You will find, as you look back upon your life,
That the moments when you really lived
Are the moments when you have done things
in the spirit of love....
Henry Drummond
Leigh
and I wish you all the Best of Everything Good for the New Year and Always.
May this year in particular bring to our earth family True Peace and a rejection
of war and preemptions. Please hold the thought and image in your heart and
focus upon it in spare moments and True Peace will come to our planet. It is
difficult to look beyond "what is" to the image of "what will
be" … but if we persist - we will materialize our dream. So it is.
1) The Essence of Love
2) Plant a Row for the Hungry
3) "Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth", a new song by Willie Nelson
World premiered at a Dennis Kucinich for President
fundraising, sold-out concert in Austin, Texas on
January 3, 2004 and broadcast live on the Internet.
4) Feedback
The Essence of Love
by Quado
As received by Carrie Hart:
www.carriehart.com
The
lark and the chickadee had a conversation. They were discussing love. It was
quite a discussion, quite an argument, almost. For they had very different ideas.
Is love getting or giving? Well, said the lark, I think it is in the giving.
When I sing, the lovers are drawn together, and I feel love when I give them
this little treat. I believe it is in the giving and that is all that really
matters.
Ah, said the chickadee, that is because you are focusing only on yourself. What
of the lovers? They are not only giving, they are getting as well. They are
being together, touching, giving and getting, exchanging. Obviously, love is
best when it is an even trade, when each gives and gets an equal amount. This
is the essence of love.
But neither of them truly knew, because neither the lark nor the chickadee goes
to the heart of love, knows the heart of love. No. This belongs to the dove.
For the dove knows that love lies neither in the giving nor in the getting.
The dove knows that love is simply what overflows out of the heart that is full
of peace.
The heart that is full of peace begins to glow and overflow. And the heart full
of peace cannot help but do this, for this is the essence of inner peace, to
overflow and become more than you were. And of course, in this overflow, there
is a giving, since others can share in the peace. And of course in this peace
there is a getting, because you are getting the heart of the world, when you
get internal peace.
But the true essence of love, you see, is love for yourself, love focused within.
Loving yourself so deeply, so quietly and peacefully, that the love for yourself
becomes love for the world and everyone else in it.
And why should love of the self be good? Because we are talking of the inner
self, the deep self which is one with the flow. And this inner self which is
one with the flow is also one with everything else in the flow.
And what else is in the flow? Everyone and everything. So you see, when you
love yourself, you automatically love everyone else, everyone else in the world.
For you are all one. When we give, we simply make room for more to come in.
When we become deeply, authentically generous, it signals to our abundant universe
that there is a conduit open to receive and distribute. We become part of the
vital natural system.
Plant a Row for the Hungry
By Jeff Lowenfels
It was
a cold night in Washington, D.C., and I was heading back to the hotel when a
man approached me. He asked if I would give him some money so he could get something
to eat. I'd read the signs: "Don't give money to panhandlers." So
I shook my head and kept walking.
I wasn't prepared for a reply, but with resignation, he said, "I really
am homeless and I really am hungry! You can come with me and watch me eat!"
But I kept on walking.
The incident bothered me for the rest of the week. I had money in my pocket
and it wouldn't have killed me to hand over a buck or two even if he had been
lying. On a frigid, cold night, no less, I assumed the worst of a fellow human
being.
Flying back to Anchorage, I couldn't help thinking of him. I tried to rationalize
my failure to help by assuming government agencies, churches and charities were
there to feed him. Besides, you're not supposed to give money to panhandlers.
Somewhere over Seattle, I started to write my weekly garden column for The Anchorage
Daily News. Out of the blue, I came up with an idea. Bean's Cafe, the soup kitchen
in Anchorage, feeds hundreds of hungry Alaskans every day. Why not try to get
all my readers to plant one row in their gardens dedicated to Bean's? Dedicate
a row and take it down to Bean's. Clean and simple.
We didn't keep records back then, but the idea began to take off. Folks would
fax me or call when they took something in. Those who only grew flowers donated
them. Food for the spirit. And salve for my conscience.
In 1995, the Garden Writers Association of America held their annual convention
in Anchorage and after learning of Anchorage's program, Plant a Row for Bean's
became Plant a Row For The Hungry. The original idea was to have every member
of the Garden Writers Association of America write or talk about planting a
row for the hungry sometime during the month of April.
