June 2006 Archives

"All sober inquirers after truth, ancient and modern, pagan and Christian, have declared that the happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue. Confucius, Zoroaster, Socrates, Mahomet, not to mention authorities really sacred, have agreed in this."

--John Adams, "Thoughts on Government," 1776. Jesus is probably among the "really sacred" he doesn't name, but it is interesting he cast his net as wide as he did.

I recently picked up at the health food store a copy of a 50-page periodical called "Green Teacher: Education for Planet Earth," and I've decided that since it's summer and we're all capable of dreaming about how the next school year might be, I'll donate a GT subscription to our Montessori school in hopes of further inspiring the school's receptive management. Articles in the spring issue include pieces on how to help kids in the classroom develop and report back on an indivdual "environmental practice" like timing showers, flushing the toilet less (hmmm, not too keen on that one), biking or walking instead of driving, or helping parents improve home recycling. (One practice I've been observing is taking bottles and cans of drinks consumed in restaurants home to recycle, since a lot of places we frequent don't seem to do it.) Green Teacher also sells books on "Teaching Green," covering climate change, how to green-up school grounds, and how to encourage an interest in environmental studies throughout the school year. Yes, all this stuff is best taught at home too, but support from a school that engages the whole peer group is vitally important.

Everyone should have a pal like my nutritionally-hip friend Myra. She's the one who introduced me to the whole grain farrow. Yesterday, she gave me a bag of nutritional yeast flakes ("the full complement of B vitamins," Myra says, great in smoothies and on popcorn). Myra told me about krill oil, and says it is better for you than most other fish and flax seed oils. She uses kelp power as a condiment (though she says it doesn't really have a flavor), shaking it into every cold salad and steaming pot of food that she creates. "It's like seasoning your food with the iron you need," she says. At night, she puts some millet, barley, whole wheat berries, or farrow into a bowl with water and a splash of fresh lemon juice; then she rinses the soaked grains in the morning and cooks them up for the day.

"Eat more greens and grains! Eat more greens and grains!" she tells me.

I say, "Myra, I just want to come to your house and follow you around."

Here's how Myra makes her morning breakfast shakes: She uses green tea or goji berry tea as a base. Or, sometimes she uses any alternative milk as base like soy, rice, almond, oat, or hazelnut. Then, she adds whatever she's got around in the house (not everything in the house, but any number of the follwoing things in compatible combinations): cacao beans (also called nibs), dried organic goji berries, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast flakes or Brewer's yeast, bee pollen, oatmeal, sunflower seeds, pepitas, flax seed, almonds (or any raw nut), nut butters, frozen berries, frozen bananas (peel them first and freeze in plastic bags), and plain whole milk yogurt.

Blend, taste. Add a little unfiltered honey if you must. I've come to really like the nutritional yeast taste in the morning, but I understand it might not be everybody's thing. One of my sons craves it, the other doesn't.

I don't know if you're actually following this, but it is interesting to note that outgoing "The View" co-host Star Jones Reynolds and incoming co-host Rosie O'Donnell were born just three days apart in March of 1962. I get this from Beliefnet.com astrology writer Shelley Ackerman. O'Donnell was born on March 21, and Reynolds was born on March 24. That means their shared sun sign is Aries, ruled by Mars, God of War. "There was no way these two could have comfortably shared that or any couch," Shelley says. Another point of interest is that Barbara Walters (who was unsuccessful in her efforts to get Reynolds to leave the show gracefully) was born on September 25, 180 degrees away from Aries on the zodiac wheel. Shelley goes on to say that last week's solar ingress into Cancer, the transition of the nodes from Aries/Libra to Pisces/Virgo, and the wrenching Mars/Saturn conjunction set off the successful ABC program's shake-up.

I live near a Botanical Garden that contains beautifully landscaped acres of Shakespearean herbs, a rolling creek, a lily pond, and a Japanese meditation area with a small temple. Turtles, koi, and ducks swim in the pond. If I still jogged, I could jog to these gardens in four minutes. At a walking pace, it might take twelve minutes to get through the main gate.

Last night, I took the Chattering kids and two friends to these gardens for the monthly "Summer Picnic Night," and as the children peacefully hunted for baby rabbits in the Cherry Tree Arcade near dusk (apparently, a lot of New Yorkers have turned unwanted pet bunnies loose in there, and they've multiplied!), I sat on a bench, breathing and thinking: "It's so beautiful here, the air is clear, and I'm so close to home. Why don't I get to this place more?"

