The Un-changing Importances

With all the severe weather in the UK, many people are realising that climate change is not theoretical but something which is beginning to affect us all, Having been without running water for some weeks at home ( along with countless others) it brings home just how vulnerable we actually are when weather conditions change and we are unprepared for it.

I heard from a friend with contacts in come of the latest climatology research that for the first time ever, satellites observed that the North Atlantic Drift had stopped for about an hour a few weeks ago ...something unprecedented to our best knowledge. Not being a scientist myself, I googled the North Atlantic Drift to understand the implications. It said that it is a warm current without which Britain and Northern Western Europe would have the same climate as Canada! OK...food for thought there ...and isn't it extraordinary that such important information doesn't even make the news?

More than ever, there is a growing sense that we are in somewhat unpredictable times ...and it is un-nerving for many.

Yet when times are difficult, it really highlights some of the unchanging importances..and in particular how important people are for each other ...the kindness, the caring , the helpful acts which count for everything in maintaining the quality and humanity of life ...just as they always have and always will.

And isn't it always so deeply re-assuring and encouraging when you walk out after the snow and see through the thawing ground, the snowdrop bulbs re-appearing


...hope springs anew always....and spring brings hope and new beginnings....surely such a great analogy for these current times!

Serendipity!

After yesterday's post, by sheer coincidence, ( sheer coincidence??!!) I received today a link which takes us on a trip round the planet with views from a low flying satellite.


Just copy and paste the following for a great experience!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZObXgVNlRo&feature=player_embedded

Rising above the Local View

One of the happenings of the last fifty years has been man's space travel. When we first saw photographs of the earth from space, it was absolutely awesome - our first view of our beautiful blue planet. Now we receive images regularly from all over the universe...of the planets, stars and galaxies.

Yet, I have been reading recently some of the quotes from some of the early space explorers and what their experience caused in them. It was really inspiring to me and I felt offered some real encouragement to rise above the local view ....so thought I'd share some on the blog.

Here are a few of them

" The first day or so, we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day, we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one earth." Sultan Bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Arabia


"As I looked down.....I watched the extent of one ocean touch the shores of separate continents. Two words leaped to mind....commonality and interdependence. We are one world. John-David Barton USA

" Having seen the sun, the stars, the planet, you become more full of life, softer. You begin to look at all living things with real trepidation and you begin to be more kind and patient with the people around you." Boris Volynov USSR

These are just three but there were hundreds of quotes , well worth researching 'space quotes' on google ...each one of them was so touching and moving.

Getting ahead of the action/reaction ...

So much of human history has been based on a sort of action/ re-action. One person does X so another person does Y.....Perhaps the easiest to see examples of this are in countries, or religions going to war with each other....France's and Germany's history with each other is a prime example of this. Or another example is the church's reaction to the new discoveries of the Renaissance in the sixteenth century where they could only base their views against the dogma of the past and re-act to the new thinkers and brand them as heretics. Often, the really new arisings in history cause a major re-action as it threatens the old order. At a more local level, we all know the story of kids re-acting against their parents through the centuries....more of this action / re-action.

New science is confirming today what mystics and Eastern theology has propounded for millennium...that we are all part of an interconnected living web....how we think, how we re-act, actually alters what happens to us, and alters the world we live in ...so what better topic of contemplation for any thinking person than to consider what they actually want in their life....not only based against the past, but with a vibrant view to the future they would want to build.

I was reading a book recently, which dealt a great deal in revenge...and I found it poignant and profoundly sad. One person is offended by what they consider foul behaviour from another and then enter this tangled web of paying them back. They start to engage in the very kind of thing that offended them in the first place. In other words, they move away from who they really are, away from the best of themselves, and become more like the person or incident which has upset them. Expressions get used like 'what goes around comes around' but what a very unfortunate and personal adding up about the meaning of a profound statement which reflects the truth that life is accountable.

