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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear Tony,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This morning, you asked in your
meditation:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#800080 size=4>WHERE are they? Where are the beings
who can hold the space of truth, integrity, compassion, love, forgiveness and
unity? Where on this planet do they live? Where is one who can stand
in the fire with me? Where do they reside who are willing to look in the
mirror of themselves and allow masks to drop so we may look at each other in
clarity?</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT color=#800080 size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Arial color=#800080 size=4>We are everywhere... Here on a
small island off the east coast of Nova Scotia are five people who are prepared
to "stand in the fire" with you. We are doing as much for each other everyday as
friends and neighbours. For the past three months, we have been meeting as a
study group using the book "Your Money or Your Life", which has led us in
unexpected directions, including strengthening our capacity to "drop our masks"
and "look at (ourselves) and each other with clarity". Together we are
discovering the magic of mindfulness and changing our lives to be more aligned
with our visions and purposes.</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Arial color=#800080 size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Arial color=#800080 size=4>I, too have felt that it is
"strangely silent". I can't hear yet what I am called on to be or to do in this
new world. So I wait and am silent. I am starting to understand
(especially now) that this is our GREATEST GIFT -- the capacity to wait, be
silent, hold the space. Thank you for your (obviously) heartfelt
words.</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Arial color=#800080 size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Arial color=#800080 size=4>wendy johnston</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Arial color=#800080 size=4>homegrown
wisdom</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Arial color=#800080 size=4>nova scotia,
canada</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=sacred@anacortes.net href="mailto:sacred@anacortes.net">Toni
Petrinovich</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
href="mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU">OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, October 03, 2001 5:09
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Conversation with MySelf</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4>This morning as I sat in
meditation, there occurred a surge of energy and unspoken words that mounted
and then brimmed over into a silent conversation with mySelf. The
question arose: WHERE are they? Where are the beings who can hold
the space of truth, integrity, compassion, love, forgiveness and unity?
Where on this planet do they live? Where is one who can stand in the
fire with me? Where do they reside who are willing to look in the mirror
of themselves and allow masks to drop so we may look at each other in
clarity?</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4>My heart ached as I sat and
I reflected on the pain of the last month felt throughout the world - how
being REAL is what it is all about. And how that is what happened to the
American people on September 11th. Life got REAL real - and now time has
passed on while people are going about their daily lives, hanging their
patriotic flags out of windows and slashing their neighbors to bits behind
their backs; yelling at their loved ones; unable to find time and space to sit
in meditation yet finding all the time in the world for whatever else fills
their day; turning their heads when a question is asked in truth and saying -
"I can't go there; it is too hard"; pretending that life will go on as it did
in the past before the clarion call to wake up was blasted throughout America
and we created our own martyrs. </FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4>And so, now, we sit in the
eye of the storm. It is strangely silent, is it not? There is a
waiting while the flags wave in the breeze, George Bush rallies the Congress
to give him torturing rights to get information "so long as it is not on U.S.
soil" and the workers in NY city continue to zip up the body bags filled with
pieces - not only pieces of bodies - pieces of identities that died before
having a chance to speak their unspoken truth, say their last goodbyes and
clean up whatever inner garbage needed disposing of before transitioning
through the veil.</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4>And so I sit and marvel at
the words I hear spoken around me as I ask questions that seek to uncover the
unspeakable: Do you get value and connection out of prayer?
Answer: It is not meant to be anything except worshipping God; it is not
about connection. Will you come sit and meditate with me?
Answer: Oh, its too hard to quiet my mind; can't get past those thoughts
(and I am not going to attempt it because that would mean work on my
part). Can we talk about what separates us - what feelings, words,
thoughts keep us from being one? Answer: No, it scares me to be
real so I will continue to be false with you and be angry with you if you do
not accept my falseness. And on and on and on it goes.</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4>So, I sit and reflect and
feel and listen. I am not flying a flag for there is nothing to be
patriotic about. I do not support murdering people for oil disguised as
a war on terrorism; I restate that I do not believe the US did not know this
was coming and let it happen; I will continue to hold a position of love and
compassion for ALL involved because that ALL includes every being on this
planet. Yes, I know that all IS perfect and that this is part of the
experience we have chosen. Yet, in any moment, we can choose
again.</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4>We can choose to be
conscious, to look, listen, feel and really hear each other and be unafraid to
drop the masks and protective barriers that surround each individual in
his/her particular way. We can spend time being present with each other
and allowing the other to speak the unspoken in their hearts and not cast
aspersions their way because we may not agree. We can spend each day
making time to be silent with the connection that is US, our Source
connection, so that we may know that we are all One. We can stop
pretending that it is okay to pretend. And then it will be seen where the
people are who can hold the space of truth and integrity, compassion and love
and they will be able to be seen; they will be able to be heard and felt - and
no one will feel alone again. If you dropped your mask to only one
person today and they, in turn, dropped theirs to one other - how close we
would all become. </FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4>Ask yourself - how long do
you really believe Mother Earth will hold this energy? She is alive, can
feel, experiences life and what is happening to her body and those in and on
it. We are united in the spiritual and electronic/magnetic grid that
contains us in the field we call earth. How long can it hold while those
within it are disengaged from it within their consciousness? Sit with it
and see where the answer lies for you.</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4>Toni
Petrinovich</FONT></EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080 size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Garamond color=#800080
size=4></FONT></EM> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>