A couple of years ago, Jacob Needleman, author of "Time and the Soul: Where Has All the Meaningful Time Gone--and Can We Get It Back?" told me his next book was going to be about why people usually don't do the things they know are best for them. Hmmm. Great idea.

Why do we too frequently see life as a hassle to endure, when it's usually only a short walk to serenity and bliss? The thing we most deeply desire is always near. Nearer than my gardens, even. Inside each of us, in fact.

"You may feel 'out' of the great flow, but it always flows right through the middle of your life, and through you, too. You may feel far from 'it,' but rest assured that it is never apart from you," says Lama Surya Das in this column for Beliefnet.

Is there something near you that you aren't taking full advantage of, or true pleasure in? Think about it.

Gee, you readers are great, and so generous with great links and suggestions. Write me more, let's interact (spiritual material does not get as much of a written response from Beliefnet members as political talk, but I don't know why...

The May-June issue of "Mothering" has a good article on baby-parent attachment and the pernicious influence of those baby car seats thought to be nifty since you can tote your child around everywhere in them, from car to store to...

I've been working hard to build my internal iron reserves in the last few weeks by discovering dietary iron sources I never knew about (Royal Jelly has just been recommended to me, have you ever tried it?). I also give...

Thanks to Eevie Keys who sent us this link to her favorite cat humor site, good for any moment you need a little lift (don't send PETA after me for this, though). Thanks also to Erik, who reminded us that...

"How can you live in the Northeast? How can you live in the South? How can you build on the banks of a river when the flood water pours from the mouth? How can you be a Christian? How can...

Oh dear, I've been remiss. I should have told you weeks ago that Ammachi, the guru with the healing smile and a generousity of spirit that doesn't quit, is on tour in the states. Here's her tour schedule. And here'san...

"What is Oprah, anyway?" asked my youngest as I gathered both boys around the television at four p.m. yesterday."It's--she's--a popular talk show host and Rabbi Shmuley--remember him?--is on her program today," I told them, thinking: how hard can it be...

I have made the conscious decision to start dressing like a goddess. Well, some might say "like a total kook." Today, for instance, I put on a black cotton top which has white shells and silver sequins descending the V-neck,...

Forgive me if you're not interested in petticoats in any context, and fail to see their spiritual meaning. Perhaps I'm resolving something from a past life. But I'm the proud owner of two major petticoats right now: one in Chinese...

If you don't own mala or rosary prayer beads, and if you sometimes find it difficult to keep track of the mantras you are repeating in meditation, or if you have a friend interested in any of these things, these...

Here's Beliefnet's article on Fly Lady, the lovely woman who has helped thousands get their homes spiritually aligned and better organized....

President Bush isn't the only one down in the polls. Firm belief in God has descended five points in the last year, according to recent Gallup research....

Even the most skeptical skeptic will enjoy reading Richard Tarnas's new book "Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View." In it, the cultural historian and professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies uses astrology and planetary correspondences...

I love this guy. But do you think what he's saying is true?"Many people today are more tuned into the weekly sitcoms and 'reality shows' than they are to what's going on in the planetary biosphere or even in their...

If you love the religious passion of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods of Western music as much as I do, you are a lover of what's called "Early Music." And depending upon whom you talk to, the music of George...

Okay everybody, stretch your arms to the ceiling, roll your shoulders forward and back, and by all means (please!) take a baby bunny/kitten Cuteoverload.com break right here at your desk! Want more? Catsinsinks.com is pretty adorable too. Oxytocin is that...

Over vacation, I read a biography of Christian philosopher Rudolf Steiner and picked up the following prayers, which he is said to have recited every day. The first is his version of the Lord's Prayer, and it seems to have...

I found these yoga mat totes quite gorgeous. Yes, I know there's a slightly obnoxious flavor to some of the folks who strut around town with pretty yoga sacks on their backs, exalting in their stylish spiritual health. But what...

Got a note yesterday from Pamela Miles, author of "Reiki: A Comprehensive Guide," reminding me that PBS is airing a documentary about five children facing cancer--"A Lion in the House"--tonight and Thursday evening. "Seeing others' conflicts and pain helps us...

