Self-Evident Truth

All truth passes through three stages:

First, it is ridiculed.

Second, is is violently opposed.

Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

Of Note: It is self-evident truth that Spring is arriving quickly in the northwoods. No need to go through the other two stages. Of course, that cannot be said for scientific disciplines from whence Arthur Schopenhauser, the author of this insightful quote, comes.

Today's Weather Report: Very cloudy, looks like rain. Which is just what happened yesterday after I closed this blog--at 50 degrees snow was not a happening thing. Today it feels very chilly outside even though it's not that cold.

Fortunate to Have Enemies

When studying Ancient Wisdom, some ideas are turned right on their heads. After all, if we are all ONE, how do we deal with the concept of ENEMY? It's such an easy word to throw around, ask any politician. The Masters speak about the matter from eons of experience:

Do not make enemies. This is an enjoinment to all.
Know your enemies, beware of them, stop their actions, but bear no malice.

And if the enemy comes of his own accord under your roof, give him warmth because large is your roof and the newcomer shall not take your place.

But if it is difficult to overcome a deep feeling,
cover it with the smile of LIGHT.

The reason humanity so well remembers Buddha and Christ
is because they were both very fortunate in having powerful enemies.

M. Morya


Of Note: These insightful quotes are from the Agni Yoga series of books, which can be found at www.agniyoga.org. The flaming tree is compliments of my talented sister, Marie.

Today's Weather Report: It's early yet, so the final temp is not yet set. But, it looks to be a bright, sunshiny kind of day. Yesterday I was stunned to find no snow in the field. Last week, there was a foot! Though, the weatherman said that Duluth will get 4 to 6 inches of snow today, and the storm is heading this way.

Apache Blessing

May the sun bring you new energy by day,
May the moon softly restore you by night,
May the rain wash away your worries,
May the breeze blow new strength into your being.

AND MAY THE SNOW TAKE A HIKE
SO GARDENING CAN COMMENCE.

Amen.



Today's Weather Report: This photo was shot from the front door late yesterday afternoon--thus, I felt compelled to make the irreverent addition to this beautiful Apache blessing. My apologies to CEO God and all his Emissaries. But, hey, it's 52 degrees, give or take a few, and I am READY to get out and dig some dirt. One good rain, and I'd have the trowel out for sure!

Forced to Take Action

Passion begins with a burden
and a split second moment
when you understand
something like never before.

That burden is on those who know.
Those who don't know are at peace.

Those of us who do know get disturbed
and are forced to take action.

These moving words were spoken by Wangari Maathai, the first African woman and environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. Her claim to fame? Inspiring others to plant 40 million trees across Africa--with little money or official backing. In this case, she felt compelled to take action because of her deep seated belief that protection of the environment promotes democracy. These are strong words for a Kenyan woman who lives in lands that tout democracy, only to fall to dictators in a cycle that's been repeated over and over again.

Another Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jimmy Carter, has a similar mission as a visionary forced to take action. Through the Carter Center Peace Program, the gap between the rhetoric of human rights and democratic values and the reality is bridged through "election observation, consensus-building for international standards of democratic elections and democracy-strengthening activities in emerging democracies and regional organizations." The Center has an impressive record and is a beacon for those countries wanting to make the trek to democracy with the aid of a non-governmental organization led by a compassionate former United States President.

Equally as important to the spreading of democracy was Jimmy Carter's story about eradication of the guinea worm that is endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa and India. One day as he toured for the Carter Center, he noted an African woman writhing in pain, clutching her massively, swollen breast. None of the women who sat beside her paid any attention to her suffering. Upon inquiring, the former President uncovered that the woman suffered from Guinea Worm Disease, an endemic water-borne disease, contracted when infested water was consumed.

Inside the body, the guinea worm larvae go to work as hungry parasites in the intestine. Over a year's time, they grow into torturous 2 to 3 foot long adult worms that eventually and painfully tunnel their way out of the body, only to emerge from an open sore on the skin. The treatment? Winding the lengthy guinea worms on a stick while slowly and again quite painfully pulling the parasite out over the course of several months. That's a gruesome picture that only the devil would find delightful. As a matter of fact, the official name is dracunculiasis--the serpent disease.

