Author: David L. Smith
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Make a Difference
Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire to make a difference. Denzel Washington, Actor (Quiz question: If you could completely solve one problem in the world overnight, what would it be? )
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We Must Champion Unity, Tolerance and Love
We must never remain silent in the face of bigotry. We must condemn those who seek to divide us. In all quarters and at all times, we must teach tolerance and denounce racism, anti-Semitism and all ethnic or religious bigotry wherever they exist as unacceptable evils. We have no place for haters in America —…
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Everyday Heroes
There are superheroes among us. But they don’t reveal themselves. If they did, we’d think they’re nuts. Some of them do reveal a little of what they do, and we do tend to think they’re a little out there. But they’re real. They walk among us holding the fabric of human consciousness together. They are…
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Seeing Nature as Sacred
The revolution is love. It isn’t about more cleverly valuing and utilizing nature. It is about genuine respect for nature, which can come only by seeing it as a being in all fullness, and holding it sacred. Charles Eisenstein, American public speakerAuthor, Climate: A new story
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We are One Human Family
I feel the time is ripe to engage with the ethical side of the genetic revolution in a manner that transcends the doctrinal standpoints of individual religions. We must rise to the ethical challenges as members of one human family, not as Buddhist, as Jews, a Christian, the Hindu, Muslim. Nor is it adequate to…
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The Wise Old Oak
His is a noble presence, this wise old oak. Nearly three-hundred years old, besieged by lightning strikes, insect attacks and underground menaces, with the help of neighboring species, woodpeckers who dined on hole-boring beetles, roots that went deep and broad and an underground network to spread the news, he stood his ground. Blossoming every three…
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Teacher Appreciation
I will forever love this photograph taken in my Mother’s freshman high school English Literature classroom in the late seventies (check out my teeth!). Mom — and Dad — were my very first teachers both in their professional and personal lives. I watched as they strived to recognize the assets in each student and bring…
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Gifts and Giving
The heart of the giver makes the gift precious. —Martin Luther, German priest, theologian, author, hymn writer, professor (Quiz question 1: What three gifts did Jesus, the Christ, offer? To whom?) (Quiz question 2: What three gifts were you born with? To whom are you giving them?)
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Art: The Axis of Truth
Like the seers and oracles of old, Art sings and shouts from the axis of truth to wake us up to who we are and where we are going. Alex Gray, American artist, teacher, Vajrayana practitionerAuthor, The Mission of Art
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Consciousness is Fundamental
All matter originates and exists by virtue of a force. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter. I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything…