Simple Lessons

Recently I picked up a copy of Robert Fulghum’s “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”  I had heard of the book but never read it.  To my big surprise, I really enjoyed to humor and wisdom as well as the stories.  Mr. Fulghum recounts many personal experiences in his tales that warmed my heart because they were descriptions of authentic human beings, real life accounts of neighbors, friends and family.  I never met Mr. Fulghum personally but through his writings I got to know something about him, an honest man who loves his country, his family and home-life.

The way he describes the lessons learned in Kindergarten, I feel like many people today may have skipped Kindergarten or have just plainly forgotten the early lessons.  Here are the rules, if you never read the book:

“These are the things I learned (in Kindergarten):

1. Share everything.

2. Play fair.

3. Don't hit people.

4. Put things back where you found them.

5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.

6. Don't take things that aren't yours.

7. Say you're SORRY when you HURT somebody.

8. Wash your hands before you eat.

9. Flush.

10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

11. Live a balanced life - learn some and drink some and draw some and paint some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.

12. Take a nap every afternoon.

13. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

14. Be aware of wonder.  Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

15. Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.

16. And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first work you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.”

“Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.

The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation.
Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.

Think what a better world it would be if all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap.
Or if all governments had a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.
And it is still true, no matter how old you are - when you go out into the world, it is best
to hold hands and stick together.”
~ Robert Fulghum,  All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

 

For me the reading has been very refreshing, getting me out of the cold winter mood and reminding me that there is always new life and fresh ideas when we see them through the eyes of a child.

Thank you, Mr. Fulghum, for providing a medium for me to remind me, that when we look at the world through children’s eyes, it suddenly becomes exciting and adventurous again.

How to Beat the Winter Blues

A couple of days ago I found myself in a really bad mood; the snow and the cold were getting to me.  I have lived here in Southern Ohio for the past 18 years and have never experienced a winter like this.  Snowfall after snowfall and the cold, how does -3 degrees Fahrenheit sound? 

As I took a review over my situation, I realized that there was nothing I could do about this status quo.  Couldn’t even blame it on Global Warming (or is it Global Cooling now?).

I understand that there is a medical condition for “Winter Blues” called Seasonal Affective Disorder.

So, what is one to do to overcome the Winter Blues?

I got my gratitude list out again and couldn’t help to feel better right away.

 

I have a warm house, good food and a wonderful family to share it with.  We are connected through TV, the internet and telephone and can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world and let our imagination run wild to be transferred to a lovely place with sunshine and warmth.

Now, if that doesn’t beat the Winter Blues?

Who was Helen Lyndon Goff?

 

Helen Lyndon Goff was a young girl, growing up in the outback of Australia who later transformed herself into an imaginative and legendary writer who created the stories around the famous character of “Mary Poppins.”  She moved later on to London and as P.L. Travers, she wrote several works even though only one ended up in the Disney film and the musical of Mary Poppins.

Pamela Lyndon Travers’ story is portrayed in the recent movie “Saving Mr. Banks.”

The movie goes back into Helen’s childhood in Queensland where she grows up as the oldest of three sisters.  Her dad is a banker but falls short of his services to his job since he drinks a lot.  Helen adores him, and he adores her but she is confused when she discovers her Dad’s drinking habits.  He supports her imagination and encourages her to believe in herself.

In the meantime we are taken into her later life as a writer.  She lives in London and has written several stories about Mary Poppins, a nanny who flies in with the wind of the East.  She is described as being "practically perfect in every way."  She is also very stern but at the same time loving and nurturing.  She also has magical abilities, as she can transport herself and objects to other places and talk to the animals.

Walt Disney has been pursuing P.L. Travers for 20 years to give up the rights to the story for him to create a movie.

As the story goes, Mrs. Travers travels to Los Angeles to meet with Walt Disney and his team of script writers and music composers to once again convince Mrs. Travers to sign off the rights to the movie.  She agrees somewhat under very demanding conditions which puts the whole Disney studio under tremendous pressure.

“That’s what we do, we storytellers. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope, again and again and again.”

~ Walt Disney

Why is the movie called “Saving Mr. Banks?”

In the Mary Poppins books, Mr. Banks is the patriarch of the family who is so obsessed with his working life that he doesn't have much time for his children. Travers believed that Mary Poppins came to the Banks family to save Mr. Banks from his unfulfilled life and to make him realize that family was his real priority. Travers' father was a bank manager who died when he was in his 40s of alcohol-related diseases. Travers, in turn, wished she could have saved her father from his own demons.

