Eucharisteo

"I am naked and I am right ashamed. I know how monstrously inhumane I can be. Raging at children for minor wrongdoings while I'm the one defiling the moment with sinful anger. Hoarding pocessions while others die of starvation. Entertaining the mind with trivial pretties when I haven't bowed the head and heart in a prayer longer than five minutes in a week. My tongue has a razor edge and my eyes have rolled haughty and my neck has been stiff and graceless and I have lived the filth ugly, an idolater, a glutton, and a grace thief who hasn't had time for the thanks."

~Ann Voskamp~

Hope of the Gospel

It often takes a great deal of effort for me to read and digest the words of George MacDonald but oh how I love them!

"The wrong, the evil is in him; he must be set free from it. I do not mean set free from the sins he has done: that will follow; I mean the sins he is doing, or is capable of doing; the sins in his being which spoil his nature—the wrongness in him—the evil he consents to; the sin he is, which makes him do the sin he does.

To save a man from his sins, is to say to him, in sense perfect and eternal, 'Rise up and walk. Be at liberty in thy essential being. Be free as the son of God is free.' To do this for us, Jesus was born, and remains born to all the ages. When misery drives a man to call out to the source of his life,—and I take the increasing outcry against existence as a sign of the growth of the race toward a sense of the need of regeneration—the answer, I think, will come in a quickening of his conscience.

The Lord never came to deliver men from the consequences of their sins while yet those sins remained: that would be to cast out of window the medicine of cure while yet the man lay sick; to go dead against the very laws of being. Yet men, loving their sins, and feeling nothing of their dread hatefulness, have, consistently with their low condition, constantly taken this word concerning the Lord to mean that he came to save them from the punishment of their sins. The idea—the miserable fancy rather—has terribly corrupted the preaching of the gospel.

The message of the good news has not been truly delivered. Unable to believe in the forgiveness of their Father in heaven, imagining him not at liberty to forgive, or incapable of forgiving forthright; not really believing him God our Saviour, but a God bound, either in his own nature or by a law above him and compulsory upon him, to exact some recompense or satisfaction for sin, a multitude of teaching men have taught their fellows that Jesus came to bear our punishment and save us from hell. They have represented a result as the object of his mission—the said result nowise to be desired by true man save as consequent on the gain of his object. The mission of Jesus was from the same source and with the same object as the punishment of our sins. He came to work along with our punishment. He came to side with it, and set us free from our sins. No man is safe from hell until he is free from his sins; but a man to whom his sins, that is the evil things in him, are a burden, while he may indeed sometimes feel as if he were in hell, will soon have forgotten that ever he had any other hell to think of than that of his sinful condition. For to him his sins are hell; he would go to the other hell to be free of them; free of them, hell itself would be endurable to him. For hell is God's and not the devil's. Hell is on the side of God and man, to free the child of God from the corruption of death. Not one soul will ever be redeemed from hell but by being saved from his sins, from the evil in him. If hell be needful to save him, hell will blaze, and the worm will writhe and bite, until he takes refuge in the will of the Father. 'Salvation from hell, is salvation as conceived by such to whom hell and not evil is the terror.' But if even for dread of hell a poor soul seek the Father, he will be heard of him in his terror, and, taught of him to seek the immeasurably greater gift, will in the greater receive the less."

~George MacDonald~

Edgar Cayce Wisdom

"Would we ask God to do for us what we would not do for our neighbor? If we would, we are selfish and cannot know God, for as we do it unto the least of our brethren, we do it unto our Maker."

~A Search for God~

The Wisest Words

"Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

~Proverbs 12:18~

Our Deepest Fear

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

~Maryanne Williamson~

Sweet Wisdom

"Share a dark-chocolate bar with your Valentine, and both your hearts will benefit. Research in the Journal of Nutrition suggests that enjoying a small square of the treat a few times a week will reduce your risk of a heart attack. According to the results of the research, 20 grams of dark chocolate per week, or 6.7 grams three times per week, is ideal. Research subjects who ate this amount had significantly lower blood levels of C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation, considered an indicator of heart disease."

~Vegetarian Times Magazine~

Go Green Smoothie

Blend the following:

8 oz filtered water
1 juiced orange
3 cups of baby spinach
1 Tbsp Chia seeds
1 frozen banana

Tips
-Buy organic baby spinach.
-Once ripe, peel and freeze bananas in freezer bags so they are always on hand.
-Make fresh orange juice using a hand-held juicer.
-Add some water if the smoothie is too thick or crushed ice if it isn't thick enough.
-Use a shaker cup to give your smoothie a shake before serving to ensure it is well mixed.

