In August I received an email from a fellow who had recently discovered Seeker and said he had a few thoughts to share about unconditional love. I invited him to write an article and we've been corresponding ever since. I've found Al's e-mails so thoughtful that I decided to create my column from our dialogue (and give myself a break this month).

From Al (8/17): The last few months of my life have been a time of rapid assimilation of spiritual ideas and concepts. My old concept of myself and the world has literally turned upside down. I could write dozens of pages of observations and experiences, and for me, that is saying a lot. I spent ten years going in circles because I didn't have a concept of what the truth is. It's good to be experiencing some growth again.

I am still getting through Conversations with God, book 2 ("CWG," by Neale Donald Walsh). I can see why it's a harder read for some people because the ideas of changing the educational, political, and economic systems of the world do seem like monumental tasks. The first book (Conversations with God, book 1), which dealt mainly with personal issues, was plenty to absorb and put into practice. At that point, we didn't have to think much beyond our own selves. The political and economic structures of the world demand an understanding, which I don't possess, as well as maybe more responsibility than I want. I can see how the solutions to such problems are spiritual in nature, though, and I can take responsibility for sharing ideas and putting out messages that have a spiritual basis. I see that as a big step and part of my mission in life - whether through music or writing.

The second book cleared up my views on many of the problems of the world. Even thinking about solutions will send those thoughts out into the universe. The message I'm getting is to not be overwhelmed by what seems impossible, but to see what is possible, and work at that level. It seems to me that whatever we are now able to aspire to is what we should be doing anyway. That is what will take us to the next step, the next awareness, the next truth.

From Cherie (8/19): I liked your piece [for Seeker] very much. As I reread it, I got to wondering, how does one be in a state of giving unconditional love in a checkout line? Other than not get exasperated by slow people or people with problems, or respond cheerfully to a greeting. Any other ideas? I liked your observation that people who don't love themselves don't believe that others can love them unconditionally.

The only bone I pick is with addressing the human race as "fellow man" and "mankind."

From Al (8/24): Is this bone of contention revolving around the word "man?" If so, I meant no distinction between man and woman. I don't think of "mankind" in those terms, but I can see how such wording may perpetuate that idea of separation. I embrace both as the same thing, from a spiritual viewpoint. There are no absolutes. We can choose whatever role we wish to choose, whether we are male or female. The more the issue becomes polarized, the less I like it - whether it is males who cannot experience anything from a woman's point of view or females who become man-haters in general. My aim is not to offend anyone needlessly, but I don't care if I ruffle the feathers of someone who thinks they are simply a meat-body walking around without a purpose.

I used to write songs for a publishing house in Nashville. In that whole market, the woman's point of view was everything. Offend them, and you had no chance. As a result, I spent a great deal of time looking at the world through a woman's eyes. It was pretty educational. Songwriting is another whole subject on viewpoint and personal truth, which would make an interesting article.

From Cherie (8/25): As to my sensitivity to the generic use of the word "man" for the generic human species, I spent about 18 years in a small congregation of which the last seven were with a minister who moved us into inclusive language. I was all for it. And the more I experience inclusive language, the more jarring male-referenced language is to my ears, and the more I realize how our use of language guides the formation of thought, particularly in children (which is, after all, a form of propaganda and brainwashing). But on the positive side, I believe that one important way to bring the feminine/woman into active and true equality and partnership is to avoid language that implies the masculine/man as the only descriptor. I avoid God pronouns, if at all possible. When I sang in the choir, we would change the text of the songs to do so as often as we could.

Your comment about Nashville is intriguing. The country music recording industry never struck me as a particularly feminine place beyond the artists themselves. But now that I think about it, it certainly has more and stronger women than the rock music industry. I just didn't realize the woman's point of view went far up the echelon of the business.

From Al (8/26): First, thanks for the thoughts on inclusive language. This is a valid concept, which I hadn't run into before. I have heard about words being the manifestation of thought, and I now see how this all fits. As it is, language tends to warp or color all experience. I've had, and we all have had, the awareness of non-verbal concepts that were clear to us. Trying to capture those concepts with words never does full justice to the original insight or experience.

