Some serious reading going on

Just finished The Jesus Papers, by Michael Gaigent , put it in your browser, publisher Harper... you can then see the controversy, the television comments, etc. Does it matter to you that Jesus was a man? Does it matter to you that the Catholic Church created a myth around the figure of a man, who had moved the world to a new form of "Judaism'", as some refer to the Catholic religion?



What about a man (Jesus) that could say this, " If the flesh came for the sake of the spirit, it is a miracle. But, if the spirit for the sake of the flesh- it is a miracle of miracles." This is from the Gospel of Thomas discovered in 1945, Quoted from The Mathematical Experience, page 54 by P. Davis and R. Hersh, which I am reading along with Desire of the Everlasting Hills, by Thomas Cahill.



Ghengis Khan, is on the after burner, because as I was reading The Jesus Papers, my friend Skip recommended a book, that I am waiting for. While looking at the review for the book Skip suggested, I came across, Desire, and it was so close to the Jesus Papers I thought why not stay with Jesus for awhile, while I am in that world.



Interesting to note, the Temple when destroyed in 70, was then represented by the Temple in Egypt for a few hundred years, according to The Jesus Papers. Egypt was the land of mysticism, and it is thought that the ideas that Jesus came forward with, where learned in Egypt. In other books maybe by this same author, the teaching of the Egyptians, followed Moses into the promised land, since Moses was a Pharoh, he had to be ordained into the secret mysteries. There where divisions in the Jewish beliefs, at the time of Jesus, the orthodox beliefs were predominant, they had lost the mysticism of the past, and focused more on the flesh, such as the forebearers, and the line that carried the blood.

It is an interesting read. What it boils down to, is that like any religion the story is set by the authors of your religion, to what people are willing to accept and believe as the truth, but if you are spiritual, does it really change anything for you? Was Jesus worthy of sainthood? Does it matter if he is not God, but a Saint? What does any of this matter, except to bring us to the realization that religion is all seeking the same answers. Where do we come from? What is our purpose on earth? Shall we blindly follow murderers in the name of religion? Heaven is within us, and so are the answers.



I went into Desire of the Everlasting Hills, as my next read, because it discusses the world before and after Jesus. When I read a book, I enter that world, and want to stay in that world, while it is still in my mind. This book has fabulous reviews from the New York Times, and Philadelphia Inquirer. Will keep you posted on how it feels to read it, after The Jesus Papers

Lifelong learning

When I came across my high school graduation picture, the memories flooded back. I remember being overcome with lonliness for the future, because all my friends were going off in different directions. Some went to work at the telephone company for life long careers. I did not know what my future was going to bring me, because I wanted to go to college, but my mother and father, said that girls did not go to college. It was a waste of money, since girls got married, had children and stayed home to raise the children.

The fall of my senior year, Dad died. It was a year of tremendous pain and turmoil for the whole family. My whole life had been built around making Dad proud of me, showing him I could be as good as any son. But, now, my reason for being, my reflection plate was gone. I no longer could see the love I had for him, or him for me, in the reflection of his face, and I did not know what was to become of our family. Mom was lost in the lonliness of being a widow. Frank was only 12, and maybe too young to realize how this loss would affect his growing up. Dutifully, I followed my Mom's advice and attended secretarial school the summer after graduation. It was not a happy time. Then Mom found out that to work in a Doctor's office I needed a medical secretary degree from a two year college. She relented and let me go to Lasell Jr. College with my best friend, Barbara. It was still learning to be a secretary with medical knowledge tossed in. I was not happy. It was not my goal, it was my mother's goal. Sometimes I wonder, if we ever really learn from our mistakes, do we repeat them with our children. Do we make new mistakes, because we are afraid of committing the ones our parents made? Parenting is not perfect for anyone. All we can do is hope for our children to find their niche their path in the world, with purpose.

July wedding of , Juliette and Frank

Our lovely friends Juliette and Frank, finally were able to tie the knot, it was a beautiful second wedding for two deserving people who are committed to each other.

The highlight of the day was the tribute from Frank's grown son, to his father, and new mother.