~Recipe by Kelly~

Short, Intense Workouts Get You Fitter Faster

While most experts keep telling us we need to exercise longer if we want to lose weight—we're supposed to exercise 60 to 90 minutes a day just to maintain weight loss—a fast-growing body of research indicates that intensity, not duration, is really the missing piece in our fitness puzzle:

• Last December, Canadian researchers reported that just two weeks of interval training boosted women's ability to burn fat during exercise by 36 percent.
  
  
• Levels of human growth hormone—which assists in building muscle and eliminating fat—skyrocketed 530 percent in subjects after just 30 seconds of sprinting as fast as they could on a stationary bike, according to a British study.
  
  
• Australian fitness researchers had 18 women perform 20 minutes of interval training on a stationary bike—eight-second sprints followed by 12 seconds of recovery throughout the workout, three days a week. The women lost an average of five and a half pounds over 15 weeks without dieting, while a similar group performing 40 minutes of moderate cycling three days a week actually gained a pound of fat over the same period. Two of the heavier women who did intervals dropped 18 pounds.

What's more, short, intense workouts also get you fitter in less time. In a side-by-side comparison, researchers at McMaster University in Ontario measured fitness gains in eight interval exercisers—20- to 30-minute cycling workouts that included four to six 30-second sprints—against eight volunteers who pedaled at a lower intensity for 90 to 120 minutes. After two weeks, the interval group was every bit as fit as those who worked out three to four times as long.

One reason intervals are effective is that they target more of your muscle, says Canadian study author Martin Gibala, PhD, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University. The average exerciser uses a lot of slow-twitch (endurance) muscle fibers and way too few fast-twitch (speed and power) fibers. Working more fast-twitch fibers not only gives you firm, shapely muscle tone but also fast-tracks your fitness gains. "Your body thinks, 'Whoa! That was hard work,' and it responds by increasing your ability to use oxygen and burn fat," Gibala says.

You'll feel younger, as well. Fast-twitch fibers are the first to go with age, largely because neurons stop communicating with them. "Our research finds that you can increase neuron firing rates after just one week of training," says Christopher Knight, PhD, a neuromuscular researcher at the University of Delaware in Newark.

Do It!
Warm up for two to three minutes. Start your first intense 30-second interval. What's important is that during the interval, you push yourself hard enough that you can't maintain the effort longer than 30 seconds. Let the 1-to-10 exertion scale (10 being all-out) be your guide. The effort should feel like an 8 (for the first few sprints) to 10 (for the final ones). After 30 seconds, recover at a casual pace for one and a half to two minutes, and then do it again for a total of eight intervals. Wrap up with a two to three minute cool down. The workout will take 20 to 25 minutes.

~Taken from Oprah's Website~

Ten Beauty Products Hiding in Your Kitchen

Olive Oil: Eye Make-Up Remover
Keep a small jar in your medicine cabinet. Dab a little onto a damp cotton ball and watch your eye makeup melt right off. It also moisturizes the delicate skin around your eyes and nourishes your lashes. And it doesn’t sting.

Coconut Oil: Moisturizer and Stretch Mark Cream
I used coconut oil on my belly throughout my pregnancy and have nary a stretch mark to show for it. It’s also excellent on hands and feet, especially with cotton gloves or socks worn overnight.

Salt and Sugar: Hand and Foot Exfoliator
Salt and sugar are too strong for the delicate skin on your face, but make an excellent scrub for hardworking hands and feet. Mix a little with some olive oil or honey and keep a jar handy for a quick treatment.

Honey: Skin and Hair Conditioner
Stored in a squeeze bottle in your shower, honey makes a wonderful, moisture-rich conditioner. Its humectant properties draw moisture into your hair. And far from being a sticky mess it rinses out easily and leaves hair soft.

Eggs: Protein Hair Mask
Eggs are high in protein and make an excellent mask for damaged hair. Whip up the eggs a bit, adding a tablespoon or two of olive oil and spread onto damp hair. You may want to mix it in a blender to completely emulsify the oil. Spread it onto your hair, wrap it in a warm towel, relax for ten to twenty minutes while it works its magic, then shampoo as you normally would. A once a week treatment will help protect oft-styled hair.

Milk: Skin Softener
Cleopatra was rumored to bathe in milk for its beauty-enhancing properties. If you don’t have a whole tub full of milk to bathe in, simply patting some onto your face, letting it dry and then rinsing it off with warm water will give you noticeably softer skin.

Lemon Juice: Nail Whitener
My mom was always dipping her fingers in a little basin of lemon juice to remove the stains that would accrue from a day of cooking and cleaning.