As to the gender thing, it IS pretty ridiculous to try and make God a masculine entity. That is an extreme example of diminishing a non-verbal concept with words. God is masculine, feminine, and every other possible aspect of what we know and what we don't. Exclusive language does hurt and does cause the feeling of separation. I didn't really see this "mankind" thing in that light until you pointed it out. There were two reasons. First, in my definition, it included male and female. Second, I'm a male. I suppose if I could have seen it written as "womankind," I'd have felt the separation.

On a larger scale, this exclusion goes on in every area of society. The country club exists to create separation. Youth seeks to separate itself from adults and vice versa. When different races, mine included, talk about "we" as opposed to "them," it grinds me the wrong way. We can't erase the barriers between us by separating ourselves from each other. Right now, Whites stick with Whites, Blacks with Blacks, Hispanics with Hispanics, etc., at least as a general phenomenon. As a White guy, when I hear a Black guy say something like "I was with my brothers," I know he means I am not one his brothers. I am being separated. I equate that feeling with the one a woman might have upon hearing the word "mankind." Language is a good place to start if we want to change our thinking as a species as a whole.

I grew up being indoctrinated with all kinds of ideas, which had their basis in separation, both in racial terms and sexual orientation. I've made a very conscious effort to disabuse myself of those concepts, but sometimes I miss what I call invisible beliefs or core beliefs that exist at a level below my awareness. Sometimes it takes someone else to point out those areas, so I thank you for bringing this subject up.

I think that someday we will cease seeing ourselves as separate and different groups of races. Eventually we may see an end to the separation caused by the borders we create around different pieces of real estate. And somewhere, off in the not too distant future, we may find beings from other parts of this galaxy and not call them aliens, but friends. For now, the use of inclusive language is a very positive step in this direction.

Two more quick thoughts before I go. In regard to the woman's point of view in country songs: that point of view is stressed because women as a group buy a large percentage of the records. Overall, publishers (who promote songs to artists and record companies) have become very sensitive to what can be said in a song these days. The old cliches of drinking and cheating songs are pretty much non-existent now. The mass consciousness keeps changing. Songs have to be reflective of those changes. The emphasis is on positive messages, and I think that is another good sign that things are evolving.

Finally, thanks for sticking with me on this article. I learned more about writing and about myself in the process. I aspire to be good at writing and would like to write much more, but I'm still trying to find my voice or style. Having encouragement really helps. Sometimes I think my e-mails are my best writing, because they flow freely. I don't over-think anything; I just let it come out. Having been a songwriter for so long, I feel like nothing is done until it's been written and re-written so that every word carries weight. I just want my words to have clarity and to reflect my ideas as closely as possible.

From Cherie (8/26): Regarding writing lyrics for music, it's like writing poetry. Words are weighted because you are expressing an idea, a thought, an emotion, with few of them.

From Al (8/30): My forte is songs, and although similar in a way, poems and song lyrics are two different animals. Where songs tend to be more concise, poems are more a mixture of the consciousness of now as it meets the spirit. (If that makes any sense). To be a poet probably takes more courage, I think.

With songwriting, sometimes it feels like the challenge is to capture the essence of what is "in the air" at a particular moment. Inspiration strikes with an immediate and glorified energy, which may exist for only a short time. Try to come back a few days later, and the idea has vanished. If I am "on a roll," then I like to stay with it while it lasts. It may be that in those moments I am more in touch with what I'd like to call my higher self, or even All That Is. Whatever the explanation, I sometimes tap into ideas that want to be examined. The act of writing opens those doors for me.

(9/5): Thanks for your idea about the labyrinth. The idea excites me, and I can see where you were coming from with the suggestion. When I get inundated by information, it's always an AHH!! kind of feeling when I can integrate the information into the center of my truth. I find the simpler that I can make something, the better. I think that is why I like the CWG books so much.

Every once in a while I will browse the mystical/New Age/spiritual interest section of the bookstore. I get turned off by books that categorize everything - 11th aspect of the Mother energy, the second tier of Angels, the 7th astral plane regarding the 8th dimension, etc....I think you know what I mean. I don't mean to invalidate any of this, but I prefer something simple like "be here now." To me, a truth is only as good as it can be applied to life. Some approaches seem way too complex. I'd rather get the whole loaf and slice it up myself, if I feel the need. My nature is to have things condensed into their simplest form, as in the idea of unconditional love. Why mystify what is basically simple?

