UNITY SPIRIT

Walk The Good Red Road, the Beauty Path, is a Native American way of simply saying live a life of compassion, sharing, giving, respect for all life, do no one harm, follow a higher calling and love. Every spiritual, religious ethic carries these same messages.

It further means to honor Mother Earth, and all that is upon it. If we do not care for Mother Earth, She will die, and so will we. There are many who believe the recent natural disasters around the world are a result of imbalance of Mother Earth and She is giving us a wake up call.

We have responsibilities to Mother Earth, to the Creator and to each other. We can never go back to the days of hunter gatherers where no one owned anything yet everyone had enough. But we can assimilate much of that world view into our consumer-based capitalistic society of today. While it has been said that money is the root of all evil, it is actually the excessive pursuit of money that leads to unhappiness and selfishness, and therein lies the evil. We make ourselves unhappy and make others unhappy along the way. We destroy much to gain but a little. And what we gain rarely lasts.

Sometimes we blame all of the world's woes on politicians or large corporations. WE didn't mine the uranium that poisoned the water and scarred the earth for seven generations to come. THEY did it. If we didn't buy the goods, if we didn't support the politicians, if we used legal methods to curtail the destructive raping of the earth, THEY would lose their power and purpose.

Unfortunately, many of us two-leggeds have forgotten the lessons of our elders. Our ancestors weren't perfect either but we have strayed much farther away from the Red Road, following splinter paths that take us to No Where, to No Good or to Unhappiness.

Look around you right now, wherever you are sitting. Is there one item, one thing that you have not used or even thought about in 6 months? Does it serve a purpose in your life? Do you really need it? Whole industries have sprung up selling us things, cabinets, racks, shelves to help us better organize our things. Of course we have things we would never part with. We have things we really need as we each walk our red road, our path. I am not advocating that you throw everything away and live like a hermit! I AM advocating that the more stuff we have, the greater our burden. We need a bigger house. We need a bigger car. Our community needs more houses, schools and roads. We need more money and around the circle we go. Less truly is more.

Give Away

Many societies in time have practiced the give away ceremony,  from the Shakers to many indigenous tribes throughout the world.

There are many ways to give away those things you identified. You can sell them at a garage sale or on line auction ( EBay comes to mind, but they aren't the only site) Then take the money and give it away to a charity that matters to you. Take the money and buy some food for the local food bank. The options are endless, bounded only by the limitations of your situation and thinking.

Take those things and actually give them to a charity such as an abuse shelter or one of many organizations that help other people or animals. Again, you don't need to take a truck load. Your personal give away can be as small as you need or as large. The purpose is to celebrate the give away, and as you do, you give away some of your burdens. Give away from the heart, not to gain something in return. As you give away, you will receive True give away has no strings or pre-planned outcomes.

Celebrate a give away in your life!

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Reconnect with Life                      

Look out your window. It doesn't matter where you live, in a dense urban area or in the country. What do you see? A pigeon? A deer? A tree? A ladybug? Or did you see only the possessions and creations of mankind? That's okay. You just need to look again!! :) Take notice of Mother Earth and Her creations. Practice each day looking for something She created rather than only our temporary creations. Take strength in knowing we are ONE. We are all life. We share the same little earthen marble.

"Take the Long Way Home" was a song in the oh probably early 80's that said it right. Add that to "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast" and with just a little listening and remembering I bet you can list a dozen popular songs with the same theme. Slow down, notice the rose gardens, see the sunset, turn off the danged phone, and live life without Man's constant intrusions and obfuscations. Turn off the TV and music and phones and what do you hear? Even in the city, you can tune your ears to hear the birds, the squirrels, and I admit in the city it isn't easy with fire engines blaring, ambulances screaming; but if we listen, we can hear Mother Earth's other creatures, we can even hear ourselves. For some that is scary, but the other voice needs an ear too.

Reconnect to life. All of it. Take a walk. Tune out MAN for 30 minutes and see what you discover. Thank Mother Earth for water, air and the land we walk on. Thank the Creator for being, for our part in this great puzzle. Don't be surprised if you see others walking too. Smile a hello, acknowledge presence, and keep walking.--

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Thoughts on Ceremony

Rites, or ceremonies are a common human expression of sharing, of thankfulness, of closure and of of joy. Often we dress up for these rites, not only physically in our best "Sunday suit" , but mentally. We "get in the mood" to celebrate or mourn or comfort. Unfortunately, we often ignore the fact that ceremony can be held alone, between us and the Creator, or between us and Mother Earth, the provider and life source. Is there something special in your life tomorrow? A milestone you would like to mark? A celebration at a goal achieved? We didn't achieve it alone. We may have created, accomplished, won a battle, but we did not achieve alone! THANK the Creator or Mother Earth or BOTH! Celebrate! Beat a drum. Dance.

Have you ever wondered about the guy in line behind you who was whistling? That too is celebration SING your song. How about the HUMMER? You know, you are waiting in a line or wander past someone who is humming a tune you may or may not know. Celebration need not be high ritual, only high in thought. If you are thinking happy thoughts or even sad thoughts, if they are from the heart, ceremony is the way to communicate those thoughts.

Many believe that smoke carries our wishes and feelings to the Great Spirit and the souls who have walked beyond. Think about it. Incense in many varieties, scents and shapes. Candles in every scent and color imaginable. Pipes with natural tobacco. Peyote. Weed. Sage. Bonfires. Peaceful fireplace fires. Fire and smoke are used in many Judeo Christian services as well. The Chalice for UUs. Smudging in the Episcopal and Catholic Churches. Candles in almost every organized religion. Are they not all sending our thoughts upward?

You need not be in a church or in an organized ceremony to send your thoughts upward. I knew a cigarette smoker who blew the first four puffs to the directions and then smoked his cigarette away in pleasure. He smoked about 2 packs a day and always practiced this ritual. He said it made him think and thankful.

Think ceremony ! For yourself or with others. It is a good foundation upon which to build wisdom. And with wisdom comes peace and the Knowing.

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I CHOOSE JOY!  This is an 8 page booklet of inspirational thoughts and sayings. It is totally free, no tracers, no spyware. I offer it here for download in Adobe PDF format for all who wish to read it. Download

I can be reached via email at  spider@unityspirit.net

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