Vinegar: Shiny Hair Rinse
1 tablespoon in a cup of water will give you a great hair rinse that removes product buildup and makes your hair shaft smother, resulting in shinier hair. You can add a few drops of your favorite essential oil for a pleasant scent.

Avocado: Nourishing Skin Mask
Face masks containing avocado line grocery store shelves. Simply mashing up an avocado and letting it sit on your face will give you all the nutrients and moisture, plus enzymes, but minus weird fillers and chemicals. Mixing it in the blender with a little water or olive oil will give you an easier-to-spread consistency.

Cornmeal: Facial Exfoliator
You can mix fine to medium ground cornmeal into a base of honey, oil, yogurt or mashed fruit for a gentle, but effective facial scrub that can be used on a daily basis.

~Amy at Simple Organic~

Eat Less Bugs!

"To remove insects from Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, artichokes, etc., soak thirty minutes in water to which 2 tablespoons of salt and vinegar have been added. Rinse well and proceed with cooking."

~Sally Fallon author of Nourishing Traditions~

Jewish Wisdom

I am afraid of things that cannot harm me, and I know it.
I yearn for things that cannot help me, and I know it.
What I fear is within me, and within me too, is what I seek.

~Chassidic quote~

Daily Exercise is Very Wise!

Exercise TV

Wise Mystic

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice."

~Meister Eckhart~

Otherworldy Wisdom

"What is the soul? It is the God-Force in the weakest of our brethren, in the lowest of our fellow man. And when we do an unkindness to another individual we do not hurt the individual but we hurt God and ourselves. When do we dishonor God? When we do an unkindness, say an unkind word about our fellow man! What will make us aware of the soul? When we become God-minded and conscious of the fact that we are our brother's keeper! What was the excuse of the first man who did a wrong to another? "Am I my brother's keeper?" Many of us try to hide behind something, to prevent our conscience from hurting, and say, "Well, I don't have to worry about that; that's his job." If he is a living being and wandering, disturbed, then it is our job, when we come in contact with him, if we want to know God at all!"

~Edgar Cayce~

Muere Lentamente

Dies slowly
he who transforms himself into the slave of habits,
repeating every day the same itineraries,
who does not change brand,
does not risk to wear a new color
and doesn't talk to whom he doesn't know.

Dies slowly
he who makes of television his guru.

Dies slowly
he who avoids a passion,
who prefers black to white
and the dots on the "i" to the whirlpool of emotions,
those ones that recover the gleam of the eye,
smiles from the yawns,
hearts from the stumbling and the feelings.

Dies slowly
he who does not overthrow the table when he is unhappy at work,
who does not risk the certain for the uncertain
to go toward that dream that has been keeping him awake.

Who does not allow, at least once in his life, to flee from sensible advice.

Dies slowly
he who does not travel,
does not read,
does not listen to music,
who does not find grace in himself.

Dies slowly
he who destroys his self love,
who does not accept somebody's help.

Dies slowly
he who passes his days complaining of his bad luck
or the incessant rain.

Dies slowly
he who abandons a project before starting it,
who does not ask over a subject that he does not know
or who does not answer when being asked about something he knows.

Dies slowly
he who does not share his emotions,
joys and sadness,
who does not trust,
who does not even try.

Dies slowly
he who does not re-live his memories
and continues getting emotional as if living them at that moment.

Dies slowly
he who does not intent on excelling,
who does not learn from the stones of the road of life,
who does not love and let somebody love.

Let's avoid death in small doses,
remembering always that to be alive demands an effort much bigger
than the simple fact of breathing
and only through perseverance do we conquer the splendid happiness.

~Pablo Neruda~

Good Advice

Parenting Hacks

Here are some fun tips and tricks I've collected from my Parents magazine subscription:

• Stuff the bottom of an ice cream cone with a large marshmellow to keep it from getting soggy and leaking. It makes a nice bonus treat too!
• Give your kid a pair of swim goggles to wear when you are rinsing the shampoo from her hair.
• Make some edible playdough by using 1/2 cup powdered milk, 1/4 cup honey and 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter (I think I learned this one from Jon & Kate actually!)

Love. Is. Simple.

"The amount of love and good feelings you have at the end of your life is equal to the love and good feelings you put out during your life. It is that simple."

~Dannion Brinkley~

Carlos Barrios' Wisdom

"Meditation and spiritual practice are good, but also action. It's very important to be clear about who you are, and also about your relation to the Earth.

Develop yourself according to your own tradition and the call of your heart. But remember to respect differences, and strive for unity. Eat wisely. A lot of food is corrupt in either subtle or gross ways. Pay attention to what you are taking into your body. Learn to preserve food, and to conserve energy.

Learn some good breathing techniques, so you have mastery of your breath.

Be clear. Follow a tradition with great roots. It is not important what tradition, your heart will tell you, but it must have great roots. We live in a world of energy. An important task at this time is to learn to sense or see the energy of everyone and everything: people, plants, animals. This becomes increasingly important as we draw close to the World of the Fifth Sun, for it is associated with the element ether - the realm where energy lives and weaves.

Go to the sacred places of the earth to pray for peace, and have respect for the Earth which gives us our food, clothing, and shelter. We need to reactivate the energy of these sacred places. That is our work.

One simple but effective prayer technique is to light a white or baby-blue colored candle. Think a moment in peace. Speak your intention to the flame and send the light of it on to the leaders who have the power to make war or peace.

We Have Work to Do."

~Read the Full Article~

Alzheimer's Prevention Checklist

• Drink a little red wine each day
• Do 30 minutes of vigorous exercise at least 3 days a week
• Enjoy friends; be social
• Prevent head injuries
• Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol in check
• Stimulate your mind with mental tasks and games (like crosswords)
• Eat a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables

~Some dude on CBC radio~

Let Go

"An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind."

~Mahatma Gandhi~

Twelve Positive Habits

1. Start the Day Right
2. Three-Minute Meditation
3. The Inner Witness: Practicing Self-Observation
4. The Pace of Life
5. Balanced Living
6. Self-Assertion and Healthy Will
7. Picture Yourself: Using Creative Visualization for Change
8. Tolerance: The Magic Ingredient in Human Relationships
9. The Sixth Sense in Sleep
10. Keeping Daily Rhythms
11. The Three-Step Body Tuneup
12. Wrapping Up the Day: Bedtime Imaginative Recall

~From the book "Twelve Positive Habits of Spiritually Centered People" by Mark Thurston and Sarah Thurston~

Eat Less Toxic Food

"Buy organic when the conventional choice tends to retain pesticide residue. Produce with high pesticide residues includes apples, cherries, grapes, peaches, strawberries, celery, green beans, lettuce and winter squash."

~Warren Leon~

Less is More

"The greatest wealth is to live content with little." (Plato)

"A rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least." (Interview with God)

"The more things you own, the more they own you." (Pat Jim)

Power Couples

Strawberries and Whole-Wheat Toast - The vitamin C in strawberries converts the iron in whole-wheat bread to a form that the cells can absorb.

Oatmeal and Milk - The magnesium in oats increases the amount of calcium absorbed by keeping it from binding to fiber and other nutrients.

Olive Oil and Veggies - Spritz spinach, green peppers, squash, and dark greens with olive oil. This healthy fat helps your child absorb the veggies' antioxidants.

Chicken and Carrots - Don't save chicken soup for sick days -and always include carrots. The zinc in chicken helps the body metabolize the carrots' vitamin A.

~Parents Magazine~

Eat More (Good) Fat

"A little fat in your diet can help you absorb as much as four times more cancer-fighting lycopene and almost three times the amount of the healthy antioxidant beta-carotene. Try adding avocados or full-fat dressings to your next salad."

~Sarah DeHeer~

Package Treats in Small Portions

"A simple partition (like tinfoil) forces you to pause and ask yourself, 'Do I really want this?' So divide munchies into containers you must open, like plastic bags or aluminum tins."

~Family Circle~

Jedi Master Wisdom

"Do, or do not. There is no try."

~Yoda~

Smarty Pants Wisdom

"Life is like a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep on moving."

~Albert Einstein~

"I Saw What I Saw" by Sara Groves

On Writing Well

"When one reads any strongly individual piece of writing, one has the impression of seeing a face somewhere behind the page."

~George Orwell~

More than Meets the Eye

“I never question what to do, it tells me what to do. The photographs make themselves with my help."

“If you can't make the image bigger or more important than what you see, then don't push the button.”

"Never ever say the word shoot when you are taking a picture with a camera because a camera is not a violent weapon."

"Each time I make a photograph I celebrate the life I love and the beauty I know and the happiness I have experienced. All my photographs are made like that..."

~Ruth Bernhard~

Overcoming Shame

"Shame can't survive when empathy is present."

~Brene Brown~

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

~Max Ehrmann~

The Paradoxical Commandments

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

~Dr. Kent M. Keith~

How to Meditate

"The key is simple: giving rather than getting. It's a matter of surrendering yourself. First surrendering your worries. Being willing to give up your expectations, and not expecting to get anything -not even peace. The whole purpose of this meditation session is to give."

~Mark Thurston and Sarah Thurston~

Declutter

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

~simplemom~