The idea that really got me excited again was the concept that beliefs create reality. I found it in so many different sources. It was like AH HA!! Here is something that cuts across all these different points of view. As a "seeker," it was a major discovery. Here was a truth that had been reiterated by many sources but one which I had somehow overlooked. To paraphrase the concept: beliefs create feelings, which create experience, which is perceived as reality. The world is simply a set of props, which can be viewed as positive or negative. Contained in "negative" experiences are underlying beliefs which create the negative experience. By assigning a positive belief to a negative experience, an opportunity for growth exists. To put it in Biblical terms, "so a man (oops! -PERSON) thinketh, he/she is." (I'm not sure of my accuracy, but I think you know what I mean). Damn that exclusionary language. I didn't write this book, but maybe we should rewrite it again.

My point is that this kind of information is straight to the point, without the smoke and mirrors of mystification. I like it straight. I have always had a problem with religious ceremony and ritual as well. For me, my relationship with the divine can't be measured by any set of actions which are prescribed by a Church. Lutherans have their candles, Catholics their holy water, wafers and wine (or grape juice), etc. It is an entirely personal affair with me. I actually have felt embarrassed getting on my knees to pray because, for me, prayer is a part of life, not ritual. It is a "conversation with God," in which I commune in my own way with the divine. No need for blessings, sacrifice, or ceremony. Just to balance this out, I totally accept anyone else's practices and convictions in this matter. The key is personal choice, and we should all respect that.

To wrap this subject up, the center of the labyrinth should be the place where truth simplifies and boils down into what works for each of us on a personal level. It is where we hear our hearts and acknowledge what it whispers to each of us. "All roads lead to Rome" - let us allow each traveler to use the path that serves him/her best. Respect the multitude of paths that exist. All are valid.

One more thought before I go. I found it interesting that it is your son who writes the "Blind Crow's Path" column. His work is something I was drawn to in the magazine. His viewpoint is unique and special for me. I also feel an association with two concepts in his moniker. First, the crow. That bird has always had special significance for me - both from Casteneda's books and also on a deeper level which I don't fully understand. The other thing is the concept of blindness. In many ways, I feel like a blind spirit, who is lucky enough to occasionally be blessed with vision. So many spiritual experiences are expected to have a "paint-by-numbers" mentality, but it rarely happens that way. It is only by understanding our blindness that we can learn to experience events in ways which we are not used to. I refer to receiving concepts that are often non-verbal as well as non-physical. It is only by a shift in consciousness that we are able to pick up on many of the insights which exist for us. That requires us to look with eyes other than our physical ones. When we are able to do this, we learn to see in new ways, which rescues us from a blindness caused by looking for physical manifestations of spiritual reality. It is really a separate universe, isn't it?

From Cherie (9/8): I, too, have not been drawn to the books and articles that discuss messages from angels, and the like. In fact, I recently rejected a submission of a channeled message from "Archangel Michael," because I feel that Seeker thrives on the human touch. And an article purportedly from an angel but with no human introduction doesn't fit the criteria.

Channeled messages have always touched a streak of uncomfortableness (or skepticism) in me. For a while I attended a church in Denver during which one or two people gave messages to various members of the congregants. I received several from them. Some messages were from spirit guides through the channeler, and some were images that the channeler saw when they looked at a person. I do remember one of my messages was an image of a printing press and lots of paper being run through. That was a year ago August. I'm editing an e-zine so the printing press is out. But what I wanted it to mean was that I would publish a book of poetry and photos. Haven't done that yet.

And before I moved to Colorado last year, I visited a psychic for the first and only time in my life. A part of the message was specific regarding the future. Do you know what that kind of a message does? It either sets you up so that subconsciously you're looking for the specific happening described or you just say, no way, and refuse to look at anything that might even resemble it. Well, I don't quite do the latter, but the parts of the message that stick in your mind...are they the thoughts that create the reality? And if you never heard the message, would you never think the thoughts and therefore not create the reality?

Before I read CWG and got into the discussion group, I hadn't considered that thoughts create reality, but I have come to that belief over the past year. In fact, I have learned so much this past year that I could believe that is why I moved to Colorado, and not to photograph mountains and wildflowers and travel about the state, which I haven't done as much as I desired.