Pictured with us at the wedding are our wonderful friends,

Gemma and John. You can see she is a beautiful Irish lady, full of fun, a former psychiatric nurse. John is a scientific patent attorney, very brilliant. We met through the sport of coaching. I am on the right, Howard is next to Gemma

Here we are coaching with a troika, Russian style., 3 horses up front. Naturally, Howard has tried every thing from 1,2,3,45,6 horses in a team. It get more difficult with more horses , naturally. This is in the front yard, with the 1912 Pierce Arrow in the background. We entertained this early evening to raise money for the cancer care center at the hospital in town, kicking off the fund raising. I am on the box seat next to the driver, and Howard is looking over my right shoulder. We were dressed formally for the occasion.(circa early 1980's)

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Consilience in action

At the Land trust dinner last night, I had a conversation with a former teacher, who immediately declared me his enemy, because I represented, construction noise, houses, and traffic. (He is opposed to development, now that he has his house). In essence he is declaring what many selfish people declare, that everyone around him/them, should not be allowed to sell their land to developers.



Harmony, is what we all want, and when we do not like the by-laws of the town we live in and when change comes, we have the freedom to pick up and move, rather than to deny our neighbor his rights under the law. Unfortunately, many people would rather deny their neighbor than to upset their own status quo. What is new under the sun?



In thinking about the contentions, a major one is property. Who owns it, how can I control it, reap rewards from it, and make it mine without paying for it? Bam! we are back in the ancient world! The Roman Empire was at its height and the Jews were fighting for the right to take back their land, practice their religion, and terrorists (Zealots) were at work, stoning the Roman soldiers and driving them out, only to have them return in more force, and more destruction of the Zealots. Consilience has a major role in the happenings of that time, what natural underlying laws of nature were causing the continuing violence, and how could it have been solved by the Romans who stepped out to grow an empire, with great success for a long period of time?



Consilience is interesting as we apply it to the problems of life. There are a million questions that you can pose, and discuss, about how far we should go, to provide happiness and equality to everyone. Is that the right role of us individually or collectively? If everyone is created equal, why are women paid less then men, and considered less valuable, in the rank of society for one example. Why are the borders closed to illegal immigrants, if they are equal, should they be allowed to travel anywhere they want in the world for a job? Do we need man made laws if everyone is equal ? You might think that this is leading to foolishness, but, in fact it is leading to deeper thinking about ourselves, our posturing, our laws, our abilities and what in reality we face on this earth.



To me it is clear that we are not all equal. We all have different problems and challenges to face.

Is it a challenge to figure out how to stay on welfare your whole life, or is the real challenge to face what kind of job you can hold, even if only one day a week, for four hours. People with fear of going out of their home, would they allow themselves to die, if they had to cooperate in the cave for food? On and on, we could go, about how we treat people on welfare, paying them to get rid of their problems instead of working to help them become able to face the challenges of life. Our actions commit generations of children to welfare existence, in my opinion, maybe not yours, but I sure would like to know you thought hard about what I am saying.



What would happen, if instead of handouts, we provided jobs, and you had to be at the job, picked up by a bus and delivered home by a bus, to get your welfare check. Your children would come with you and be cared for in a day care situation, so there is no excuse to stay home with babies. You would not get your own apartment , but rather a room, or number of rooms in a rooming house. Everyday, you would be expected to do something for your check, just as the original cave people did, every one according to his ability limited as it may be, had a chore or chores to do, survival depended on cooperation.



That is enough consilience for the day, but gives you something to think about, as you daydream your way through the improving future. Are we doing our soul work on earth?

Ancient World snippets

Type this in your browzer for a small snipet of mystery in the ancient world.....http://news.aol.com/story/_a/analyst-says-last-supper-holds-secret/20070728114709990001

The DaVinci Code , really caused a stir, when the author Dan Brown, built a yarn based on , "Holy Blood, Holy Grail, now people are reviewing art and looking for clues to more mystery. Who knows what will come of the new enthusiastic searches?

Right now I am reading, The Jesus Papers, and what comes to mind is the similarity with our times, and the times of Christ. The Jewish people were in constant revolt, against the Romans. Religion was a major factor in the unrest. Though the Romans sent Legions, the unrest would settle down and arise again. A lesson for us? Does conquering a nation settle what is brewing in the mindset of a people?

Religion and its teachings, seem to be the hotbed of dissension in the world ,as it was over 2000 years ago, and maybe since the beginning of time. Someone person, or people come up with a religious story, and indoctrinate a group of people, who then indoctrinate their children and so on. Maybe this would not be so bad, if suicide, murder, death and wars were not part of what was included in the teachings.

Every religion in ancient times, seems to have required sacrifice, of some kind.
All religions were aggrarian. Religions evolved, as did the people who practiced them. Religions that adhere to the ancient aggrarian beliefs of sacrifice, suicide, and law that is man made, seem to have the hardest time in the world we know now.

