Haiti: Songs of Hope and Miracles

The thing that touches my heart about  big disasters, whether natural or human created, is the miracles that happen in conjunction with them, and the loving kindness and shared feelings that people experience. I love seeing people come together to help and bless and support.

Here are two things that I find beautiful... The first is a rescue of a woman who was trapped in the rubble for 6 days. When she was pulled out she was SINGING - "Don't be afraid of death."



And the second is a performance from the MTV Hope for Haiti Now benefit show. There are 19 videos of performances from that show which can be seen beginning here: http://tinyurl.com/ye6vdxt
You can choose others from the list in the menu on the right side of the page. my favorite video from that show: Justin Timberlake, accompanied by Matt Morris on guitar and harmony vocals, and Charlie Sexton on guitar. I love the vocal harmonies and the beautiful slow sweetness of this performance.

Donate Now: 1-877-99-HAITI in US/Canada, or go to http://www.hopeforhaitinow.org/

Although - I also love Leonard Cohen's original version of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q

My heart is just so touched by the beauty of the human spirit, and the songs that emerge from the beauty, the sorrow and the love.

Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com  
www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com
http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/
"Why do we sing? It's how we bless our lives. Our whole lives, the brokenness and the holiness, the joy and the sorrow, all of it, not just some of it, but all of it....Singing our lives is different from living them. It doesn't enhance the sacredness, but it acknowledges the sacredness. When we sing about grief, or longing, or hope, or joy, we become aware of the wonder and mysteriousness of our lives. Singing our lives is blessing our lives....There is power in the song." ~Sarah Campbell
“I think continually of those who were truly great.
Who, from the womb, remembered the soul's history
Through corridors of light where the hours are suns,
Endless and singing. Whose lovely ambition
Was that their lips, still touched with fire,
Should tell of the spirit clothed from head to foot in song.”
~Excerpt from the poem I Think Continually of Those, by Stephen Spender

Shoveling Snow With Buddha

A winter contemplation...

Photo by Amida Harvey - amidaharvey.com

Shoveling Snow With Buddha

In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok

you would never see him doing such a thing,

tossing the dry snow over a mountain

of his bare, round shoulder,

his hair tied in a knot,

a model of concentration.

Sitting is more his speed, if that is the word

for what he does, or does not do.

Even the season is wrong for him.

In all his manifestations, is it not warm or slightly humid?

Is this not implied by his serene expression,

that smile so wide it wraps itself around the waist of the universe?

But here we are, working our way down the driveway,

one shovelful at a time.

We toss the light powder into the clear air.

We feel the cold mist on our faces.

And with every heave we disappear

and become lost to each other

in these sudden clouds of our own making,

these fountain-bursts of snow.

This is so much better than a sermon in church,

I say out loud, but Buddha keeps on shoveling.

This is the true religion, the religion of snow,

and sunlight and winter geese barking in the sky,

I say, but he is too busy to hear me.

He has thrown himself into shoveling snow

as if it were the purpose of existence,

as if the sign of a perfect life were a clear driveway

you could back the car down easily

and drive off into the vanities of the world

with a broken heater fan and a song on the radio.

All morning long we work side by side,

me with my commentary

and he inside his generous pocket of silence,

until the hour is nearly noon

and the snow is piled high all around us;

then, I hear him speak.

After this, he asks,

can we go inside and play cards?

Certainly, I reply, and I will heat some milk

and bring cups of hot chocolate to the table

while you shuffle the deck.

and our boots stand dripping by the door.

Aaah, says the Buddha, lifting his eyes

and leaning for a moment on his shovel

before he drives the thin blade again

deep into the glittering white snow.

~ Billy Collins ~

Art from Facebook - Buddha Light

Blessings,

Shakura Cathryn

www.moonsinger.com

www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com

http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/

GoD And DoG

Thank you, Sky, for telling me about this wonderful song:

And the song reminds me of one of my favorite poems:

FIRST HE LOOKED CONFUSED

I could not lie anymore so I started to call my dog "God."

First he looked

confused

then he started smiling, then he even

danced.

I kept at it: now he doesn’t even

bite.

I am wondering if this

might work on

people?

~Tukaram

from Love Poems from God

Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West

Translator: Daniel Ladinsky

Blessings,

Shakura Cathryn

www.moonsinger.com

www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com  

http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz /

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." ~Josh Billings

Winter Feast for the Soul

In the aftermath of the unimaginable devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti, I am inspired to join in the Winter Feast for the Soul by dedicating some time each day to prayer and meditation for all people who are suffering.

For more information, visit the Winter Feast for the Soul website:
http://www.winterfeastforthesoul.com/


Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com
www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com
http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/
"I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love." - Mahatma Gandhi - Prayer for Peace

Encounter -- Czeslaw Milosz

Encounter

We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn.

A red wing rose in the darkness.

And suddenly a hare ran across the road.

One of us pointed to it with his hand.

That was long ago. Today neither of them is alive,

Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.

O my love, where are they, where are they going?

The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles.

I ask not out of sorrow, but in wonder.

~ Czeslaw Milosz ~

Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive/Encounter.html

This arrived in my inbox today, on a day when I’m still contemplating the unexpected death of my friend, and I also got an e-mail reminding me of the disappearance of a local woman last March. That mystery still has not been solved. Life seems so “solid” in a way. We have these bodies which we can see, feel, touch. Sometimes they are heavy to carry around. We seem so PHYSICAL, so earthly in our “aliveness.” And yet, our physical existence can just cease to be, at any minute.