Sunday evening I walked the labyrinth out in Evergreen. It was just after sunset when I got there, and I had it to myself for the most part. As I was working my way in, a litany began in my head, in which I repeated the statement "I walk this path in an attitude of ... joy, beauty, love, gratitude, grace...." I went through a raft of adjectives. When I got to the center, it was a true meditative space and I was able to get deep into it. When I left the center and returned along the path, I felt light-footed and light-hearted, almost dancing on the balls of my feet as I circled and turned, circled and turned. By the way, I was barefoot, and this is not a smooth path, but I love the feeling of barefootedness on the grassy, stony, sometimes thorny earth.

This was the first experience in the labyrinth in which I experienced a change of heartedness. And I believe it came partly from being alone. All my others visits have been with people, usually friends, but even they raise a hint of self-consciousness within me.

From Al (9/10): First, thank you, thank you, thank you - for using my article in the September Seeker. Seeing it there gave me such inspiration. Let me tell you a quick story. When I was in third grade in La Mirada, California, a teacher prodded me to enter an essay in the school essay contest. I won first prize. The years passed, and I never pursued writing, due to my overwhelming interest in music. Deep down, however, that little trophy remained a symbol for me. I have always wanted to write but never found an outlet that seemed to fit. Novels and short stories didn't really excite me. I wasn't into technical writing. The essay has always been close to my heart. There are millions of things I could cover in that form, and I have written a few for myself.

When you invited me to write this essay for the magazine, I felt all my desire and direction taking some real shape. Writing about life, spirit, and the richness of experience -that's what I want to do!! Something that adds a positive thought to the world. This article was a beginning. A validation of my spirit. It has opened many possibilities up in my mind. So, thank you for helping me to see the light!

Second, I read your article concerning abundance and making money. Very good, and very honest. When you equated unconditional love with money, I about fell off my chair. You see, my life has changed in many ways since I began to practice unconditional love. One of the ways is that my income has gone on a huge upswing. It's not due to any promoting. I think it is connected to my change of being.

Here's a little line of logic. If God, All That Is, Creation, the Divine - whatever name we use - is love, then the whole universe IS love as well. By practicing unconditional love - loving others and self without limit, reservation, or judgement - then it follows that we become more in tune with Creation itself. Perhaps a doorway opens up that manifests our own creation as we come closer to that perfect vibration that love is. Interesting.....

The symbol of the printing press. Hopefully, I can share my perception without evaluating for you. A friend and I sometimes share dreams and interpretations. Sometimes, it's not the most obvious interpretation that gives the most insight, and other times it's good to list all the possible interpretations, to see how the symbol can be expanded and applied to life. Couldn't that printing press symbol, in a way, be expanded to be used for the actual book you wish to publish, as well as for the on-line magazine? What other aspects of the printing press are relative to your life? What does the press do? What do you do? What are its characteristics? What is its purpose? All or none of these questions may have some value. I had a dream recently in which I was flying with a friend in his plane. Now, the normal symbol of flying is pretty obvious - freedom. In this case, it didn't want to fit as an answer. Then, it struck me. I was the passenger in this plane, fully content to let my pilot friend navigate. I was going where HE wanted to go. I was afraid to even try to fly a plane myself. As it took form, I realized that, too often, that is how I live. I let others make the decisions and "fly the plane." My interpretation was that, until I get behind the wheel myself, I will not be guiding myself where I wish to go. What I need is to overcome the fear of "solo flight!" Anyway, that is one example of using a symbol in a little different way and coming up with a huge cognition.

I have been reading the first couple chapters of Quest For Truth [reviewd in October 98 Seeker by Al]. This is channeled material from an entity called Bashar, but it leaves the decisions and so forth up to the individual. One of the key concepts is to follow what excites you the most. By doing so, you actually create and attract the opportunities that have to do with your excitement. Synchronicity comes into play. As things develop, continue to follow what excites you most at any given moment. Like CWG, the book suggests that "a miracle is not the exception to the rule, it is the natural order of things. When miracles don't happen, that's the exception."

Regarding psychics: I prefer those kinds of messages that allow some personal interpretation, too. Guiding, rather than proclaiming hard, cold facts. By stating something and getting someone to wholeheartedly believe that a certain event is going to happen in a particular way, it seems that, if the person adopts those beliefs, that will be the reality the person creates. A much better approach, I think, is to listen to what our own hearts have to tell us and act on those impressions. Following excitement also fits well into that idea. There are many walking, breathing, living miracles who are "supposed" to be dead and buried, according to the predictions of doctors. I wonder how many more there might be if more people would not buy into the beliefs of those doctors?