 

Walt is right about that, when he persuades the cranky author to loosen up by assuring her that their collaboration will make her work, and her long-lost father, immortal. 

“Supercallifragilisticexpialidocious! Mary Poppins was right, it’s extraordinary! It does make you feel better! Hee hee hee hee!”

~ George W. Banks

Who is Mary Poppins?

Mary Poppins is a fictional character who reminded the author of her great aunt Ellie who came to their home, after her father had passed away.  She is a very no-nonsense person whose favorite words were: "Spit spot into bed!"

Great Aunt Ellie also carried a carpet bag, and she would often instruct children in etiquette and other niceties. Mary Poppins has many other interesting things up her sleeves.  

 

“In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and - SNAP - the job's a game!”

~ Mary Poppins
 
The Disney Magic

If you have seen the movie “Mary Poppins” you will agree that the Disney team truly created magic with its cartoon characters, the catching tunes of the songs interwoven into the story of the Banks family.

“Saving Mr. Banks” is storytelling at its best where filmmaking is classic and engaging the viewer into healing family trauma.

Thanks to Walt Disney’s persuasion Mrs. Travers not only solves her financial troubles but also heals some of her own wounds in relationship with her dad (Mr. Banks).

One blogger, Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., in her review of the movie went as far as calling the account a story of redemption and hope.

 

Other reference sites:

 

http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/saving-mr-banks.php

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2013/12/27/review-saving-mr-banks-packs-emotional-wallop/

http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/12/22/Movie-review-Saving-Mr-Banks

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10483126/Saving-Mr-Banks-The-true-story-of-PL-Travers.html

I truly enjoyed watching “Saving Mr. Banks.”  I am very partial to movies in historical fiction. To me, it was worth 2 hours in the theater.

 

 

 

Happy Epiphany Day!

Some sources say that the real birthday of Jesus was January 6^th, others say that it was the day when Jesus Christ was first revealed to the world as a human being by the Magi.  It is interesting that the Twelve days of Christmas were counted from January 6^th backwards to the day after Christmas.  We are all familiar with the popular Christmas song: The Twelve Days of Christmas.

It is even more astounding how many different traditions and folklore are connected to January 6^th.  The dark season in the Western Hemisphere has so many Pagan traditions.   They were so influential that the early Christian Church leaders matched their celebrations according to some of the Pagan customs. 

Because of superstition, the dark nights were believed that souls and spirits were roaming through the homes, and so it became practice to smoke out the home on the last night before January 6^th.

In fact there are so many pagan rituals intertwined in our Christmas celebration which originally had nothing to do with Christ’s birth like the tree and sending out greeting cards.

Now some regions like New Orleans celebrate the feast of Epiphany with the King’s Cake (often a baby Jesus or other trinket maybe hidden in the yeasty dough), marking a door lintel with the Magi’s blessing, and elaborating worship with lighted candles.  That seems a dignified celebration to end the Christmas season. 

As I said before, it is not completely clear if the celebration of Epiphany commemorates the arrival of the magi to find baby Jesus or it is rather the occasion of his baptism when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Man Jesus, and proclaimed: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." Matthew 3:17

One thing is for sure is that the original Christians didn’t celebrate either day right away.  It is not sure when the traditions started but it was somewhere around the 4^th Century.

 

Epiphany is also used as an expression of intuitive understanding or a flash of insight. 

 

I am just really amazed that God and the unseen world make so much effort to make themselves known to us humans, bringing messages, revelations and even the Messiah into our world.  Even though, we are so thick-headed, ignorant, and resistant that it took God 6,000 years (not literal, rather Biblical) to disclose His true purpose (his-story) to us. 

May we all have an epiphanic experience to connect once again to our creator and his dedication and faithfulness to us.  It can only be a true parents’ heart to have that kind of perseverance, endurance and determination to put up with our obliviousness and worldliness.

 

Blessing or Toasting the New Year

When you are ringing in the New Year 2014 this Tuesday night and make a toast for good health and happiness, you may not need to know what I am sharing here.  As a member of Toastmasters International, I have been wondering where the ideas of toasting came from.  Then, we had an article in the December 2013 Magazine  on toasting and I felt inspired to read more about it.

 

“Here's to the bright New Year

 And a fond farewell to the old;
 Here's to the things that are yet to come
 And to the memories that we hold.”

What is a Toast?

A toast is a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. The term may be applied to the person or thing so honored, the drink taken, or the verbal expression accompanying the drink. Thus, a person could be "the toast of the evening," for whom someone "proposes a toast" to congratulate and for whom a third person "toasts" in agreement.

