the required time between drawing the final samples. Soon the driver had arrived to pick up all the work for that day and the phlebotomist had urged him to hang on or come back in about ten minutes or so which heluckily agreed to do, and the blood work was finally completed and I was soon on my way out the door to my parked car. With a long sigh of relief I headed towards the gasoline station, as I now had to fill the nearly empty gas tank or else I risked running out of gas again, a certainly dreadful thought. I had enough of a time paying for the gas itself and getting the pump to work when an asian fellow carrying a small red gasoline jug suddenly approaches me and kindly asks me if I can possibly help him out by driving him back near the highway to where his parked car is located, as he had previously run out of gas there. I told him that he could not have called upon a better person for this as I too had run out of gas during the day and that I would even do better than just getting him down the road and would instead drive him right over to where his car was and help him out in any way that I possibly could as well, and to which I certainly did.
~ Life sometimes sure has a funny way of seeing us down the road. ~

Comment by BenTwig on November 25, 2009 at 9:30am

So beautiful the dawn... before the focus of the lit or dimly shadowed laden wet and cold, rest upon the waking eye of a human care... beyond a dusk's desire intented or unaware.

Comment by The Ancient One on November 25, 2009 at 6:05am

Friendship's Flower
by Helen Steiner Rice

Life is like a garden
And friendship like a flower,
That blooms and grows in beauty
With the sunshine and the shower.

And lovely are the blossoms
That are tended with great care,
By those who work unselfishly
To make the place more fair.

And, like the garden blossoms,
Friendship's flower grows more sweet
When watched and tended carefully
By those we know and meet.

And, if the seed of friendship
Is planted deep and true
And watched with understanding,
Friendship's flower will bloom for you.

Comment by Ron Alexander on November 22, 2009 at 6:32pm

Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's quote:
"The older I get the more beautiful life becomes."

My adds:
The older I get the more peaceful life becomes.
The older I get the more softer I become.
The older I get the more joyous I become.
The older I get the more accepting I become.
The older I get the more enthusiasitic (as compared to excited) I become.
The older I get the more balanced (yin and yang, anima & animus) I become.
The older I get the more happy I am!
The older I get the more healthier food I consume.
The older I get the more water I drink

You add?

Comment by Ron Alexander on November 1, 2009 at 7:38pm

Whether we use God, The Universe, Love, Great Mystery, Source of All That Is, we're all connected .. . I LOVE that this story is true!

Beautiful story..... makes you understand that things happen for a reason
The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned
to their first ministry, to reopen a church
in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October
excited about their opportunities When they saw
their church, it was very run down and needed
much work. They set a goal to have everything
done in time to have their first service
on Christmas Eve.


They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls,
painting, etc, and on December 18
were ahead of schedule and just about finished.
On December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving
rainstorm - hit the area and lasted for two days.
On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church.
His heart sank when he saw that the roof had
leaked, causing a large area of plaster about
20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just

behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.

The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor,
and, not knowing what else to do but postpone
the Christmas Eve service, headed home.


On the way, he noticed that a local business was
having a flea market type sale for charity so he
stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful,
handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth
with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross
embroidered right in the center. It was just
the right size to cover up the hole in the front
wall. He bought it and headed back to the church..

By this time it had started to snow. An older
woman running from the opposite direction was
trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor
invited her to wait in the warm church for
the next bus 45 minutes later.



She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor
while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put
up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor
could hardly believe how beautiful it looked, and
it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center
aisle. Her face was like a sheet.. "Pastor,"
she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check
the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into
it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had
made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor
told how he had just gotten the tablecloth. The
woman explained that before the war she and
her husband were well-to-do people in Austria .

When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave.
Her husband was going to follow her the next week.
He was captured, sent to prison and never saw her
husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth;
but she made the pastor keep it for the church.
The pastor insisted on driving her home; that
was the least he could do.. She lived on the other
side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn
for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas
Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the
spirit were great. At the end of the service, the
pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door,
and many said that they would return.

One older man, whom the pastor recognized
from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the
pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he
wasn't leaving.

The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on
the front wall because it was identical to one
that his wife had made years ago when
they lived in Austria before the war ... and how
could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

He told ! the past or how the Nazis came, how he
forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was
supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and
put in a prison.. He never saw his wife or his home
again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to
take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten
Island and to the same house where the pastor
had taken the woman three days earlier.

He helped the man climb the three flights of
stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on
the door, and he saw the greatest Christmas
reunion he could ever imagine...

True Story - submitted by Pastor Rob Reid
Who says God does not work in mysterious ways...

Comment by Claudia Patton on October 26, 2009 at 1:33pm

Thought of the Day by Story Waters, 10/26/09


Love is freedom. It is the foundation upon which you create. Unconditional love can only birth through loving your Self for you cannot love anyone more than you unconditionally love yourself. All love you give to others that you do not give to yourself is conditional love as it represents a separation rather than unification between you. Loving without condition connects the fabric of reality.

Comment by Ron Alexander on October 26, 2009 at 12:47pm

Hemingway was once asked for the shortest story ever: He came up with a 6 word one - "Baby shoes for sale, never worn."

Comment by Austin Maxwell on October 12, 2009 at 4:40pm

In partial response to Rev. Levi Walker - I received these words a couple years ago: True Love is all the things you ever thought it should be ... but couldn't change yourself enough to experience. How's that for soem food for thought?!! It came to me late one night, as I was 'bedding down' and more than half-asleep! I had no recollection of writing it, but couldn't disown it as it was in my own handwriting!! I've had that kind of experience a number of times now, in the past 2 - 3 years or so. Never ceases to amaze me!
Blessings always, all ways,
Austin

Comment by Devin Alaric Mikles, MD, FACP on October 7, 2009 at 10:29pm

Craig, Very nice, I like it, and it is "Haiku'ish" but not true to Haiku form which is traditionally 17 syllables in the form 5/7/5 like this:

Healing hands rest
Here bind chaos, flow it out
Leave stillness and grace.

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