From Cherie (9/14): Like you, I don't have much interest in writing fiction, no matter what the length. So writing what I do for Seeker is just right. I probably should be submitting things to other venues, but I alternate between laziness and forgetfulness. My mind is my worst enemy, I believe. I've been perusing the help wanted ads in the Sunday Denver Post, no small feat, mind you, in the categories of secretarial/bookkeeping type work. I don't want to work in a field, though, that I have absolutely no interest in, and there are many of those being advertised. That is a shortcut to poor living. I just can't get enthused.

So I ponder, what do I have a passion for? The times that I feel overwhelmed with awe, when I just want to hug myself for joy, are when I am out of doors and experiencing something beautiful, whether it was a sky of gray clouds that suddenly turned rose on the underside from the already set sun, or the three nighthawks that swooped over me as they spun over the scrap of prairie that I was walking one evening, or when the hermit thrush sings. But I can live without writing every day and without taking photographs. I've gotten so disappointed by my photos taken here in Colorado that I tend to let the photo ops slide away.

I've just finished Larry Dossey's Be Careful What You Pray For, which he decided to write after he got a lot of feedback from his book, Healing Words, in which he wrote about all the research that's been done on the efficacy of prayer. In Be Careful he talks about negative prayers and pray-ers. He relates at least two different experiments in which known healers and energy masters would evince different kinds of feelings/energy toward, say, bacteria or cancer cells in test tubes or petri dishes. Notably, the feeling of unconditional love had a neutral effect in both experiments. And he discovered that the most effective prayer for one who is sick is one that seeks a return to normalcy in health with no request that, i.e., cancer cells be killed if one is dealing with cancer.

From Al (9/16): I have had times when I felt like I had no passion for anything, too. In my case, it simply meant that what I was excited about doing had become so negated my own thoughts, and the thoughts of others, that the purposes got completely suffocated. A couple of things got me back on track. The first was a book, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Contained within are many insights, which relate to spiritual growth as much as creativity. (After all, creating is what we do moment to moment).

To be honest, I never finished the book, but I did one exercise that opened up many areas within myself. Called "morning pages", it goes like this. First thing each day, you are supposed to write three pages. They can be about anything - they can be stream of consciousness, on one subject, or on anything that happens to come up while you are writing. The only rules are to finish three pages every day and not read what you have written for at least six weeks. I made mine a forum for my thoughts, both positive and negative. I discovered that after a few days, I started having new information pouring through me. I started to get in touch with what I wanted to do with music, and with my own growth. I went stream of consciousness a lot, and it had some very worthwhile results. It's also good for discipline, and it got me much more aware and focused about what I was doing in life. I finally got excited again and got so busy that I didn't keep up with the pages any longer. I still do them from time to time and find it beneficial.

The second thing that pulled me into getting my purpose back was the death of a friend of mine. I wrote a way too long article and posted it on my website [see link at end of article], which explains the circumstances which motivated me to get moving again. I put it up as a tribute to him, out of love.

Creating our reality. This is a biggie. One of the mysteries that Karl left behind was a bunch of writing and drawings that dealt with energy flows and the body. Sort of like Kundalini yoga, I think. There was stuff which suggested connections with the chakras as well. He was also highly interested in the Egyptians and in ancient civilizations such as Atlantis and Lemuria. I drifted laterally through a bunch of that kind of information and gradually started getting interested in the mutually-held truths across different religious structures.

When I stumbled on the concept of beliefs, a huge door started opening. It is still opening! The overall concept, which I'm sure you have run into is this:

a) beliefs create feelings
b) feelings create thoughts
c) what we think is what we perceive
d) what we perceive is reality to us.

Therefore, what we believe is responsible for our reality. Obviously, there is much to this, but the key is that by changing our beliefs, we can change our reality. Some beliefs that we hold are outdated and no longer serve us. Some are things we have bought into which were not our own creation to begin with.

This concept is heavily in CWG and the Bashar information, as well as in the Bible and other sources. It ties into many other things I've read and studied. For example, the idea of being "more of who you are" in CWG: I think the book states that beliefs are important to that process and that we should align with beliefs that open us to the joy and wonder of life. That means that we have to discover those beliefs we hold that run contrary to what we desire to be.

