Chicken Little or Is the Sky Really Falling?

He also said to the multitudes, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, 'A shower is coming;' and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat;' and it happens. You Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"
Luke 12:54-56

As the story originally goes, chicken little was walking along one day. Then an acorn fell on his head, and he thought it was newsworthy to go tell the king about it. Along the way he gathered a whole bunch of friends and influenced them to come along.

There are many "Chicken Littles" out there. Just watch the news and because it is broad casted all over the country or even worldwide, it goes easily out of proportion. We have to remember though, that most of the reports are just some reporters opinion.

On the health level it is now the "swine flu", before it was SARS, and before that mad cow disease, along with all the other 'incurable' ailments. Then there is the economy and the bailouts, and the falling stock markets, and then there are the climate changes, sometimes they are talking about 'global warming', just a few years ago it was the coming 'ice age.' They also talk about the terrorists and the attacks. It seems that we are always the victims, having to defend ourselves against the environment, or at last against the enemy.

When I grew up in Germany during the 60th and 70th, there was a popular song played on the radio:
Am 30. Mai ist der Weltuntergang. Wir leben nicht mehr lang, wir leben nicht mehr lang ...
(Translated: On the 30th of May the world is going to end, we won't live much longer then, we won't live much longer then ...
Note the word: Weltuntergang (World's end). Making fun of the end of the world goes along with todays news, which are just playing into everybody's fears.

So, especially during the spring season, when there were wild storms and dark skies during the daytime, I got really frightened. To top it all off, my brothers and sisters made fun of me.

"It is a lesson which all history teaches the wise, to put trust in ideas, and not in circumstances."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882, Essayist, Philosopher and Poet)

Internally, I didn't have much hope either. I was searching for purpose and meaning in my life. I certainly couldn't find much hope in the hippie movement, drugs never appealed to me either. I studied different philosophies, read Freud, Jung and Nietzche and got only more disillusioned. Finally, my search became more spiritual and it connected me to the Holy Spirit Association for World Christianity.

That is a big goal, I thought, and I tried to find some holes in the teaching of the Divine Principle. After studying the principles for several months, I became more and more convinced that I had found not only meaning and purpose for myself but also solutions for many of the world's problems. When we focus on negatives things, they will expand. With some practice and certainly in time, we can work together and with God's help bring about the change we are looking for.

May I suggest that we indulge ourselves in more positive media. The TEAM has a wide arrangement of stories, lectures and presentations like the one of a true American, former congressman Bod McEwen.


This is only the beginning of a great talk "The Economic Crisis and the Truth About of Freedom," giving at the TEAM convention in Louisville, Kentucky, October 2008. Bob gives a clear perspective on how we can simplify very complex issues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-MctwbaLcA (2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQuW1ALNz3s (3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OvjSLC1R8c (4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOiu_lAwb6M (5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3cbBqtFtQw (6)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTjVo95kva8 (7)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRFAUnJvrbo (8)

Each section of the video has charts and pictures which create not only a very entertaining presentation but also a history lesson, an economy class and a philosophy teaching.

"The Britisch Ugly Duckling" Susan Boyle

Overnight Sensation or Living an Authentic Life?

If you haven’t heard about Susan Boyle’s outstanding performance on Britain’s Got Talent show, you probably live out in the boondocks or have no access to the internet. The first I heard of it on Orrin Woodward's blog.

I have watched her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from the Les Miserables several times and I can’t help being moved to tears. It is not just her singing although she has a beautiful voice, and it is also not her courage to sing in front of a big audience which made me wonder. It all came together when our pastor Joseph Schrattenegger at the Ohio Family Church in Columbus showed us the video during Sunday service.



Susan Boyle on Britains Got Talent 2009!! Incredible Voice!! @ Yahoo! Video

I believe what is so precious is that Susan lived an authentic life. Although she has been persecuted and mocked for her somewhat homespun appearance, her life has been that of a winner. In the book “Born To Win” by Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward describe a winner as having different potentials. Achievement is not the most important thing. Authenticity is. The authentic person experiences self-reality by knowing, being, and becoming incredible, responsive person. Authentic people actualize their own unprecedented uniqueness and appreciate the uniqueness of others.

You are a winner, Susan.

A winner’s timing is right. Winners respond appropriately to the situation. Winners know that for everything there is a season and for every activity a time:
A time to be aggressive and a time to be passive,
A time to be together and a time to be alone,
A time to fight and a time to love,
A time to work and a time to play,
A time to cry and a time to laugh,
A time to confront and a time to withdraw,
A time to speak and a time to be silent,
A time to hurry and a time to wait.

Pastor Joseph talked at length about how seemingly overnight sensations worked all their life without much recognition. "Overnight" really means working hours, days, weeks, and even years in the “dark” without anybody knowing. It is their consistent effort and hard work, their willingness to pay the price no matter what, which eventually will pay off.