When I was a child reading the free encylopedias from the Saturday movies, I decided then and there, that I would not be a St. Bernadette, nor would I be a gladiator in the Roman Colsseum, nor would I be a dead patriot.

What made sense to me, was to live, to carry the message that survived the ignorance of death for a cause.

The Jesus Papers, recants that Jesus, as we know was born a Jew, practiced his religion, and died a Jew. So, in thinking about this, how in the world did the Jewish religion get dropped from the new religion of Christianity.

Well of course you could not preach that you were waiting for a Messiah from the chosen people who had to be a descendant of Aron and David, as was Christ, and that this descendant would lead the Jewish people only, as King of the Jews(from David) and Chief Rabbi( from Aron), if you were going to prosletyze. So there was a period of time before the new testament was formulated from the gospels, and at that time, the new religion, dropped the Jewish heritage of Christ and began a practice of worshipping the Mesiah, that was not inclusive of the ancient religion of the Jews, since that religion was exclusive to people born of Jewish heritage.

Interesting, that man hath his hand in everything of this world. What is not tainted by the hand of man? The quest to prove Jesus a man, after all, remains for those of us that wish to pursue it, unhindered or guided by the hand of man.

What do you believe? Is there a Kingdom of Heaven? Is it within you, as Christ said? What gain was there for the gospels to set forth the parables of Christ, before the advent of the Christian church? Did the parables constitute the man made laws of a religion or did they set forth ideas for us to think about and delve into, as we must delve into our spirit, in our journey through life.

New book this week

Did not start "Ghengis Khan" yet, picked up one on top of it. " The Jesus Papers' by Michael Baigent, he is one of the authors of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail', and if you have not read that yet, grab it, and read it, because that is the source of the novel by Dan Brown ,"The DaVinci Code".

The story "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" was so enticing that when I was reading it a number of years ago, I discussed it at dinner , in Palm Beach with some staunch Catholics, and they almost threw me out of the church membership, as we sat at the table that night.

I love to chase ideas, and the ideas in this series of books about Christ, are hair raising. "The Jesus Papers", is chasing the same idea, that Christ survived the cross, that he had a child with Mary Magdalene and that the child gave birth to the Merovingian lineage. Now, is that enough to raise your interest?

Does it mean that Christ was not what he seemed to be? Does it mean that the messages in the disputed gospels are any less than they were meant to be? You must decide for yourself. When we enter matter, is there anyone of us, even a Saint such as Mother Theresa, that did not commit some act that was entirely human, made a human midstake, or had a human thought?
It would be impossible to be in the flesh and not experience humanity, as intended, I think. Maybe you do not agree? Anyway, have fun and join me in the chase of ideas.

New ideas, book

We are in Newport, preparing for the big Concour of automobiles, to benefit the Preservation Society, that takes care of all the large Mansions of the Golden Age.
Our friends from Florida are here. They just returned from a world cruise, where they were frightened by two messages.

One was in Africa, where in Kenya, they were reminded on a tour that Obama's father lives in Kenya, and Obama is sympathetic to his father's views, ( father is a Muslim) so one wonders what the father's views are?? I can not decipher that, can you?

The other was a statement by an Egyptian businessman, educated in the United States, for 8 years, who warned that the United States is the only country who can stop the bomb from going to the extremists. Once they get the bomb, the United States, will never realize what hit them, they will destroy our economy and in turn the economy of the world. That is hard to consider, but easy to imagine happening.

I keep thinking, if the extremists were mass murderers, everyone would be looking for them, and our country would all be together in finding them. Should we change the language of description, from extremists to mass murderers, to get everyone on one side? The frustration of ending this religious suicide and mass murder is overwhelming. Will it really go away, by calling our troops home? What will end it, a capitulation? The questions are out there, and how WE see our future, is so important as we approach this Presidential election.

The other day I was reading Depak Chopra's new book, "Life After Death" and Depak makes the statement in so many words that Christ was the only one that talked about Heaven being inside of us. The page describing Christ's teachings, whether you believe in Christ or not, makes sense.If I had the book beside me I would quote it for you. All great ideas seem to be merging, there is a "Consilience"
A UNITY OF KNOWLEDGE WITH UNDERLYING DEEP LAWS, IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE, but it is just coming to our consciousness.