The Chattering boys and I are developing a way they can enjoy unstructured time at home or on the block while I blog (now that school is out and camp hasn't started). I found some nice tips on how to...

"The longer we practice in relationship together, the more the heat builds. Sometimes the energy is warm; other times it burns. Still, there is only one thing to practice: gentleness, fearlessness, and the deepening of compassion for self and other....

One of my favorite writers, Waverly Fitzgerald, has launched a blog called "A Flower a Day" in which she provides sweet facts about the flowers, plants, and trees of the month, as well as tidbits on their mythology, and medicinal...

I noticed something painful this vacation, and that is, I don't enjoy seeing myself in family photographs these days. We're all getting older, right? And digital photography allows us to see ourselves immediately after a photo is taken. "Ahhhh...better delete...

We didn't expect to see one. Even the bikini-clad gal at the snorkle shed admitted that she'd only seen two in the last year. But my nine-year-old son desperately wanted to see a sea turtle in its natural habitat, so...

The mailbox was brimming with catalogs when I came home after nine days away. I had two favorites. "Garden's Alive" is a wonderful source for every conceivable organic or natural gardening product. I'm about to order its herbicide, Moss Aside,...

This weekend I attended my friend Oliver's beautiful wedding in mid-state New York. At the end of a ceremony that left most of us in tears (the bride cried as she read her vows to provide him shelter in her...

Any minute now (ok, Wednesday) will be the summer solstice. June 21st is the longest day of the year, the beginning of official summer (though I don't think the weather is on that schedule here on the East broiling Coast),...

Yesterday's New York Times had a story about audio or video yoga (and other exercise classes) that you can download to your iPod. Some claim to be "customized" just for you and your needs. All are a pretty nifty way...

When I was 19 I came across my first SARK book--in an independent Australian bookstore--Inspiration Sandwich. It was definitely that. Blasting with hand-crafted color and realness and spiritual creativity I quickly fell in love with Sarah Ariel Rainbow Kennedy. She...

In a move that will no doubt have lobster claws clicking in crustacean applause (if they manage to read the news), Whole Foods announced today that they will stop selling live lobsters and crabs because it's cruel.The mammoth natural grocery...

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” --Henry Miller...

A friend of mine is doing the Master Cleanse fast (a.k.a the Lemonade Diet) right now. Seems like the perfect time for an intestinal roto-rooter. The popular detox, created by the late naturopath Stanley Burroughs in the 1970s, is designed...

Yesterday I had the pleasure of slipping out of the grey cement city and into green, leafy paradise. It was only for a brief stop up at the Omega Institute— the spiritual summer camp with meditation instead of color war...

My lovely friend Kerrigan Kessler, a handbag designer, just told me she'll be traveling to the Galapagos Islands this summer to volunteer for Galapagos ICE (Immerse, Connect, Evolve), an organization dedicated to improving health and education systems in the Galapagos....

I heart Michael Franti, the be-dreaded singer who "stands six-foot-six above sea level" and reminds us in his honeyed hip-hop baritone that you can "bomb the world to pieces but you can't bomb it into peace." (Go here for samples...

At my still somewhat newish full-time post in a large, busy, tightly populated office, I'm perpetually creeped by germs. I got a big cold my first two weeks here and then a couple of tiny ones after that. Reading those...

Deeep breath. Okay, so I just got the word. Four years worth of email correspondence, vanished from my trusty, now untrusty laptop...poof, gone, buh-bye. That's about 5,000 emails from friends around the world—some of whom I won't know how to...

Maybe you're trying to cut back on your coffee consumption? You could always wear it instead. No, not the way I usually end up wearing food (there's a reason I always have an extra t-shirt nearby), but strung on a...

Buddhism has experienced a surge of high-profile popularity among Westerners in recent years. That is, most kinds of Buddhism, the kinds that appeal to our American desire for a serene mind and settled body. But, according to a story in...

Last night my boyfriend T, the newspaper man, brought home an advanced (unproofed) copy of "Cancer Vixen: A True Story." It's a graphic memoir coming out in October by The New Yorker and Glamour cartoonist Marisa Acocella Marchetto—she's known for...

* Biodegradeable sunscreen. (Mr. C. is actually worried I will think of nothing but skin cancer as I vacation with the whole Chattering family on the U.S. Virgin Islands this week.)* Yoga clothes. The hotel wisely boasts of classes.* A...