Winners believe in themselves when nobody else does. Winners care about the world and other people. Winners make the world a better place for all of us.

He talked about how seemingly overnight on November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall fell and communism was dispelled. If we look closer into history it took a long time in the making with many unknown heros sacrificing their lives in prisons or being killed in the process.

Pastor Schrattenegger drew the most astonishing parallel to the life of the Messiah. Mocked and rejected, misinterpreted by the media and misrepresented by the religious world, working tirelessly to spread the message of God, he has no concern how he is perceived by “the majority.” He is only looking to do the will of God. He is waiting for the moment when the tide will turn and people will recognize him as an authentic human being who lives according to a higher standard of truth, love, and life.

I believe that’s why I am so moved by Susan Boyle. She unassumingly performed her song. Like The Ugly Duckling in Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale, she finally discovered her true identity. She has been singing since she is 12 yrs. Old. She kept her dream alive for all of these 35 years waiting for her chance. Apparently, she made one recording before of Cry Me A River, unknowing to anybody. Now, her time came and she was ready.

That is the miracle.

There is No "I" in TEAM

TEAM stands for "together everyone achieves more."

We celebrated Easter yesterday. Reflecting on Jesus and his life I realized that he is the greatest teamplayer. Through his example he demonstrated his surrender for the higher purpose and his Heavenly Father. He was concerned for the future of his team of twelve disciples while they were shaken up by doubts, denials, betrayals, etc.

Even at the Garden of Gethsemane he spoke these fateful words: ... not my will but your will be done ( Luke 22:44).

Insteat of holding our regular sunday service, our church community decided that whoever wanted can go and participate serving the elderly with http://cincinnati.littlebrothers.org/ on Easter sunday morning. My husband and I were assigned to visit with three ladies and deliver Easterbaskets and a warm meal. Other volunteers had worked all morning to put together baskets with snacks, drinks, eggs and a life plant. We also delivered a warm meal to those who lived at home. We spend time visiting with the ladies and entertained them for a while, mostly listening to their life stories. It was a good practice to take the "I" out of the picture since we were there to serve the elderly.

There is no "I" in TEAM

By definition, a 'team' is a group of people working together for a common purpose. From this definition has come the well worn phrase, hung by the coffeepot in employee lounges of organisations all around the world. The TEAM values the togetherness of individuals, with all their individual strength, skills and experiences. This dynamic does not allow alot of personal ego. Rather it focuses on each helping each other and is the perfect way to success for any team.

The TEAM relies on individual contribution. If any one member of the team does not cooperate, the productivity of the whole team suffers. Each individual member is required to get out of their comfort zone, for the whole group to move on to greater tasks.

Just in time, I received a link today to an article in the Washington Times, on the effects of excessive self-esteem, which is the opposite of serving others. This article, written by John K. Rosemond is titled "High Self-Esteem For Kids Is A Sham." Mr. Rosemond admits that the whole idea of boosting self-esteem in children was made up by psychologists to give "something" to modern day parents who are not willing to learn from their elders but rather trust theoretical scientists. His conclusion is that children with high-trumped self-esteem are not willing to serve or surrender their ego. Go figure.

As Jesus demonstrated, living for the sake of others, is the highest virtue. We all need to learn this kind of lifestyle and whom not to learn it best from than our own parents?

To learn more about the educational aspect of the TEAM system, please visit: http://the-team.biz/.

The Perfect Business

"In many cases, word-of-mouth marketing isn't actually about marketing at all. It's about great customer service that makes people want to tell their friends about you. It's about fantastic products that people can't resist showing to everyone."
Andy Sernovitz

Robert Kiyosaki wrote many books on money and business. In his book The Business School he talks about Network Marketing which he considers an asset, not a job. He says that you must have two reasons why you would join a networking business.
Reason number one is to help yourself (follow a dream, have a passion, develop yourself, grow in leadership).

Reason number two is to help others (share your own experiences, become a mentor, teach to fish rather than just giving a fish).

If you join for only one of these two reasons, then the system will not work for you.

Here is a great video giving you more ideas:
Robert Kiyosaki - The perfect business




This past weekend I was part of a monthly seminar the TEAM puts on. The speakers were Jim and Dolores Martin from Michigan. They were employees and business owner before they joined the TEAM. Both shared with so much passion and enthusiasm about their networking experiences, their involvement with the four different aspects of the TEAM's approach:
1) Home Based Business (no commuting, tax-deductions, family centered)
2) Wellness Industry MonaVie distribution of the Juice
3) Intellectual distribution (TEAM system)
4) Internet (being the global store at your own home)
What I felt from their testimonies was their total commitment to helping other to fulfill their dream since they have already great success themselves.