To do that, we have to pay attention to our feelings, our emotions. They are connected to beliefs - generated by beliefs. With care, I have been able to change some of my old beliefs. There is still a bunch of stuff I want to go through, but I am finding this little package of truth to be at the center of my being at this time.

Regarding your description of what you have a passion for: I would say this: do more of this activity if it excites you. Let yourself be filled with the messages at the heart of these experiences, and let them guide you in your own unique and creative way. Those messages may not come in words, but as flashes of thought, or as sudden concepts.

Prayer: I remember in CWG that the method for prayer is to acknowledge and be thankful for the perfectness of any situation. If we are sick, we don't pray to be healed of cancer, we thank God for our health. Concentrate on the result as being in the NOW. If we ask to get rid of our cancer, we only reinforce the reality that the cancer exists, thus we keep creating it. On a broader scale, that is how to manifest things in our lives. The only thing that can screw it up is to believe more in, say, the cancer, than in being well. I also read once that if you can hold a thought for 45 seconds without changing it or losing it, that thought takes on an enormous power as a message to the universe.

From Cherie (9/16): Re morning pages: I worked The Artist's Way in 1996, and have written the pages ever since, except for last fall, when I was moving back and forth between Colorado and Vermont. I've done them faithfully this year, until...just last week, when I would realize late in the day that I had forgotten to write them. I find it disturbing in a way, but I'm not surprised in another way. And I tie it directly to this work-finding. By the way, I wrote about Julia's two books in April 1998 "Skyearth Letters."

Dossey came to the conclusion that the best prayer during disease is a prayer to return to normalcy. To pray for the best outcome, whatever that may be. To have no expectations. We've talked about expectations in my Conversations group. Nearly all relationships seem to be built on expectations of one person for the other, and when the other fails to meet our expectations, then it seems the relationship has failed. To have no expectations appears to be the best thought and then disappointment will not appear in our realm.

I also am in a small group who meet for an hour once a week to share what they are doing creatively and to share their joys and woes, if some appeared during the week. We bring in what we've done or are doing to show and share when we've got something going. The leader of this group is a woman who's had about as much go wrong with her family as one person should bear. This week, after relating my job-searching activity and hearing that she was also in that boat, I said that maybe we should figure out an entrepeneurship enterprise to work in together.

Well, this morning as I was walking, I melded that thought together with this dream that I've been keeping in the back of my mind. The dream is to create and operate a place that would be a retreat for artists of any kind and for spirit-seekers. It would have a large main house, with satellite cabins and workspaces. A big kitchen with a big gathering room. A wonderfully deep porch with a view of mountains and water. A huge garden of vegetables and flowers. It would accommodate about 15 visitors at a time who would come to spend their time creating works and growing their spirits. It would be set on a sliding scale so that if you truly didn't have income, you could still come and experience it. Which means that if you did have good income, you'd pay a premium. Or the whole business would be a non-profit so that you can accept charitable gifts. Anyway, she would be a perfect person to help run it. I could see no more than three or four staff would be necessary. The overall manager, the person who cooks, and another general handy person, all who have a deep interest in artistry. I also envision several of these in different parts of the country, but beginning with one in Colorado or one in Vermont. Some members of the Conversations group have similar desires, I discovered. What we all are missing are deep pockets.

From Al (9/19): One idea your letter got me thinking about was the number of tools that are available to discover more of ourselves and our relationship to ourselves, others, and the universe: morning pages, meditation, walking, communication with others, reading, visualization techniques, yoga and breathing, counseling, and any creative work. The list is much longer. Since each person is unique and has a very personal set of needs and desires, I can see that some things may work better for some than others. The upshot of all this is to use what is most helpful to us at any given time. Things change, and one's methods may need to change also.

I spent a great deal of my life writing songs. That process opened me up to many emotions, and I wrote a lot of sad and wistful stuff. As in therapy, through some catharsis, I reached the end of that road. I had explored those deep and dark areas long enough and learned a great deal about myself. Now, I want to write positive music that reflects the truth I am living now, which is much different. What I did was my unique way of exploring things within myself. All ways are valid, if we keep our eyes open.

