Community | Bonnie Barnard - Part 5

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Politics, Conflict and Division

A beloved friend of mine has gone through a treacherous week of FaceBook bashing for his political views. On his FB page a mini-war has erupted with name calling directed at him. He called me really torn up inside. He is a deep, deep lover of humanity and serves his community through action. He is a good guy. And, his political views aren’t mine. Neither are the views of half of my friends. Half of my friends are Democrats and half are Republicans; and I don’t love either group of my friends more or less because of the road each party believes will create our brightest future. Somewhere in our history we have trained ourselves to hate the people, not the views. To attack people, not the views. To kill people, not views. Hate, attack, and killing views or people have never worked, anyway. People become damaged or dead and views still remain. In a dualistic world we will always have black and white, right and left,...

YOU Can’t Make Me!!

There is some High Spiritual Truth in the childish saying “YOU Can’t Make Me!” My friend Glenda would add “I am boss of myself.” Each one of us is at choice and held responsible by the choices we make. Newton’s third law of motion says for every action there is a reaction. The Buddhist would call it karma; what I do to others, I do to myself. The Jew and Christian would say we sow what we’ve planted. No one else is responsible for me. I am the choice maker, I am it. With that said, I have made a commitment to myself to disengage from the public political conversation based within the paradigm of right and wrong, we and they, and hold counsel within my own being aligning to a Presence and Power far greater than divisive politics. My commitment is to come from a place of Love in all discourse, or to not open my mouth. I have come to know words usher in an...

Six Impossible Thoughts Before Breakfast

In the movie Alice in Wonderland, Alice says “I sometimes think of six impossible things before breakfast.” This past weekend I attended a two day conversation with Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith where he began by inviting the group to enter into the spiritual practice of stretching our minds daily by making a list of at list six things we find impossible. The underlying premise is the more I mentally stretch, the less impossible and more possible something feels. I began my list. 1. Ten thousand regularly readers read my blog. 2. Grocery stores decide to sell only organic food which is affordable to all. 3. The song I write is recorded by Lady Gaga and tops the chart. 4. Individuals realize how powerful they are and harness this power to transform the relationships with others in the world. 5. War ceases within my lifetime and I have to explain to my grand daughter what it once “was.” 6. I live from a place which accepts and doesn’t...

Something Fishy Is Going On

Taking my seat in a large auditorium church, it is day two of a much anticipated conference. After a few minutes of sitting I notice something smells fishy. I raise my hands to my face. No, it’s not my skin. My skin smells like the just applied “Falling in Love” lotion I lathered on after my shower. I pull softly on my blue and white guaze top and smell the corner of it while looking around the room as though I always do this and it smells freshly laundered. Nothing. Then I look to the right. There is a woman with short brown Liza Minelli cut hair, a ruddy face and overexuberant disposition. I lean into her to hug her and eeeek, it is her. She stinks. She smells of, not old seafood from a diner platter the night before, but from “I took raw salmon skin and rubbed it on my body this morning as my new lotion.” I couldn’t believe it. My gag reflexes set in and...

Remembering: Ghost Bikes

This weekend I drove from Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, NV to return my daughter and grand daughter to their home. Always the consummate curiosity seeker, I see out of the corner of my eye a bicycle by the side of the road. “Oh my God, did you see that? Someone left their bike by the side of the road and it is all white!” I said to my daughter. We did a U-turn and a slow drive by. It appeared to be a “ghost bike.” A ghost bike, is a memorial for individuals who where hit by cars; reminding cars to be awake to all road activity. For me, it was a reminder of how quickly and suddenly we can leave this earth. One moment I could be rocking my grand child, hiking in the mountains, sleeping in bed, or riding a bike; the next moment my physical life is complete. With no cars in sight, I pull to the side of the road to get...

Supporting a Dream

My friend Paul Dillon is a wonderful man and powerful musician. He had a dream. His dream was to have his third CD, Brand New Day, professionally mastered and packaged by Grammy award winning master, David Glasser. The cost of this dream; $2,500. Few people have a dream. Fewer still, pursue the vision brewing within them. A very small number actually follow through to completion. One of the many self-imposed obstacles? Money. This is where Paul was brilliant! He set up an account with www.kickstarter.com. He laid out his vision, and suggested pledge amounts with accompanying gifts. He then sent an invitation to his friends, colleagues, and acquaintances with the opportunity to support him in fulfilling his dream. A $10 pledge would yield a downloadable CD. Add a copy of a CD to the downloadable for $25. A pledge of $50 would get the donor two signed CDs. $100 could buy your name on the CD cover as a supporter and $500 would give you a private concert in your...