As more and more people started working with the Plant a Row concept, new variations
cropped up, if you will pardon the pun. Many companies gave free seed to customers
and displayed the logo, which also appeared in national gardening publications.
Row markers with the Plant a Row logo were distributed to gardeners to set apart
their "Row for the Hungry."
Garden editor Joan Jackson, backed by The San Jose Mercury News and California's
nearly year-round growing season, raised more than 30,000 pounds of fruits and
vegetables her first year, and showed GWAA how the program could really work.
Texas fruit farms donated food to their local food bank after being inspired
by Plant a Row. Today the program continues to thrive and grow.
I am stunned that millions of Americans are threatened by hunger. If every gardener
in America - and we're seventy million strong - plants one row for the hungry,
we can make quite a dent in the number of neighbors who don't have enough to
eat. Maybe then I will stop feeling guilty about abandoning a hungry man I could
have helped.
From Rhio: Indoor gardeners could "plant a
tray" for the hungry.
Some
Facts:
Thirty-three million people including 13 million children live in households
that experience hunger or the risk of hunger. This represents one in ten households
in the United States.
3.1 percent of U.S. households experience hunger: they frequently skip meals
or eat too little, sometimes going without food for a whole day. Nearly 8.5
million people, including 2.9 million children, live in these homes.
7.3 percent of U.S. households are at risk of hunger: they have lower quality
diets or must resort to seeking emergency food because they cannot always afford
the food they need. 24.7 million people, including 9.9 million children, live
in these homes.
Millions of poor children suffer from chronic under-nutrition, the under-consumption
of essential nutrients and food energy. The risk of nutrient deficiencies that
can lead to serious health problems, including impaired cognitive development,
growth failure, physical weakness, anemia and stunting.
A survey of America’s Second Harvest national network of food banks in
late 2001 and early 2002 found that 86% had seen an increase in requests for
food assistance during the past year.
When we give, we simply make room for more to come in.
When we become deeply, authentically generous, it signals
to our abundant universe that there is a conduit open to receive
and distribute. We become part of the vital natural system.
Lenedra J. Caroll
The Architecture of All Abundance
************
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
Willie Nelson, who has endorsed Dennis
Kucinich for President, and who will lead a fundraising concert for Kucinich's
campaign in Austin, Texas, on Jan. 3, 2004, wrote a new song on Christmas that
he will perform in public for the first time at the Austin concert.
What Ever Happened to Peace
on Earth?
by Willie Nelson
There's
so many things going on in the world
Babies dying
Mothers crying
How much oil is one human life worth
And what ever happened to peace on earth
We believe everything that they tell us
They're gonna' kill us
So we gotta' kill them first
But I remember a commandment
Thou shall not kill
How much is that soldier's life worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth
(Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth
So I guess it's just
Do unto others before they do it to you
Let's just kill em' all and let God sort em' out
Is this what God wants us to do
(Repeat Bridge)
And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we've been told from our birth
Hell they won't lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth
Now you probably won't hear this on your radio
Probably not on your local TV
But if there's a time, and if you're ever so inclined
You can always hear it from me
How much is one picker's word worth
And whatever happened to peace on earth
But don't confuse caring for weakness
You can't put that label on me
The truth is my weapon of mass protection
And I believe truth sets you free
With
Blessings and Peace in all your endeavors,
Rhio
If you know of anyone who would appreciate receiving the Raw Energy Hotline,
please forward their Email to me at Rhotline@aol.com
- with the words "Invitation to Join Elist"
FEEDBACK
In
a message dated 1/7/04 1:57:29 PM, Mimi writes:
REMOVE.
I'D
RATHER RECEIVE INFORMATION ABOUT RAW FOOD THAN YOUR POLICITAL OPINIONS.
THANKYOU.
Dear
Mimi,
I've removed you from the Raw Energy Hotline as per your request.
Please accept this message in the spirit in which it is sent, as an exchange
of ideas and information.
Unfortunately, food issues cannot be separated from political issues. I did
not create this situation. Our government has joined forces with private industry
to deprive the American people of the information and protections we need to
make wise choices. The very agencies that have been put in place to protect
the people (EPA, USDA, FDA, etc), favor and protect industry instead.
