The Dash
copyright 1996 Linda Ellis
********************

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth...
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars....the house...the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.


Paintings by Susan Boulet.....

 Tell me and I'll forget.
Show me, and I may not remember.
Involve me, and I'll understand.
-Tribe Unknown
Plant trees for life.....



Every sixty seconds, thirty acres of rain forest
are destroyed in order to raise beef for fast
food restaurants that sell it to people, giving
them strokes and heart attacks, which raise
 medical costs and insurance rates, providing
 insurance companies with more money to invest
 in large corporations that branch out further
 into the Third World so they can destroy
 more rain forests."
-George Carlin, comedian

Please read The Invitation &
In These Rooms.


 
In These Rooms
by Barton

In these rooms
I have bared what was left
of my sorry soul
I have shed tears that,
until this time, fell only on deaf ears
I have held the hands of those
I would never before have touched
And I have found what was once
 lost in a world that only cares for itself.

In these rooms
I have seen pain that can only
be compared with chilldbirth
I have heard stories worthy of
 telling others for many lifetimes
I have seen many who could not
accept the gift that is continually offered
And I have found love so pure
that no one willing could deny its existence.

In these rooms
I have watched as gentle people
 threw themselves back to the wolves
I have prayed with those who,
 like myself, could not believe
I have wept for others who,
until now, I would never have noticed
And I have found a truth, that
for most, is as elusive as the holy grail

In these rooms
I have fallen in love, made and
lost friends and let you love me
I have been touched so deeply,
and I pray that I will never forget
I have made promises for the
promises that have been promised to me
And I have found God, not in the heavens,
but in the hearts of those
In these rooms

 
They took all the trees
And put them in a tree museum
And they charged all the people
A dollar and a half just to see'em.
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone.
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot.
Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi






The Invitation 

It doesn't interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and if
you dare dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me
how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk
looking the fool for love,
for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have
touched the center of your sorrow,
if you have been opened up
by life's betrayals or have
become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you
can sit with pain, mine or your own,
if you can dance with wildness
and let ecstasy fill you to
the tips of your fingers
and toes without cautioning
us to be careful, be realistic,
or to remember the
limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you
are telling me is true. I want to know
if you can betray another to be true to yourself;
if you can bear the
accusation of betrayal and not
betray your own soul.
I want to know if you
can be faithful
and therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you
can see beauty even when
it's not a pretty day, and if you can
source your life from God's presence.
I want to know if you can
live with failure,
yours and mine, and stand on
the edge of a
lake and shout to the silver light
of a full moon, 'Yes!'
It doesn't interest me to know
where you live or how much
money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone,
and do what needs to
be done for the children.
It doesn't matter who you are,
or how you
came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or
what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what
sustains you from the inside
when all else falls away. 
I want to know if you can be
alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company
you keep in the empty moments.
~Oriah Mountain Dreamer ~
(A Native American Elder)  




www.hopilegends.com  
hand made Native
American Jewelry,
Kachina Dolls certified authentic

http://LivingEarth.imagekind.com/


Plant & Protect Trees For Life....

 


Painting by bret blevins
 
Grand Canyon
You ever been to the Grand Canyon?
Its pretty, but thats not the thing of it.
You can sit on the edge of that big ol’
thing and those rocks… the cliffs and
rocks are so old… it took so long for
 that thing to get like that… and it
 ain’t done either! It happens right
there while your watching it. Its happening
right now as we are sitting here in
this ugly town. When you sit on the edge
of that thing, you realize what a joke we
people really are… what big heads we
have thinking that what we do is gonna
matter all that much… thinking that our time
 here means didly to those rocks.
 Just a split second we have been here,
the whole lot of us. That’s a piece of time
so small to even get a name.
Those rocks are laughing at me right now,
me and my worries… Yeah, its real humorous,
that Grand Canyon.
Its laughing at me right now.
–Simon, Grand Canyon 1991
 
 

Painting by Susan Boulet

Common Sense
Today we mourn the passing
of a beloved old friend,
Common Sense, who has been
with us for many years.
No one knows for sure how
old he was,
since his birth records
were long ago lost
in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as
having cultivated
such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in
out of the rain;
Why the early bird gets
the worm;
Life isn't always fair;
and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple,
sound financial policies
(don't spend more
than you can earn)
and reliable strategies
(adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to
deteriorate rapidly when
well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations
were set in place.
Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment
for kissing a classmate;
teens suspended from school
for using mouthwash after lunch;
and a teacher fired for
reprimanding an unruly student,
only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground
when parents
attacked teachers for doing
the job that they themselves
had failed to do in
disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when
schools were required
to get parental consent to
administer sun lotion or
an aspirin to a student;
but could  not inform
parents when a student
became pregnant and wanted
to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live
as the churches became businesses;
and criminals received better
treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating
when you couldn't defend
yourself from
a burglar in your own home and
the burglar could sue
you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up
the will to live,
after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming
cup of coffee was hot.
She spilled a little in her lap,
and was promptly
awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death,
by his parents: Truth and Trust,
by his wife: Discretion,
by his daughter: Responsibility and
by his son: Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim
Not many attended his funeral
because so few realized he was gone.
If you still remember him,
pass this on.








PLANT TREES FOR LIFE.......






     



            Some day the earth will weep,
               she will beg for her life,
           she will cry with tears of blood.
             You will make a choice,
         if you will help her or let her die, 
         and when she dies, you will die too.
                 John Hollow Horn
                  Oglala Lakota
                     1932
         Plant trees for life......



Native Wisdom
A Grandfather from the Cherokee Nation
was talking with his grandson.
"A fight is going on inside me,
" he said to the boy.
"It is a terrible fight and
it is between two wolves."
"One wolf is evil and ugly:
He is anger, envy, war, greed,
self-pity, sorrow, regret, guilt,
resentment, inferiority, lies, false
pride, superiority, selfishness and arrogance."
"The other wolf is
beautiful and good: He is friendly,
joyful, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility,
kindness, benevolence, justice, fairness,
empathy, generosity, true, compassion,
gratitude, and deep vision."
"This same fight is going on inside you,
and inside every other human as well."
The grandson paused
in deep reflection
because of what his grandfather
had just said. Then he finally cried out;
"Oyee! Grandfather, which wolf will win?"
The elder Cherokee replied,
"The one you feed."