Hi, Valerie here, subbing for Amy while she gets all sandy and relaxed.Though it may seem like yoga has peaked in popularity, Rodale just renewed faith in the stretchy genre with a new magazine, Yoga Life. The tagline is, "mind,...

Thought I'd continue the meat theme (see my griping above) by letting you know about Vegetarian Summerfest. From July 5th to 9th at the University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, non-face-eaters will gather on the campus--a 650-acre mountaintop wildlife preserve...

This hilarious clip of Comedy Central's Steven Colbert dancing liturgically made the email rounds at Beliefnet's offices last week. The music, says Beliefnet producer Laura Sheahen, is a popular Advent song in Catholic churches. Have a quick peek....

Here's a summary from Lightworkers.org. "A LightWorker is anyone who chooses to be a channel between heart and mind, heaven and earth... There are many theories put forth as to what it means to be a LightWorker, from those who...

The minute my pal Kathleen and I stepped into The Hotel Pennsylvania last weekend, we knew we had exited ordinary New York City and entered an elevated realm. The people milling around effervesced. "I want an angel T-shirt like that...

Speaking of singing, do you know about "The Zen of Screaming"? It's an excellent DVD package of singing instruction, voice toning exercises, and downhome advice on how to belt out big musical numbers more effectively created by classically-trained singer Melissa...

Last weekend, I attended a workshop with angel authority Doreen Virtue, and during the day she happened to read Neil Douglas-Flotz's translation of The Lord's Prayer, which I'd never heard before, and which is felt by some to hew closer...

I like websites that sing at you the minute you show up. I wish my blog could sing; how wonderful it would be if every post had musical accompaniment that fit the topic or set the mood! Beliefnet recently linked...

"The modern world lies under a pervasive sense of anguish, of being abandoned, or at least experiencing God as absent. Yet events that seem to turn our lives upside down and inside out are part of God's redemptive plan, not...

"The angels told me that the invention of the lightbulb marked the onset of new diseases in the human race. Artificial lighting spurred us to extend our waking hours, as we tried to create an endless period of daylight. Lightbulbs...

A reader asked how Tibetan prayer flags work. Well, here's a nice explanation of what they are and how they are believed to bestow positivity and reverence for the Dharma (the Buddhist path). And here are some wonderful photographs of...

"Parenthood is a clumsy yet majestic dance in the flames. When you parent, you fall in love with a person who is always changing into someone else, and who you know will leave you."--Elizabeth Lesser, "Broken Open: How Difficult Times...

My nurse practitioner/healthcare coordinator from Olive Leaf called today to tell me that blood tests show I'm anemic. Again. More anemic than last year. Anemia, or more specifically dietary iron deficiency, is the vegan mom's ailment, isn't it? But I...

Last week The New York Times teamed up with Environmental Defense to produce this helpful guide to eating fish "with no environmental issues" a.k.a. low contamination levels....

Whenever I go to South Carolina, I tell my brother that "everyone" up north is thinking about their health and buying at least some organic products. And my brother just shakes his head and says, "That just won't go over...

"Religion has suffered when orthodoxy is more regarded than virtue--at the last day we shall not be regarded by what we thought but what we did to our fellow creatures."--Ben Franklin...

"Hey! There's a rat back there the size of a cat!"I said this to a stranger walking towards me on the sidewalk near the Brooklyn Public Library where the city has been doing some construction lately. "Really?!" the man exclaimed....

Hmmmm. Another sign of the times? The Company Store's bed linen catalog features brightly colored goose down comforters in a manner strikingly similar to a row of Tibetan Prayer Flags. Coincidence? What do you think?...

When Beliefnet.com was launched in 1999, Mr. Chattering wanted to allow anyone to talk about religion and spiritual development. He figured that if our producers got Hollywood celebrities to delve into these subjects, others would follow. Gossipy Hollywood interviews about...

Tricycle magazine is promoting its thirteenth annual international day of free meditation instruction this Saturday, June 3rd. Groups of varing sizes gather outdoors in predesignated spots. "Whether attended by many or few, the event is always powerful, connecting thousands of...

We're nearing the end of the school year, that time when parents and kids must decide what the heck to give the classroom teacher, that devoted man or woman who works a hard day and is always underpaid. We Chatterings...