When viewing the devastation from a population perspective, the picture was even more grim. The ubiquitous disease debilitated whole communities so that scores of sickened multi-generational families could not care for themselves. Children could not attend school. Farmers could not plant. Villages survived on international aid not because they wanted to, but because they were forced to. It goes without saying that nations founder without healthy productive, educated citizens, and evolution is slowed to a crawl. Development is stopped in its tracks.

It was during the painful, pre-emergence stage of Guinea Worm Disease that the former President had seen the beleaguered woman surrounded by the others. No one did anything because they couldn't do more until the nasty beast came through the skin. Time was the only cure known to these people.

Jimmy Carter then had what I would call a Wangari Maathai Nobel Peace Prize moment: he knew something like never before, got deeply disturbed by the knowledge and was thus forced to take action.

That's when the Carter Center got involved and decided with its partners that eradication was the primary solution. This was revolutionary, really, to consider eradication of an endemic disease that had plagued the Sub-Saharan since time immemorial. But the center found the simple answer in a water filter. Yes, a simple water filter.

So without further adieu, these inexpensive devices were purchased and distributed to communities. And the Guinea Worm larvae which used to bring such misery was on it's way to total eradication thanks to the Carter Center and its partners. Good riddance.

All it took was a decision that Africans were worth the effort, determination that an answer was possible and money, of course, to carry out the plan. For the first time, whole communities were set free of this monstrous disease and found a "new normal" in productive living. The picture was now brighter in these Guinea Worm Disease eradicated areas. Farmers returned to the fields and children trekked to now full schools. Mothers did not have to sit by as health aids pulled merciless worms from the bodies of their crying children.

But there is more to do before the pall of ill-health is raised from the African continent. Besides Guinea Worms, the Carter Center also goes after other African scourges that have long kept the continent down. River Blindness, Trachoma, Malaria, Lymphatic Filariasis, and Schistosomiasis also have the center's attention for eradication. More about the work of this farsighted and compassionate organization can be found at www.cartercenter.com.

But, I must warn you. Be prepared to be moved. And then watch your wallet. These programs may scream out for you to take action, particularly if you have a Wangari Maathai moment yourself.

Of Note: By now, you know that the talented photographer of many of these pictures is my sister, Marie. This picture was chosen because of the inherent beauty crystallized in plants and as a tribute to the courageous Kenyan environmentalist, Wangari Maathai.

Today's Weather Report: Boy, yesterday it got up to 51 degrees, surpassing the uppers 40's I originally reported. The snow is just flying away now. Off in the distance, the steps up to the path into the woods are just peaking through. Alleluhiah, I think we made it unscathed through another Wisconsin winter!

Illusions

The greatest obstacle to
discovery is not ignorance,
it is the illusion of knowledge.


Daniel J. Boorstin
Pulitzer Prize Winning Historian

Of note: This is just one of thousands and thousands of rocks in my garden. Of course, it is for you to guess whether there is one or two.

Today's Weather Report: Could spring finally have arrived? Maybe so. The temp is in the upper 40's, and the snow is running from the hot sun rays.

A Couple of Firsts

Milestones are often an important indicator of change. Therefore, when watching for change as I do, tracking firsts is one means of doing that. 2008 might go down as a banner year for first time events. Here are a few.

--The Vatican announced Monday that Muslims outnumbered Roman Catholics for the first time as the largest religious denomination in the world. The Vatican's statistician, Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, placed the Catholic number at 1.13 billion, which represented 17.4% of the world's population. Muslims stood at 19.2%. The monsignor noted that while the Catholic figure were fairly stable, the Muslim percentage grew because of an escalating birth rate (WSJ, 3-31-08.)

One wonders if the statistics were inflated with non-practicing Catholics and Muslims. If that were the case, a significantly smaller number of Roman Catholics might be the result, although the Muslim figures would most likely stay the same. If this was true, the number of Muslims would have overcome the Roman Catholics before now.

Not a big deal to some, but a worry for many nations like France. In that country non-practicing, secular Catholics no longer fill the Church's coffers and have low birth rates; a situation that is unlikely to change. On the other hand, the Muslim population is increasing greatly--so much so that there is talk that someday minority Muslims could become the majority in Europe. Europeans tremble at the thought.