I have with me this weekend, "The Jesus Papers", a book by one of the writers of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" I will be starting that as I finish Depak's book. I recommend Depak, to anyone that wants to start the chase of ideas. Chasing ideas is probably the best and most mysterious chase there is....all tie together, if you follow the books I have been reading.

Palm Beach days the 80's

Palm Beach Days
In the 80's we owned John Lennon's Vanderbilt mansion in Palm Beach, our daughter Karen is on left with her husband, Ian. The neighbor's cat was out front, and a car stopped as we watched...someone grabbed the cat, and yelled "we got John Lennon's cat!", and took off, like a bat! Ha ha...

I am thinking about Karen today, as I often do. She died about three years ago. A mother's heart never stops aching for a child. I sat with her for hours hoping to be there when she passed. Finally, the nurse told me to think about leaving the room, because sometimes a person hangs on when a loved one is there.

After 12 hours in the hospital, Howard came to get me. Ian took my place, and he was with Karen for about three more hours. She smiled as she died, he told me, and I was finally able to release my grief, in the privacy of my bedroom, squashing my pillow over my mouth. The long years of her suffering with cancer where over and my first born was gone forever from the earth. In the blink of an eye, in the moment of one breath, in a sigh of resignation... there was acceptance of what had to be

first book I read by Laszlo, great reading

Here is another book, I read over the last year, this was my introduction to Laszlo, and I loved the book. It helps to stay with his thoughts, which in my opinion are on target, since others are sharing his eye opening theories
Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything (Paperback)
by Ervin Laszlo (Author)

He and Wilson should talk, but, I am sure if I try and put them together, they will both throw out or not read my suggestion. What fun, what dreams they could explore! Maybe I will try and put them together. Who would dream the coincidence of me reading their ideas at the same time?

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come”
—-Hamlet, William Shakespeare

listening to music , reading and thinking...nice links.

here is a nice link for easy music

Click here: my RED lounge - RED is Jazz, Blues, Swing and Lounge - Listen Live Now

While you listen,please read, what one of the great thinkers of our time Ervin Lazlo has to say about space and matter. Do you agree with me, his paper, is faintly familiar with the thoughts of Edward O. Wilson in the book Consilience

http://www.physlink.com/Education/essay_laszlo.cfm#top

too many parties

In Newport last night, went to a Gershwin Cabaret at the Redwood Library. The library is spectacular because it has a collection of antique portraits that rivals many museums in the country. There is also a collection of antique books, and an illustrated bible from the 14th century.

Too much partying this week, no desire to go to the parties in Newport next week, but friends from Florida are coming, along with friends from Framingham, so we must, we must, continue to party. We should have learned when we did the Palm Beach circuit!

Naval war museum July 19,Newport

We visited a display of art by the Naval War Museum. The Thomas Benton they own, stood out. "Launching"was the name of the work. A Thomas Benton, is so stylized that anyone can spot it across the room, once they know his style. I loved it, it truly epitomized the war effort.



There were other oils, that were great, such as the recruiting work that the museum has from World War 1, that was used also in World War 2. The oils of the battles in World War 2, remind me of a swarm of bees in nature, trying to attack. All of nature is related when you think of it.



An interesting little aside, about human nature. A woman called a company to complain that she fell down., on their property and broke her wrist. When asked to provide information about her operation, resulting from the fall, she hung up, saying quickly, "I have decided not to have the operation." What prompts people to get so desparate, that they try to embzzle money under false pretenses, from large stores, or for that matter from others?



Even a joke about men that went around on the internet this week, was so critical of men, that I wondered how could any woman that passed this on, be happy with her husband. It was not even funny, it was just a whining, belittling piece of information, about the arrogance and utter studpidity of men. I for one can not believe that some of the women, whose husbands give them luxury life status, could even consider passing this along.

here is the missing picture

Here is the 17 year old girl, that is still inside of me. She never leaves me, even though I am changing inside and out. Why is this? Why do we remain eternally young inside , yet the world does not know this. It reminds me of the old man story that is traveling the net. No one knows who or what he was in his life, because his now appearance throws the world off. It touches the souls of the people who pass it on, maybe because they too, are in their aging years.

July 19, 2007 browzing Newport, Rhode Island

Busy this week. Tuesday night we went to a short lecture by Mary McFadden, designer of fabulous gowns. She talked about patterns in nature, showing slides of locations across the world. A few of her gowns were on display at Rosecliff. Met some new interesting people.