Something I personally find really useful is when I feel myself getting drawn into conflict...is to go through a three step process... See it from my point of view, then imagine it from the other's viewpoint, then thirdly try to find some third place, some neutral context to try to see something of the truth and flaws in both sides of the story , try to rise above the bias of both of us and find a new context within which to re-appraise the whole situation.

So, with a revenge situation , a person might pause when they feel themselves drawn into this to and fro, this see saw effect .."they did this to me, so I'll do this to them"....and stop and consider firstly perhaps what provoked the first action, secondly what they really think about the vengeful thoughts they are having, and thirdly the context might be what kind of future do they really want, and whether the consequences of their re-actions are where they want to be heading. This rises above the action /rea-action where one's past governs one's future and instead one's intention about the future pulls one's forward.

It's a much brighter and more positive energy.


And wouldn't it be so brilliant, if we collectively begin to build the history we want, and let the worst of the past stay right there..in the past?

The Ocean

A friend today emailed me some fascinating facts about the ocean ...sent out by Conservation International

70% of the world's surface is covered by ocean yet only 1% of Earth's oceans are protected

1 billion people depend on the ocean for it's main source of protein

70-80% of the oxygen we breathe is produced by the oceans

90% of large predatory fish such as cod, shark or blue fin tuna have almost disappeared world wide. ..these top predators being an absolutely vital part in the food chain

1 in 4 of all marine species live on coral reef eco sytems yet already 20% of the worlds coral sytems have been lost and another 20% degraded.

The figures go on and on but rather than blind ourselves with figures and stats , how about considering that this state of affairs has only occurred because of the way people have thought, the kind of lack of value and forethought that has allowed
it to happen.....It strikes me yet again, how utterly vital it is for us to think as citizens of the planet, with respect for the whole eco-system and the part all life plays with it. To think with self interest, either individually or as a country is simply a non sustainable way of going on ...as the current trends demonstrate all too well.

New Discoveries

Looking this morning at the online Telegraph's article about new species of plants and vertebrates discovered in the Amazon was very inspiring ..apparently over 1200 new species discovered over the past decade and another new one every three days or so ...many weird and wonderful exotic birds, spiders and animals....breathtaking really!

Chatting to a friend by email about this , his response was "Thank God we shall never know everything of the gifts that are around us. Similar discoveries keep an edge on our appetite to ever look forward"

What a great attitude, I thought... ( especially as the person concerned is not far from 80 years old)...to look beyond the thrill of the physical discovery and appreciate how important it is to keep that sense of search in the human faculty alive and active.

In many ways, compared to just a few centuries ago, we know so much about the physical world around us ...and such knowledge is widely available....but how much do we really know about the human faculty? Even today, scientists estimate we probably only use about 10 or 20% of our brain capacity ....so what a great search to find ways to bring more of it out of latency...to develop the new faculties this might release and discover the unknown possibilities of ourselves !

Ladies in Kenya - pioneering a more humane world

I went to a very inspiring talk & slide show last night by Mary Noble, one of the founders of an educational organization for women called Feminenza who are working in Kenya in the area of Forgiveness and Reconciliation. They are going to be training forgiveness and reconciliation councillors, with the help of funding from Unifem, part of the United Nations.

Wow, what a very refreshing evening ! We all know what a very troubled continent Africa is, and particularly distressing is the ongoing conflict and violence between various tribes. The ladies who are gong to be taking part in this training are all women who are working on various initiatives such as schools, churches, peace groups who are intent on leaving behind the violence and helping build a new more unified and harmonious future. We saw slide after slide of those gorgeous bright faces, with eyes which reflected both the suffering they had gone through and the determination and hope for a better tomorrow.

You could feel too a deep humanity and bright spirituality. This feels so much the way of the world citizens of tomorrow...positively seeking to leave behind the cruel aspects of history and actively pathfinding new ways to build a kinder, more humane world.

All strength to them!