Life itself is such a teacher. I think of all the relationships I have experienced, all the things I've done, all the situations I have gone through, which have all brought me to where I am today. Remove any of those experiences, and I would be in a different place altogether. It is not that we need to suffer to find joy. It is only that we have to learn certain things and integrate them, so that we may understand more. It's like the guy who climbs the mountain. All he sees is more and more mountain. Then he gets to the top and, on the other side, sees a beautiful green valley and a placid blue lake. He had no idea what was there until he made the climb. Ah, but wait! Off in the distance - is that an even bigger mountain that needs to be climbed?!!!

Yesterday, I sat in my backyard and noticed a flower on the wrought iron table. I made it my complete center of attention. I don't know its name, but it had four sparkly purple petals of intense color. As I gazed, I started to see that the petals were teeming with life. Tiny insects, almost microscopic, were rushing around in a flurry of activity. A little microcosm of life that I'd never known before presented itself to me. It made me think about how interconnected everything is, and how perfectly the world has been crafted. Such a delicate balance. It was awe-inspiring. I left feeling much more centered and in touch with life in some non-verbal way.

I like your idea of the retreat. I like it very much, in fact. One of the things I have always wanted to do was go to a cabin in the woods where I could write without any distraction for about a week. I also like the idea of being able to share with artists and others desiring to grow and discover.

In The Quest for Trust, it repeatedly says to follow what is most exciting to us. Our excitement generates a vibration and thought which attracts others of similar mind and excitement. It also attracts many opportunities, many of which seem "coincidental" but are actually events with synchronicity in them. He adds that doing whatever we can at the moment to follow our excitement will lead us to the next thing which excites us and so on. Also, by doing this, we are doing what is most closely aligned with who we really are. Doing what truly inspires us most is also the key to abundance in all areas, for the universe is rigged that way. It is a pretty strong argument for following our excitement.

As you were telling me of the people you have already found who share in what you want to do, I thought: if you need money to get it off the ground, just keep following your excitement. You will attract whatever you need to make it happen. Just be open to all possibilities and continue to be creative. I am sure that there are people out there with wealth and spiritual background who have such an idea themselves. Maybe they are thinking about it already and wondering who they could find to run it!

From Cherie (9/22): I am finding out about as many different kinds of retreats as possible. Particularly non-religious oriented ones. Goodness knows, one can visit many a monastery for a spiritual retreat, but you're still in the atmosphere, generally speaking, of "God the Father." I visited a beautiful place on Sunday called Starhouse that has just the building I would emulate as the communal gathering room. I loved its architecture. It is an eight-sided room, with the roof rising to an eight-sided cupola, whose peak, I was told, pointed to the North Star. The room is oriented on the N-E-S-W axis with entrances at each compass point. Twelve debarked ponderosa pine trunks are placed around the periphery of the room and marked with the zodiac signs. The floor is narrow oak; the walls are horizontal pine boards and the roof also, which is striking because of the triangle shapes formed as each section rises to the cupola (which has small windows set all around.) The walls also have windows set all around, with window seats beneath which store all the materials used for the gatherings. Chairs are the meditation-type that sit flat on the floor and all are neatly stored in one length of window seat. After the meditation-ceremony, it was amazing to watch and see how all the beautiful pieces that formed the center "altar" and an "altar" area in the west doorway were stowed away.

I see this "Starhouse" room as the central meditation-celebration center of a retreat. I even contemplate building it as the second story, below which would be a matching communal room geared toward eating and playing. That communal room could have ells raying out for sleeping quarters. One would have to soundproof the floor, though. And conversely, it might be preferable to have it separate from the whole living-working space.

I've thought of five places for them: Colorado, Vermont, the Maine coast, the Oregon or northern California coast, and the Lake Superior shore. And I may very well write about my vision in Seeker, but at this point, it is in the dream stage.

I've read two different takes on intentions: one is that you keep them to yourself and not spread them around verbally; the other is to talk about them. What do you think?

From Al (9/25): Hmmm.......good question. I have heard that it is better to keep things to one's self, because sometimes an intention can be reacted to with counter-intention by others. That can act to slow down or change a person's original intention. That's one idea.

The other side of the coin is that words themselves are the first manifestation of intention. They make the thought more real and add momentum and reality to the thoughts and ideas. Follow this with action, and the intention is well on the way to being realized.