Wednesday night, went to the opening of the Vanderbilt time share hotel in Newport, Rhode Island. You can buy 6 weeks in the hotel for $45,000. It is yours forever, and you can sell it when you want to. The hotel will be operated eventually by the owners, and your stuff will be stored and brought out for your 6 week stint. This seems to be a trend for the future, rather than owning in different places, people are buying shares of homes, and hotels. The Ritz is big into this idea. We met Barbara and Richard at the cocktail party, joining them for dinner at Lucia on Thames street later. Joe came over and convinced us to look at his father's new condominium on the water,in Newport, one more time. So we will probably do that tomorrow. We think our home in Osterville, on the Cape is going to be sold in a month.

Tonight we are going to the war college event at the museum here in Newport. Have to run back to work this morning, returning tonight with Mr Ambassador, our grandson Kenny, who knows everyone in Newport, Portsmouth, and Middletown, Rhode Island, from his exposure at the Portsmouth Abby School. He loves Newport, and he is going to to to Salve Regina University here.

books and thoughts

My image button is not working, so I will have to post later. I am thinking again about Wilson's Consilience, it is interesting how professors at the same school are not aware of the work of their fellow professors. I read an article by a Harvard professor in a professional real estate magazine about settingwhat I deem," artificial goals for housing", answered it, with the thought that the author should read Wilson., (who is also Harvard affiliated) That was to no avail, as usual. I did hope to get an opinion back , but, I guess my letter was tossed in the trash. But, it does give rise to an interesting thought, "Should we be aware by summary, and exposition of the ideas and publications of other professors that are not in our field.



Consilience, demands that we have our eyes over the horizon and know what other scholoars are thinking, publishing, and putting out to the world, otherwise how can we grow. In essence this lack of interdisciplinary knowledge can be considered wearing horse blinders. How to diseminate the rapid learning we are absorbing, and not absorbing today, is something that presents a challenge to us as educators also. Sometimes what we are teaching is outmoded.



I am also interested in the search for God, and loved Francis Collins Book, The Language of God. I attach here the link for your perusal, if it does not work, just type it in the browzer.

Click here: I’ve found God, says man who cracked the genome - Times Online



My grandson was just assigned the following book for summer reading to enter the freshman class at Salve Regina University , Newport ,Rhode Island. It looks like a valuable book for my interests, so it will be on my reading list shortly. Meanwhile I have Genghis Khan, waiting in the background, while I finish, John Templeton, which I love. He was a magnificent man !



Recently I read somewhere that the thinking and teachings of Freud are being brought into question. It is hoped that I can find out what that is about and talk about it with you.



The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life (Paperback) by Armand M. Nicholi Jr. (Author) "Although C. S. Lewis, a full generation younger than Sigmund Freud, embraced Freud's atheism during the first half of his life, he eventually rejected that..." (more) Key Phrases: spiritual worldview, changed worldview, hallucinatory psychosis, New Testament, Oskar Pfister, Jesus Christ (more...)

books and thoughts

Reading this week, "The Queens and Sex"...how the author researched these stories is incredible, delving in to the diaries and notes of many who attended the courts to get the "dirt".



Women suffered, but found ways to find happiness, in the face of grave danger, losing their head in more than one way. Royalty needed to have an heir and it was not always necessary that the new royal be of royal blood, since the Kings masculinity had to be preserved no matter whose heir the new royal turned out to be, as long as the birth of the child appeared to be, the child of royal blood .

Just finished "Consilience", by Edward O. Wilson, this is about the unity of knowledge...intellectual reading rather than relaxing. I happen to agree with the ideas of Wilson a biologist, who esposes the belief that all knowledge is unified. Consilience comes from the interlocking of natural laws that lie beneath everything we create , do, etc. I love his warning, that each advance is also "a prosthesis, an artificial device dependent on advanced expertise and intense continuing management". We frequently meddle, trying to optimize life for everyone, creating artificial environments, to make people equal in status, in education, housing, medicine, etc., but the laws beneath the surface trump us, creating another problem. Think about it!

This is a great book, if you enjoy reading, thinking and postulating your own ideas. Then you will find excitment in this read

I am now trying to figure out how to use YouTube in other ways to present ideas, thoughts and excitement to my blogger. Hope I am successful in this new approach to sharing what is in us, unseen, unexplored, rather than what you meet briefly on the surface.

In my mind, I am still this young seventeen year old girl, but she does not look back at me in the mirror, rather the new person who has evolved over the years, looks back at me, the young girl of many years ago. Say "hello", to the person who is still inside my aging body.