High-Power Repairman

http://www.tvkim.com/watch/116/kims-picks-high-power-repairman
I found this moving. This high power repairman is one of those people that makes possible the lives we live. We often forget that, what we take for granted, requires others to have complex skills and courage

Meals as Holy

The Source is an honored guest at every meal. Show it hospitality by taking pleasure in good food and by eating with gusto (Gen 18).

We are not our Habits

We are not our habits, our patterns, or our roles. We are something else altogether.

A Human and a Gorilla Reunite

http://www.tvkim.com/watch/203/kims-picks-gorilla-encounter

A beautiful video story of a human and a gorilla reuniting.

Hidden Anatomical Sketches in Sistine Chapel?

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=michelangelos-secret-message-in-the-2010-05-26
According to some interpreters, the Sistine Chapel paintings contain hidden anatomical sketches

What Underlies Existence

A beating heart, light breathing, oxygen, carbon, the earth, a puff of wind, the hum of life, gravity, quantum waves, dark matter: that which inconspicuously allows existence to exist.

Crackling Fire

The crackling fire inside you is your passport.

Oneness

Many paths, many truths, One Source

Gulf of Mexico Disaster

Gulf disaster: When we wreak havoc on the earth, she vomits back.

Friendship Between Lion, Tiger, and Bear

http://planetsave.com/2009/12/21/friendship-between-lion-tiger-and-bear-video/

The Wizard of Oz comes to life.

Stability

Maintain stability in the face of volatility.

Learning Another Language

Learning another language is an acting exercise. You practice feeling yourself in another’s skin and move to a new beat.

Copernicus Reburied

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=10719548
A moving story, at least for me. A scientific hero, Copernicus (who proved that the earth and other planets orbit the sun), finally gets his due.

Languages and Rhythm

Languages echo the pulsating rhythms of life. To speak or read another language is to feel another rhythm.

Life Pulses

Life pulses to a medley of rhythms.

Martin Heidegger and the Jewish Question

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/books/review/Kirsch-t.html

Two very different approaches to Heidegger’s association with the Nazis. Heidegger is one of the most well-known philosophers of the the 20th century (very influential on post-modern thought) and a leading existentialist thinker

Dreams Flow

Dreams flow from the warm currents of an unseen ocean.

The Real Meaning of University Libraries

http://chronicle.com/article/Marian-the-Cybrarian/65570/

(via Deirdre Good)”Through the many twists and turns of Darnton’s book, one major point emerges: ‘Libraries were never warehouses of books. They have been and always will be centers of learning. Their central position in the world of learning makes them ideally suited to mediate between the printed and the digital modes of communication.'”

Horned Moses

The reason Moses has horns here and in other art works is because Exodus 34:29-35 describes Moses’ face as “qaran,” which is normally translated as “radiant” or “shining.” The Septuagint (Greek Bible) translates it this way. But Hebrew “qaran” also looks and sounds like “qeren,” which means “horn.” The Latin Vulgate version (4th cent. CE) of the Bible translates the description of Moses’ face as “horned” (cornuta). Because of the influence of the Latin Vulgate in European Christianity, the “horned” Moses became the predominant image of Moses in Europe.

I don’t believe that there was anything originally antisemitic in this interpretation, because there are scholars (including Jewish ones) who recognize the possibility of “QRN” as having something to do with “horns.” I’m not even sure that “horned” is a complete mistranslation. Later the reference to horns became part of a stereotypical antisemitic myth, when the horned Moses morphed into the horned Jew. There may still be some in rural areas in the US who believe that Jews have horns. I once jokingly told someone that the reason Jews don’t show their horns is because they’re retractable. We press a button to make them come out.

Happiness in the 21st Century: Dalai Lama

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2010/05/20/4315193-dalai-lama-21st-century-will-be-much-happier

An Oasis in the Wilderness

Sometimes I wander in a desert looking for an oasis. Other times, I have too much water to drink. Now I see: Staggering in the dry sand, I give the desert time to prepare my refreshment.

