Thursday, August 23, 2012

A Will of Iron

Do you remember this song, We are the World? It was a very famous and powerful song in its time, partly because so many vocal artists participated, but also because it was an attempt to create a feeling of community and focus on an area of the world in crisis. It was a call for individuals to listen to their hearts, and join together, not only in singing but working together, to strive to make the world a better place, one person and one act at a time.
These feelings and desires usually arise out of crisis. Our movement for religious renewal, the movement of the Red Cross and the movement of Amnesty International, all speak to this.
Today, we are witnessing unrest on a global scale in many areas: political, social, economic, environmental, which in turn is echoed by the Earth itself - weather patterns, earthquakes, flooding, fires, drought. Something new is needed.
In spite of all the good intentions of the United Nations Assembly, many are starting to question its efficacy. Abuses of human rights continue, even in civilized countries like Canada. We are still a long ways from the ideals of the Charter of Human Rights. Why?
This is because our governments lack the political will to embrace these ideals. If there is to be change, it must come from a grassroots movement, from a groundswell of humanity.
Take for example the current crisis in mining interests in South Africa, Latin and South America. An international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights was signed and ratified by over 160 states in 1966. An interesting point is that the United States and South Africa are some of the few holdouts to ratifying this covenant, to this day.
A report is submitted every 5 years by each state and reviewed by a committee of 18 members, who are elected every 4 years. The problem is, this committee has no teeth. An optional protocol to this covenant was created in 2009 which would recognize the competence of the committee to consider complaints from individuals. So far, only 8 parties have signed and ratified this protocol, which requires 10 before it can come into effect. The desire is there, but not the will.
Where governments lack willpower, it must then come from the people. More and more, our ability to show compassion, empathy, love, patience and forgiveness, must come to the fore. This does not come out of ourselves, but out of the working of the Holy Spirit in us. It is the working of the heart. We are beginning to hear and learn more about the unbelievable nature of heart forces. Believe it or not, the heart creates electrical and magnetic waves that can extend many kilometres. Your positive im"pulses" can literally have an effect at a great distance.
What we do as individuals impacts our personal lives; what we do as a collective humanity affects not only the present but the future.
One of my most favorite activities in August is star-gazing. In particular, the Perseid meteor shower. Out of curiosity, I wondered if Rudolf Steiner had anything to say about this particular annual cosmic event. It turns out he did:
It is the cosmic manifestation of the iron of the Archangel Michael's sword, whose purpose is to wage war on, and drive out, anxiety, fear and hate, from our blood, which emotions in turn create illusion and cloud Universal Truth.
Change must come about now through nonviolence, through overcoming hate with love, fear with compassion, anxiety with empathy, woundedness with healing.
Pretty heavy stuff.
Sparky

Friday, August 17, 2012

Fool's Gold

Okay folks, settle in for a lively discussion.
The mention of fool's gold, or pyrite, came up in our discussion group after one particular lecture during the Living Gold conference.
We are starting to realize more and more that the pursuit of money for its own purpose, or immoral purposes, is a "fool's errand". Millions of dollars are exchanged, gained and lost every day on the stock market. A person can be a millionaire on paper, but in reality this means nothing - it is only numbers. It is not a good thing to invest in stocks simply in the hope of increasing one's monetary assets. It means you are receiving something without having worked for it yourself, and in many cases, you don't know and don't care how this stock increases, or dividends are earned. You don't care if it means that other people end up losing their jobs, if it ruins the environment, what long term effects this operation has on future generations. You are separated from the operating and functioning of the company involved. It's like buying a lottery ticket and hoping you will win, it is money you are hoping will somehow magically appear out of nowhere, sometimes for the most selfish and materialistic of reasons. We have all heard the saying, "you can't take it with you." This is fool's gold - the wish for money and material things simply for their own sake.
In the case of Canadian mining interests that are in fact ruining the environment and violating human rights, what can be done? First and foremost, we here in Canada have freedom of speech without fear of being shot at (usually). This means we can speak out, protest, inform, proclaim what is happening. If there is anything a company hates, it is bad publicity. We have the opportunities and possibility to do this, whereas it cannot be done in the area it is actually happening, for fear of reprisals.
Secondly, there can be a healing approach to the damage being done. We know from Dr. Emoto's work, that it is possible for a group to come together and "heal" bodies of water. We know also that the work of our congregations is a very special kind of healing, not just for the members, but also for the region and country in which they live. A spiritual kind of healing which can manifest itself also in the physical world.
Lastly, each of us can work on our own spiritual development until we come to the realization that we are all connected on a higher level, and more and more, even on a physical level. What we think and what we do, really "matters". This sounds a little like Zen or Buddhism, doesn't it? We in the Western world are still discovering and learning how to incorporate ancient Eastern wisdom. Not just from a religious context, but even a scientific one.
Here's a very interesting quote I just came across the other day, by John E. Mack, M.D., Pulitzer-Prize winning author and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School:
"..we are now witnessing a coming together of science, psychology and spirituality after centuries of ideological and disciplinary fragmentation. Both modern physics and depth psychology are revealing to us a universe in which...all that we can perceive around us is connected by resonances, both physical and nonphysical, that can make the possibility of universal justice, truth and love more than just a utopian fantasy."
Next blog, good vibrations and resonating.
Cheers
Sparky