I know that’s not a bad thing, and that we truly are eternal and CONSCIOUS in a way that transcends and gloriously exceeds all our physical experiences…. and yet, it’s such a mystery.

Although I am still feeling grief and sorrow, I am also feeling awe and wonder.

Another thing about being in - and suddenly out - of the body came to me today... this article about Michaela Roser's near death experience:
http://www.aolhealth.com/health/back-from-dead?ncid=webmaildl3

And BTW, a hare suddenly ran across the road in front of me today.
Coincidence? I think not.

Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com 
www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com  
http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/  
"One day I will leave this world and Dream myself to Reality" ~Crazy Horse 1874

A Song for the New Year

I wish us all a New Year filled with love and appreciation for the people things that are precious in our lives.

Blessings,

Shakura Cathryn

www.moonsinger.com  

www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com  

http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/  

"Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time." ~Betty Smith

Goodbye, Glenn-Friend

Late yesterday afternoon I found out that my very dear and much loved friend Glenn died a few days before Christmas. He was only 47 - would have been 48 this coming Monday, Dec. 28. He was a musician and artist who walked a very difficult path with alcohol. I so hoped he would be able to find his way on to a better, more self-nurturing path. He didn't drive, because of that.... I understand that he crashed on his bicycle and had a head injury, and died as a result of the head injury and the complications of alcoholism and renal failure.

Alcohol is such a seductive downward spiral for some.... It saddens me so much to see how many good-hearted and talented people find themselves unable to let go of that demon. And it is such a wonderful miracle when I see those who do come to a fork in the road that they can navigate, and find their way onto a better path.

This is my song for Glenn.... it says "it's time to crash and burn or fly." It appears that he did crash and burn, and now he is flying. Fly on into the Light, my friend.



Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com
www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com  
http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/  
"Blessed the traveler who journeys the length of the Light." ~Unknown
"We are travelers in a cosmic journey - star dust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. But the expressions of life are ephemeral, momentary, transient. Buddha once said "This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds. To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance. A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky." We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment, but it is transient. It is a little parenthesis in eternity. If we share with caring, light heartedness and love, we will create abundance and joy for each other. And then this moment will have been worthwhile." ~Deepak Chopra

Holiday Blessings ~ Written on Christmas Eve, 1513

Dear Friends and Family,


This has become my favorite writing for the holidays. It has a timeless beauty, truth and tranquility about it that touches my heart. I wish all of this for each of you. Thank you all for the parts you play in my life – and for your contributions to life on planet Earth. It just wouldn’t be the same here without you!

Written on Christmas Eve, 1513

I salute you. I am your friend, and my love for you goes deep. There is nothing I can give you which you have not. But there is much, very much, that, while I cannot give it, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. There is radiance and glory in darkness, could we but see. And to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to look!

Life is so generous a giver. But we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard. Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love by wisdom, with power. Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel's hand that brings it to you. Everything we call a trial, a sorrow or a duty, believe me, that angel's hand is there. The gift is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence. Your joys, too, be not content with them as joys. They, too, conceal diviner gifts.

Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty beneath its covering, that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven. Courage then to claim it; that is all! But courage you have, and the knowledge that we are pilgrims together, wending through unknown country home.

And so, at this time, I greet you, not quite as the world sends greetings, but with profound esteem and with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and shadows flee away.

~ Fra Giovanni ~

Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com
www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com
http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/
"When your life is filled with the desire to see the holiness in everyday life, something magical happens: ordinary life becomes extraordinary, and the very process of life begins to nourish your soul!" ~Rabbi Harold Kushner

Lisa Thiel - Winter Solstice Song (Yule)

On the longest night we search for the light,
And we find it deep within.
Open your eyes to embrace what is wise,
And see the light of your own soul shining.

Music by Lisa Thiel
Vide0 by WiccaNoita

LYRICS:

Chorus:
Enter the night and you'll find the light,
That will carry you to your dreams.
Enter the night, let your spirit take flight,
In the field of infinite possibilities

On the longest night we search for the light,
And we find it deep within.
Open your eyes to embrace what is wise,
And see the light of your own soul shining.

(Chorus)

Wrap up in the cloak of starry darkness my child,
And you'll find the center of all things.
For from this space of the deepest dark place,
Life Eternal does spring.

(Chorus)

So when you find that spark
When you dream in the dark,
Hold it close to your heart and know.
All that you see is all that can be
When you give birth to the dreams of your soul.

(Chorus)

Wishing you Peace, Blessings, Hopes and Visions this Winter Solstice Night!
Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com
www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com  
http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/  
"I like the darkness. 'Cause when you lay down and it's all dark and quiet, then you can hear the song that's going on inside you." ~A 4 year old child.

Ticket on the windshield

Oh, this is just too much fun to keep to myself – I have to share it! It came to me by e-mail, and I don't know who wrote it. Thank you, Sky, for a good laugh!
___________________

Working people frequently ask us retired people what we do to make our days interesting.

Well, for example, the other day my wife and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, 'Come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?'

He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a Nazi turd. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires.

So my wife called him a shit-head. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.

Personally, we didn't care. We came into town by bus and the car had a Sarah Palin sticker.

We try to have a little fun each day now that we're retired. It's important at our age.
___________________


Bwahahahaha!

Blessings,
Shakura Cathryn
www.moonsinger.com  
www.dancingpeace.blogspot.com  
http://sites.google.com/site/dupnaz/  
"Levity helps us overcome gravity, especially when we shine the light of laughter on those poorly-lit corridors of power." ~Swami Beyondananda