--A newly released United Nation's population study revealed that by year's end, more than half the world's population would live in cities for the first time. Most of this shift has taken place in Asia, particularly China, although newly emerging India has contributed its share of city migration. By the year 2025, 27 megacities with 10 million plus inhabitants will have sprouted in such places as Lagos, Nigeria, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Paris, France.

These behemoths will join Toyko which was expected to have reached 36.4 million by then, and 20.6 million will call Kolkata, India home. By the year 2050, not too far down the road, the world population will have mushroomed to 9.2 billion people with 6.6 billion of them living in cities. At that point, 70% of Chinese will live in cities compared to 40% currently. Even sleepy Africa is expected to follow the same tend. By 2050 half of it's population will live in cities (AP, 3-31-08.)

The question of resources is obvious; therefore, I wonder if these predictions will come to fruition. Thomas Malthus was famous for his theories about non-sustainable populations. In 1798, he was famously quoted as saying:"The power of population is so superior to the power of Earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race." To date, he has been proven wrong because technology and new resource discoveries have always saved the day (WSJ, 3-24-08.) Whether this techy salvation will continue is open to speculation. Some believe that Mr. Malthus may have been a prophet before his time, and that now is the time of which he was speaking.

--In 2008 China will produce more carbon monoxide than the United States for the first time. It was expected to take place later this year, but may already have occurred. China's growing economy has also allowed China to overtake America in number of cell phones this year as well.

It's not so much that America was overtaken on these two accounts, but that it took China so long to catch up. But catch-up they have with avengeance this year. There will most likely be a long list of firsts for China as the next few years unfold. I expect even more firsts this year such as the Beijing Olympics. Who would ever have thought when the Olympic Committee awarded the summer games to Beijing all those years ago, that China would be where it is today. Amazing, really.

--Cuba opened its previously foreigner-only stores to its citizens for the first time this week. Not only were they allowed to buy cell phones as previously mentioned in this blog, the excited shoppers gauked at DVDs, TVs and other consumer goods imported from China and other friendly nations. Since the average pay in this communist enclave is $19.50 a month, most didn't have enough money to buy the goods, but enjoyed looking none-the-less. That situation is expected to change for the better as more people begin to participate in a more normal living environment post Fidel Castro.

Even more importantly from a production standpoint, was the government's new policy on land use announced this week as well. Up until now, 51% of the arable land remained fallow, and the Cubans were itching to till that unused soil. Now, they will get their chance. Exportable goods such as coffee and tobacco for cigars were mentioned as produce of choice rather than food, but it showed a promising start to reforms (AP, 4-2-08.)

--And lastly, technology experienced a first with the demonstration of a $299 headset that allows users to "control simple actions within games using their thoughts." The device works by measuring electrical activity in the brain and is fairly primitive. However, the first phase of these futuristic headsets will be delivered to gamers by the Emotiv Company later this year.

What's even more fascinating is the company's collaboration with IBM which could lead to thought controlling headsets for use in virtual worlds. You've heard about these make-believe places that are described by those in the know as "free-form on-line environments in which players assume the roles of characters called avatars." Didn't I see that in the sci-fi movies somewhere? Well, the "some time in the distance future" might be right around the corner starting quietly in 2008. Stay tuned. I would imagine that this potentially news provoking discovery will not stay quiet for long.

Of Note: This watchful Indian photo was taken by me last year. I admire the little guy because he keeps an eye on our expansive yard year-round. He seems a good mascot for this blog about watching for change, don't you think?

Today's Weather Report: Partly cloudy but a balmy 41 degrees. The road has gone to mush again. Jim and I always have a bet on the day the ice goes off the lake. I always lose, but told him this year I'd bet on April 11th. Why? For the last two years, that's the exact date the ice broke up. Looking outside today, that doesn't seem possible. But I'll let you know what happens..

Stretched

The universe is not to be narrowed down
to the limits of our understanding.

But our understanding
must be stretched and enlarged
to take in the image of the universe
as it is uncovered.

Francis Bacon

Of Note: Marie took this picture on one of her sojourns out west. See how the fence got swallowed by the sand dune? Reminded me of the infinite. Francis Bacon was a mystic scientist who saw in his mind's eye the intersection of science and spiritual reality.

Today's Weather Report: April 1st and it's bright and sunny again. The blizzard dumped 6 to 8 inches of snow, though that's most likely the last.