Monday, August 13, 2012

Amnesty International


Hi there, me again.
As I mentioned in my last blog, it is time to shine a spotlight on Canadian mining interests in other areas of the world.
It turns out that Amnesty International is another agency already involved.
Why Amnesty, you might ask?
If you follow it, or have a brief look, you may notice that there was an article in June from Latin America. A female activist was SHOT, while protesting the absence of human rights inculcated by Canadian mining in her area. In Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina, mining interests are given carte blanche to mis-appropriate people's homes and land without compensation, due process, etc.
Executives and government leaders who participate in such decisions and actions may think they do not have to take responsibility because they are at arms-length, but this is not the case. If not in the here and now, we know they will be held accountable to a Higher Court in the future; however, we have seen that more and more, these decision-makers are being held accountable for bad decisions. I wonder where these mining executives would be prosecuted? Perhaps in the World Court in The Hague, where, by the way, another Vancouver organization now has its base - Greenpeace. How ironic!
In my opinion, it's hypocritcal for Canada to critize other countries' human rights violations when we do not hold our companies to account in the countries in which they operate.
In a book I mentioned previously called Presence, by authors Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski and Betty Sue Flowers, examples are given where it is possible for corporations, governments and civil societies to work together, through an agency called Global Leadership Initiative. Where there is a will on the part of the "players", it is possible to sit down and work towards sustainable development. The corporation, Shell International, is a primary example in this book. This is one of the few lights of hope for the future in addressing critical global challenges.
Some people argue that politics (and economics) and religion should not mix, and may wonder why I am doing a blog on such a subject. The fact is that the former has the power to break one's spirit. In some countries, religion is forced to follow the "party line". In some countries, perhaps, the state church is powerless to protect human rights and human dignity. They can only offer hope to their parishioners for a better life in the realm of the heavens.
However, my friends, as we learned during our week at the Living Gold Conference, this is in fact, not the only scenario.
More later.
Sparky

Friday, August 10, 2012

Canadian Mining Interests in South America

Dear Friends,
I would be remiss in being grateful for everything we received during Living Gold 2012, if I did not bring up this subject.
It was put before us, very concisely, by different groups from South America.
Especially for Canadians, who like to think we are one of the "nicest" countries, this is an international disgrace. It is our shame in the most far-reaching sense of the word.
We cannot claim ignorance, now that it has been brought to our attention. It is one of the deepest wrongs in terms of economics, that public shareholders often have no clue as to what a company actually does, or how their operations impact the country in which they are working or have vested interests.
These were words of truth, which we must pay attention to. Not only is the land itself being destroyed, but through the use of poisonous chemicals, the water as well. Try to imagine just exactly how cyanide and mercury destroy the soil and water. Try to imagine what happens to the people working with these poisons, and communities who live nearby. What is it doing to the children??? We have all heard of the long term devastation of nuclear plant meltdowns - this is equally as horrendous.
The huge amounts of water used is water desperately needed for communities.
Canadian mining interests in South America are depriving communities of land and water needed to sustain life itself. It does not provide a great deal of local employment, nor does it mean communities benefit in other ways to much extent, as we all have heard of the corruption in various governments.
It is time to shine a spotlight on these practices, just as was done in the blood diamonds of South Africa.
One only has to take a very short look on the internet to find reliable reports:
Check out articles in The Guardian (Povertymatters blog) and the Smithsonian.com (the devastating costs of the Amazon Gold Rush) for starters.
As global citizens, we cannot pretend that our actions and consumerism here in North America have no impact anywhere else - they can and they do, to our shame. We have to be responsible in terms of what we buy, and where and how we choose to invest. Is it sustainable, how does it impact local communities and economies. Who exactly is benefitting?
It's bad enough we allow these things to happen here at home. It's time we took responsibility for how we impact innocent and vulnerable people elsewhere.