There are many occasions in life to share a toast: the birth of a newborn, weddings, good byes, birthdays, or any party.  The custom of drinking to the health, prosperity, happiness, or good luck of another is not new; it rather has a long history.  The curious practice of raising our drink containers is one of the most ancient of these.

“A Toast or Sentiment very frequently excites good humor and revives languid conversation; often does it, when properly applied, cool the heat of resentment, and blunt the edge of animosity.   A well applied Toast is acknowledged, universally, the flame of acrimony, when season and reason oft used their efforts to no purpose.”

~ Craig Harrison, DTM

Why Toasting?

But it wasn't always called a toast. The term didn't come about until the late 17th century. In the same way you throw a lime in tequila, it was customary to plop a piece of toast or crouton in a drink, Dickson says. Think of it as an early form of a cocktail snack.

And just in case you are wondering where the English phrase "toast" comes from, it comes from the practice of floating a piece of burnt toast on top of the wine of the loving cup. The reason for this was that the toast took away some of the acidity of the wine.

History of Toasting

Ironically, the cheerful clinking of a friend's glass before drinking evolved from one of the darker practices of the distant past. The custom dates back to the Middle Ages, when people were so distrustful of one another that they weren't above poisoning anyone they perceived as an enemy.  As a safeguard, drinkers first poured a bit of wine into each other's glass, acting as mutual "tasters." Trustworthy friends, however, soon dispensed with the tastings and merely clinked their glasses instead. This custom is said by some to explain why "to your health" is the most common toast worldwide.  Some other historians hold that clinking glasses provided the noise that would keep evil spirits at bay.

Cheers - Why do we click the glasses?

There can be various answers to this question but the common notion that this was done so as to spill a little wine into each other's glasses thereby ensuring that the drinks are not poisoned is not true. This custom is relatively new. Touching your glasses gently is done to incorporate the sense of hearing in the processes of making a toast. Earlier only four out of our 5 senses were gratified.
 

What to say in a toast?

Here is a link for some sample toasts, blessings and graces: Chosen words for Toasts

For those who are looking for formal toasts for a special occasion, here is a whole book by the master Paul Dickson: Toasts

For the rest of us, let just enjoy this New Year’s Eve with a cheer of goodwill and blessing for the New Year 2014.  I hope and pray that the New Year will take us into better circumstances, and we can create health and prosperity for our families and country.

 

Silent Night, Holy Night



Plaque from the authentic replicated chapel St. Nicholas in Frankenmuth, Michigan

I just recently learned about the background history of the popular Christmas song: Silent Night, Holy Night. It was written by a young Priest Joseph Mohr in 1816 when he was traveling to some parishioners in the country side of Austria.  He later became the shepherd of the St. Nicholas church in Oberndorf nearby Salzburg.  When the organ broke down at the church and Christmas approached, he was concerned that he couldn’t create enough spiritual power to pull the parishioners to church on Christmas Eve.  He remembered his poem from the years before and went to visit his good friend Franz Xaver Gruber who was the schoolmaster in Oberndorf.  He asked Franz to compose music to the words and the original version of Silent Night was born.  They performed the song that Christmas Eve at the midnight mass with Franz playing the guitar and the choir singing the words.  Everybody loved the song because it was written in their native language, German, while they often sang Latin songs.

When in the following spring the organ master repaired the organ of St. Nicholas, some children performed the song along with the refreshed organ.  The organ master took the song to other parts of Austria, where the song took a life of its own.  Eventually, it traveled to Berlin, and even London.  They even changed some notes and translated the words into English and many other languages.  It became one of the most popular Christmas songs.

Just recently, some German/American film makers refreshed the whole history of the song and made a movie "Stille,Nacht, Heilige Nacht,” about Joseph Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber.

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,                        Silent night, holy night

Alles schläft; einsam wacht                       All is calm, all is bright

Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.              'Round yon virgin Mother and Child

Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,               Holy infant so tender and mild

Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!                       Sleep in heavenly peace!

Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!                       Sleep in heavenly peace!

music in German

What I am most amazed about is that this song as well as stories and even persons: how often the origin or the surrounding facts are forgotten and/or changed.  Brother Mohr had the best intentions to bring joy and revival to his congregation at a time when people had little, and especially folks that lived in remote mountain villages lived in poor circumstances.  Until this day, the music just warms one’s heart, being soothing and uplifting at the same time, appropriately for a sleeping baby.

