BLIND SCIENCE, OR BLIND FAITH?

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." Albert Einstein


"The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men." Martin Luther King, Jr.


I want to scream sometimes when I hear someone say, "Scientists say....", or "The latest studies show....," to justify some point they're making, when they really have no idea about the research behind what they're talking about. It's as if science is viewed as infallible, the new "God" to which some people look for all their guidelines for living. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, science still has a long way to go. There is still so much left to be discovered, so much of life that has not been measured and labeled and quantified. And maybe it never will be.

In the meantime, I will continue to grow spiritually and think critically about religion AND science, with my eyes wide open.

Have A Cuppa, For Free?

Here's an excerpt from an interesting article from The American Spectator:

Of course, anyone actually advocating a "public coffee" monopoly would need round-the-clock police protection. We all understand that it would be a terrible idea. But we need to acknowledge is that it is also a terrible idea in the far more important area of education.

There is no question that education has an important public dimension, but that does not mean that it is best provided through a government-run monopoly. On the contrary, it's time we realized that the consumer choice and market incentives that have made America a coffee-drinker's paradise over the past decade would do wonders for our children's education, as well.

Grab yourself a cuppa, and read the rest of the article "Centralized Cappuccino here:
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10623 .

It's pretty clear how easily the freedom of choice is taken away from children, but would is considered ludicrous in the "adult" realm. .............. Yet another reason that I'm grateful for the freedom that our unschooling life affords our children.

PARENTS, GET YOUR GROOVE ON !

I recently discovered this wonderful site: http://www.enjoyparenting.com/. The man who runs the the site, Scott Noelle, is an unschooling parent who helps other parents in trying to achieve more joy in their parenting. One way that he does this is through a brief e-mail that you can sign up to receive every day, called "The Daily Groove." Here is the text of one of my favorites so far:

The Daily Groove
Relieving Time Pressure
by Scott Noelle, posted on 2006-11-03

You enjoy parenting most when you feel expansive and flowing — the way you feel when you're not under any kind of pressure.

One of the most common pressures of modern life is time pressure: having to be somewhere or do something by a certain time. Young children naturally live in the moment, not by the clock, so subjecting them to time pressure usually leads to discord.

To reduce time pressure in your daily groove...

Decide that geniality (feeling good) is more important than punctuality (being 'right').

Don't agree to be on time — build flexibility into your agreements. ("I'll be there around 7:00-ish.")

When you really want to be on time to an appointment, give yourself LOTS of extra cushion time — just accept that life with kids is less "efficient."

Don't rush when you're late — call and renegotiate! For all you know, the person you're meeting may be late, too.

When you can get away with it, don't make plans at all! Enjoy living spontaneously!

Enjoy your parenting more, check out this site today!

Art Appreciation

I love art. I could go on and on about it, but instead here's some of the recent art I've enjoyed on my refrigerator.

These were created by my youngest son and daughter using Magnetti strips, flexible magnetic strips. They are so much fun, and so inviting. Many guests have been tempted and have created their own masterpieces when they come over to visit. I highly recommend getting your own set of Magnettis. They are guaranteed to provide hours of open-ended creative expression, or ART, for all to enjoy!



http://www.scienceartandmore.com/browseproducts/Original-Magnetti.HTML

CONNECTIONS, INSPIRATION, GRATITUDE

Inspiration comes in many forms, from many sources, but most often in my life it arises from personal connections. It seems that I have had a year of inspiration focused on joy and gratitude. My gratitude has been ever more focused on the gift of simply being alive. I'm frequently reminded of a song by one of my favorite groups, Reliant K, in which they sing, "It's funny how you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be alive."

Most recently, I was inspired to create some art for a "Day of the Dead" art trade, for a wonderful on-line group that I belong to. This group, called the "Imagination Tribe", exists to support and inspire its members in their creative pursuits, and does it ever! Anyway, I started with a rough draft, which depicted a little view of what I think a Day of the Dead(DOTD) celebration might look like in Mexico. I never made the final piece of Art for the trade, however, because I was inspired to do something else.

The DOTD celebrations coincide with the Catholic church's celebrations of All Saint's Day (Nov.1) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2), so I decided to incorporate all the "celebrations" to create our own family tradition. We made small skulls out of clay and decorated them brightly, similar to the sugar skulls made in Mexico. There is one for each member of our family as a symbol of our own mortality; to remind us that life is precious. and that death is a part of life. Then I made a folio with a saint's story and picture for each person in our family. I chose a saint with the same or similar name to each person, and we read their stories on All Saints Day. My daughter said, "My saint rocks!" after hearing the story of Saint Angela de Merici. :)

On All Souls Day, I set up our own "altar" with the saint folios, the skulls, photos of deceased family members, and something memorable about the family members in the photos, as well as a candle for each person we were remembering. There was also an honored guest on the altar, Hannah. Hannah's mother, Diana, has so graciously shared herself and her daughter with so many. We did not know Hannah before, but I am blessed by the life that she lived and amazed by the joyous effect she continues to have in this world. I am so grateful to be a part of her continuing journey.

The altar was set up on our dining room buffet, so that during dinner, the candles were lit and we shared stories and memories about our loved ones who were gone from this life, but still with us in our hearts. We remembered how their lives inspired us to be, or not to be. ;) I found myself feeling thankful for the time we had with our family "back then", and even more grateful for this minute....with our family right here..... right now. It was a night of inspiration, connections, and gratitude.