Sparky

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Living Gold 2012 one and a half weeks later

With this post I wish to explain a few things to people who could not make it to the Conference. The photo here is from inside the Shawnigan Lake School Chapel which stands on a huge grounds of stunning landscaping. While not being a stone structure which has stood since the Middle Ages as in Europe, it is still a very beautiful building. Inside it is panelled in fir veneers and solid woods, much of it in old growth clear fir. The alter you see was set up by Bruce before things really got under way on the first evening when Susan Locey gave her opening words "What are we doing here?" The painting is by Christer Ekstrom, some of his works were on sale during the eight days we were there too. I took this picture just before one of the workshops I was attending: 'Music for the Renewed Sacraments - Experience in Listening' led by Lothar Reubke. The workshop was always at the same time of day so the Sun always came through the western windows in just about the same way, yes we had good weather every day too. Most days we had The Act of Consecration of Man with mostly fifteen priests attending! right after breakfast which was usually followed by a lecture on the subjects of physical and spiritual gold, always by a different speaker but often translated by the same fellow (Paul Corman from South America). Sometimes the lectures were in English with Spanish translation, sometimes the other way around; two included slideshows as a supplement. Then after a break we had separate discussion groups to go over with each other what had been covered in the lecture which was sometimes very helpful because the subject matter could at times get very deep and a little hard to understand. After discussions was lunch followed by workshop1 then another break and workshop 2. The workshops covered subjects as diverse as physical crafts, movement as in Spatial Dynamics, comedy class, smaller discussions on different topics, creative writing, bee keeping, singing and so on, I believe there were some thirty 'shops'. Then we had dinner for a while which was always a great time to really talk to others and relax because we knew a real treat was just around the corner. There was Valeria Betancourt from South America who played many pieces, classical and newer on a grand piano without any sheet music visible, at least from where I was sitting! Also two open stage nights with many acts on a whole variety of subjects. A great highlight was stand-up comedy by Ron Koetzsch who poked playful fun at Anthroposophists. There was the Vancouver Camphill presentation of "The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily" play with several people being overheard saying it was the highlight of the Conference. Then at our last full day together we had presentations from the various workshops. It was really interesting to see what everyone else had been up to in the last days, always enlightening, beautiful or entertaining or all at once. Wednesday afternoon, basically in the middle of things, we all had free time with many local excursions underway. Across the road from the school's driveway entrance is their rowing equiptment storage and a dock were one could sit and enjoy the lake or just plain old jump right in! Just as Susan Locey began things, Richard Dancey from Chicago finished it all off after the Act of Consecration with a forum and closing words on the last Sunday. Of course besides check in and check out the "bookends" of these days were mealtimes but the really memorable meal was when we all sang 'Allelujah' in rounds at lunch one day to thank the amazing kitchen staff who worked so very hard to keep everyone in physical nutrition, it seemed everything else was of a spiritual nourishment. Oh, I cannot forget, there was a store set up near the inside of the entry to the huge dining hall where vendors from various countries were selling handmade and other goods, some items were also raffled off during the workshops presentations.
All in all it was a very good experience, I am pretty sure most everyone reluctantly left but with a treasure or treasures to last a very long time.
I was going to include something I wrote from the creative writing class I took there but in lieu of going on too long here I will save that for another time.
With shimmers of gold now floating in ether spaces, until later, from Felix.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

First Impressions - Go Forth With Joy!

My hope is that many other people will find this blogspot to be a way of expressing all the many facets of the Living Gold Conference that occurred last week on Vancouver Island.

So much was given to the participants in such a short period of time that it will take many weeks and months to absorb everything we heard, felt and thought.

In a way it is perhaps best to start at the end and work backwards to the beginning.

As Sunday approached and we were aware that our time together was ending, it was a bittersweet moment. For a few short days, we had been lifted up into a higher realm of consciousness, and it was time to "come back down to earth". Nevertheless, as we prepared to depart, we all did so with a feeling of great joy and thankfulness for the many gifts we had received and the strengthening of community, in a very broad sense of the word.

It will be each individual's task now to take what we have been given, and find ways of allowing this to live in us and through us.

In the workshop presentations Saturday evening, Les Tulloch mentioned that there had been a great deal of healing in the course of the week in his spacial dynamics class.
For me, too, it was a time of spiritual healing. The huge load of pain and grief I had been carrying around for the past 4 years was lifted, and I feel now that I can face whatever comes in the future. I have been given a glimpse of the far distant future, and it will be one of great joy and peace. Similar to giving birth, it makes all the pain and suffering that must occur beforehand, worthwhile.

For my son as well, this will be the greatest birthday gift he could ever receive. Knowing that he belongs to a much larger community than our small outpost in Vancouver and meeting and making many new friends in Los Comunidad Christianos Internationale, both near and far. He will know that he is "held", no matter where he finds himself in the world, and most importantly, connected.

I thank each of you who made this journey with us. For many, it was literally a long and difficult place to get to. For some, who had been to the East Coast, but never to the West, I hope it was a revelation, or perhaps one could even say an apocalypse, or lifting of a veil, to see what lives and is possible, in a different part of the world, or even a continent.

Last but not least, my deepest gratitude to Susan Locey, who is living proof that "In God, all things are possible."

Sparky