 

 

My inquiring mind has to wonder though, why was Jesus the King of Kings born in a manger in the first place?  And how could a virgin have a baby?  Who was the physical father of Jesus?  What has commercialism to do with the true meaning of Christmas?

I had similar questions when I first joined the Unification Church in 1973.  My leader, Paul Werner, told me to read the bible and referred me to:

Matthew 1  Genealogy of Jesus, Birth of Jesus, Joseph protecting Mary’s pregnancy by taking her as his wife.

Luke 1:5-56  Zecharias and Elizabeth, parents of John the Baptist; Mary stays with Elizabeth and Zecharias; Mary accepts her role as Jesus’ mother.

NOTE: Matthew 1:16: Two genealogies of Jesus in the Gospel, one in Matthew and one in Luke.  The differences can be explained by the fact that Matthew records the genealogy of Joseph as the legal (adopted), not the natural, father of Jesus.  Luke (Luke 3:23-38) traces the genealogy of Jesus through Mary, his mother, which accounts for an almost completely different set of ancestors.  In those days, women’s genealogies were not traced through females.

If you read these bible passages from the traditional Christian view, you will not find any new truth in these words.  I read the verses and realized right away that Jesus had a physical father as well a spiritual father.  It does not take anything away from Mary’s faithfulness and even Joseph’s obedience to the direction (Matthew 18-25) he got from the archangel Gabriel to make Mary his wife disregarding the fact that she became pregnant by another man while they were engaged.

When Father Moon started to preach about Jesus he gave many deep insights from his personal encounters with Jesus.  Therefore, in the Divine Principle, he goes into hidden secrets of the Bible which he received through revelation and personal guidance from Jesus himself.  Based on the Old Testament, he draws on certain parallels in order to bring about restoration of the lineage of God.

 

What has all of this to do with the song “Silent Night, Holy Night?”  We are living now at a time where many people have lost their faith in God because they cannot accept certain things with their logical mind.  God, the author of our mind and our heart, has given us all three faculties: Intellect (reasoning), Emotion (heart), and Will (choices to act upon).  It is our responsibility to bring all three into harmony which will take us to fulfill our God-given purpose, our heart’s desire.

 

What Exists first Force or Energy?

Scientists maintain that the universe is made up of energy. Energy exists everywhere, as well as force or power. Is force or energy first? Does the Divine Principle teach that force comes into being by give and take action, or does give and take exist after the force exists? We should examine our thought carefully to see if we are not taking the answer for granted. Seen from different angles, both viewpoints seem entirely correct, so it is important to know which is the correct answer.  What is your opinion?

 Action certainly must come from a definite source. The subject and object precede action. If we pursue this a little further, we can say that if God is omnipresent then He must have both subject and object qualities. God's dual characteristics are not just conceptual or abstract; they are very real and important to our lives. Ever since the universe and individual entities came into being, subject and object were the beginning of the existence of self. All things in the universe are made up of these two different qualities or parts, and each is involved in give and take action.

The force, or the result, is the consequence of the subject and object having give and take action. Let us take the simple example of parents having give and take of love; their child will be the result. The child is like the force which results from give and take action. What causes that? God is the cause, and that process follows the pattern of God's creative process. The force has within itself the possibility of give and take action because it is the result of give and take. When we think of force we immediately comprehend two qualities of subject and object, cause and result.

When you think of your existence you think of the power within yourself, but prior to that you realize the give and take action within yourself. Therefore, you are the subject body of force. You are very powerful. In you are a mind and body which form a subject-object relationship, and when they have give and take you can't help but feel the resulting power within yourself. When you draw a line down your front, dividing you in half, the two parts look alike externally. Why is that? Because the cause has that quality, the result has to be that way. That's a very logical reason.

When scientists examine the development of life forms, they conclude that energy randomly evolved into higher and more complex beings, and this is how man came to exist. This theory is not logical when we really examine it. It is more reasonable that subject and object together would form a self, which in turn would become a subject, and take an object. Together they would form some higher life form or bigger self as subject and take an object, and so on, forming greater and greater entities.

In our social life we want to broaden our sphere of influence, increasing our areas of activity. When you become a subject on one level you want to find an object on that level, and then when you are united you find that together you become a subject on another level. Scientists explain the formation of new species through random mutation, saying it happens by chance. We can immediately see that is false logic, but they have not come up with some better theory so they stick with this one. It does not stand to reason to say that a small thing could just suddenly become big. Even a non-scholar would find the subject-object explanation more reasonable.

From a sermon by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon --  Myself – January 13, 1980, Tarrytown, New York