Social Networking and the Movement of Money and Power

With global social networking, money and power move much more effectively and faster horizontally than they do vertically in traditional structures.

Triumph of Social Networking in Politics

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37468.html
I’m most interested here in social networking and its synergy with media. The triumph of social networking activists on both the left and the right shows the diminishing power of long-established political institutions and traditions. Money and power move faster horizontally than they do vertically. Fast-growing social networking promises just as fundamental changes for other institutions as well: business, education, religion, media, newspapers, publishing, transportation, environment, etc. Organizations that do not transform themselves in fundamental structural ways will find themselves replaced by others that understand the new dynamics.

Breath

When I feel my breath, I feel the presence of the Source. Awake and asleep, I inhale and exhale divine scents.

Watching Whales Watch Us

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/magazine/12whales-t.html
Here’s another article on whales. This one discusses the high level of intelligence and sociability of whales. I have certainly found the experience of a whale on the ocean a spiritual experience and deeply moving. The one I saw was exploring us as much as were exploring it. It seemed close to an encounter with a highly intelligent alien being. The article suggests that perhaps whales are now willing to deal with humans after their long struggles with whaling.

Whaling Industry

http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2010-03/Whaling.html
Here’s one article dealing with whaling as an industry in the first half of the 19th cent. (until the time when petroleum was discovered) and the rough life of whalers.

Flexibility and Perservance

Flexibility–Perseverance: two sides of the same coin

Can Animals Be Gay?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/magazine/04animals-t.html
An intriguing article that talks about animal behavior, the potential insights it gives for human behavior, and the relationship between politics and science.

A Door

Sometimes the door is open. Sometimes the door is closed. Sometimes you have to knock. Sometimes you have to open the door yourself. Sometimes you have to force the door open. Sometimes you have to find another door.

An Adult

He was an adult in a field where there are too many children. The difference between adults and children is that children want power so that they can be somebody, and adults want power so that they can do something.”

Eric Severeid’s radio commentary on the death of John Foster Dulles
in 1959 (via Albert Pennybacker)

Finland’s 100,000 Year-Plan to Banish Its Nuclear Waste

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/science/11nuclear.html

“Onkalo, a tunnel that will hold spent fuel rods 1,600 feet under bedrock in Eurajoki, Finland, is the subject of the documentary ‘Into Eternity.'”

Light in Darkness

Even in the darkest places, there are little slivers of light. Seek them out and begin to heal the world.

Company Gardens

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/dining/12gardens.html

“Workplace gardens are a relatively cheap perk that can put healthy snacks on the conference table.”

Moving from Fragments to Wholes II

Integration and wisdom usually come from the experience of fragmentation, making “mistakes,” and feeling disappointment and pain. I don’t know of many integrated and wise persons who have not gone through a lot in life. So, in that sense, fragmentation is a gift that allows us to experience, or re-experience (if we are speaking from a karmic perspective), the learning of integration and wisdom.

Windmill Worry

Aleph

‎”Aleph” is a soundless Hebrew consonant. Perhaps it preceded Genesis 1:1, which is when the Kabbalists believed creation actually began–in silence before the light was scattered. The Bible actually begins with a “bet,” which is our “b” sound–the pressing and parting of lips.

Aleph-Beth

Aleph-Beth (A-B): That’s how creation began. First breath,then the kiss of lips in voice, finally the universe.

Chemicals and Cancer

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/opinion/06kristof.html

Nicholas D. Kristoff: “The medical establishment has embraced the idea that untested chemicals can cause cancer. It’s time for Republicans and Democrats to address this issue.”

Dream Symbols

Twisting subterranean hallways where symbols merge with life as we know it. A dream showing us the way.

Oh to be a Mountain

Oh to be a mountain calm in the midst of every storm!

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