My personal stand in this matter leans to the second idea, with some tempering. I choose who I wish to share certain ideas with. If I sense that someone would have a negative view, I bypass. In such a case, I do keep my intentions to myself, because they are not relevant to share.

If the universe is connected, then every thought would make up the sum total of the current reality and affect where it is going. I know I want my intentions to be as clean and direct as possible. Some thoughts of others can certainly aid my own intentions; some may run counter. That principle of following one's excitement surely fits into this because we attract with our own vibration. Choosing our "allies" becomes a pretty simple act, if we only listen to our hearts.

I have been reading The Last Hours Of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann, which concerns the state of the world (ecology, technology, and energy). It paints a pretty frightening picture of what the human species has done to the planet. Much of the book concerns the fact that we are almost out of oil (ancient sunlight). The global implications of this are enormous, considering the amount of energy required to feed six billion people. He goes into detail describing the ecosystems of Earth, and how our ignorance is ruining the ozone, the topsoil, causing global warming, destroying countless species of plants and animals, and generally painting ourselves into a corner. The book also goes into great detail on what can and must be done to salvage enough to keep life going here.

I am trying to comment on your nature poems, in a roundabout way. It is precisely our lack of communion with nature that is at the heart of something that has been gnawing at me for a long time. Human civilization has adopted this belief that it is somehow "senior" to nature, that the planet's resources can be freely used and depleted any which way, and that we are not part of the equation of balance that nature seeks to maintain. Nature has lost its place in our system of values. Material dominates spiritual. Selfishness wins over Oneness. The Dow gets tracked eagerly each day while the Tao is a forgotten concept.

We need to hear your poems, now more than ever. We need to expand our awareness of nature and see again how all is connected. See the Great Spirit in the trees, plants, animals, sun, and rain. The issue of global ecology needs to rise to the forefront of our thoughts and intentions, and it needs to happen right now. Failure to confront what our current mode of living is doing to the Earth will result in catastrophe which will make Hitler's genocide look like child's play.

This letter is taking a path of its own...as I make my personal journey of growth, it becomes clear that everything and everyone is involved in this process. There is no spiritual growth that does not include nature, including the human beings that don't seem to see themselves as part of nature. It all starts with Self, for sure. After that, it expands outward to the rest of this co-created universe. My efforts in reading, writing, and practicing what I am learning are directed to the expansion of human spiritual awareness, even if it is only in my small way.

From Cherie (9/26): The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight sounds good. Thirty years ago I was aware of the finite source of our petroleum, as has been a small percentage of the natural resource faithful. It may well be that the Y2K bug will be the wake-up call when, on January 1, 2000, systems go down all over the world. It will be a foretaste of what will happen if we continue in our burn-everything manner. The question now is, though, do we act and think as though everything bad will happen and therefore cause it to happen? Or do we act and think as seemingly so many businesses and government agencies are and not be terribly concerned about it, unless you happen to be in the know? Or do we act and think to enhance the correction of the bug in the small amount of time left, in some fashion? I'm going to bring this up in our Conversations group.

Thank you for the comment about my nature poetry. I truly must do something about publishing it.

From Al (10/4): I read a part in Ancient Sunlight which deals with thoughts and intention. His belief is that every good act, every good thought contributes to a change in mass consciousness. I'm sure you've heard this many places before. My reason for mentioning it is that it's the reason I'm writing and putting up a website to begin with. My own belief is that we all have worth and purpose. Each person has his/her own contributions to make, and they should never need to be measured as to size or scope. We may never see all the ripples that may occur from an article, song, or poem that we write. The sum total of what we do will always be beyond our comprehension. I find comfort and a sense of sanity in that idea.

It is in our conversations, undertaken with an open heart and an open mind, that we find food for spiritual growth. It is in the relationship of one person to another that we experience what we need to learn. We trust that you, seekers after the truths of the universe, will enjoy the opportunities that arise to experience relationships - near and far - and to undertake conversations that truly broaden the sphere of your thinking, your feeling, and your being.

I trust that you will experience joy in the journey,

Cherie, with deep gratitude to Al Carmichael for allowing his letters to become this article

You may visit his website and read about Karl at http://members.aol.com/tapeout/Karl.html

(Copyright by Cherie Staples and Al Carmichael (respectively) - No reproduction without express permission from the authors)

Table of Contents

Letter to the Author: