Good Friday...a new take

Photo Raymond K. Gehman National Geographic

Whether you subscribe to the Pagan Spring rituals or the old-school religious observances of Easter and Passover, the message is always the same: some great hardship is visited upon us -- the "weeping and gnashing of teeth" kind -- which in the end results in a resurrection or rebirth or new understanding of life.

Usually we are so busy with our own dramas, and for the most part are so "city-fied", we forget that Nature, in binging forth the Spring, probably does go through some kind of pain and certainly a great expenditure of energy, but it all seems so effortless and beautiful, we get fooled into thinking it was an easy, no-sweat proposition.

In the animal kingdom, there's also such an accepting kind of grace in the giving of birth. Cats are so quiet, horses may have a hard time, but they're not cursing like sailors and demanding ice chips. Everyone/everything pretty much accepts the pain as part of some process they have infinite trust in and spend no time dramatizing it. They get right to the business of licking kittens clean or popping the last buds on a cherry tree.

It's only humans, and maybe a few other mammalians, that seem to insist on being nailed to a cross of agony before they accept the gift of life. Pain is one thing. Agony is another. Fear and anger inflame pain and it becomes agony. The new world order that's arising, however seems to get this principal and is busy passing out "fever reducers" in the form of helping some one or some thing experience a less agonizing birth.

Featured on Oprah recently, Invisible Children is n organization that seeks to end the gruesome practice of using child soldiers in perpetuating an even more gruesome 25 year war. The infamous stories of butchered children made to serve the blackest of hearts, are being replaced by stories of schools and rescue shelters being built to rehabilitate and give life back to these children. As it says on their website, if just 1% of the world gave $25, the problem would be well on the way to being totally eradicated. Go read the whole story and do what you can.

In the meantime, none of that grotesque drama that was visited upon these children was necessary in order for Joseph Konys, the lunatic who started it all, to experience whatever power and aggrandizement, he thought he would get from the countless atrocities he continues to commit to this day. Ditto for the rest of us, who "fancy up" our own troubles and then have to spend who-knows-how-long in some rehab or therapy.

Good Friday commemorates an equally unnecessary trauma. The Kingdom and its whereabouts had been revealed long before the crucifixion, but it seems humans wouldn't accept the merely painful lessons to gain entry to the Kingdom. Oh no, they had to literally make a spectacle of it. In a new interpretation, perhaps Good Friday should be spent in trying to sooth and strip away any unnecessary agony we may find in ourselves and anyone else who may need our help. Just a thought...

Simply Irresistible Things for a cause... why do we do it? To keep that ripple going!

S.I.T. the acronym may seem strange – it’s such an inactive verb, but when taken from another perspective, some of our best ideas in life can only emerge if there is a moment, however brief, where everything is suspended before a new shift – a change takes place.

The moment between second and third gear, the moment before you begin the high dive, between the words "I love" and "you", between clueless and the "Aha!", between choosing this path or the other path....All of these are sacred moments where in essence, we sit back – we are still – until we are moved to action once again.

We want to contribute to a more thoughtful and inclusive approach to solving problems. We want to keep the ripple effect going because it's a powerful source of energy that gains momentum and widens the sphere of influence -- and yet the first action to start the effect can be modest.

Our vastly connected world has made it possible for all of us to experience great philanthropic works – we are given a chance to participate in seemingly small and easy ways – but that in the end amount to significant gains. What we lack in individual wealth, we make up in sheer numbers and we believe it’s time to truly take advantage of it.

Our Lotus is special...we like the root

Most lotus legends explain the ancient reason why the lotus is linked to both human and divine consciousness in this way: it has a root deep in the muddy and murky waters – but on top of the water, it floats magically – a resplendent geometry of beauty and color – a perfection that has its roots in the muck. Most images and graphic representations, however, seldom show the root. It's an omission that leads us to forget or at least "discount" in some way the not so pretty beginnings of all endeavors, whether they are the quest for a higher state of consciousness or just the beginning of a messy home remodel.

It's as if we only want to see the finished perfection of something. Fair enough. Nobody wants to see the ten trillion outtakes that didn't work in a movie, or the scraps of fabric and exhausted seamstresses at a couture show...the raspy, off-key attempts at a song. But we liked this little root. It wasn’t ugly or scary at all. Maybe life in the earthy/muddy waters doesn’t have to be ugly or scary either. Maybe we need to remember to honor the whole process no matter how ungainly or frustrating, because without it there would be no state of perfection.

So our root is always visible and we think it makes the connection to the "divine" -- the pathway -- much easier to see and keeps us hopeful while we are slogging away at whatever it is we seek to accomplish. This is our way of reminding all of us that both states are part of a whole.

Why Blogmere? Because it sounds like a place...

a place in the English Lake District like Windermere or Buttermere. A place you might like to come and visit to refresh and gather in some ideas and beauty.

Apparently, some time during the early 19th century, adding the suffix "-mere" to a town name became all the rage and displaced the French suffix "-ville". "Ville" was thought to be old fashioned and quaint, while the hip and cool "-mere" means to be part of something – from the Greek "meros" meaning part. In like manner, sitforacause.com is part of something -- a collective of people anxious to help solve some of the most pressing issues and forming a kind of global township to accomplish the task.

So there you have it – the latest 19th century thinking applied to a 21st century medium : )

Everyone Has a Cause...and that's a good thing!

Have you noticed how many people are starting their own causes? There’s a sense of urgency and a need to be hands-on because things aren’t moving fast enough to keep up with the demand….So we come together in smaller groups to focus our energies and help gather the answers that are all around us.

In starting our own cause, we found that virtually everyone we came in contact with actually does believe in a cause of some sort. Expressed or not, contributed to or not, when the subject comes up, everyone has something they champion.

We will be launching a retail website dedicated to contributing 10% of all product purchases to three core causes for cancer research and treatment, and three rotating causes such as – education, wellness and many more. The strategy is to bring awareness to as many causes as possible. When searching for a gift or treating yourself to something new,by shopping sitforacause.com you are not only passing on a contribution to a worthy cause, but becoming aware of the power of your purchase.

Here's a preview of some of the things sitforacaus.com will be offering -- there's something for everyone and 10% of the purchase price for any of the irresistible things on this site will go directly to the core organizations or rotating causes we feature – and you get to choose which one!