If we are to get to the core of the tremendous disease issues in this country,
we have to know the truth about our food and as I (and other reporters) keep
uncovering, we do not.
We have no labeling or even minimum safety testing for GE (genetically engineered)
foods. These foods have been shown by independent researchers to be devastating
to the immune systems of the animals they were tested on. Many of these researchers
have had their funds cut and been fired from their positions. There is now a
big push on for weakening of the labeling of irradiated foods. The government
has allowed processors to euphemistic label them with a "cold pasteurization"
tag. This is extremely deceiving to the general public. Our organic standards
are now a minimum standard, not an optimum one. Most, if not all, of the key
players in the Bush administration have worked for industries which promote
all of these and other questionable food production practices.
From the time we are in school throughout our adult life, we are told untruths
about food, health and diet and as most of us, who have discovered and thrived
on Nature's Food know, we have to dig and dig to find out what is what. This
journey (of discovery) depends and is absolutely critical on the freedom to
disseminate information, the freedom to receive information, the freedom to
share, speak and express, etc.
Kucinich is the only candidate who has introduced into Congress a Genetic Engineering
Right to Know Act (labeling), A GE Food Safety Act (testing) and A GE Organism
Liability Act (making the producers & sellers of GE liable for any damages,
instead of farmers) as well as two other groundbreaking GE bills. If interested
in getting more info on these billls go to: http://www.house.gov/kucinich/action/gef.htm
Since GE foods were introduced into the American marketplace, Congress has utterly
failed in its mandate to inform and protect the public. It is disgraceful that
not even ONE law has been passed to regulate this dangerous technology. By contrast,
the European Union and many other countries either have regulations in place
or are in the process of putting them in place.
Kucinich has also worked valiently to save and protect small family farms which
have been and are being pushed out by huge factory farms. The kind of food that
raw food enthusiasts want to eat absolutely depends on the survival of small
family organic farms.
If you want to get surface information on the raw food diet and related topics,
there are many, many sites that will give you that. You can access some of them
from the links section of my website under Raw/Live Foods, or you can put the
words raw food or live food into a search engine and some sites will come up.
Wishing you a healthy and joyful New Year,
Rhio
In a message
dated 1/7/04 2:49:32 PM, victoria@rawfamily.com writes:
Dear Sister,
Your stories are so touching and so nice, I instantly miss you. Have a wonderful
year.
Love,
Victoria
In
a message dated 1/9/04 9:19:56 AM, Myrna writes:
You are a huge inspiration, Rhio- I send you best wishes for 2004. Thank you
for keeping me on your profound "hotline" ...
Myrna Becker, Blue Point
In a message
dated 1/7/04 11:19:37 PM, Eleanor writes:
Peace and compassionate clarity for all beings!
Wishing you a new year filled with abundant good health and vitality, brimming
over with creative, loving application of all you believe in.
Eleanor Tauber
In a message
dated 1/7/04 11:26:59 PM, nancy@turtlehome.com writes:
Thank you so much for this wonderful newsletter. I work on the national Kucinich campaign, and after a particularly challenging day, it was so wonderful first to read the peaceful passages you quoted, and then to see Dennis's name mentioned with Willie's song--well, you obviously sent this in the spirit of love, and it was gratefully received!
For
peace,
Nancy Ging
Web Developer, Kucinich for President
Webmaster, Washington for Kucinich
"A different vision for America."
http://www.kucinich.us/
http://www.kucinich-washington.org/
In a message dated 1/7/04 10:43:10 AM, Jean writes:
Good
timing!
I'm not sure if I know you or not, but I read your messages this morning with
a heart cracked open by news that the cancers I've been treating with raw food
and prayer have metastisized and a huge corner in my life is turning. I thank
you for your discerning words.
Blessings!
Jean
Dear
Jean,
While I am saddened to hear about your cancers' metastisizing, I'm glad that
your spirit seems to be up and positive.
May I send you a copy of my book Hooked on Raw, free of charge? What
is your address?
There are miracles to be had - and a long life to be lived.
Be blessed.
Rhio
Dear
Rhio,
How very kind of you to offer encouragement and your book! I would appreciate
receiving it. My address: ____________________________
May
all Love enfold you.
Jean
January 7, 2004
Dear
Rhio,
Happy New Year! Thanks for the January news. There is some very interesting
information...
Be
Well.
Sincerely,
Stephen
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